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Review: The Colurs @ SoHo House in Los Angeles, Ca. on Friday 11/30/12

Following up a recent and well received show at the world famous Hotel Cafe in Hollywood, The Colurs, fronted by Max Townsley and Drew Erickson, performed a mellow set this past Friday night at the extremely elegant SoHo House. Complete with an 8 piece band, and over looking a cloudy Friday night skyline of Los Angeles, The Colurs played a collection of songs from their recently released self-titled EP. The dinner and drink crowd was especially receptive to the collective’s brand of orchestral pop and in the dimly lit room, the experience both rhythmically and harmonically found the pocket. A highlight of the set was a bouncy, well arranged version of the track “Easy To Love”, as was the beautiful love ballad, “Julia”. Having only formed in Denton, TX in 2011, we expect to more buzzing yet to come from The Colurs. By Brian Litwin

The Colurs (Official)

reviewed by
12-03-12

Review: Chris Malinchak w/ Jonas Rathsman, Moon Boots, Perseus @ Blind Barber in Los Angeles 11/28/12

Beats, birthdays and booze at a barber shop sounds odd but for the French Express tour kickoff at the Blind Barber in LA, it was the perfect combination. Starting off for the F.E. clan was Perseus, label head and featured artist. Weaving banger after banger, the crowd inched closer to the DJ table. Perseus laid the groundwork for a fantastic evening.

The crowd really started to get into it once the decks switched to Moon Boots. After playing his much blogged track, “Sugar” the party got into full swing. Drumming along to the different bass hits and with a smile on his face for most the show, Moon Boots seemed very appreciative of the near venue capacity crowd.

Following Moon Boots, Chris Malinchak took control of the decks with his game face. With a joyous demeanor, Chris really fed off the crowd’s energy, playing standouts “If U Got It” and BBC Radio 1’s Pete Tong backed “So Good To Me”. House was at the forefront of what would be all four sets that night, but none beat as hard as Malinchak’s mix.

Lastly, the nightcap for the French Express crew was Swedish DJ Jonas Rathsman, and with good reason. The walls were literally shaking as waves of bass hit the dimly light bar. At this point, all of the F.E. tribe were dancing and mingling with the Wednesday night crowd. Rathsman’s eclectic set seemed to sum up the evening perfectly; high energy, heavy bass and non-stop movement.

The French Express train keeps rolling, making stops upcoming stops in San Francisco, Seattle, San Diego, Washington DC, New York City and Miami with a TBA event on 12/6. By Brian Litwin

Chris Malinchak – So Good To Me

Chris Malinchak (Facebook)

reviewed by
12-02-12

B3SCI Reviews IROCKE

Let’s say that you really wanted to catch Radiohead at Coachella this past year, but you live somewhere like Chicago and are not interested in paying a small fortune to sweat your ass off in the middle of the desert… what did you end up doing? You live streamed the shit out of that festival! Apply that same concept but on a nightly, worldwide scale, and we introduce you to your next favorite live content streaming destination, IROCKE. With over 2,000 live shows now streaming per month, this new start-up based out of Hermosa Beach, Ca. is at the forefront of what just might be the next big step in the rapidly evolving music industry.

B3SCI recently paid visit to the official beta launch party for IROCKE and received a first hand look at what the hype is all about. Mingling with different bloggers, venue owners, artists, managers, marketing execs, live streaming sources and others, we realized the true viability in the live streaming industry. Live music from Tom Freund and friends (tomfruend.com) was accompanied throughout the evening by a collection of brief speeches from IROCKE co-founder Karl Rogers and representatives of SkyRoomLive, ShowGo.tv, and TRI Studios (Bob Weir’s state of the art studio). In fine fashion, being projected on the back wall during the party was IROCKE in full swing, showcasing real time and live streams from Benny Benassi, Andrew W.K. gigs taking place around the country.

IROCKE is now open to the public. Visit the site and the first thing you will notice on the home page is an intuitive layout and design. It’s simple to use and easy to navigate, with many cool features, like sortable live shows by genre and other criteria. Also, members who choose to sign-up with IROCKE have the ability to click on an artist and see where they are playing next and what live streams have already happened. As a member of IROCKE, you can personalize your own profile with RSVPs for streams, sharing capabilities with friends and more. Throw in the fact that membership to join is currently free – and you have a winning recipe. With an expanding roster of live streams, IROCKE is the new source for live streaming music performances worldwide. By Brian Litwin

IROCKE california (Official)

reviewed by
11-28-12

Laid Back – Fly Away (Poolside Edit)

Our friends at Poolside released a freebie today, just in time to chill everyone out as the Thanksgiving break approaches. “Fly Away”, originally released in 1983 off the well received sophomore album Keep Smiling by Laid Back, gets a daytime disco spin and we approve. Poolside is south of the border this weekend for some spot dates before heading back to North America to play Chicago, Toronto and closing the year at the Snow Globe Music Festival in Lake Tahoe, CA. By Brian Litwin

