“Shut Us Down”, the debut track from London performer Freddie Dickson, is brim to brim loaded with all the moody high drama and cinema that will instantly remind of artists like The Neighborhood and Lana Del Rey (we mean this as a compliment, we promise.); while still maintaining (several) notes of originality. We are definitely in love.
Freddie Dickson – Shut Us DownFreddie Dickson 
(Soundcloud)
Rating 8.3
Collector of UK critical nods & all out great songwriter and singer Laura Marling releases second single from upcoming Once I Was An Eagle LP. The twangy drop-D’d “Master Hunter” offers an adept refresh for the Marling sound, as it finds the Hampshire native exhibiting on record a greater than usual irreverence and activity. We’ll see you guys in December when Once I Was An Eagle assumes it’s usual for Ms. Marling position on most Best of 2013 Albums Lists.
Laura Marling 
: (Official)(Facebook)
Rating: 8.0
London-via-Australia singer Josef Salvat, who’s “This Life”” is one of the best tracks of 2013 thusfar, releases new track “Hustler”. While not as hit you square on the forehead immediate as “This Life”, the piano-driven dark pop of “Hustler” is no less powerful and affecting. Dear, Josef, we need more music ASAP; thx, B3SCI.
Josef Salvat (Facebook)
Rating 8.3
Well there are some perks for sitting out Coachella. XL Records backed, Jai Paul has released a 16 track album. His second single “Jasmine,” initially set the internet ablaze with a smooth voice and unique sound. All the information available to know on Jai Paul, besides what was stated earlier, is that “… is a British songwriter and record producer from Rayners Lane, United Kingdom.” A highlight from the album is “Track 2.” The heavy use of Indian drums and sounds is up front, and the choppy chord progression is slowing turning into Jai Paul’s MO. This may turn out to be one the better releases of the year, so go out and get it. By Brian Litwin
Jai Paul (Bandcamp)
Rating: 8
B3SCI has teamed up with the good peeps at Danger Village to drop this exclusive mix of their choice Spring 2013 worthy jams. Owner Beth Martinez curates the mix track by track below. Hibernation doesn’t stand a chance.
1) holychild “Best Friends”
This song sets the tone perfectly for what I want to come across in this mix. For spring we’re looking to brighter, organic sounds threaded through with good feelings of friendship and laughter. Shifting away from the electronic-heavy vibes of the last mix, this song feels like all things lovely and light while still twisting in the confrontational vocal edge.
2) Denai Moore “Gone”
In February I put a British songstress, Laura Mvula, on the mix. Denai Moore comes from the same city, and this stripped down rendition of this ballad reveals how stringently gorgeous her vocals are without embellishment. I obviously love high-produced material, but nothing goes straight to your heart like these soulful vocals.
3) Rainy Milo “This Thing of Ours”
We can’t stop listening to Rainy Milo. The tone of her voice is lovely and this song is excellent.
4) Autre Ne Veut “Counting”
One of my favorite bands I saw at SXSW and one of my favorite albums of the year so far.
5) Jagwar Ma “The Throw”
Convoluted textures and excellent progression. Somehow Jagwar Ma is the only Australian band on this mix.
6) Freedom Fry “Friends and Enemies”
A breezy song about Frenemies. I love how Freedom Fry is able to make intelligent songwriting sound simple.
7) Mystery Skulls “Ghost”
If you want to get pumped up for anything, put this song on. Pay attention to this guy.
8) Mikael Cronin “Weight”
It’s a melodic and bombastic cocktail. I wish more rock bands were able to write songs like these.
9) Shelter Point “Braille”
Shelter Point makes delicately ardent music. The alien sounds in this song keep making me think my phone is ringing.
10) Shlomo ft HTDW “Don’t Say No”
I love everything about How to Dress Well and this Shlomo collab is so fab. Tom Krell’s vocals lead well into the next artist…
11) Justin Timberlake “Mirrors”
This is probably the most adult-contempo song I’ve ever truly loved. It feels like such a progression in his career, and lyrically I think it’s a very mature assessment of the evolution of a “grown-up” relationship. It feels like a true love song to me, which is always my favorite thing.
12) Sigur Ros “Brennistein”
I’m loving the weightier sound of this song. Leave it to Sigur Ros to make “heavy” sound “gorgeous.”
13) Phospherescent “Song For Zula”
I love how this song encapsulates the feeling of entrapment that comes with being broken in love. The epic lyrics here feel so out of place in modern pop music, it made me realize we don’t see many oathey songs these days. When did epic songwriting go the way of Homer?
