The Key » Wild Belle

Watch: Wild Belle and David Wax Museum from WXPN’s Non-COMMvention

Bruce Warren — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:58:13 +0000

Wild Belle’s Natalie Bergman; photo by Joe del Tufo | http://www.joedeltufo.com/

More videos of performances from WXPN’s Non-COMMvention are rolling in. You can watch videos from Phoenix and Steve Martin and Edie Brickell here. Below, watch Wild Belle and David Wax Museum at the Non-COMM via The Top 22.

Listen to the full audio archive of Wild Belle’s Non-COMM set here.

Listen to the full audio archive of David Wax Museum’s Non-COMM set here.

Non-COMM Recap: Wild Belle struck a cozy vibe with the Cafe crowd (photos, audio, video and setlist)

John Vettese — Fri, 17 May 2013 12:00:01 +0000

Sibling-led Chicago band Wild Belle played a well-recieved set upstairs at non-comm, mixing electronic rhythms and synthesizer-crafted vibes with live instrumentation. Engaging frontwoman Natalie Bergman commanded the crowd, dancing with them to a selection of songs from the band’s 2013 debut Isles. Check out the setlist below and listen to the band’s set in its entirety here (via the WXPN media player).

Setlist
It’s Too Late
Love Like This
Happy Home
Another Girl
Keep You

WXPN to broadcast and webcast Non-COMMvention performances featuring Tom Jones, Tom Tom Club, Foxygen, Kurt Vile, Wild Belle, Laura Mvula and more

Bruce Warren — Mon, 13 May 2013 17:30:47 +0000

This Wednesday, May 15 through Friday night May 17, the 13th annual Non-COMM industry and music conference is being hosted at WXPN. Many of the bands performing over the three days will be broadcast and webcast on XPN. Below is the schedule (subject to change).

Wednesday, May 15
7 – 7:25 p.m. Gabriel Kelley
7:30 – 8:10 p.m. Steve Martin & Edie Brickell (video webcast)
8:10 – 8:35 p.m. John Murry
8:40 – 9:20 p.m. Tom Tom Club (video webcast)
9:25 – 9:55 p.m. Kurt Vile
10:00 – 10 :45 p.m. Phoenix (Phoenix will NOT be broadcasted live)
10:50 – 11:20 p.m. Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside

Thursday, May 16
12:00 p.m. – A Special Mississippi Blues Project Free At Noon 12 featuring
the Homemade Jamz Blues Band and Super Chikan and The Fighting Cocks (video webcast)

7 – 7:20 p.m. Mount Moriah
7:25 – 7:55 p.m. Mavis Staples (video webcast)
8 – 8:20 p.m. Wild Belle
8:25 – 9:05 p.m. Tom Jones (video webcast)
9:10 – 9:40 p.m. The Last Bison
9:45 – 10:15 p.m. José James
10:20 – 10:55 p.m. David Wax Museum
11 – 11:45 p.m. Robert Randolph
11:50 -12:20 a.m. Foxygen

Friday, May 17
12 – 1:00 p.m. Free At Noon Concert: The Fabulous Thunderbirds and Bobby Long

7 – 7:25 p.m. Wild Feathers
7:30 -8 p.m. Laura Mvula
8:05 – 8:35 p.m. The Lone Bellow
8:40 – 9:10 p.m. Free Energy
9:15 – 9:45 p.m. Kopecky Family Band
9:50 – 10:30 p.m. The Olms featuring Pete Yorn
10:35 – 11:05 p.m. Marie Miller
11:10 – 12:00 a.m. The Relatives

Wild Belle take control of your YouTube set (and happy record release day to them!)

Bruce Warren — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 19:30:27 +0000

Photo by Jennifer Tzar

Wild Belle’s delicious debut album, Isles, is out today. It’s one of our favorite albums of the year so far. The band heads down to Austin, Texas this week for a handful of shows SXSW before heading to Germany, France, Ireland and the UK before returning to the States.

We asked Natalie and Elliot Bergman of Wild Belle to put together a Spotify playlist that you can listen to here with songs by the Tom Tom Club, Kindness and several world music stunners from Janka Nabay, Tom Ze, and The Mgbaba Queens.

Not all of the music that Wild Belle suggested could be found on Spotify so we searched Youtube for the remaining music, which we share with you today. One of the songs is by Elliot’s “other band,” – afrobeat/jazz/funk inspired NOMO. Watch the videos and stream Isles below.

Isles is out today. Buy the album here.

Listen to Wild Belle’s curated Spotify playlist with music from Tom Tom Club, The Congos, Kindness and more

Bruce Warren — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 17:41:23 +0000

Photo by Jennifer Tzar

Wild Belle releases it’s excellent debut album, Isles, next Tuesday, March 12th. You can listen to the album in its entirety here. We asked Natalie and Elliot Bergman to curate a Spotify playlist with some of their musical influences and inspirational jams, and they picked some fantastic music. It’s a groove laden list with music from Kindness, the Tom Tom Club, a song from the legendary reggae group, The Congos, and the Michigan indie-pop band Saturday Looks Good To Me and more. Listen below.

