B3 lauded Auckland NZ collective LEISURE follow up their artfully arranged catchy-accessible tune “Hot Love” with a golden-guitar grooved new one called “Take It To The Top”, which caught our ear with its strong-melodics, technicolor synth accents and absolutely-LEISURE instrumentally stunning bass-heavy boogie-down good vibes. Reviewed by Erin Shay.
LEISURE (Soundcloud)
Here’s a Seattle 3-piece that’s hard rock, psychedelic, slightly retro, dancy, and much more. The Gods Themselves list their genre as Psychedelic Dance Music and the bottom line is they sound fresh as hell on “Tangerines” from their Pink Noise album. If you’re hooked on guitar hooks, this track will probably slay you. The tune launches with a winning riff that you’ll swear you’ve heard a million times–but it’s slightly bent. There are a few curve balls in this tune, such as the sudden synth solo that feels like a cool lemonade on a hot day. I find their music goes well with The Dead Weather, with Astra Elane’s raw rock guitars and vocals. They just completed a tour of the Pacific Northwest. No further dates are listed but let’s hope they hit some more distant destinations very soon. Reviewed by Bruce Rave.
Check out Bruce’s weekly “Go Deep” radio show; air dates and times for “Go Deep” as well archived past shows can be found on Bruce’sblog. Don’t forget to follow Bruce on Twitter too!
The Gods Themselves (Facebook)
German producer Mogli turns a spacesoul frame to Aussie band Parcels’ great “Clockscared” track. Maybe what we dig most about Mogli’s mix is how he has chosen to set the melody from the original track. Forging an expansive margin for the vocal tune to really scintillate through the mix, the melody is expertly set up to really wow in each line. (One mark of a truly special remix). A++
MOGLI (Soundcloud)
Tune in to Melbourne, Australia duo James & Paddy, or Dividem, on their deep-focus club-ready percussion-tinged rhythm-based dnb-inflected dance jam named “Solitude”. Great track! Reviewed by Erin Shay.
Dividem (Facebook)
“Riding the L” is the latest wildly-cinematic lounge-y fantastical jazzy-horn-entwined funk-centric Chicago-street-vibe-imbued tune from B3 new-fave artist Flamingosis (a.k.a. Aaron Valasquez); a tremendously talented New Jersey artist who we recently showcased for his excellent tropical-beats infused Brazillian-funk doozy called “Momento”. As per usual Flamingosis, we adore the song! Reviewed by Erin Shay.
Flamingosis 
(Soundcloud)
We wholeheartedly recommend London artist/producer ZULU (Girls Music/Zoo Music/Enchufada) for his deeply phenomenal twist on recent track “Wet” by London-based Berliner and Squareglass label owner Robin Paul Braum, a.k.a. Ballerino. ZULU (a new artist to the pages of B3) has kept himself largely on the down-low since the release of his Clash magazine-premiered remix of Junk Son track “Eyes Shut” (very good). We’re fully vibing ZULU’s metallic-drum-studded take on “Wet” which has an incredibly-fetching awesome meld of sublimely-sensuous dance-centered synth-dominated deep-house accents. We think the remix is quite a stunning jumpstart to Ballerino’s more poppy-synthy catchy-accessible mellow-dance-driven 80’s-vibes (which we also really dig). The B3 crew is absolutely tuned in and loving your sound ZULU. Great mix! Reviewed by Erin Shay.
ZULU (Soundcloud)
New York trio Mainland catch a bit of pop-infused remix muscle from pals Fake Guns on new mix for “Outcast”. Equipping the track with a touch more spare rhythm-centric core, FG’s mix brings out from the original’s tune some neat and unexpected melodic turns. Mainland’s Jordan Topf had a similar vibe on the remix saying, “We love this remix from our good friends, Fake Guns. They really brought a whole pop electro element to the song that we’d never imagined. So many remixes totally change the original song, but this one took the original body and changed it’s outfit, or at the least have it a new hairstyle.” Spin the B3 Premiere of Fake Guns’ remix of Mainland’s “Outcast” below. Enjoy!
