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Giveaway: Warped Tour Prize Pack hosted by ITCH!

warped tour

Few live music legacies exist in today’s modern age of pop-up summer music festivals. Vans Warped Tour has kept a certain course, maintaining an annual beacon for the young hearted, punk rock and DIY music ethos generations since 1995.

Coming full circle to this year’s Warped Tour we have the announcement and addition of emerging UK based alternative/Hip-Hop artist ITCH to the festival line up. With a debut album in the pipeline for summer release and two NEW EPs, Manifesto Part 1 and Part 2 (check them out here), ITCH is becoming one to watch. In celebration of his recent addition to the festival, ITCH has compiled a personal TOP 10: GREATEST ARTISTS that have ever embarked on Warped Tour.

Needless to say, if you’re an ITCH fan… or a Warped Tour fanatic then you’ve got to be excited about this exclusive CD/Vinyl collection of ITCH’s picks that we are giving away to one lucky reader. Enter for your chance to win by dropping us a line here. Just say that you want to be entered in the ‘ITCH Warped Tour’ drawing in the subject line. Our winner will be picked at random next week so keep your eye on those inboxes. Good luck!

CD/Vinyl Prize Pack Includes:

1. Jurassic 5 – Quality Control
2. The Specials – The Specials
3. Sick Of It All – Call To Arms
4. Pietasters – Oolooloo
5. Hepcat – Push N Shove
6. G.B.H. – City Baby’s Attacked By Rats
7. Rancid – Life Won’t Wait
8. Sublime – 40 oz To Freedom
9. Immortal Technique – Revolutionary Vol. 2
10. N.E.R.D. -In Search Of

Vans Warped Tour (Official)
ITCH england (Official) (Twitter)

reviewed by
02-26-13

Lewis Watson – Hold On (SBTRKT Cover)

Lewis Watson elias kdrphnc

Oxford, UK artist Lewis Watson dials up a sweet & immediate rendition of SBTRKT’s “Hold On”; styling the song’s smooth soul-driven melodies into something a bit rougher & a bit more vigorous while still retaining it’s heartfulness. The “Hold On” cover is excerpted from Watson’s upcoming “The Wild” EP, which will see release a month from today on March 26.

Lewis Watson – Hold On (SBTRKT Cover)

Lewis Watson england (Facebook)

Rating 8.1

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reviewed by
02-26-13

Review: Mystery Skulls and Ghost Beach @ Bootleg Theater 2/25/2013

mystery skulls

Having become known for showcasing some of Los Angeles’ best up and coming talent during their monthly Monday night residency, The Bootleg Theater in Los Angeles hosted two very promising acts this past Monday. Closing his monthly stint at the club was Mystery Skulls, and having seen him play at B3SCI’s Blondfire show at The Central SAPC this past July, I was more than excited to see his evolution. Yet before Luis Dubuc, Mystery Skulls, could perform, NYC pop duo Ghost Beach took stage with an explosive opening set.

Ghost Beach, fresh off a very well received single release for “Close Enough” featuring Noosa, started to play for what seemed like an unusually sleepy Bootleg crowd. Even lead singer/bass/synth player Josh Ocean, called out some of the viewers sitting down before their second song. The apathy would soon leave as Ghost Beach woke up the house with their high energy ’80s pop influenced set. Tracks like “Tear Us Apart” and “Miracle”, drew the crowd in hinting that Ghost Beach’s live set is now primed, and very well ready for larger things – namely festivals.

