VV Brown @ DC9, 2/19/10

"Do you guys like rock 'n' roll music?" For the crowd at British songstress VV Brown's sold-out Friday show at DC9, the answer was a resounding "yes."

The music world is constantly faced with revivals of past styles; everything old is eventually shined into something new. Most of Brown's debut Travelling Like the Light takes the form of a rock n' roll & doo wop pastiche that recalls the pioneers of 50s and 60s pop music. It's not necessarily novel territory (Brian Setzer revived similar sounds in both the 80s and 90s), but Brown does put her own spin on the ball. Her bouncy vocals are strong enough to carry the hook heavy songs, and she cuts an imposing figure on stage: a 5'11" Lady Gaga-meets-Janelle Monae hybrid.

Taking the stage in a Gaga-ish masquerade get-up, Brown and her backing band launched into "Everybody," a toe-tapper that sounds like "Black Betty" with a disco chorus. Next up was "Game Over," aided by backing tracks - a disappointing conceit for someone so dedicated to recreating the golden age of rock 'n' roll. The songs are strong enough to stand on their own without the note-for-note production found on the album.



The crowd thoroughly enjoyed the set, dancing and singing along at the sock hop throwback. A cover of Drake's hit "Best I Ever Had" was a crowd-pleaser, as was the swinging surf rocker "Crying Blood," augmented by a reggae remix that let Brown take the crowd "back to the islands." Closing the set was one of the strongest singles from her album, "Shark in the Water," a strummer reminiscent of KT Tunstall's "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree."

V V Brown - Shark In The Water

VV Brown | MySpace Music Videos

Another artist on the BBC Sound of 2009 list, VV Brown offers a fresh take on classic sounds - and a fun experience for those who were too young to jump, jive, and wail during the late 90s.

Artist Spotlight: Little Bigheart and the Wilderbeast

As their name suggests, DC rockers Little Bigheart and the Wilderbeast is all about the chaos and juxtaposition of colliding influences. Attempts to classify their sound with a one-size-fits-all genre are futile; from freak folk to progressive rock, Little Bigheart distills the disparate influences of its four members into something soulful and vital.

At a recent gig at the Velvet Lounge, the band's surprisingly robust sound was on full display. Bryn Bellomy (bass/keys/samples), Russell Joye (drums), Patrick Mulroy (guitar), and John Russell (guitar) cover a lot of sonic real estate while staying cohesive. Bellomy, Mulroy, and Russell share vocal duties, belting our three-part harmonies and soaring, theatrical melodies. Each brings a different character to the vocal sound: Bellomy's is breathy and falsetto, Mulroy's soulful and gravelly, Russell's earnest and crisp. And while they don't always nail the harmonies, they leave it all on the stage, like any rough-around-the-edges rockers worth their salt.

The band's set kicked off with the four-part suite on their concept EP The Assassination of Julius Caesar and its Barbarous Aftermath. Little Bigheart moves from mournful Americana to funky, Thin Lizzy riffage and back again. Complete with epic lyrics (retelling the fall of the Roman Republic), the performance of the EP resembled a jam session, anchored by Roye's steady, behind the beat drumming. However, the band sidesteps the pretension that usually accompanies prog rock or jam bands, and the medley simply rocks for 13 minutes.

Album Review: Marina and the Diamonds - The Family Jewels

The BBC “Sound of…” poll is an annual attempt by leading UK tastemakers to find the pulse of the upcoming year in music. Chart toppers have included everyone from Adele to 50 Cent, with artists like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Vampire Weekend, and Santigold rounding out the top ten lists. However, the list may be a self-fulfilling prophesy, and the individual rankiangs leave a bit to be desired; 2009 clearly belongs to Lady Gaga (#6), while Little Boots (#1) didn’t even release her album stateside.

Even with those caveats, the poll is generally a good tool for discovering artists on the edge of a breakthrough, like Sound of 2010 runner-up Marina and the Diamonds, who is set to release her debut record The Family Jewels on February 22.

Marina and the Diamonds is the stage name of Marina Diamandis, a half-Greek, half-Welsh chanteuse with a deep, rich voice and a unique take on pop songwriting (unlike Florence and the Machine, the Diamonds are not her backing band, but her fans). After bouncing around universities and teaching herself piano, she ended up in London to pursue a musical career. In 2007, she released her self-recorded demos, Mermaid vs. Sailor, and was eventually signed to 679 Records, home to electropop stars Little Boots and Annie.

The Family Jewels is a stunning debut, with thirteen shining examples of piano-driven songwriting. Marina is quirky and theatrical, bringing a mature, cerebral edge to what is basically a pop record (only one song clocks in over the four minute mark). Stylistically, she’s equally adept with singer-songwriter ballads (“Numb”) and new-wave throwbacks (“Shampain”). Her compositions are aided by dense production that begs for live performance without trampling over catchy melodies and hooks.

After releasing brooding, down-tempo songs like “Obsessions” and “I Am Not a Robot” as singles, Marina got the message about what works in 2010 pop music. “Hollywood,” the first proper single off the record, balances both of her sensibilities, building from dark synths and strings to a shimmering chorus that belies the tone of the lyrics: “Hollywood infected your brain / You wanted kissing in the rain / Oh oh, I’ve been living in a movie scene / Puking American dreams / Oh oh, I’m obsessed with the mess that’s America.” The cynicism doesn’t stop there: “you look just like Shakira, no no, you're Catherine Zeta, actually, my name is Marina,” nails the industry need to classify and pigeonhole.



Marina’s ability to juxtapose musical and lyrical content is also apparent on “Oh No,” a danceable jaunt with lyrics that paint the picture of a reluctant pop star: “Don't want cash / don't want card / want it fast want it hard / don't need money / don't need fame / I just want to make a change.” Propelled by an insistent kick drum and bassline combo, the song bounces along as Marina tears down what we expect from a 23-year old pop starlet.

Every year brings another crop of female singer-songwriters; the road to Fame is paved with would-be Next Big Things. So what makes Marina and the Diamonds any different? With dance pop dominated by Gaga (and flavor of the week Ke$ha), pop music as a whole is in dire need of a songstress who can pull together the disparate strands of piano-based music to craft something new, like a quilt made of Regina Spektor, Amanda Palmer, and Siouxie Sioux. With Marina and the Diamonds, those Brits may be on to something.

FOUR STARS