Persian Empire is a new twenty-something German experimental-electro producer, a.k.a. Sam Khatam, who’s sophomore EP “Mongo Maracuja” released last October. B3 recently ran across the EP’s blissfully harmonic ambient-atmospheric single “Jugo” which is an exquisite instrumentally-blissful meld of soulful sultry beats, perfect vibe R&B-style vocal snippets and a terrifically-punchy piano-tickled melody that stands out as quite excellent. Reviewed by Erin Shay.
Persian Empire 
(Soundcloud)
We recently premiered Hans Island track “Let Me Be” the catchy and repetitive, stunning-vocaled gem which features the wonderfully emotive alto-vocals of London-based Dane and rising-star R&B songstress Marie Dahlstrøm; a 2013 Scandinavian Soul Award winner and one-half of the talented up-and-coming new duo , that includes Canadian producer Mawhs. On her most recent collaboration “Look the Other Way” which is the first track to release from the Scandinavian’s upcoming debut summer-solo EP, Dahlstrøm teams up with Baltimore-bred LA-based producer-songwriter D.K. the Punisher and talented UK singer Sophie Faith for a beat-centric 90’s-vibe R&B-soul melange which revels in an artistically impressive deeply-expressive melody that we love. Reviewed By Erin Shay.
Marie Dahlstrom 
(Facebook)
London-based down-tempo electro-pop songwriter duo Oh Wonder a.k.a. Anthony and Josephine, who we have featured numerous times on B3 via original track or remix, just hit the blogosphere with the July installment of their one-track-a-month-for-a-year series; which is intended to showcase their talents under a new name. We love the steadfast-cheery lyrics, subtle driving rhythm and whirring synth accents on the duo’s new July track “Landslide” which brilliantly showcases Oh Wonder’s amazing signature harmonic vocal touches that have come to define their sound over the course of the series. With 66,000+ hits on Soundcloud for “Landslide” in a matter of days Oh Wonder have indeed reached new heights in their popular appeal and gained enough momentum to launch their upcoming album in style. Look for the duo’s new album on September 4th or pre-order it now via the Oh Wonder website. Reviewed by Erin Shay.
Oh Wonder (Facebook)
Quebec-based 20-year-old model, songwriter and jazz vocalist Charlotte Cardin perfects a seductively sultry Amy Winehouse-esque R&B-fusion vibe on her phenomenally-vocaled new track “Big Boy” which energetically revels in slow modern-angle jazz instrumentals and a spectacular female led jazz-crooner sense of style. Look for Miss Cardin at Montreal’s Jazz festival this weekend (July 4-5th) and stay tuned for her debut EP slated for release this fall on trendy Montreal-based indie label Cult Nation. Reviewed by Erin Shay.
Charlotte Cardin 
(Twitter)
Get into the attention-grabbing fabulously-expressive synth-lined atmospherics, funky bass-line groove and stunning silky-smooth pop-leaning R&B-infused vocals of LA-Based Australian singer-songwriter Cleopold (who is the newest signee to Chet Faker/Thrupence label Detail Co.) on his incredibly slick catchy-hooked subtle-beat-driven new track “Down In Flames” which is an excellent lead single to his upcoming debut self-titled EP. The new artist and ostensibly mega-talented and soon-to-be-radio-ubiquitous Cleopold is set to head back to Australia in August to support Miami Horror on tour and put the finishing touches on his EP at Chet Faker’s Melbourne studio. We love Cleopold’s beautifully-refined seductive sound and look forward to hearing for more from him real soon. Reviewed by Erin Shay.
Cleopold 
(Soundcloud)
After teasing us with a couple of very excellent R&B-soul hybrid EP-introduction singles in about a month, LA-native male-female duo The Internet (who branched away from music collective Odd Future in 2011) just released their well-balanced soulfully-street dazzling-vocaled new “Ego Death” EP, which features a fine array of big producer names and choice vocal talents; such as, Canadian producer Kaytranada, songstress Janelle Monáe, rappers Vic Mensa and Tyler The Creator as well as singer-songwriter James Fauntleroy. The EP has an overall-solid steady stream of lush and emotional, vocally-stunning slick R&B tracks that beautifully showcase the duo’s many musical gifts and unique hybrid style (which we think also incorporates an eclectic touch of LA’s streets and hip-hop attitude). According to the duo, who are often known as a collective because they tour and perform live with four additional members, “Ego Death” (out via Columbia Records) is a “heady mix of confessions and come-ons” that is largely about “being vulnerable and honest…growing up as a band and individuals….acknowledging our egos and the egos around us, and learning from life’s challenges”. The best tracks on the album are hands-down the Vic Mensa-featured track “Go With It”, “Just Sayin-iTried”, the catchy-hooked “Special Affair” and (our very favorite) B3 recent-feature “Girl” the superb Kaytranada-produced second-single which we loved for its provocative on point-instrumentals, R&B-blessed sweet-rapture ending and golden-touch vocals of Syd tha Kid (who in her versatility and scope reminds us of the vocally-confident multi-talent style-setter songstress Gwen Stefani). Very very good. Reviewed by Erin Shay.
