11 EDM Artists to Help You Find the Beat at SXSW
By Christina Garcia, Fri., March 15, 2019
Ouri (credit: Maiko Rodrig)
Ouri
Wed. 13, Waller Creek Boathouse, 8pm; Thu. 14, Scratchouse, 8:45pmInspired by African-American poet and civil rights activist Audre Lorde, Ourielle Auvé's 2018 EP We Share Our Blood pulses experimental dance pop and R&B techno. The Canada-based, South America-born, Paris-bred producer puts on "spacious, improvisational" live performances where her DJ sets eschew genre.
Anchorsong
Thu. 14, Maggie Mae’s Rooftop, 8pmTokyo-born Masaaki Yoshida transforms traditional percussion of the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and India into seductive downbeats on his third album, 2018's Cohesion. Where its predecessor drummed up Seventies African music, this latest LP channels 40 years of Bollywood film soundtracks. Now a UK resident, he mans a keyboard and MPC2500.
Madam X
Thu. 14, Scratchouse, 12midManchester's Christiana Vassilakis founded her label Kaizen on the tenets of grime, jungle, drum 'n' bass, house, dubstep, and techno. From DJ course student to a resident club mixer highlighting grime, Vassilakis doesn't shy from UK funk or garage as the mood moves her, while foremost pushing darker bass music.
Rrucculla
Thu. 14, Cheer Up Charlies Inside, 1amBilbao's Izaskun González, a 24-year-old percussionist/producer, splashes drum 'n' bass-esque layers of jazzy, saturated IDM on her sixth LP, Shush. Fusing free-jazz footwork, Chinese and Japanese math rock, and Latin music influences, it's a playful, overflowing offering that's also dense and challenging. González lays down new electronic possibilities from a Renaissance woman's perspective.
Shao
Fri. 15, Plush, 10:30pmAmbient Chinese experimentalist Shao Yanpeng joined Tresor Records' influential roster of international techno masters – including Jeff Mills, Robert Hood, Juan Atkins, and Drexciya – in 2015. On full-length label bow Doppler Shift Pt. 1 three years later, his synth unfurls a deliciously sustained tension that never opts for the easy release. Dark though not gothic, techno but not a raver, the Beijing-based producer cut his teeth playing art spaces and galleries.
Pastel Ghost
Fri. 15, Iron Bear, 12midVivian Moon haunts synths with pop drive as Pastel Ghost. Now based in Austin, the Oakland native dreamgazes out loud on her second LP, 2018's Ethereality, creating familiar Nineties house textures in electro and pastel goth. With Crystal Castles and post-punk among the references, Moon's live light show and sound meld into a freestyle reverie.
5 ADD-ONS
Balún
Wed. 13, Radio Day Stage @ Austin Convention Center, 1pm; Wed. 13, Javelina, 1amBrooklyn-based Puerto Rican sextet dreams in loops and layers.
Art School Girlfriend
Wed. 13, Swan Dive, 9:45pm; Sat. 16, Swan Dive, 8pmDusky synths and hushed experiments from Wales.
Komorebi
Thu. 14, Valhalla, 9:20pmIndian anime ambience and whispering vox.
Faded Ghost
Fri. 15, Hideout, 9pmChinese ragga on an experimental ambient journey. Bring a pillow.
Ben Aqua
Fri. 15, the Main II, 10:55pmWho's #FEELINGS it via Austin's pan-electronic experimentalist?
