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Premiere: AYER – Black Diamond

AYER

Brooklyn’s AYER, the much-lauded project of vocalist Danny Schmittler, today releases the large and immense pop opus “Black Diamond”. While breakout tracks “Young” and “Circle Down” maneuvered within their R&B & electronic music-tinged pop frame with more subtle dynamics and ease of pace; “Black Diamond” aims at and 100% center-splits the target of big, well-constructed, infinitely catchy ambitious pop. From the track’s verses-so-strong they could be choruses to its even more giant refrains, “Black Diamond” is a clear starmaking moment for AYER. Sample the B3 premiere of “Black Diamond” below and look for the track available on iTunes now.

AYER newyork (Soundcloud) (Twitter) (Instagram)

Rating: 8.3

brown8

reviewed by
04-24-14

Premiere: Cousin Matt – Second Heart

Cousin Matt

Cousin Matt is the moniker of a new duo of actual cousins, one called Zach and, yes, one called Matt. From a shared and historic musical lineage (the twosome’s grandfather played trumpet with Benny Goodman and Gene Krupa), Cousin Matt combine a diffuse yet complementary palette as is evidenced on new song “Second Heart” threading together pop, indie, hip hop & R&B into a contemporary melange of standout melody and tunefulness. The intense quality of “Second Heart” is indicative of a very serious talent you need to pay attention. Listen to the B3 premiere of “Second Heart” below and look out soon for a debut EP.

Cousin Matt (Facebook)

Rating 8.5

brown8

reviewed by
04-23-14

Mr. Little Jeans – Good Mistake (Young & Sick Remix)

mrlittlejeans

Harvest Records labelmates connect on Young & Sick’s soul-driven digitized treatment of Norwegian songstress Mr. Little Jeans’ “Good Mistake”. Mr. Little Jeans is doing a slate of North American dates with SOHN next month, details of which you can sample below.

Tour Dates (w/SOHN):
May 7th – Washington DC / Rock & Roll Hotel
May 8th – Philadelphia PA / Johnny Brenda’s
May 9th – New York NY / Bowery Ballroom
May10th – Brooklyn NY / Rough Trade
May 12th – Boston / The Sinclair
May 13th – Montreal Canada / Il Motore
May 14th – Toronto Canada / Legendary Horseshoe Tavern
May 15th – Pontiac MI / Crofoot Ballroom
May 16th – Chicago / Bottom Lounge
May 17th – Minneapolis / First Avenue
May 20th – Vancouver Canada / Fortune Sound Club
May 21st – Seattle WA / The Crocodile
May 22nd – Portland OR / Holocene
May 24th – San Francisco / The Independent
May 25th – San Diego CA / Casbah

reviewed by
04-09-14

LAYLA – Smokestacks

layla

“Smokestacks”, new from UK singer LAYLA, succeeds on its perfectly paced dynamics and huge headspace-filling sounds; that and it’s terrific melodically and vocally and in just about every other quality that you can judge a tune. Listen.

LAYLA Glass Animals (Facebook)

Rating 8.6

brown8

reviewed by
03-28-14

Talos – Tethered Bones

talos

Wow, what a tune by the Cork-based Eoin French aka Talos. “Tethered Bones” has the skeleton of an absolute hit with its incredible production, uncommonly smooth melody and haunting guitar and synths. I am truly blinded by the beauty of this track. Think he can make a quick trip to Austin next week? By Brian Litwin

Talos ireland (Soundcloud)

Rating 9.0

brown93

reviewed by
03-07-14

Premiere: Ida Maria – Sick of You

IdaMaria_AH_DD

Ida Maria is back—in a big way. She’s known for her global hit “I Like You So Much Better When You’re Naked” off of 2008’s Fortress ‘round My Heart. Ida’s 2010 album Katla was superb but under appreciated. During her brief hiatus, Ida overcame an alcohol addiction and has come out blazing on the other side. Her brand new, excellent EP Accidental Happiness is now streaming on SoundCloud and available digitally on iTunes. Ida has always been all about rock and roll, but she’s never hit the hammer harder than she does on this bonus track “Sick of You”. Think melodic retro garage punk at its most wicked. She’s sounds very sick of someone whom she wants to “fuck off”, but the song’s an irresitable fun romp with more hooks in it than a closet. Reviewed By Bruce Rave

Ida Maria: (Official)

Hear Bruce’s “Go Deep With Bruce Rave” weekly new music show on Indie1031/Los Angeles and WSUM-FM/Madison. Details and archived shows can be found on his blog and be sure follow Bruce on Twitter too!

reviewed by
03-07-14

Rare Monk – Ain’t No Sunshine (Bill Withers)

raremonksunshine

Fortress Rare Monk takes their rhythm and soul anchored big rock palette to Bill Withers’ classic (of course) “Ain’t No Sunshine”. And while the RM crew spread the tune out and expand its spaces they manage well to maintain propulsive rudiments of the original’s iconic groove. Rare Monk’s “Splice/Sleep Attack” AA-single is out now on our very own B3SCI Records.