Laid Back – Fly Away (Poolside Edit)

Poolside california (Facebook)

Rating 8.2

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reviewed by
11-21-12

The Townhouses – Talk (feat Giorgio Tuma)

An astonishingly beautiful track from Melbourne’s The Townhouses (Yes Please Records) with Italian vocalist Giorgio Tuma (Elefant Records) came across my playlist today and I immediately stopped what I was doing. With the track’s notes seemingly bouncing off each other, tribal beats supporting it’s lofty vocals, and sleepy chords in effortless progression, one wonders why this artist hasn’t seen more buzz than already garnered. The Townhouses new album Diaspora will be released on 11/20, which includes “Talk” and the album’s more hyped title track, “Diaspora”, also featuring Yes Please label mate Guerre. By Brian Litwin

The Townhouses (Facebook)

Rating 8

reviewed by
11-16-12

The Aves – In Vogue

Aussie quartet, The Aves, came stateside recently to record their new digital EP Anywhere Else. Fronted by lead singer and rhythm guitar player Lucy Campbell, The Aves have a very clean, garage-pop sound that’s amply explored with their single “In Vouge”. Having toured most of the major markets in the world, and with some catchy tunes to boot, The Aves are gaining steam as ones worth keeping on your radar. By Brian Litwin

The Aves (Facebook)

Rating 8.1

reviewed by
11-16-12

Different Sleep – Be My Center

We’ve seen a slew of young DJs/Producers arise in the online music community as of late. Rafa Alvarez aka Different Sleep seems to be next in line. Born in San Diego, but based now in Chicago, the 19 year old knows how to lay down an excellent chill track. On his track “Be My Center”, a gradual crescendo leads a climactic arrangement of gliding synths, finally winding down to a smooth beat. Different Sleep has also recently caught some buzz for his incredible reworking of California Wives’ track, “Tokyo”. Sample both tracks below. By Brian Litwin

Different Sleep – Be My Center

California Wives – Tokyo (Different Sleep Remix)

Different Sleep (Facebook)

Rating 8.3

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reviewed by
11-13-12

Roosevelt – Soleil

Having opened for the likes of Hot Chip and Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, and thus recently being signed to the Berlin-London dance collective/record label that houses Hot Chip, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, and Disclosure amongst others, one would think that Marius Lauber aka Roosevelt is the next best thing coming out of Germany and the Euro Electro-Pop scene. A release like “Soleil”, only helps back up such a claim. With a sunny disposition and indie dance beat, I can’t help but think about driving on the Pacific Coast Highway and just staring into the Ocean. Roosevelt has some spot dates to end the year in Germany, Belgium, Paris and Luxembourg, but we’ll expect him to be State side for different shows/fests very soon. By Brian Litwin

Roosevelt – Soleil

Roosevelt (Facebook) (Purchase)

Rating 8.4

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reviewed by
11-12-12

Ellie Goulding – Anything Could Happen (VEVO GO Session)

Ellie Goulding recently layed down this intimate acoustic version of her single “Anything Could Happen” while rooftop at The Standard Hotel in Downtown LA, for an exclusive session with VEVO GO. Some of team B3SCI were in the audience for the taping of this secret set and we must say… we were quite impressed with the singer-songwriter. Fighting the noise of the busy downtown streets below and even helicopters above, Ellie and her band nailed the performace with noteworty grace. Ms. Goulding’s new album Halcyon is out now and Ellie will be going on tour again this December. Needless to say her show is a don’t miss. Words by Brian Litwin / Photos by Russ Ramos

Ellie Goulding (Official) (Purchase Halcyon on iTunes)

reviewed by
11-09-12

Teen Daze – Spirit

With all the madness that is election Tuesday, I thought it would be nice to spin some chillwave from Teen Daze on B3SCI. From the just released album The Inner Mansions, “Spirit” lets you escape from the pundits, poll conspiracies and ‘new experts’ of politics on Facebook. By Brian Litwin

Teen Daze – Spirit

Teen Daze canada (Facebook)

Rating 8.1

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reviewed by
11-06-12

Foals – Inhaler

Released today we have the new single from Foals titled, “Inhaler”. Though their third album, Holy Fire isn’t coming out until Feb. 2013, the buzz is growing and this first single is just adding to it. With a steep rise in intensity in every instrument, you can’t just help but rock your head back and forth to the beat. If the album is constructed like this song, expect huge things to come Foals way. By Brian Litwin

Foals – Inhaler

Foals england (Official)

Rating 8.7

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reviewed by
11-05-12

Glen Martin – This Is All We Know

Los Angeles transplant from Michigan’s UP (that’s upper peninsula for those not familiar with the area) Glen Martin recently released his first EP titled Electric Baby. This self-released, 5 song EP exudes Americana with a catchy mix of indie and folk. A standout on the release is the lead off track, “This Is All We Know”, which has a kick back, tap your foot, and sip some whiskey kind of feel. By Brian Litwin

Glen Martin (Facebook)

Rating 8.1

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reviewed by
11-05-12