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R&B

Marcus Machado: “Shape Shift” (feat. JSWISS & Ahrel Lumzy)

Let’s get straight to the meat and potatoes of Marcus Machado; as a guitarist for D’Angelo’s Vanguard and session player for the likes of Robert Glasper and Anderson .Paak Machado’s got a gorgeous, highly-sought-after kind of talent. Machado’s also an accomplished songwriter in his own right, having incrementally expanded his solo discography since his 2015 EP 29.

And though R&B’s decidedly Machado’s strong suit, he’s clearly comfortable within the rock genre as well, heard most recently across his eclectic debut LP Aquarius Purple. Regardless of your sign, or even if you don’t go in for the whole zodiac thing, Aquarius Purple‘s pretty easy to mesh with across its one dozen tracks. The solo joints are nothing to scoff at, and the guest appearances, though sparse in comparison, inspire just as much awe as the rest of the record. Hear (and see) for yourself on “Shape Shift“, featuring New York rapper JSWISS and fellow Vanguard member Ahrel Lumzy!

Angélica Rahe: “tqro”

In this KUTX Producer’s humble opinion, Latin artists hardly get the press they deserve here in Austin. So today we’re shining the spotlight on Austin jet-setter Angélica Rahe, who grew up in Japan and Spain before settling in the States in her teens. After accruing influence from Erykah Badu, John Mayer, and Sade and elevating her own abilities, Rahe found herself on international tour with Kali Uchis as her musical director, guitarist, and backing vocalist in 2018.

Rahe dropped her Solange-reminiscent solo debut REINA last Valentine’s Day but had its promotional tour cancelled in light of COVID. Well, now Angélica Rahe’s back on the road and performing in Austin. She’ll be playing at 9PM this Friday at Mohawk and to get you back into that live music summertime groove, gyrate those hips of yours to Angélica Rahe’s latest single, “tqro”!

Mélat: “The Lesson”

Even before we’d selected her as our February 2018 Artist of the Month, we had all reached the same verdict for native Austinite Mélat; she’s young but sounds like she’s been doing this for decades, knows how to swoon in her songwriting, and always gives us just enough to leave us wanted more. Mélat’s unrivaled presence in the soul-R&B realm is an astonishing spectacle to behold live and translates into an even more powerful experience on studio recordings, where her captivating voice snuggles right up to your ear drum.

After dropping a couple singles in 2020, Mélat’s been plugging away at a new LP, tracked and mixed at Black Pumas’ Texas headquarters, Electric Deluxe Recorders. She’s got a tour in the works for next year to promote the aforementioned album, whose lead single channels the spiritual soul of gospel in a waltzing heart-melter, “The Lesson”.

Cautious Clay: “Karma & Friends” (At Home)

For folks hip to the playlist heavyweights of KUTX and, well, most NPR Music stations, the name Cautious Clay should be pretty familiar. Dating back to his debut single “Cold War” in the Fall of 2017, this Brooklyn singer-guitarist has brewed up a seductive concoction of R&B, hip-hop, and soul, with a delicate vocal delivery that’s sure to elicit a swoon or two.

On the Studio 1A veteran‘s latest release (and first full-length), Deadpan Love, Cautious Clay once again invites a strong sense of electronic production into the mix. But that doesn’t mean Clay can’t still rock it acoustic when he wants to. Check out an intimate, stripped-down set recorded at Orchard Studios in New York that Cautious Clay taped just for us right before Deadpan Love dropped, including some of the album’s strongest contenders, “Agreeable”, “Shook”, and “Karma & Friends”.

Tortuga Shades: “Revolving” [PREMIERE]

With Texas heat slowing us all down to a turtle’s pace and in search of a cool spot out of the sun, there really is no better time for Tortuga Shades. This Austin four-piece first built up their carapace of R&B-blooded alt-rock with the 2017 EP Migrations, following it up with a spread-out pair of singles for each subsequent year, respectively.

Now Tortuga Shades is scuttling towards the release of their sophomore record Revolving later this summer, but its title track (and music video, both out today) lets you get a peek under the shell early on…

fruit collective: “walk”

Though the restrictions of COVID-19 are cautiously lifting, certain social distancing implementations have proved fruitful for some. For example, before everyone got used to living behind their laptop and collaborating remotely, it wouldn’t have been all that easy to put together a trio whose members live in different metropolitan cities, but that’s exactly what happened with fruit collective.