Wild Belle’s debut album Isles is out Tuesday, March 12th. Buy the album here.

The Week So Far: 12 must-read stories on The Key (incl. Wild Belle, Petula Clark and Neighborhood Choir)

Julie Miller — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 16:27:14 +0000

Eels | Photo by Michael Bucher

Check out photos and videos of Eels‘ knock-out appearance at World Cafe Live [link]

Local acoustic musician Kyle Swartzwelder recorded a stirring session for Folkadelphia [link]

Download “Joy To You Baby” from Josh Ritter‘s new LP The Beast in its Tracks, which is also XPN’s Featured Album of the Week [link]

XPN’s Gotta Hear Song of Week welcomes the return of Petula Clark with “Cut Copy Me” off of her new album Lost in You [link]

The Lawsuits recorded a rocking, eclectic Key Studio Session this week [link]

Guest VJ Nikki Volpicelli shares Philadelphia Area Music Showcase‘s line-up of local acts for this month’s Tuesday Tune-Out series at PhilaMOCA [link]

Neighboorhood Choir‘s Bennett Daniels talks roadtrips, recording and roughing it in an interview with Brian Wilensky [link]

The Key premiered Wild Belle‘s instantly captivating and mystical debut album Isles [link]

Peter Murphy will perform the music of Bauhaus at The Trocadero on May 9th [link]

Watch a video of Norwegian Arms performing “Wolf Like a Stray Dog” at Brighton Sound Studios; they play an all-ages show at PhilaMOCA tomorrow [link]

Preeminent Philly soul group The Delfonics are put in the spotlight once again with Adrien Younge Presents The Delfonics; stream the new collaborative album via NPR [link]

Steve Earle and the Dukes announce a May 3rd show at Phoenixville’s Colonial Theatre [link]

Watch “Keep You” by Wild Belle, from our streaming album premiere of the band’s debut, Isles

Bruce Warren — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 13:38:11 +0000

Photo by Caleb Condit

This week we’re premiering the debut album by Wild Belle, Isles, out on Tuesday, March 12th. Natalie and Elliot Bergman tap into some strong reggae vibes on their excellent debut album. Stream the album below, and watch the video for “Keep You.”

Isles is out Tuesday, March 12th. Buy the album here.

Album premiere: Listen to the debut album by Wild Belle, Isles

Bruce Warren — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 17:01:06 +0000

Photo by Jennifer Tzar

Wild Belle makes music for an integrated world. Chicago natives, brother and sister Elliot and Natalie Bergman, draw on reggae, pop, West African and psychedelic music on its mesmerizing debut album, Isles, out on Tuesday, March 12th. Listen to the album in its entirety below.

Isles is brimming with warm, mystical grooves and dreamy dance songs laced in pop tradition. Natalie and Elliot perform many of the instruments themselves including a wide range of keyboards including piano, Hammond, Fender Rhodes, Memory Moog, Minimoog and Casio. Elliot plays saxophone and percussion including congas and kalimba. Natalie’s lead vocals are beguiling and sensual, and the songs are complemented with bass, guitar and drums, handled by Erik Hall, who plays with Elliot in the jazz/funk/afrobeat influenced Chicago band Nomo.

Songs like “Keep You,” “Twisted,” and “It’s Too Late,” are catchy and irresistibly playful and on “June,” Wild Belle grab a page out of the playbook of the early rock steady sounds of Jamaica with refreshing results. In fact, Isles feels like a deep dive in to the classic Trojan Records catalog with great respect for the past while crafting something thoroughly modern sounding. For Wild Belle, the groove is definitely in the heart.

Isles is out Tuesday, March 12th. Buy the album here.

Just Announced: XPN Welcomes Firefly Festival to Dover International Speedway, featuring Tom Petty, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Lumineers, MGMT, Kendrick Lamar and more

Julie Miller — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 13:05:11 +0000

Photo by Clara Balzary

XPN welcomes the return of Firefly Festival to The Woodlands of Dover International Speedway on June 21st-23rd. The line-up is huge this year, with Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tom Petty and Foster the People headlining the multi-day festival and over sixty of the biggest established and rising acts in the country filling out the bill. Firefly’s diverse bill includes Vampire Weekend, rapper Kendrick Lamar, Public Enemy, Philly’s Dr. Dog, The Walkmen and the Spinto Band, Ellie Goulding, The Avett Brothers, Passion Pit, Calvin Harris, Grizzly Bear, Toro Y Moi, ZZ Ward, Matt and Kim, Dispatch, and new favorites HAIM, Wild Belle and Foxygen. Check out videos of some of the bands we’re most excited to see this summer and go here to view the full line-up. Tickets go on sale this Thursday, February 21st at noon; more information will be available here.

