Yeahhhhh. When I first came across this house remix of “The Wilhelm Scream” (b3sci’s #1 track of 2011), I admit to first pushing play just to listen to how bad it would be. And then I actually pushed play and was blown away. Do not miss this mix by NYC DJ Gina Turner.
James Blake – The Wilhelm Scream (Gina Turner Bootleg Edit)Gina Turner 
(Soundcloud) (Myspace)
Rating 8.2
Contributed by Trevor Meyer
Hailing from Chi-town, Innobushu offers up some beautiful electronica for your auditory system. Smooth, atmospheric, and jazzy, “You’re the Only” definitely delivers the mail. This is ust the right track to help you wind down your day. Check it.
Innobushu – You’re the OnlyInnobushu 
(Official)
Rating 8.2
Contributed by Trevor Meyer
Still swimming in nostalgia from the return trip to California, I took a few listens to Old Soul’s self-titled 2011 release. The album features a nice collection of folk tunes and blends elements of soul and pastoral ambience. My favorite tracks are the waltzy, “People Are Talking” and the dynamic “Red & Gold,” a track that draws parallels to older Coldplay and A.A. Bondy. Also, “Caught A Train” is a well-knit piece woven together by a fusion of soul, acoustic, and alternative rock. This album has a lot to offer its listeners. I highly recommend checking these guys out.
Old Soul – Caught A TrainOld Soul 
(Bandcamp)
Rating 8
Delilah channels a sound akin to a 22nd Century Adele. The Adele sort of 1-2 half-time rhythmic elements are there as well as some of her vocal affectations. “Never Be Another” is decidedly more future-thinking in its instrumentation though as the state of the art of British electronic music backs up the track’s arrangement. Into it.
Delilah – Never Be AnotherDelilah 
(Soundcloud) (Facebook) (Twitter)
Rating 8.3
We never really got on the ceo party train when White Magic made its trajectory through the indieverse last summer. Yours Truly recently put out this Epilogue remix version of the LP, one of our standouts is the Sail a Whale take on “Come With Me”. Adding just the right mix of atmospherics and counter-rhythms to put an otherwise blah track into the blahblahblah sweet spot. Listen.
ceo – Come With Me (Sail a Whale Version)Sail a Whale 
(Tumblr)
Rating 8.0
The Maccabees space things on the cosmic sounding “Feel to Follow”. Beginning with a feel-good melody and rhythm figure, the track builds into an excellent cinematic-sounding closing instrumental. Give the sharp “Feel to Follow” your attention below.
The Maccabees – Feel to FollowThe Maccabees 
(Official) (Myspace)
Rating 8.3
Something different to kick off 2012, where my fave is a song already posted on this site. I was hanging at B3SCI Headquarters a month ago and as you would expect, we were all chilling and playing songs we’re hot on. The guys played “Heaven” by Shock. I immediately went for it and it’s been in high iPod rotation ever since. Check it out if you missed it last time, and have an awesome 2012!
Shock – HeavenShock 
(Facebook) (Soundcloud)
Check out Bruce’s “Go Deep” show on Fridays 1-3 pm Pacific, 4-6 pm Eastern, 9-11pm GMT. Also listen to past shows at Bruce’s blog and follow Bruce on Twitter.
Contributed by Chris Gedos
“Last Memories” by Welsh band The Revolutionary Spirit is a demo of big ideas. They’re a new band that’s also a mature band, both in demeanor and the development of their sound. I would expect nothing less from a band called The Revolutionary Spirit. Move the drums to the middle and you’ve got yourself gold.
The Revolutionary Spirit – Last MemoriesThe Revolutionary Spirit 
(Facebook)
Rating 8.2
UPDATE CONTEST NOW CLOSED
Post-post-Britpoppers Snow Patrol recently released their latest and sixth studio LP, Fallen Empires. In fine tradition the album celebrates the band’s knack for crafting a unique style of rich, dramatic and epic pop (recall this gem). We’re giving away an autographed copy of the CD, signed by the band, for you or one of those superfans that you all know!
Just give us a shout and we’ll enter you to win our drawing. The winner will be picked at random Friday, January 6, 2012. Simple. Preview the album track “New York” below and be sure to check out Fallen Empires. Happy 2012!
