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Jack Garratt – Weathered

jackgarratt

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)

reviewed by
07-02-15

Shadow Child & Ben Pearce – Nothing Ever Hurts (Feat. Laurel)

shadowchildandbenpearce

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 england (Soundcloud)

reviewed by
07-02-15

Let’s Away – Golden Morning

letsaway

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 england (Facebook)
Let’s Away

reviewed by
07-02-15

Krs – Gyal Thing

krs

Toronto producer, Noir Sound (Film Noir) founder and rising star artist Krs., who we most recently covered for his upbeat percussively-textured bass-heavy Roy Wood featured bootleg track “All of You”, exudes a gorgeous shadowy-vibe flamboyance on his new artfully-beat-driven Demarco-inspired subtle-stinger bootleg, “Gyal Thing”, which excels for its down-and-dirty tropical dance vibe, heated deep-surface vocal selections and incessant seductively-on-point beats. Reviewed by Erin Shay.

Krs. (Soundcloud)

reviewed by
06-30-15

Kid Bloom – Different State of Mind

kidbloom

Get into the soulfully expressed vocal sensibilities and luminous instrumental cheer of new indie rock gem track “Different State of Mind” from LA-based four-peice band Kid Bloom, who transport their listener with a slow-building dynamic-perspective array of full-bodied beats, accompanying soothing-synth accents and perfectly-placed falsetto vocals. Catch Kid Bloom’s free 11 P.M. live performance at the Kibitz room in LA tomorrow, July 1st. Reviewed by Erin Shay.

Kid Bloom california (Soundcloud)

reviewed by
06-30-15

Gallant – Weight In Gold

gallant

Recently signed Mind of Genius talent and B3 LA-brethren fave-artist Gallant, who we recently featured for his stunningly innovative second-EP single “Talking In Your Sleep”, wins us over wholeheartedly with his beyond-gorgeous vocals and catchy melodic hook on “Weight in Gold” his new seductively languid Zane Lowe featured third-release which (like the EP’s previous two tracks) is a 10 out of 10 on the forward-thinking electronic-laced R&B style meter. Stay tuned for Gallant’s upcoming summer-release EP. We sincerely look forward to hearing it in full. Excellent song. Reviewed by Erin Shay.

Gallant (Soundcloud)

reviewed by
06-30-15

Ambassadeurs – Looking At You (Feat. C. Duncan)

ambassadeurs

Get into the sublime atmospherics and deep sultry pace of “Looking At You” the radiant new track from London producer Ambassadeurs which is an excellent follow-up to his B3-featured single “Crimson”; both tracks come off of Ambassadeur’s new debut EP “Patterns” that hits the streets today via label Lost Tribe Records. We’re attracted to the new song’s beautifully-meshed soft-edged vocal harmonies (staring Glasgow musician C. Duncan), muted ambient beats and brightly reverberating instrumentals– especially the dramatically-placed synth accents. Reviewed by Erin Shay.

Ambassadeurs england (Soundcloud)

reviewed by
06-29-15

Frances – Grow (Oceaán Remix)

frances

Belgian-Englishman rising-star talent Oceaán, a B3 favorite artist who last wowed us with a riotous remix of Everything Everything track “Regret”, gets creative and brilliantly deconstructive (yet again) on his stunningly-intro’ed hand-percussion-punctuated jazzy-beat-centered remix of EP-debut acoustic ballad beauty “Grow” (also covered here on B3) from UK singer-songwriter and piano woman Frances (who releases her upcoming debut EP through Communion Music in July). Reviewed by Erin Shay.

Frances (Soundcloud)

reviewed by
06-29-15

Kito Jempere – Monday

kitojempere

Producer/DJ Kito Jempere, who recently DJ’ed at Montenegro’s Southern Soul Festival, creates a sharply hypnotic synth-drenched moodscape on his bold and cinematic, oddly-captivating new acid-house techno track “Monday”. Reviewed by Kito Jempere.

Kito Jempere (Soundcloud)

reviewed by
06-29-15

Aaron Taos – ILL

reviewed by
06-29-15

Rejjie Snow – All Around the World

rejjiesnow

Young London-based Dubliner Alex Anyaegbunam a.k.a. Lecs Luther and better known as hip-hop poet-mystic rapper/producer Rejjie Snow whose unique R&B rapper lyrical style features a careful soft-edged flow that our attention back in 2013 on “Black Pancakes” releases new track. “All Around the World”, Rejjie’s genre-blurring Neptunes-influenced Annie Mac-featured Cam O’bi-produced latest song waxes philosophical about such reverberating tides as “love and death”. The track is one of the first releases to follow Rejjie’s 2013 “Rejovich” EP. Reviewed by Erin Shay.

Rejjie Snow ireland (Soundcloud)

reviewed by
06-26-15

Tuxedo – Without Your Love

tuxedo

Zone out to the buttery-smooth vocal digs, peppery on-point piano percussion and hand-clap jazz-horn-enhanced gangsta-funk boogie mayhem of “Without Your Love” the latest track from new Mayer Hawthorne and Jake One collaboration, Tuxedo, who recently released their highly-lauded self-titled 12-track album. With good humor, the Tuxedo guys state in an interview with Red Bull Music that they sought to maintain a “fine line between keeping it G and Kenny G” on that album for which “Without Your Love” was originally intended; it’s one of 40 songs that the duo created for Tuxedo and then omitted on the release and it actually ended up as an exclusive Japan-only album-bonus-track. Now available worldwide the boogie-subtle funked-up totally G “Without Your Love” is a perfect track to launch in time for Tuxedo’s US Tour (starting tomorrow) as it beautifully encapsulates the duo’s fantastic meld of style as embodied on their new album; a style which is an expertly-crafted well-balanced soulful medium between west coast gangsta funk and profoundly rich n’ synthy 80’s-inspired instrumentally-laced 80’s boogie grooves. Reviewed by Erin Shay.

06/27 Las Vegas, NV – The Bunkhouse Saloon
06/28 Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Bowl
06/30 San Francisco, CA – Bimbo’s 365 Club
07/01 Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom
07/02 Seattle, WA – The Crocodile
07/03 Vancouver BC – The Alexander (DJ Set)
07/17 Washington DC – U Street Music Hall (DJ Set)
07/18 Philadelphia – The Dolphin (DJ Set)
07/19 Montauk NY – The Surf Lodge
07/20 New York, NY – Poisson Rouge
07/21 Boston, MA – City Hall Plaza

Tuxedo (Soundcloud)

reviewed by
06-26-15