The Chicago-Austin-Boston three-piece bears seeds of indie, pop, and R&B for their lo-fi harvest, transplanting the berries of the late Mac Miller and contemporary KUTX favorites like Clairo and Anderson .Paak into fruit collective’s fresh sound. We all know Friday is market day, so stock up on fruit collective for the weekend with the group’s gorgeous debut single, “walk”!

TEMPOREX: “New Lane”

Though he’s only in his early twenties, San Diego producer Joseph Flores is wise beyond his years. Under the moniker TEMPOREX, Flores has explored synth-y R&B soundscapes reminiscent of Prince and D’Angelo while approaching lyricism in a pop manner closer to what you’d expect from Paul McCartney. TEMPOREX first teased out a jazz-meets-electronic, Mac DeMarco-inspired sound on 2017’s Care but in the years that’ve since passed, Flores has worked up his A-game and hit a retro-future synth-soaked stride with his sophomore LP, Bowling.

Devoid of any gutter balls, Bowling aligns a whole alley’s worth of styles into a ten-pin package; it’ll make you dance, dig deep into emotions, and have you forgetting your troubles by the end of its final round. Bowling drops tomorrow but today you can check out your shoes early with the record’s latest single, the liquidly hip and stylishly self-aware “New Lane”!

Danilo: “All I Want”

Born in Brazil but transplanted into the Live Music Capital early on, singer Danilo Riggs was stunned and won over by Western music, eating up ’80s pop icons like Prince and Michael Jackson before graduating to Jeff Buckley. Going mononymously by Danilo, Riggs has fused the traditional Latin music of his youth with the modern electricity of genre giants like The Weeknd and Bruno Mars for an intoxicating intercontinental sound.

On July 16th Danilo drops his debut EP All I Want, five falsetto-spiced appetizers that give us a taste of Danilo’s dynamics, structured out shower thoughts, and detailed dreams. Danilo performs Saturday July 17th at Far Out Lounge along with our November 2017 Artist of the Month Kalu and the Electric Joint and August 2015 Artist of the Month David Ramirez, so you’re guaranteed some good company in mid-July. Til then you can tide yourself over with the ’60s-psych-tinged title track, “All I Want”!

Paula Cendejas: “Sabaneta”

As you well know, we’ve got Cinco de Mayo coming up this Wednesday. And our good fortune, the 2021 Latin Alternative Music Conference kicks off tomorrow and lasts all the way to this Friday, all virtually-hosted and with free registration.

Once you register, you’ll be able to enjoy programming like the Sounds From Spain showcase, happening Day Two of the LAMC and featuring budding artists like Madrid-based R&B-pop singer Paula Cendejas. Cendejas’ seductive style has been creeping up into international mainstream over the last couple years, thanks to her growing collection of bold singles, rounded out most recently with the hypnotically slick “Sabaneta”!

Dawn Richard: “Bussifame”

Most amateur armchair psychologists can recognize a Type-A personality out in the wild, and even when she isn’t directly in the spotlight, it’s still hard to miss New Orleans native Dawn Richard. Her impressive list of extracurriculars have included being a martial arts instructor, owner of a vegan food truck, animator for Adult Swim, and cheerleader for the New Orleans Hornets, all of which have co-existed with Richard’s ascension to pop superstardom.

Dawn Richard’s upcoming LP Second Line picks up where Beyonce’s Lemonade left off, with her own message of empowerment for Black women in the South and beyond, placing considerably more emphasis on women producers than previous endeavors. The narrative-heavy, character driven concept album drops on Friday but you can get a head start on learning your new favorite dance moves today with “Bussifame”!

John Splithoff: “WGYG”

Born and raised just outside of Chicago, singer-guitarist John Splithoff caught a lot of the soul, R&B, jazz, funk, and pop that blew over from the Windy City, and he’s kept those tones close at hand ever since. Splithoff’s been supplying us with singles dating back to his 2013 independently-released EP but after nearly a full decade, the songwriter’s understandably wanted something a bit more filling to sate his artistic appetite.

Well you can go ahead and gesture “ante up” all you want, but you’ll still have to wait ’til tomorrow to unlock John Splithoff’s debut LP, All In, in its entirety. True to its name, this inaugural full-length gives you an unfettered examination of John Splithoff, whose slick chord progressions and masterful vocal performances wrap up the moody-yet-upbeat record, and will keep your foot tapping with standouts like “WGYG”!

