The garage prototype. One of the strongest garage tracks of the year is one of the year’s best songs, our old friend Eliza Doolittle links up with the UK bass music mainstay Wookie for a TUNE that is as equally sultry as it is danceable (a no doubt difficult balance to navigate). Cheers to our pals at (KKS) for the tip.
Wookie 
(Facebook)
Eliza Doolitle (Official)
Rating 8.7
Sydney, Australia duo Jagwar Ma first hit the radar in late 2011 and have made considerable noise leading through 2013 with their, Madchester-esque, guitar and beat saavy psych-pop. Hot on the heels of their Time and Space Dub Sessions EP, the band has recently released their debut full length Howlin (Mom+Pop/Marathon) to much critical acclaim. B3SCI correspondent Brian Litwin caught up with Jagwar Ma vocalist Gabriel Winterfield to ask him a few questions about the Australian music scene, dream collaborators, props from Manchester ‘chief’ Noel Gallagher and more. You can check out the interview below, and for those of you in Los Angeles, Jagwar Ma will be headlining a mustn’t miss set at The Echo on October 4th. Tix and info here. We’ll see you there!
B3SCI: The name Jagwar Ma is definitely one that catches the eye. Is there a worthy story for it’s origin?
Jagwar Ma: To be honest the story changes slightly every time I tell it. I guess that always happens with things you can’t really remember. But The name comes from the combination of a close friend’s suggestion, a found object and Jono’s (bandmate Juno Ma) surname which is a type of Stallion from the times of Gengis Khan.
B3SCI: It’s refreshing to see such a well done music video as the one for “Man I Need” (watch it below). Is there any general idea or concept that you are conveying throughout the video?
Jagwar Ma: Like anything creative there is a concept that goes with the artwork. We wanted to see animated versions of ourselves. I know Fantasia was thrown around as a reference, as well as a few other things. Despite various youtube comments though, we’re not satanic illuminatis. rofl…
B3SCI: What does it feel like to have Noel Gallagher’s bode of confidence?
Jagwar Ma: It’s a great honor to hear of Noel Gallagher’s digging of our music. Though we do worry that it might put pressure on us! I should also add that in that same quote I believe UK band Temples were also mentioned.
B3SCI: Howlin’ is your recent 2013 album release and it could very well make it on to some top albums of 2013 lists. Where was it recorded, and going into the studio did you all have a general idea of how the album was going to come out… and how great it would be?
Jagwar Ma: Haha well I love your confidence in some of those calls, very kind indeed. I wouldn’t say that we knew how ‘great’ it would be, but I do know that Jono and I certainly had feelings and vibes that we wanted to evoke through our music. We recorded some in Sydney at Jono’s studio and even some parts in my bedroom style studio. We did some other stuff at a friends farm house in France, and then other parts we went to Berlin to work.
B3SCI: I hear all the late 80’s/early 90’s Madchester sounds on this album, but there is a lot more going on here. What are some of your influences that have helped you carve out your sound?
Jagwar Ma: Music is and always has been a part of my life, it’s very very difficult to narrow things down to just a few names without feeling like I’ve left someone or something out. It’s sort of like when you sit around with friends and talk about your top ten films. My top ten changes every week. I guess my opinion on direct musical influences do as well. Funnily enough I think that some of the more obvious pop references have gone unnoticed.
B3SCI: How has life on the road been for the band? Has there been a particular date that sticks out to you guys as a moment you will never forget?
Jagwar Ma: There are so many I lose count. I hadn’t written in my diary in a long time and when I began an entry the other day I literally started with “where do I begin?”. But playing Glastonbury was definitely an incredible experience that will go down in my life as one of best times of my life. I watched Azealia Banks and between one her songs she said “thank you so much, this is a great achievement for me..” and I knew exactly where she was coming from.
B3SCI: It’s hard for us being in California to get the full scope of the booming Australian music scene. Can you shed some light?
Jagwar Ma: I was in LA at the beginning of last year and I walked into a store and in the space of about half an hour I heard Gotye, Pnau and Cut Copy. By coincidence I was driving in my car listening to KCRW and one of our songs came on. At first I didn’t agree with a lot of press talking about the Australian scene, but now I’m starting to think that maybe there is something in the water…
B3SCI: What are some of your favorite acts coming out of AU right now?
Jagwar Ma: There are a few, but I don’t want to say, because I don’t want people to hype them up haha I feel like I’m nurturing new saplings. They need to grow on their own first, before the world discovers them!
B3SCI: If you could pick anyone to be a featured vocalist on one of your tracks, who would it be and why?
Jagwar Ma: Tyler the Creator. But the only catch is that he has to sing. I know that he sings on his records, but I like what he has to say, and I think his voice would really cool to capture in a really raw no pitch shifting/autotune/melodyne way. The true voice as it were..
Interviewed by Brian Litwin
Jagwar Ma 
(Facebook) (‘Howlin’ on iTunes)
The Vek man goes in on Fun Adults’ recent (& great) “For Water” single embellishing up the percussion, shining up the vocal with some unique and dare we say mildly innovative layering and giving the overall track a glossier, more compact, can bounce to it if you like finish. The mix came about initially over a Twitter exchange between the two principal parties which is cool enough and has inspired us to throw our own remix request to Timbaland (@timbaland).