Snow Patrol – New York
Snow Patrol (Purchase Fallen Empires) (Facebook)
Contributed by Chris Gedos
It should’ve been your New Year’s Resolution to listen to more Motown – especially when antiquated b-sides by minor artists are so enjoyable, as is the case with “I’ll Cry Tomorrow” by The Serenaders. From January of ’64, the song’s doo-wop proclivities will sound even more outmoded by the time Mary Wells and The Supremes break big with “My Guy” and “Where Did Our Love Go”, respectively, later that year, but the melodramatic intro into a verse underpinned by shala-wala-walas is difficult not to adore. Don’t be fooled by this grainy, lo-fi cut, for it’s a solid performance of a song with infectious structure and arrangement.
The Serenaders – I’ll Cry TomorrowThe Serenaders (YouTube) (Purchase)
Rating 8.5
Although we’ve come to the end of the road, still Adele we can’t let you go. We’ve reached 2011’s closing hour and now it is time: b3sci presents it’s Top 50 Albums of 2011. No one’s even come close to having the year Adele’s had. The most albums sold in a single year since 2004, two of the biggest singles of the year, etc, a truly international breakthrough both commercially and critically on a level we haven’t seen in a long time. Adele, our girl, the crown is yours. 21 is b3sci’s Album of the year.
So where the fuck is Adele on many of these respected-indie-press-dude best of lists? That period between Nov 2010 when “Rolling in the Deep” first broke and the lead up to the album’s release in late January, Adele ruled the blogosphere, the fold was united. Then “RITD” got overplayed to the point of absurdity, your mom bought the record, probably your grandma bought it too; those bros that listen to Foo Fighters and Deadmau5 started bumping “Someone Like You” out their trunk. Soon, the “wrong people” liked 21 and Adele’s brief moment atop the indiesphere was over. Right.
Thanks for reading this year, y’all. We’ve got some big plans for 2012. Stay tuned. Much love.
01. Adele – 21 (Buy It) (Read)
02. The Weeknd – House of Balloons (Buy It) (Read)
03. Drake – Take Care (Buy It) (Read)
04. James Blake – James Blake (Buy It) (Read)
05. Kendrick Lamar – Section.80 (Buy It) (Read)
06. Gil Scott-Heron & Jamie xx – We’re New Here (Buy It) (Read)
07. WU LYF – Go Tell Fire on the Mountain (Buy It) (Read)
08. Jay-Z & Kanye West – Watch the Throne (Buy It) (Read)
09. The Horrors – Skying (Buy It) (Read)
10. M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming (Buy It) (Read)
11. Wye Oak – Civilian (Buy It) (Read)
12. Girls – Father Son, Holy Ghost (Buy It) (Read)
13. Real Estate – Days (Buy It) (Read)
14. A$AP Rocky – Live Love A$AP (Buy It) (Read)
15. Sepalcure – Sepalcure (Buy It) (Read)
16. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake (Buy It) (Read)
17. The War on Drugs – Slave Ambient (Buy It) (Read)
18. Charles Bradley – No Time For Dreaming (Buy It) (Read)
19. Metronomy – The English Riviera (Buy It) (Read)
20. SBTRKT – SBTRKT (Buy It) (Read)
21. Oneohtrix Point Never – Replica (Buy It) (Read)
22. The Vaccines – What Did You Expect From the Vaccines (Buy It) (Read)
23. Destroyer – Kaputt (Buy It) (Read)
24. The Antlers – Burst Apart (Buy It) (Read)
25. tUnE-yArDs – w h o k i l l (Buy It) (Read)
26. Beyonce – 4 (Buy It) (Read)
27. Wild Flag – Wild Flag (Buy It) (Read)
28. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds (Buy It) (Read)
29. Big K.R.I.T. – Return of 4eva (Buy It) (Read)
30. Clams Casino – Instrumentals (Buy It) (Read)
31. Gillian Welch – The Harrow and the Harvest (Buy It) (Read)
32. Low Roar – Low Roar (Buy It) (Read)
33. AraabMUZIK – Electronic Dream (Buy It) (Read)
34. Active Child – You Are All I See (Buy It) (Read)
35. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues (Buy It) (Read)
36. Raphael Saadiq – Stone Rollin’ (Buy It) (Read)
37. Cults – Cults (Buy It) (Read)
38. Radiohead – The King of Limbs (Buy It) (Read)
39. Florence + The Machine – Ceremonials (Buy It) (Read)
40. Alex Clare – The Lateness of the Hour (Buy It) (Read)
41. Nicolas Jaar – Space Is Only Noise (Buy It) (Read)
42. Jhene Aiko – Sailing Soul(s) (Buy It) (Read)
43. The Stepkids – The Stepkids (Buy It) (Read)
44. Freddie Gibbs – Cold Day in Hell (Buy It) (Read)
45. Gardens & Villa – Gardens & Villa (Buy It) (Read)
46. Laura Marling – A Creature I Don’t Know (Buy It) (Read)
47. Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring For My Halo (Buy It) (Read)
48. Foster the People – Torches (Buy It) (Read)
49. Explosions in the Sky – Take Care, Take Care, Take Care (Buy It) (Read)
2011. What wasn’t to love? The rise of weirdo R&B, the fall of chillwave, the end of R.E.M. We started the construction of this list over a month ago. One truly epic and extensive Google spreadsheet later, we arrived at this Top 50. We sorted and sorted and sorted, listened through a TON OF STUFF, “traded jabs” on whether James Blake or Jamie Woon put on the tougher persona, etc. Thanks for reading and we hope y’all enjoy the list!