Carley Bearden: “Just Friends”

Dating back to the genre’s salad days of the ’60s, R&B lyricism has covered basically every microcosm of a romantic relationship…but not so much for the platonic pairs. Enter DFW singer Carley Bearden, who, after taking the past half year off for personal growth, has returned with an absolute knockout of a single.

On “Just Friends” Bearden’s blunt but graceful vocals bounce effortlessly off an indie-pop-R&B infusion (produced by her loyal collaborator Wil Brookhart), and packaged at just under two and a half minutes, your affection for “Just Friends” may grow a bit past a level of acquaintance after repeat spins.

Wes Denzel: “Don’t Change” [Social Distancing Pop-Up]

For the past few weeks we’ve familiarized you with our February 2021 Artist of the Month, Wes Denzel. This retro-minded hip-hop/R&B blender’s blown us away with his creativity on each new release and just because Denzel’s featured on the shortest month, he’s built up high expectations for the future.

Made clear by his My KUTX playlist and the ’80s flashback that is his “Don’t Change” music video, Denzel’s got a soft spot for the early-mid-’00s style of production. But as heard in our exclusive live performance, Wes Denzel sure as heck doesn’t need all the in-studio accoutrements to give a killer performance!

Shutting Down…Again

This week on The Breaks, Confucius and Fresh:

Listen to this week’s episode of The Breaks

Dr. Dre is the GOAT

This Week on The Breaks:

  • Confucius and Fresh explore all the reasons that Dr. Dre is the greatest producer of all time.
  • Both hosts discourage people from dismissing  new music as not “Real” Hip-hop or “Real” R&B.
  • They interview Austin artist Mike Melinoe about his new record “Clajidu,” why he moved to Austin from Detroit and his perspective on the Austin music scene.
  • Both hosts discuss their theories on why hip-hop and Black culture speak to so many people around the world.
  • Fresh’s Unpopular Opinion is that Frank Ocean hasn’t done enough musically to warrant his fans booing Drake offstage at Camp Flog Gnaw.
  • Confucius wants people on the internet to stop shaming others for liking things that are popular in his  Confucius Says segment.

Listen on The Apple Podcasts App, Spotify or Stitcher

Listen to this episode of The Breaks

Hear the music from The Breaks played on their Saturday Night Hip-hop show

 

Alicia Olatuja (Ep. 25, 2019)

On this week’s program, In Black America producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. speaks with vocalist, composer and arranger Alicia Olatuja, who combines elements of Classical, Jazz, Blues and R&B in her latest recording, Intuition: Songs From the Minds of Women.

This Song: Cautious Clay On “B.O.B” by Outkast

When Cautious Clay saw the video for Outkast’s “B.O.B” for the first time, the combination of the duo’s rapid fire rap style, techno influenced production and hyper-saturated psychedelic visuals blew his 7-year-old mind. On this episode, he tells us how that experience continues to have a profound impact on his own work, especially on his new project “Table of Context.” Plus, he explores how Outkast, along with his beat-boxing flute teacher,  taught him to approach creativity without boundaries.

 Cautious Clay just released a new EP called Table of Context

Listen to this episode of This Song

Listen to Cautious Clay’s new EP Table of Context

Check out Cautious Clay’s Tour Dates

Listen to Songs from this episode of This Song

Veronica Brown (Ep. 37, 2018)

In Black America producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. speaks with Detroit-born singer Veronica Brown about her career as an award-winning Gospel recording artist, and about her equally successful previous career as a Dance and R&B recording artist.

Will Downing (Ep. 50, 2017)

In Black America producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. speaks with recording artist Will Downing, “The Prince of Sophisticated Soul,” about his three-facade recording career, and his recovery from a debilitating illness that threatened his career.

King Curtis (2.15.15)

King Curtis was an American saxophonist, who played not only jazz, but R&B, rock n’ roll, and funk as well. His style was powerful and poignant, allowing moments to fully expand and develop. Unfortunately Curtis died young, murdered at the age of 37. In this installment of Liner Notes, Rabbi and jazz historian Neil Blumofe talks about what the life and legacy of King Curtis can teach us today.

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