“After All” is the A+ debut track from Toronto singer (and songwriter, Day wrote and produced “After All”) Charlotte Day Wilson. A cool mix of Rhodes-driven introspection and soft-touch percussion and Ms. Wilson’s stunning alto, “After All” floored us immediately. So so good. Listen.
Alberta, Canada multi-talent artist and Phantom Culture-affiliate Hero wows us with a smooth, soulful pop-hybrid r&b/hip-hop doused sound on vocals-led beauty “Crutch”; a track which entices our ears with its catchy poetic vocals. vibrant keyboard melody and some colorful retro-vibe synth embellishments. Good one! Reviewed by Erin Shay.
The high-flying SoCal singer/emcee Anderson Paak opens 2016 with a starmaking bit of soul-driven (Hi-Tek produced!) modern pop. Damn.
B3 featured Jersey producer Flamingosis (who’s on-point signature sample laced style is a fave at B3) ushers in the New Year with a creative nod to disconnecting from technology. On his latest instrumental masterpiece “Airplane Mode” Flamingosis uses rhythmic-patterned percussion and a beautiful sense of sparse simplicity to highlight the track’s gorgeous keyboard melody (in the vein of Nujabes). We think the very dreamy “Airplane Mode” (with its amazing layered drum rhythms) is Flamingosis’ best track yet. Reviewed by Erin Shay.
Bay Area producer Yugi Boi mixes in a deep bass groove, subtle synth infusions and a varying range of pointed sultry percussion to complement and bolster Travis Scott’s honeyed vocals and excellent horn melody on a very cool new remix of “A Team”. We like it better than the original! Great remix. Reviewed by Erin Shay.
B3 lauded (Seattle-based) producer Sango teams up with Atlanta vocalist Elhae and B3 beat-maker fave ESTA. on new track “Só Você” which features a beautiful weave of vibrant repetitive sensual-sexy vocals, ambient deep soothing beats and lovely minimalist percussive accents. We love the stunning outro on “Só Você” in particular and enjoy the track’s sweet interplay between vocals and beats. Look for it on Sango’s latest “Da Rocinha” 3 EP (which also contains 2015 standout track “Dias Melhores”). Reviewed by Erin Shay.
Familiarize yourself with new-to-B3 artist KA-YU (who hails from the Netherlands). KA-YU keeps it bright and simple with a soft sensual mesh of down-tempo beats, jazzy metallic accents and a sweet keyboard melody on “Goddess”. We totally love how the keyboard dictates the track’s cheery mood and how effectively it contrasts with KA-YU’s dynamic, super sexy bass-line. Great tune! Reviewed by Erin Shay.
Get into the soulful mixture of world-music-vibe rhythm and percussion awash some remarkably good vocals on “Sudan” the latest nuance-tempered track from B3 covered Alaska-based beat-maker Eets who we featured in October for his cool-minded hip-hop vibes on “Feathers of Gold”. We love it. Reviewed by Erin Shay.
Tune into the understated sensuality and dynamic meld of beats on new one “Say What” a restyle of Donell Jones’ hit “U Know What’s Up” from a relatively new Baltimore artist (swag-surf-gawd) j.robb who we featured in September for his joint-produced gem track “Euphoria” (created with Calgary-bred Canadian musician Skater for the duo’s debut EP “Pastel”). Reviewed by Erin Shay.
Lose yourself in the smooth, soulful and funky Jamiroquai-meets Frank Ocean meets Miguel vocals-led vibes of “80’s” from B3 featured Berhana (discussed here in November for his A+ debut jam “Janet”). “80’s” (quite a timeless track with its impressive standout-talent vocals and artfully simplistic fine-tuned mosh of percussion) earns Berhana another A+ on the style meter. Awesome. Reviewed by Erin Shay.
We’re entranced with the uniquely stellar calm and centered vocal style, minimalist percussion, and catchy bass-line grooves of UK producer collaborative newcomer-act Tender (who are immensely talented and in our pool of consideration of artists to watch in 2016). We like the group’s latest cover of ubiquitous remix-friendly 2015 Drake hit “Hotline Bling”; a track which you may recall Marian Hill producer Jeremy (1/2 of the act) remixed beautifully back in September (he chose a twist on the Kehlani/Charlie version). Even though we have only showcased two tracks from Tender their style is so quietly appealing (especially strong Beck-vibe vocals) we think the group is potentially unstoppable. We look forward to more of Tender’s graciously simple brand of music. Superb cover. Reviewed by Erin Shay.
