Hot off the press! b3sci favs A.Skillz & Nick Thayer mold the smooth sounds of Foreigner’s “Cold As Ice” into a full flex bonecrusher (never scared) of a remix. Look out!
A.Skillz 
(Facebook)
Rating 8.5
Hot off the press! b3sci favs A.Skillz & Nick Thayer mold the smooth sounds of Foreigner’s “Cold As Ice” into a full flex bonecrusher (never scared) of a remix. Look out!
A.Skillz (Facebook)
Rating 8.5
Our girl Marina goes in on her latest single “Primadonna” (the first official single from her upcoming Electra Heart LP) with this piano/acoustic guitar-driven rendition. “Primadonna”‘s class melody is on full offer here with an off-beat syncopated piano providing it an excellent countermelodic frame. The ideal arrangement for this song is, in reality, probably somewhere between this more spare version and the souped up clubby take that’s on the single. We love Marina on the club sound but this song, this particular melody, definitely sounds better dialed back a little bit.
Marina and the Diamonds (Facebook)
Rating 8.2
We got our ninjas in London and they goin’ gorillas. This shouldn’t be so awesome (seriously could another artist-title combo strike more fear of shittiness?) but Kay Kay absolutely slays this. Here’s Katy’s “Niggas in Paris” cover from today she cut on Radio 1’s live lounge. (DoML)
Katy Perry – Niggas in Paris (Jay-Z & Kanye West Cover)Katy Perry 
(Facebook)
Rating 8.7
The Chevin have all the tools to be a huge breakout band out of the UK. They’ve got the presence, the songs (“Champion” is a hit), and as we witnessed last night at Latitude 30, a great live show. In addition to the overall perfomance (which came off really well, the band’s songs translated very nicely live), the real standout was frontman Coyle Girelli. This guy can sing and from look to stage quality, ticks all the right “great UK band frontman” boxes. With the right push & support The Chevin are poised to be really something special. Keep them on your radar.
L.A.’s The Record Company have been one of our favorite recent discoveries. The blues-driven trio, no doubt has great performance chops (that much was sure during their Ginger Man set last night), but what seperates this band from similar but much more mediocre bands is the quality of their songs. The skiffle-rattle of “Don’t Get Me Lonely” and The Yardbirdsesque “I Want Change” were highlights.
BET’s Music Matters showcase was packed. A bill that included Miguel, Nneka, Melanie Fiona and two of our must sees from Thursday night, Kendrick Lamar and Big K.R.I.T. K Dot had control of the house from moment one as he rolled through highlights from his excellent Section.80 mixtape. There was a heaviness and rasp in Lamar’s voice that revealed a bit of fatigue (The guy has been literally all over Austin the past few days) but there was no let up in performance quality as the L.A. rapper 100% knocked it out.
Big K.R.I.T. is a monster. The power and determination that focus through this guy as he spits is unreal. K.R.I.T. is a huge star in the making and his nasty Stage on Sixth performance was nothing less than an emphatic validation.
Sharon Van Etten has a magnetism in her music that is really really powerful. Her performance at The Secretly Canadian/Jagjaguwar showcase was (and I don’t use this word lightly) sublime. Sharon IRL captured our b3sci hearts last night (she’s had our non-IRL ones for a minute now). She was effortless. “Serpents” was captivating/hypnotic. “Warsaw” was straight class. POWER. The demure and unassuming Sharon is a force. This one woman should have all that power.
Melanie Fiona links up with Drake (who co-wrote the track) on new song “Been That Girl”. “BTG” is squarely in the 90’s-influenced backbeat-driven R&B slow jam column. There are definitely more modern touches on the track, hints of Drake’s Take Care sort of sound can be heard but this one is no doubt styled as a throwback.
Melanie Fiona 
(Facebook)
Rating 8.1
“The Don” is Nas’ second and latest single to surface from his forthcoming Life Is Good LP. “The Don” selects for a hot 5-star/alarm Salaam Remi beat and, a dare we say, a ?hungry Nas. Nas sounds at least on a level with his better latter days records, ripping through a series fresh 16’s on the track. Get game below.
