I don’t know what was more surprising – the fact that Soul music is being revived in an age of autotune and chillwave indie music or the fact that most of the crowd at the Echoplex was of the decidedly hipster variety.
Scratch that, it’s Echo Park, of course it’s going to be full of hipsters.
But the neo-soul movement is definitely in effect with artists like Mayer Hawthorne gaining a sizable audience. It’s not surprising that both he and Aloe Blacc are on LA-based independent label, Stones Throw.
You may know Mr. Blacc from the theme to HBO’s How To Make It In America. It’s one of the more memorable introduction sequences in recent television history. His 1 hour set at the Echoplex didn’t disappoint either. I’m no expert on soul music, but I had a great time at Aloe’s show. With an entertaining and talented backing band, The Grand Scheme, Aloe Blacc played cuts from not only his own album, Good Things, but also injected quite a few covers into his set as well. It’s as if he knew his mainly white audience needed to hear some comfort songs to help them ease into the genre. Songs like Hall & Oates’ “Maneater” or Green Day’s “Basket Case.” He also did a Velvet Underground song and a haunting cover of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean.”
Check out the Green Day cover clip and another video after the break.