Mainland (Soundcloud)
Powerhouses RAC and Big Data kicked off their joint “Going Our Own Way Tour” in Detroit on Sunday and to mark the tour’s start are releasing a 2-track cover exchange EP called “Fair Trade”. On the RAC side, the Portland producer connects with vocalist Pink Feathers for a new take on Big Data’s Alternative #1 “Dangerous” adding Garbage-inspired tinges of 90’s and trip-hop; bands and a sound he “grew up….so I have a lot of affinity for that era.”
For Big Data’s part, RAC’s “Let Go” is spun in a minor key around a cool brusque bass-line. Big Data said in developing the “Let Go” cover, “I really tried to approach it from the melody, first. I sang the melody in my head over and over, and just tried to go with my first instincts as far as how to arrange it. I was trying to imagine the song in a minor key, and then the bassline jumped out at me. As I started to develop the arrangement, I wanted to give the song a bit more of a dusty-sounding feel with my mix. Andre’s original version of the song is mixed so phenomenally and the sounds are so punchy and clear, so I thought it would be a cool contrast to hear it that way. I brought in Lizy Ryan from my live band to sing it with me as a duet.”
The “Fair Trade” EP is out tomorrow on iTunes. We’re very pleased to B3 Premiere both tracks below. Enjoy!
Nov 06 Webster Hall New York, NY
Nov 08 Warsaw New York, NY
Nov 09 Union Transfer Philadelphia, PA
Nov 10 9:30 Club Washington, DC
Nov 12 Mill City Nights Minneapolis, MN
Nov 13 Concord Music Hall Chicago, IL
Nov 14 Arvest Bank Theatre at The Midland
Nov 15 Granada Theater Dallas, TX
Nov 16 Emo’s Austin, TX
Nov 18 Ogden Theatre Denver, CO
Nov 20 Club Nokia Los Angeles, CA
Nov 22 The Observatory North Park
Nov 24 Showbox SODO Seattle, WA
Nov 25 Crystal Ballroom Portland, OR
Nov 26 Commodore Ballroom Vancouver, BC (RAC ONLY — w/ Karl Kling & filous) *LIVE SET*
Big Data (Soundcloud)
RAC (Soundcloud)
New promising LA producer/singer-songwriter talent Wavz captivates our attentions with his dreamy high-brow lyrics on new stunning-beauty track “Mondrian” a sublimely catchy thoughtfully-written guitar-drenched mellow-charmer which we love for its profoundly-subtle beautifully-abstract artistic references and stand-out singsongy clever-hooked emotion-loaded quiet-shout vocals. Awesome tune! Reviewed by Erin Shay.
WAVZ (Soundcloud)
Melbourne AU band DIET stream strong debut track “Your House”. “Your House” traffics in the 80’s UK indie jangle that captures blogger hearts around the globe. DIET’s iteration is particularly effective in that while the influences of The Smiths and Bunnymen are clear, “Your House”s melodic qualities (particularly in the hook) and neat guitar arrangements are a synthesis of ideas very much their own. Stream “Your House” below.
DIET (Soundcloud)
Chance the Rapper dropped a free single on Itunes today titled “Angels” featuring Saba. It’s a banger of a track with deep subject matter that ranges from his unborn daughter to his day ones. Check Chance out on the Family Matters Tour and hopefully for some more music. Reviewed by Jake Goldstein.
Chance the Rapper 
(Soundcloud)
Communicating Vessels will release on January 25th Hypatia, the sophomore LP from Birmingham UK band WRAY. Lead single “May 23rd” is very gaze-y, yes, but also very potent melodically and constructed in a way where both the track’s shoegaziness and its tunefullness come through the track in a mutualistically effective way. We like it a lot.
WRAY (Facebook)