Rating 8
The velvet-voiced favorite of the site Jesse Boykins III drops off a new recording in the form of a cover of Coldplay’s “Sparks” from 2000. Yes, that is Coldplay and yes, it’s Jesse Boykins covering it. The Brooklyn-based Boykins does a right on very good job of the Chris Martin-penned tune; if Stevie Wonder was into Coldplay (he probably is) and sounded vocally like Jesse, his version would probably sound a bit like this (one of the highest compliments we can give). Parachutes swag.
Jesse Boykins III – SparksJesse Boykins III 
(Official) (Myspace) (Twitter)
Rating: 8.3
Sundara Karma absolutely. These Reading youngsters display an bright knack for the best sort of anthemic UK rock w/ the infinitely sing-along-able “Freshbloom”. Seemingly able to recall every great British guitar band of the last 20 years in each and every note (a true talent indeed!), you’ll be instantly at home and comfy w/ the tune’s exemplary repository of conservation.
Sundara Karma (Soundcloud)
Rating 8.3
Today, Aussie electro duo Contrakids unleash a fresh pair jams via b3sci! New original “Games” is rich both in synthesized lushness and contemporary R&B melody. While the new remix on The Dolls’ “Summer of 93” nostalgia cruises; taking us back, yes- 1993 summer back… (and for the sake of our American audiences) like “Wild and Crazy Kids”, “Hey Dude”, “Saved by the Bell” graduation years back. For those of you in the Land Down Under, the duo will be performing in Sydney at Upstairs Beresford on August 31st. The show is definitely a do not miss. Press play for tunes below.
BONUS!
Contrakids (Facebook) (Twitter)
Rating 8.0
Who doesn’t wanna have a go at people that think their ‘being bigger than the world’? Newcomer and Auckland-native Cavell slick R&B vocal chops and vibrant chiller beats breathe life into that story and more in “Supernova”. Song is dope. Have a sample at the track and new video for “Supernova” below.
Rating 8.2
Brooklyn based X Ambassadors recently stopped by Elias Studios in Santa Monica to perform a few tracks from their new Love Songs Drug Songs EP, and to do an interview with KCRW DJ & Music Supervisor Jason Kramer. This performance of their song “Unconsolable” especially showcases the band’s various stylistic intuitions, from pop to indie and alternative rock. Check out Part 1 of the session below.
X Ambassadors : (Facebook)(Love Songs Drug Songs on iTunes)
Soulful London girls over dark hypnotic beats; haha, for lack of a better way of describing it that lane of music may be the one we’re digging the most at the moment. And while Abigail Wyles joins a relatively crowded genre, there is nothing here on “Mantra” that sounds tired or imitative; a very strong singular vocal performance and tune well complements Wyles’ collaborator Holly Simpson’s spare but well-suited & unique ambient-touched production. There’s also an undercurrent of jazz (that you really don’t hear in this style of music or really done well elsewhere) both in Wyles’ vocal and in the instrumental (particularly in the verses) that is especially interesting.
Abigail Wyles (Facebook)
Rating: 8.3
During their recent stint through Los Angeles, UK based indie math-pop rockers Everything Everything brought their A+ musicianship and equally impressive melodic songwriting to this live B3SESSION for their track “Cough Cough”, from the excellent new Arc LP. Frontman Jonathan Higgs has explained about “Cough Cough’s” broader meaning “(It’s) about the power of money and the desire to get away from it. It’s also about waking up and seeing the world as an unfair place and then slipping back under the spell of greed… It’s about having no money, and wanting more money, and wanting nothing to do with money at all.” Catch the live session below and be sure to catch Everything Everything when they tour Europe this fall.
Audio mixed and engineered by Pete Min. Special thanks to Jason Kramer.
Everything Everything (Official) (Buy Music on iTunes) (On Spotify)
Sophie Jamieson a new artist out of London UK and her debut EP “Where” are very very impressive. A lovely cinematic mix of folk melody and dramatic dynamic instrumentation, Sophie’s music ably stands out from a relatively crowded genre by the sheer quality of its writing and instrumentation. On “Where”, we’re seemingly drawn in by every verse, chorus and turn of tune; track four of the EP’s five total “I Don’t” with its simple pensive beauty is our pick from the set. Love.
Sophie Jamieson (Facebook)
Rating: 8.3
Pop songwriting oddball Dent May returns with “Born Too Late” the lead single from the Mississippi-based artist’s third LP, Warm Blanket. Recorded in a (at least according to PR) haunted Victorian mansion in St. Augustine, Florida; May recruited locals to record many of the record’s insturmental bits and bobs. Recalling the 60’s-80’s pop songwriting student blend of artists like Mayer Hawthorne; “Born Too Late” achieves it’s B3 Rec’d status on the very stength of its songwriting. Obviously Mr. May is a bit of a hand here, effortlessly blending varying schools/genres/era of melodic construction into a seamless melange of high quality tunefulness. Warm Blanket is due August 27th.
Dent May 
(Facebook)
Rating 8.4
