Image

TEK.LUN – Ar

teklun

Baltimore producer Rashad Tek Williams, a.k.a. TEK.LUN, who we last featured for his fabulously whimsical house/future bass dance-floor stomper “G Spot”, creates an incredibly artful meld of vibrant sizzlingly-slow sultry come-hither experimental beats and a sublimely dark church-bell-infused synthed-out-organ-vibe on new track “Ar”, a superbly subterranean original-instrumental which brings a refreshing yang-balance to the current slew of summery remixes! Reviewed by Erin Shay.

TEK.LUN maryland (Soundcloud)

reviewed by
07-31-15

Pure Bathing Culture – Pray For Rain

purebathingculture

Portland duo Pure Bathing Culture preview what is to come from their second album, Pray For Rain, with the recently released eponymous single. Layers of lush guitar and synth on “Pray For Rain” showcase how the group has really refined their sound, potenially paving the way for a breakout album. Listen to the song below and see them live starting in August. Reviewed by Tony Perkis.

Pure Bathing Culture oregon (Label)

reviewed by
07-31-15

Empress Of – Kitty Kat

kittykat

We fully appreciate new track “Kitty Kat” from New York artist Lorely Rodriguez a.k.a. Empress Of for its very unique superbly-edgy synth-led sound, sweet hot-tempered severity and awesome Siouxsie and the Banshees punk-as-f feminist-vibe vocals. The new track is the second single to release off of Empress Of’s upcoming “Me” EP after her excellent EP debut-single “Water Water” which was originally out in Spanish as “Agua Agua”. Reviewed by Erin Shay.

Empress Of (Soundcloud)

reviewed by
07-31-15

Tom Misch – In The Midst Of It All (Feat. Sam Wills)

tommisch2

A B3 favorite, London multi-instrumentalist producer/vocalist Tom Misch, turns in a stunner Sam Wills-vocaled original track “In The Midst Of It All” which playfully traverses a quietly-subtle melody and folky-guitar-infused overt simplicity that pleases our ears and brings out the bright side in our day. Good news for fans of Tom Misch, he plans to release a new track every Thursday in August until his upcoming Beat Tape 2 drops on August 28th; “In The Midst Of It All” is his first single to release from the compilation. We really dig the song’s vibrantly calming instrumentals, amazing soft-sultry hum-along vocals, and warm-cheerful bell-tone-saturated atmospheric vibe. Awesome song. Reviewed by Erin Shay.

Tom Misch england (Soundcloud)

reviewed by
07-31-15

Beat Connection – So Good

beatconnection

Summer vibes are alive on the infectious “So Good” from Seattle band Beat Connection. Though not a new song (played here on KEXP back in 2013 (approx 20:02), the dudes got a new deal (ANTI- Records) and are, as it follows, prepping a new album due out in the fall. Scope “So Good” below. Reviewed by Tony Perkis.

Beat Connection (Facebook)

reviewed by
07-30-15

FKJ – Drops (Feat. Tom Bailey)

FKJ

We like Darius-pal collaborator and B3-featured producer FKJ (last discussed here in conjunction with “Ô”) who recently teamed up with r&b vocalist Tom Bailey for a gorgeous-melody-driven tone-centered superb-vocals-led track called “Drops” which we think beyond excels for Tom Bailey’s luminescent deeply-soulful vocals (which go through a beautiful transformation during the song) and FKJ’s incredible brightly-laced instrumental sentiments. Awesome collaboration. Reviewed by Erin Shay.

FKJ (Soundcloud)

reviewed by
07-30-15

Jungle – Time (Darius Remix)

jungle

Imagine the pleasant surprise we encountered in finding a remix from new fave, Darius after just showcasing his recent superbly-captivating soundscape “Ô” created with fellow French producer and collaborator pal FKJ (French Kiwi Juice). We’re totally into Darius’ newest track, a brightly-playful soul-tinged upscale-cosmo-vibed remix of former B3SCI Records rep’ed-artist Jungle; which is a suitably smooth sentimental ride on something fantastic with its delicate (yet dramatic) piano tones, atmospheric French Touch (nu-disco) accents and sweet-natured dance floor feels. Really good stuff! Reviewed by Erin Shay.

Darius (Soundcloud)

reviewed by
07-30-15

Paisley – Yozakura

paisley

Spend a little time with the 4:20 minute dream-scape known as Part 1 from squad wave producer Paisley who floors us with an instrumentally-lustrous jazz-inspired keyboard-tone-touched beat-led sampler (tracks 1-3) from their “Hanama” EP, out now via Blvnt Records. Reviewed by Erin Shay.

Paisley (Soundcloud)

reviewed by
07-30-15

Fake Palms – Sparkles

fakepalms

Fake Palms is a four-piece Toronto-based lo-fi post-punk noise-pop group (begun in 2011 as a solo bedroom music project of front man Michael Le Riche) that prides itself on a natural effects-free style, sensible pop-driven vocals and righteously-heavy garage-gritty indie instrumentals from the group’s newest members (Slim Twig drummer Simone TB, Patrick Marshall of Burning Love/Nice Head and Lane Halley from Hooded Fang). With the addition of the new members (in 2015) Fake Palms is set unleash their fully-raucous self-titled debut album (which is based on demos from le Riche) via Buzz on August 28, 2015. We totally dig the EP’s stellar new poppy-hummable feedback-heavy distorted-rhythm-riffed second single “Sparkles” (which follows the group’s April career-debut track “Sun Drips”) for its finely-tuned balance between a loaded barrage of heavy-metallic-percussion-led instrumentals and le Riche’s divinely-spun poppy vocals. Apparently, Fake Palms created “Sparkles” in two very focused hours; Le Riche says it was “an experiment to see how off center we could get musically, counterbalanced with classic pop melodies… at the end of the day we’re trying to make music that you can hum along to”. Be sure to catch the new instrumentally-improved Fake Palms on tour during the late summer/early fall starting with an August 22nd start date in Montreal. Reviewed by Erin Shay.

8/22 Montreal, QC @ Bar L’Esco
8/23 Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Necktie
8/24 Brooklyn, NY @ Palisades
8/25 Baltimore, MD @ The Crown
8/26 Washington, DC @ DC9
8/27 Chapel Hill, NC @ The Cave
8/28 Athens, GA @ Caledonia Lounge
8/29 Nashville, TN @ The Crying Wolf
8/30 Detroit, MI @ PJ’s Lager House
9/10 Toronto, ON @ Silver Dollar
9/11 Chicago, IL @ Subterranean
9/12 London, ON @ Call The Office

Fake Palms (Facebook)

reviewed by
07-30-15

TENDER – Legion

tender

We adore the warmly-inviting profoundly-lovely poetic-dreamy vocal feels and stunningly emotive synth-led instrumental presence of new track “Legion” a sublimely melodic downtempo-paced dynamo from the new-to-B3 UK newcomer-act aptly called Tender, which is comprised of a core group of long-time producer friends. “Legion” is the debut track for Tender who also just released a new one today called “Armor”; which excels equally for its mildly-delivered vulnerable-sided vocals, soft-falling-instrumentals-based undercurrent and a sweetly-reverberant overall sense-calming vibe. We are impressed with the simple accomplished quality of Tender and (despite this short encounter) have placed them on our mental list of 2015 new artists to watch. Reviewed by Erin Shay.

TENDER england (Soundcloud)

reviewed by
07-30-15