Rare Monk oregon (Soundcloud) (Purchase)

Rating 8.4

reviewed by
03-06-14

B3SCI Presents: SXSW Day Party @ Red Eyed Fly. Austin, TX. on Wednesday 3/12/14

B3SCI Red Eyed Fly March 12 SXSW for WEBSITE

Team B3 is very pleased to announce the 2014 edition of our B3SCI PRESENTS: SXSW Day Party in Austin, TX. Join us as we kick off SXSW Music on Wednesday, March 12th at Red Eyed Fly (located at Red River & 7th St) with a full day of live sets from the best/coolest/need to know emerging talent right now, great food & drinks (of course), and excellent art from NYC-based rising music/media star Young & Sick.

We’re inviting you to THE Wednesday SXSW day party! Entry for the event will be granted to SXSW badge holders as well as guest list via RSVP (below). Be sure to arrive early because we can’t guarantee entry once we’re at capacity.

Can’t make it to Austin? We’ve got you; tune into our live HD Audio Streaming powered by Spacebar and IROCKE for select live sets from the show.

RSVP NOW CLOSED (limited space will be available at the door). Details and more info on the event below and check it out on Facebook here.

Wednesday March 12, 2014

Red Eyed Fly
715 Red River St
Austin‎ TX‎ 78701

Doors @ 11:45 am
Ages 18+
Food Cart at Venue

INDOOR STAGE

12:05 – 12:35 Beat Culture
12:55 – 1:20 Moses Sumney
1:40 – 2:10 Zella Day
2:30 – 3:00 Avid Dancer
3:15 – 3:45 Sivu
4:05 – 4:35 Tove Lo
4:55 – 5:25 GEMS

OUTDOOR STAGE

12:00 – 12:30 High Highs
12:50 – 1:20 Rare Monk
1:40 – 2:10 MISUN
2:30 – 3:00 Wolf Alice
3:20 – 3:50 Arthur Beatrice
4:10 – 4:40 Jungle
5:00 – 5:30 Tokyo Police Club

See you in Austin!

B3SCI PRESENTS @ SXSW 2014 Mixtape

reviewed by
03-03-14

Oliver Wilde – On This Morning

Oliver Wilde

The stunning “On This Morning” is new from Bristol UK songwriter Oliver Wilde. Spotlessly arranged w/ cinematic string beds, hushed drums & some tunefully interesting countermelodies in the actual live violin leads; “On This Morning” is a stylistically vast and varied (and refreshing) exercise in great inventive songwriting. Red Tide Opal in the Loose End Womb is due May 5th on Howling Owl Records.

Oliver Wilde england (Official)

Rating 8.2

brown93

reviewed by
02-14-14

Rave’s Fave: Temples — A Question Isn’t Answered

TEMPLES_Sun Structures

After a string of stellar singles, Temples finally dropped their Sun Structures full-length this week. All the singles are included on the album and the goodness doesn’t stop there. Not surprising considering that this band even comes up with awesome B-sides. Among the deeper gems on the album is “A Question Isn’t Answered”. It fades up with handclapping and a melodic tribal chant over a mid-tempo stomping groove. The song builds into what has been called a rock freight train. Psychedelia is prominent in Temple’s sound, and this tune has a heavy John Lennon/late-Beatles feel. One can even imagine John writing the line “a question isn’t answered if an answer isn’t questioned”. Temples are aiming high, as well they should be. Following an extensive UK and European tour, they will hit Coachella, and then hit a few more US dates before gracing various summer festivals. I saw them last May in England and can vouch for their live chops. Temples should be slotted in the top tier of any list of UK bands with the best chance to break loose in 2014. Reviewed by Bruce Rave

Temples — A Question Isn’t Answered

Temples england (Facebook)

* Links and playlists from Rave’s weekly new music show can be found on his blog and be sure follow Bruce on Twitter too!

reviewed by
02-11-14

Premiere: D.D Dumbo – Crying

D.D Dumbo

D.D Dumbo out of Australia, who’s “Tropical Oceans” track from last fall we dug, drops today a new video for his languid molasses-dipped cover of Roy Orbison’s iconic ballad “Crying”. As if distilling the pace of the 1961 track and its time through the lens of today’s velocity and speed, performance footage in the clip of the great Mr. Orbison carries a tempo that is nearly unintelligible to a modern eye. The feeling of it is quite powerful.

D.D Dumbo australia(Purchase)

Rating 8.3

brown8

reviewed by
02-11-14

Fe – Turn Your Light On

Fe

Fé s recent run of strong singles continues forward with the excellently atmospheric “Turn Your Light On”. On the track, the London-based band ably combine their penchant for singable souful melody and big mood-inhabiting spaces. (The way “Turn Your Light On”‘s tune abides within the track’s captivating groove is particularly special). “Turn Your Light On” is part of a AA-side release coming March 24th on Generator.

Fe (Facebook)

Rating 8.4

brown8

reviewed by
02-06-14