14) Cloud Boat – “Youthern”
Been loving everything out of the Cloud Boat camp lately.
15) Active Child “Evening Ceremony”
Stunning church-wave at its finest.
16) Beach House “Troublemaker”
Like Real Estate, Beach House is a paradigm of a band that has the ability to continue refining their craft while retaining their singular sound. “Troublemaker” is a song I’ve had on repeat- the airier sounds fit well with spring’s breezes.
Danger Village 
(Official)
“Paul Dixon, aka FYFE, is 3 for 3 and it seems like the more he puts out the more his Solace EP, expected release of April 7th, will grab record execs attention. Lies is a different direction than his two other singles Solace and St. Tropez, but still features his signature voice and great use of space for the track. In a 2008 interview with BBC Manchester, Chris Long said of Paul Dixon’s music, “With a striking fragility that belies the solid songwriting rooted within them, his tunes are at once brilliantly fleeting, strangely timeless and surprisingly shimmering.” I think this quote still holds true today. By Brian Litwin
FYFE (Facebook)
Rating 8.4
We recently caught up with 22 year old UK singer-songwriter Tom Odell to capture an intimate and exclusive performance of his breakthrough track, “Another Love”. The session was filmed at Elias Studios in Los Angeles and features a guest interview appearance by KCRW DJ Jason Kramer. Keep an eye out for Tom in 2013 and his debut album Long Way Down, being released later this spring.
Tom Odell (Facebook)
The notion of “spare piano ballad” is one of those music blog keyword pastiches that is difficult, at times, to disentangle from the copy and what those words actually indicate. “This Human Joy” a “spare piano ballad” that is new from UK artist Ajimal is the example of what those words should indicate. “This Human Joy” sounds a bit of James Blake, sure, but the melody & arrangement (& harp) are really top class and standout as true high bars within this genre.
Ajimal (Official)
Rating 8.2
Catching a concert comes with a variety of experiences. For example, sometimes the headliner on a bill outshines the opening act(s) so much that those in attendance wonder, ‘why the hell didn’t I just show up for the last half of this show?’ Other times, the support on the bill is the highlight of the night, noteworthy beyond any of the predictable offerings from the headliner. And on the perfect occasion, the mix of talent at a concert is just right. At the El Rey Theater this past Thursday night we had exactly that experience with standout performances from both Jaime N Commons and Lianne La Havas.
It may come as a surprise to many that London born artist Jamie N Commons was actually raised between both Chicago and the UK. With this transatlantic savviness, the bright singer songwriter opened the evening’s show with his track “Lead Me Home”, which was also recently featured in the incredible AMC series The Walking Dead. Near the end of his solo performance of the gloomy track (which is a perfect pairing for the Georgia based zombie thiller), Commons’ band joined him on stage. Together they rocked through his 2013 release Rumble And Sway EP. With pitch perfect, four-part harmonies, and back woods rock and roll, Jaime and the gang killed it. Song after song, the audience warmed up, culminating to an apex when Jamie closed his set with “Wash Me In The Water”. The raspy, whiskey infused rock that Jaime brings, feels like a bullseye, and with more opening dates to come with folk/soul princess Lianne La Havas, Jaime N Commons fans should expect this to be one of the hotter tickets touring the states this Spring.
With a small set change and an increasingly excited crowd, KCRW DJ Jason Kramer pumped up the crowd right before Lianne La Havas hit the stage. She opened to the loving crowd with “No Room For Doubt”. A side note: while both Lianne and Jaime recently weathered SXSW, you certainly couldn’t tell any grueling signs from their haul in Austin. The young 23 London native, Lianne La Havas looked and sounded stunning as ever. The adoring crowd howled and shouted after different vocal runs. She was without doubt great, but frankly she could have probably done anything on stage and still received such a warm reception. Turning her audience into human percussionist, and in playing select songs from her standout 2012 debut Is Your Love Big Enough?, Lianne La Havas proved her powerful impact on both sides of the Pond.