01. James Blake – The Wilhelm Scream (Buy It) (Read)
02. The Weeknd – The Morning (Buy It) (Read)
03. Lana Del Rey – Video Games (Buy It) (Read)
04. Gotye – Somebody That I Used to Know (Feat. Kimbra) (Buy It) (Read)
05. Britney Spears – ‘Till the World Ends (Buy It) (Read)
06. Maverick Sabre – I Need (Buy It) (Read)
07. Drake – Marvin’s Room (Buy It) (Read)
08. Beyonce – Party (Feat. Kanye West & Andre 3000) (Buy It) (Read)
09. Jamie Woon – Lady Luck (Buy It) (Read)
10. Michael Kiwanuka – I Need You By My Side (Buy It) (Read)
11. Kendrick Lamar – ADHD (Buy It) (Read)
12. The Alabama Shakes (formerly The Shakes) – I Found You (Buy It) (Read)
13. Nneka – My Home (Buy It) (Read)
14. Rihanna – We Found Love (Feat. Calvin Harris) (Buy It) (Read)
15. DJ Khaled – I’m On One (Feat. Drake, Rick Ross & Lil’ Wayne) (Buy It) (Read)
16. Adele – Rumour Has It (Buy It) (Read)
17. Labrinth – Earthquake (Feat. Tinie Tempah) (Buy It) (Read)
18. Jay-Z & Kanye West – Otis (Buy It) (Read)
19. Flo Rida – Good Feeling (Buy It) (Read)
20. Bon Iver – Towers (Buy It) (Read)
21. Azealia Banks – 212 (Buy It) (Read)
22. Big Black Delta – Huggin’ & Kissin’ (Buy It) (Read)
23. Florence + The Machine – What the Water Gave Me (Buy It) (Read)
24. Flight Facilities – Foreign Language (Feat. Jess) (Buy It) (Read)
25. Cults – Abducted (Buy It) (Read)
26. Raphael Saadiq – Good Man (Buy It) (Read)
27. Spector – Never Fade Away (Buy It) (Read)
28. Marina & the Diamonds – Radioactive (Buy It) (Read)
29. Afrojack – Lionheart (Buy It) (Read)
30. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – If I Had a Gun… (Buy It) (Read)
31. Active Child – Playing House (Feat. How to Dress Well) (Buy It) (Read)
32. M83 – Midnight City (Buy It) (Read)
33. Radiohead – Lotus Flower (Buy It) (Read)
34. Madlib & Freddie Gibbs – Thuggin’ (Buy It) (Read)
35. The Rapture – How Deep Is Your Love (Buy It) (Read)
36. NO CEREMONY/// – Hurtlove (Buy It) (Read)
37. Ifan Dafydd – No Good (Buy It) (Read)
38. Bombay Bicycle Club – Shuffle (Buy It) (Read)
39. TOKiMONSTA – Little Pleasures (Feat. Gavin Turek) (Buy It) (Read)
40. Colleen Green – Cujo (Buy It) (Read)
41. Foxes – Youth (Buy It) (Read)
42. Jacques Greene – Another Girl (Buy It) (Read)
43. Grouplove – Gold Coast (Buy It) (Read)
44. Family of the Year – St. Croix (Buy It) (Read)
45. Lucy Rose – Middle of the Bed (Buy It) (Read)
46. LIPS – Everything to Me (Buy It) (Read)
47. Trophy Wife – Wolf (Buy It) (Read)
48. Dev – In the Dark (Buy It) (Read)
