Team Breton continue to further hone their percussive, jittery, melodically interesting sound with “S Four”. The follow up single to the South London quintet’s great “Force of Habit” EP. On “S Four” punchy, skittering drums frame a hypnotic main melody “and how will I be in two places at once” augmented with well-timed flourishes of synth and orchestration.
strong>Breton 
(Official)
Rating 8.4
One of our favorite indiesphere fresh faces is the School of Hall & Oates blue-eyed soul of Dallas-based singer Johnny Stimson. On new track “SO. GOOD.”, Stimson, slows y’all down, wears y’all out, lets y’all breathe, puts y’all up on pedestal; you know, the basic emotional up and downs of the soul genre’s best songs. That, and an easy as the Sunday of MLK weekend is long vocal that is mmmmmm… so sweet and oh “SO. GOOD.” We’re absolutely loving it. Go Johnny go!
Johnny Stimson (Facebook)
Rating 8.1
Review By Brian Litwin.
Photos By Russ Ramos.
2013 was an incredible year for music, and 2014 is shaping up to be even better. Rising star John Newman has really hit the ground running in the new year. Having been a featured artist on 2 tracks in 2012 (Rudimental’s “Feel The Love” and “Not Giving In” with Alex Clare) and with the current radio hit “Love Me Again”, his recent live performance at the El Rey only added to the buzz surrounding the young John Newman.
To start the night off, Brooklyn based WE ARE TWIN hit the stage to an all white backdrop and eager crowd. Bringing their power pop sound to a music hungry crowd, they resonated well with the LA audience. Lead singer Gabi Christine, with her long braided hair and her school-girl-plaid skirt commanded the stage and navigated every inch of the space. Playing tracks off their self-titled major label EP release, the single “The Way We Touch” stood out as the star song from the set. The crowd vibed well to their shorter set and even Randy Jackson (music man, producer, former American Idol enthusiast and dance crew dude) was seen in the crowd digging the tunes.
John Newman next hit the stage with a big bang. A backing track played for a minute or so and then lights exploded on the stage as the giant white backdrop curtain fell to unveil a l6 piece band and John standing on a platform in the back, with his back to the crowd. Everyone on stage was in black and white suits and dancing in unison as Newman opened his set. The show was originally set to be played the Troubadour, but due to demand – was moved to the larger and more accommodating El Rey Theater. Still there was barely any room to stand, so it was a good thing this show got moved.
John rolled through his set with class, showmanship, he had absolute control of the audience, and had dance moves that came way out of left field. His voice has a distinct nasally, raspyness to it, and some overall stylings similar to Otis Redding, which the LA crowd ate up. When Newman got to the second single off his 2013 debut full length release Tribute, the crowd really started to get into it. “Cheating” got the crowd jumping and he rolled into the slower, piano driven “Easy”. Right after that the drummer marched in to the third single of the album “Losing Sleep”. With a wall of applause, John seemed taken aback and truly humbled with the response right before he went into “Down On Life” and “Gold Dust” to close the set. The crowd wanted more and John came back out with just a piano player and drummer for a slowed-down version of the widely popular “Not Giving In” by Rudimental. The crowd heard the hook and responded immediately. Finally as the last song had to be the current hit in the US and star off Tribute. John and crew blazed through a mesmerizing version of “Love Me Again”. There is no denying that this 23 year old Brit has incredible talent, but this live show is what really sets him apart from other indie darlings of the same vein.
John Newman 
(Facebook)
Rating 8.6
We love MISUN. The D.C.-bred now L.A.-based band’s stylistic breadth (from R&B to surf rock to country-western, there’s seemingly not a genre the 4-piece won’t touch), pop songwriting skill (melodically and lyrically slay your faves w/ every track), and crazily impressive run of singles over the last twelve months (“Hills and Trails”, “Promise Me”, “Darkroom”, etc all knockouts). So clearly, partnering with MISUN to launch their first physical release on B3SCI Records was a 100% no brainer for us. We present the first single from MISUN’s brand new 7″ “Travel With Me”, a track that again finds the band pushing not only the boundaries of their own sound but of the indie 2014 palette as well (there’s tropical refs in there, a little bit of 60’s, Asian melodic structures, etc). “Travel With Me” is out Feb. 18.
Rating 8.4
The lush “You Do” is the latest from Cleveland(!) R&B artist Freeze-Tag. Sophisticated in sound without being tired or hokey, “You Do” reveals more and more of its many facets with its each successive listen (you will be hooked like that, believe it.), as sprawling electronics give way to Isley Brothers-esque riffing and genre jumping beats swirl into unexpected but compositionally on the mark chord voicings. F-T’s Last Night I Grew Tentacles is out soon via Long Division Records.
Freeze-Tag 
(Facebook)
Rating 8.3
Tipped for a big 2014 is Chloe Howl, the flame-haired UK popstress behind several of our favorite tracks of last year debuts a brand new demo in the form of belter “This Song’s Not About You”. Ms. Howl’s set closer when she plays out live, the kinetic stomper is buoyed by Chloe’s punches first lyrics and vocal. Chloe Howl’s “Rumor” single is out soon on Sony.
Chloe Howl (Soundcloud)
Rating 8.4