Nas 
(Facebook)
Rating 8.5
WWPJ closed out Terrorbird’s Wednesday afternoon showcase, turning in a blistering 30 minute set that caused at least partial hearing damage for a good portion of the house.
Miguel, rocking his newly styled “Tesfaye fade”, put on for all the R&B stans at the SOBs’ Belmont showcase. Mixing in refashioned live versions of hits “Quickie” and “All I Want Is You” with newer less-commercial material like “Adorn”, Miguel seemed to satisfy the mostly packed Belmont. If for nothing else, (the set did come off a bit weird), Mr. Jontel certainly left a full measure of effort out there.
Gary Clark Jr, who closed the Warner Brothers set at La Zona Rosa gave nothing short of a starmaking performance. This is Clark’s time. So versatile (both stylistically, vocally, and perfomance-wise), Clark is still no doubt doing what others before him have done or are currently doing but what separates the 28-year old is his feel and his believability which was on full display during his set. Gary Clark Jr. is the real deal.
We Were Promised Jetpacks 
(Facebook)
Miguel (Facebook)
Gary Clark Jr. 
(Facebook)
TURNTABLE.FM is throwing can’t miss party tonight featuring sets from Diplo (who was on our flight into Austin on Monday. sup Diplo), A-Trak, ?uestlove & Flying Lotus. If you want to be there and don’t want to wait in line (more South by SouthLINEwest amirite?) get an email here with 3/15 and blahblahblahscience in the subject line before 8PM CDT tonight. First entry in wins the passes. Go and get it, girl!
Clock Opera’s much anticipated debut LP Ways to Forget is due April 23rd. Just this morning the UK indie pop act released a vid for excellent new single “Man Made” which you can get familiar with below.
Clock Opera (Facebook)
Rating 8.4
Active Child turns in this blissed out, dream pop rework of NYC songwriter Hannah Cohen’s track “Crying Game”. AC’s mix selects for twinkling keys and guitars, and a plodding pulse. The way the mix cooks down, it almost sounds countrywestern at times; like some kind of spaced out neo-Patsy Cline. Give this one your attention.
Active Child (Facebook)
Rating 8.2
The opening sortee in this week’s official SXSW music showcases was last night’s Pitchfork showcase at Mohawk. Among those on the bill were b3sci faves like Shlohmo, Schoolboy Q & one of our biggest must-sees for the festival, UK beatsman Star Slinger. Hitting a stage already left nicely warmed up by True Panther duo Teengirl Fantasy, Star Slinger had the house on lock from the moment the first bit of space-bass bumped through the venue. Mixing tracks from Jessie Ware & Rihanna with original compositions and new shit (there were maybe 4-5 new beats and mixes dropped into the set), Star Slinger’s brand of interstellar electro booty rap totally wrecked live.
We are HUGE fans of Electric Wire Hustle. Their debut LP (despite being nearly three years old) is still in constant rotation around b3sci. The chance to finally see the New Zealand-based trio live was an opportunity we could not pass up. An Andre 3000-esque styled Mara TK and his mates keyboardist keyboardist Taay Ninh and drummer Myele Manzanza ripped through uptempo joints like the b3sci #1 song of 2009, “They Don’t Want” and then easily dialed down into more smoothed out tracks like set closer “Perception”. The multi-talented mult-tasking Ninh and the crazy skilled drumming of Manzanza were a perfect frame to Mara TK’s mindblower Marvin Gaye-styled vocals. The mixing at Swan Dive, where EWH’s set took place, did leave a bit to be desired however. We definitely would love to hear the trio perform at a venue, less like a shoebox, and more suited to their sound but that aside, the performance the band turned in was class. A+
Fresh off UK tour support for Azealia Banks, London-based trio Dems unveil the beautifully textured and subtly soulful “Inner O” as equal part of their new double A-side release. Get up on the track as well the song’s awesome(!) vid below. Dems are definitely a crew for the radar. Check it out!
Dems (Facebook) (Soundcloud)
Rating 8.0