The Lumineers

Kendrick Lamar

Grizzly Bear

Alabama Shakes

Dr. Dog

The Walkmen

Japandroids

The Spinto Band

Kopecky Family Band

Photo Recap: Toro y Moi and Wild Belle at Union Transfer

John Vettese — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 21:22:24 +0000

South Carolinian synth-popper Chaz Bundick and his cohorts in Toro y Moi headlined Union Transfer last night in support of their new LP, Anything In Return. The Chicago group Wild Belle opened the show; check out a recap of the night in the photo gallery above.

Tonight’s Concert Picks: Toro y Moi at Union Transfer, XPN Welcomes Citizen Cope to Musikfest Cafe

Julie Miller — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 13:34:35 +0000

Indie chillwave artist Toro y Moi comes to Union Transfer tonight. Born Chaz Bundick, the South Carolina native just released his third studio album Anything in Return. Where his previous recordings were experimental collages of sonic textures and patterns, Anything in Return broadens Bundick’s palette to pair jazz and R&B structures alongside his staccato production style. Tickets and information for tonight’s all-ages show with Wild Belle and Dog Bite can be found here. Below, watch Toro y Moi’s latest video for “So Many Details.”

XPN welcomes Citizen Cope to Musikfest Cafe tonight. The longtime listener favorite has been an integral part of the XPN landscape over the years, headlining the XPoNential Music Festival, performing at the annual Non-COMMvention and contributing tracks to Live at the World Cafe. The singer-songwriter is touring support of his latest record One Lovely Day. Tickets and information for tonight’s all-ages show in Bethlehem, PA can be found here. Watch Citizen Cope perform “One Lovely Day” live below.

Toro Y Moi releases video for “So Many Details” (Playing Union Transfer 2/11)

Skye Leppo — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 00:26:55 +0000

Chillwave / indie pop artist Chaz Bundick, known better by his stage name Toro Y Moi, gets spiffy in the video for “So Many Details,” the first single from Anything in Return (scheduled for release January 22nd). In the video, Bundick poses as the blase counterpart to a classic beauty, totally unfazed by a lavish lifestyle cruising in fancy cars, sharing a sunset at the beach and hanging out in a pretty rad mansion. Toro Y Moi is performing with Wild Belle at Union Transfer February 11th; find tickets and info at our concert calendar. Below, check out the video for “So Many Details.”

Watch a new music video for Wild Belle’s “Keep You” (opening for Toro Y Moi at Union Transfer on 2/13)

John Vettese — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 23:15:53 +0000

Wild Belle – the dub-inspired electronic pop project of Chicago siblings Natalie and Elliott Bergman – premiered a new music video for their ultra-catchy dancehall jam “Keep You” at Rolling Stone today. Watch the video below, and catch the band in concert this winter when they open for Toro Y Moi at Union Transfer. Tickets and information on the show can be found here.

Wild Belle returning to Philly, opening for Toro Y Moi in February at Union Transfer

Bruce Warren — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 02:32:34 +0000

Wild Belle is the brother/sister duo of Natalie and Elliot Bergman. They play a sweet mix of indie-pop and world/reggae influenced music and are returning to town on Monday, February 11th, opening for Toro Y Moi. The siblings caught a wave of buzz at last year’s SXSW and were recently signed to Columbia records. Below, watch the video to “It’s Too Late,” and while you’re at it, take a listen to a new song from Toro Y Moi, “So Many Details.” Go here for tickets to the show. Go here to listen to music from Wild Belle.

Tennis – (playing Union Transfer on Monday, October 1st) – cover Television’s “Guiding Light”

Bruce Warren — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 01:24:01 +0000

Dreamy indie-popsters Tennis play at Union Transfer next Monday, October 1st with one of our favorite new bands, Wild Belle. Below, listen to Tennis cover “Guiding Light,” and compare it to the song originally recorded by Television.

Listen to Wild Belle’s “It’s Too Late” (opening for Tennis at Union Transfer on Monday, October 1st)

Bruce Warren — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 18:47:45 +0000

Phil Knott Photography

If you’re going to see Tennis at Union Transfer on Monday, October 1st, be sure to get there early to see the Chicago band Wild Belle. The brother-sister duo, Elliot and Natalie Bergman, combine indie-pop, singer-songwriterisms and elements of reggae and world music. Elliot is a member of NOMO, a highly regarded African/Jazz instrumental dance band; Wild Belle grew out of Natalie adding vocals to some of the band’s music. Music fans and music industry folks took notice of Wild Belle last March at SXSW when the band did a series of well received shows. As is sometimes the case, the unsigned bands at SXSW who deliver great shows and music, wind up being pursued by labels. In Wild Belle’s case, they recently signed with Columbia. Greg Kot, the music critic from the Chicago Tribune, and one of the hosts of Sound Opinions from WBEZ in Chicago (WXPN runs Sound Opinons on Sundays at 5PM) had this to say about the band: “Write this name down: Wild Belle. So far, the South by Southwest Music Conference belongs to them.” Below, listen to a new song from Wild Belle, “It’s Too Late.”