2Cellos (true), the cello pop project of Croatians Luka Sulic and Stjepan Hauser grab indie it girl Sky Ferreira for a haunting eerie send-up of Nancy Sinatra’s “Bang Bang”.
2Cellos – Bang Bang feat. Sky Ferreira2Cellos 
(Facebook)
Rating 8.2
2Cellos (true), the cello pop project of Croatians Luka Sulic and Stjepan Hauser grab indie it girl Sky Ferreira for a haunting eerie send-up of Nancy Sinatra’s “Bang Bang”.
2Cellos – Bang Bang feat. Sky Ferreira2Cellos (Facebook)
Rating 8.2
Two acts who had a monster 2012 have paired up for a new single called “White Noise”. The boys from Disclosure call on AlunaGeorge to make this dance jam that recently premiered on Zane Lowe’s BBC Radio 1 show. The fresh sound is telling as the single is blowing up online. Look for AlunaGeorge to be featured on more tracks throughout the year (possibly with Baauer). By Brian Litwin
Disclosure 
(Facebook)
Rating 8.2
Check out the end-of-summer melancholy of ATX indie pop upstarts Tiger Waves on “Fields”; the first single off the band’s upcoming still untitled second LP.
Tiger Waves – FieldsTiger Waves 
(Facebook)
Rating 8.3
Here’s a “fave follow-up” on Palma Violets. The UK band, whose “Best of Friends” single topped tracks lists for 2012 and radars to watch for 2013, have just dropped a new single in their home country. Gotta love that organ in the intro and that ____ melody. Palma Violets will be playing in New York next week and at SXSW in March. Needless to say, lots of UK-philes will be very keen to check them out, including the team at B3Sci. By Bruce Rave
Palma Violets — Best of Friends (Official)
* Links and playlists from Rave’s weekly new music show can be found on his blog and be sure follow Bruce on Twitter too!
What makes this generation’s Philly rap special is that it’s truly coming from the heart. Everyone is hood. That’s nothing new to the city. So, the smart rappers are bringing back fun/raw hip-hop. Philadelphia was making trap songs ten years ago. It’s old now and clearly never got Killadelphia anywhere. Now, it’s back to basics. TJ Atoms reps one of the few people that made it, from the city of Brotherly Love, in the anthem “Bill Cosby.” Rapid fire delivery is a walk in the park for Atoms and The Bakery Boys (as the video showcases). Try to keep up. By Teddy Pendergrass
TJ Atoms – Bill Cosby (Prod. By Mark Ryan of The Creative Cult)TJ Atoms 
(Soundcloud)
Rating 8.0
Laura Mvula is soul songwriter out of Birmingham UK. Coming off a Brits’ Critic’s Choice nomination (with AlunaGeorge and Tom Odell), which is a really big deal if you’re unfamiliar with the award, Mvula is readying the release of her February debut LP Sing to the Moon. Ms. Mvula often gets compared with Nina Simone, and that influence is certainly a component of her sound, (the rattling rhythms, the precise diction) but what’s especially remarkable about Laura Mvula is the unexpected twists in her music. “Green Garden”, Sing to the Moon’s second single, features among other really cool qualities, some next harmonic voicings and melodic turns.
Laura Mvula – Green GardenLaura Mvula (Facebook)
Rating 8.6
Sam Smith, the UK singer that was featured on last year’s awesome “Latch” track with Disclosure, debuts an acoustic version of his song “Lay Me Down”. Wow! Smith vocal on the live take track is an absolute mindblower (Like young Donny Hathaway-level mindblower). Our boy’s got talent from ear to ear (most particularly in his throat and lungs). Get floored below.
Sam Smith – Lay Me Downstrong> Sam Smith (Facebook)
Rating 8.4
Everything Everything’s awesome Arc record dropped last week and as a thank you very much forget-me-not to their fans and patrons, the Manchester band are giving away an excellent vibed-out “Kemosabe” remix by their mates Post War Years.
Everything Everything – Kemosabe (Post War Years Remix)Post War Years (Facebook)
Everything Everything (Official)
Rating 8.4
TOKi’s back and this time she brought along a legend. TOKiMONSTA, the L.A. the beatstress who’s outer space bass records are permanent staples of the b3 canon, recently signed to ULTRA records and the next universe “The Force” which features Kool Keith is her first release for the label.
TOKiMONSTA 
(Official) (Blog) (Soundcloud)
Rating: 8.3
Jake Bugg entered the UK charts at #1 last fall, which means his debut album came in ahead of Muse and Mumford & Sons. Jake recently spent a week in the US having played in New York, LA and San Francisco, including a performance on Conan along the way. This Wednesday night B3SCI and I were on hand for his sold-out and spectacular set at the Troubadour in LA. Word is that he’ll be back for more dates this spring, including Coachella. UK hype aside, this dude is absolutely for real, and even the skeptics attending in LA seemed convinced. Most new bands play sets that sound somewhat redundant. Not Jake Bugg. Whether the songs were fast or slow, hard or soft, this 19 year old from Nottingham nailed them. He has been called the British Bob Dylan. To me, he’s slightly reminiscent of Dylan on record but sounds lots more like him live. “Lightning Bolt” is the track currently lighting up the UK and it was the set-closer here in LA this Wednesday. Check it out below.
Jake Bugg – Lightning BoltJake Bugg (Facebook)
* Links and playlists from Rave’s weekly new music show can be found on his blog and be sure follow Bruce on Twitter too!
b3 fave Giraffage takes the whole dreamscape R&B/hip hop beats thing that’s become so popular in the last 6-12 months next level. Stay tuned for Giraffage’s “Needs” mixtape (from which “Thinking About You” is excerpted) up in your area February 12th.
Giraffage (Facebook)
Rating 8.3
“Gloves” come’s to us from Stockholm indie act Nervous Nellie are previewed here from the band’s forthcoming Gloves EP. The track offers a bit different look from NN, the more poppy “Gloves” is anthemic (incl. a chorus that is among 2013’s best so far). Nervous Nellie are definitely a lot of Swedes you’re going to want to keep an eye on in 2013. A+.
Nervous Nellie 
(Facebook)
Rating 8.1