Review By Brian Litwin
Photography By Martin Santacruz Jr
Lianne La Havas (Official)
Jamie N Commons (Official)
One of our favorite vocalists pretty much ever, Neko Case, surprises today with the release of a new track. “That’s Who I Am” is part of the upcoming “supernatural gothic musical” by John Mellencamp, Stephen King & T-Bone Burnett (which sounds absolutely wild) called The Ghost Brothers of Darkland County. Yeah, so if you’re playing along at home, you know that just about anything T-Bone Burnett puts his name on (yes, even Nashville) is going to be very very good; add that up with Ms. Case’s world-class singing and the source material backing of J. Mellencamp & S. King and you’re most definitely working with a must listen track. Spin it below. Hi Neko!
Neko Case 
(Facebook)
Rating 8.3
B3SCI fam Erin Feathers recently caught up with hotly-tipped British singer-songwriter Misty Miller. Having just released her Girlfriend EP last week, Miller has made her track “Little Drummer” available as a free download (grab it below) ahead of UK tour dates this March supporting both Jake Bugg and Tom Odell (on different stints). Check out what Misty Miller had to say about musical influences both past and present, her various side projects, and a blossoming career…
B3SCI: You list your key musical influences as Patti Smith, Iggy Pop and The Stooges, The Velvet Underground, Lou Reed, Irma Thomas, The Sonics, and The Gories. Surprise us with a couple random artists who color your musical outlook in a significant way…
Misty: Depends what you mean by surprise. A band called The Fat Whites who my drummer plays in. Blondie, maybe thats a surprise? Listen to “One Way Or Another” .. or “Dreaming”. She was so cool.
B3SCI: We’ve heard you mention that your musical palette varies from listening to performance. Do you think something like rap music could ever permeate your writing and performance?
Misty: Not in a really obvious way. If I saw someone do it and do it really well it would inspire me to perform with the same passion (or whatever it was about their performance that i liked).
B3SCI: Do you have a songwriting process and does your ukelele always play a role?
Misty: I havn’t written a song on my ukulele for about 2 years now. When I finished that album I was already starting to write songs on the guitar and have ever since. I don’t have process as such. It depends on the song and time.
B3SCI: Is there an instrument that you hope to learn someday?
Misty: I just wanna get better at guitar, really. Maybe play a few solos one day..
B3SCI: What has most influenced your musical evolution an vision as an artist?
Misty: The music scene I got involved with. I left college and started playing shows and meeting people around South London. The bands and people that I met influenced me a lot.
B3SCI: Tell us something quirky about Misty Miller…
Misty: Quirky eh?! I don’t like having clean hair. Or, I like to book bind.
B3SCI: What is your favorite place to jam and play music, aside from your gigs?
Misty: I have started rehearsing with my band at a mate of mine’s studio in peckham. It’s a small room but we work way better in there than in some fancy rehearsal studio. Or i just like play on my own if there is a guitar lying about in someones house or something.
B3SCI: If you could live somewhere other than London where would it be?
Misty: I don’t really have an answer to that as of yet. I would love to travel around America soon. Maybe after touring I’ll fall in love with a particular place.
B3SCI: What do fans need to know about Slit Lizard?
Misty: It’s a band I started with my friend Olivia. I couldn’t really play the guitar and she couldn’t really play the drums but I hadnt enjoyed playing and writing music so much until Slit Lizard. Heavily inspired by our friends band, The Midnight Barbers. A few of the songs off the EP were origonally Slit Lizard songs. “You Know What I Mean” and “Little Drummer”. My label weren’t too keen on the whole thing but without Slit Lizard (and Olivia) I wouldn’t have gotten away from playing music I wasn’t actually that happy with.
B3SCI: Tell us about the Girlfriend EP and where it leading Misty Miller…
Misty: I can’t tell you how good it feels to finally have this music out there and to be playing it in front people that actually want to listen now! It took a while to get my label to ‘get it’ and I’m so glad I didnt give up and decide to do something that I wasn’t really passionate about. Hopefully the next EP will sound as good and lead on to a killer album. I am not a natural in the studio yet but my band help me a lot.
B3SCI: How has your history growing up in an artistic family affected your experience as an artist?
Misty: Having music around me from a young age, being in the studio and backstage as a kid. All things those sorts of things. Making music my natural habitat.
B3SCI: It sounds like you dabble a bit with inking your own tattoos. What tattoo is next on your list?
Misty: Yeah i have about 6 or so now, all pretty shit, and all hand done. I have no idea what the next one will be.
B3SCI: We’re hooking you up with a ride in the B3SCI time machine. Where are you going?
Misty: Stonehenge “where the demons dwell!” But if i can’t come back to now then i aint goin’ anywhere.
Misty Miller (Facebook)