The Internet 
(Twitter)
B3SCI’s Russ Ramos recently had the chance to photograph Best Coast and Bully performing at the Wiltern Theater in L.A. Here’s some exclusive shots from the show below.
Parisian producer Zimmer follows up his very good Emile Adams-featuring EP debut track “Escape” with a new beautifully euphoric incredibly well-vocaled deep-house second single “Heartbreak Reputation” from his soon-to-release four-track “Coming Of Age” EP that is available via Roche Musique on July 10th. We’re into “Heartbreak Reputation” for its vibrant crystal-clear slow-building synth line, summer dance vibe and breathtakingly expansive overty-feminine vocals from LA songstress Polina. Reviewed by Erin Shay.
Zimmer 
(Facebook) (Soundcloud)
Check out the potent clap-heavy percussion, dreamy instrumental atmospherics and alluring guitar accoutrements on new track “Golden Age” by Leo Kalyan the London-based organic-beatmaker and singer-songwriter who we recently featured for his gorgeous-vocaled subtle-beat-tinged R&B track “Fingertips”. New one “Golden Age” is the second track to release from Kalyan’s “Silver Linings” EP which releases on July 24th. If you are in the area be sure to check out the smooth-vocaled Kalyan on July 29th at London’s Waiting Room for the first performance on his new tour. Reviewed by Erin Shay.
Leo Kalyan (Soundcloud)
On the heels of his April-released “Synesthesiac” EP, immense multi-talent and B3-blog favorite artist Jack Garratt drops a new absorbing multi-dimensional pop-hooked cross-genre first single from his upcoming early-2016-release self-titled EP. Written, recorded and co-produced by Garratt “Weathered” is a fresh and slick radio-ready Zane Lowe-featured track which expertly shows off the UK artist’s diverse musical gifts and persuasive vocal talents. Garratt excels on the track as a singer, multi-instrumentalist musician-producer and especially grabs our attention with his skills as a sensitive catchy-introspective-vibe pop-leaning songwriter. We look forward to hearing more from Garratt over the course of the year and wouldn’t be surprised if he hits our year end lists in some fashion. Jack Garratt kicks off his European tour on October 30th starting with a show in Manchester. Check out his tour schedule below. Reviewed by Erin Shay.
Fri 30-Oct Columns at Manchester Cathedral, Manchester
Mon 02-Nov Trinity, Bristol
Tue 03-Nov The Library, Birmingham
Wed 04-Nov Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London
Tue 10-Nov Melkweg Old Hall, Amsterdam
Thu 12-Nov Les Inrocks at La Cigale, Paris
Fri 13-Nov Sonic Visions Festival, Luxembourg
Sat 14-Nov Botanique Orangerie, Brussels
Mon 16-Nov Luxor, Cologne
Tue 17-Nov Gretchen, Berlin
Wed 18-Nov Mojo Club, Hamburg
Jack Garratt (Soundcloud)
Get absorbed in the unwavering and uplifting reverb-laced 80’s-dance-vibe-synth accents and gorgeous staccato bass line of “Nothing Ever Hurts” the new beautiful-vocaled Pete Tong recent-feature track from UK house dynamos Shadow Child and Ben Pearce, who create an outstanding late-night deep-house dance-friendly frame to effectively showcase the talents of UK songstress, Laurel, who B3 featured in December for her broody modern-pop Sivu-featured Holy Water EP track “Come Together”. Reviewed by Erin Shay.
Shadow Child (Soundcloud)
From the lead singer’s beautifully-plaintive softly-sung vocals to the downplayed atmospheric guitar riffs and sublimely-dynamic background vocal coos, we like the sound of new UK indie rock newcomer duo Let’s Away; who’s track “Golden Morning” was just released as a part of the pair’s recently recorded demo sessions that were created with producer-wiz James Mottershead of British Sea Power, Sundara Karma and SCUM fame. Let’s Away, a musically-gifted twosome who grew up together in Sunderland and later moved to separate UK locales (yet stayed in touch artistically by exchanging music through hundreds of iPhone recordings) finally hit the studio a few months ago with Mottershead to record their first official demos, including the very lovely and subtle “Golden Morning”. New discovery Let’s Away have a very appealing understated and witty dream-versus-gloom vibe that with this one track reminds us a bit of quintessential 90’s alt-rock trio Semisonic, especially in the tone and pace of the vocals. We dig it. Reviewed by Erin Shay.
Let’s Away 
(Facebook)
Let’s Away