Next came a funky, electronic blaze of glory set from Mystery Skulls. From the get go Luis owned the crowd and stage. Firing off crowd favorites like “Money”, “Paralyzed” and “Unstoppable”, Mystery Skulls had everyone at The Bootleg moving along. He finished his set with the Deadmau5 influenced “Ghost”, which has a chorus that even Prince might co-sign. One note on the show itself; you could tell the difference in his delivery and stage manner from the earlier set 6 months ago. The stage presence and vocals were notably fluid, and most importantly, he was focused on keeping the audience involved – dancing and having a great time. Looking forward to much more to come from Mystery Skulls. By Brian Litwin

Mystery Skulls (Facebook)
Ghost Beach newyork (Official) (Facebook)

reviewed by
02-26-13

Stratus – Alarm

stratus

With a tagline like “Are you ready for the Bassline Sound?” would you expect anything less than an absolute monster of a first major release from 22 year bass wizard Stratus? “Alarm” is oozing with bass, hair raising builds and a drop that is seriously huge. The Ultra Records artist, Patrick Stratton, aka Stratus, seems on the right track to be playing more major festivals and more headlining shows in the future, and especially after sharing the stage with the likes of Zeds Dead, Flux Pavilion, Wolfgang Gartner, Krewella, Big Gigantic, Skream & Benga, Feed Me, Adventure Club, Porter Robinson, Kill The Noise, Borgore and others. By Brian Litwin

Stratus (Facebook)

Rating 8.1

reviewed by
02-26-13

Tanya Morgan – For Real

tanyamorgan

Tanya Morgan go and release some new heat. Would you expect B3 wouldn’t be there? NO WAY. Cinci/BK rap crew Tanya Morgan take a decidedly “slow jams”/late 90’s nu soul turn with “For Real”. TM, B3, and Anthony Hamilton, and Michelle Obama, we usually rock around 92 BPM.

Tanya Morgan (Facebook)

Rating 8.3

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reviewed by
02-25-13

J-Louis – All About the Panties (That Mara Hruby Flow)

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Producer J-Louis goes 100% on b3 favorite Mara Hruby’s great Mos Def cover, selecting for a hypnotic after hours groove furnishing the track with a generous amount of cache and soul.

J-Louis (Soundcloud)

Rating 8.4

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reviewed by
02-25-13

Heathers – Teenage Clothes

heatherswinona

Join the b3 team in falling in love with L.A. band Heathers’ beautifully simple and beautifully visceral (really, this song will go straight at your guts) indie rock debut “Teenage Clothes”.

Heathers (Facebook)

Rating 8.3

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reviewed by
02-25-13

Charles Murdoch – Sleeper

charlesmurdoch

The more played out the “Future Garage” sounds gets, the more it becomes “Old” Future Garage, the more difficult it is definitely to impress, stand out, make an impression with a sound that is on the definite business end of its trendiness. Charles Murdoch’s “Sleeper” is that standout and so much more. The type and timber of the beats, the pitched down vocals, the languid instrumentals, they feel real. They feel like the product of an artist who needs to make this music, regardless of it’s fashion. That, and it helps, too, that Mr. Murdoch is also extraordinarily skilled. A++

Charles Murdoch australia (Facebook)

Rating 8.5

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reviewed by
02-25-13

Blondfire – Where the Kids Are (Funk LeBlanc Remix)

blondfire

The all nu-disco all the time cruise liner just landed at B3 station with an ace (and funky!) little mix for our friends Blondfire via SF remixer Funk LeBlanc. Spin it below and don’t be too shy to buy us a pina colada.

Funk LeBlanc (Soundcloud)

Rating 8.3

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reviewed by
02-25-13

Bondax – Gold (Moon Boots Remix)

moon boots

The mystery around French Express DJ Moon Boots continues to grow as his popularity continues to rise. Not much is known about the DJ and on his facebook page it says, “Moon Boots entered the world in the mid-1980s via Cape Canaveral,” though in a recent interview with Set One Twenty he mentions he is from Chicago. All that mystery and popularity lead us to this patented nu disco spin that he has given to the 2013 release of “Gold” by Bondax. Already a hit with the online community, Moon Boots turns the head bobbing, bass heavy original into a booty shaking, synth heavy masterpiece. By Brian Litwin

Moon Boots (Facebook)

Rating 8.3

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reviewed by
02-23-13

Rave’s Fave: Johnny Marr – New Town Velocity

johnny marr

Johnny Marr’s The Messenger album is out Tuesday and it’s an early 2013 highlight for me. The signature stamp of his guitar style is unmistakable just as you’d expect, and it dominates throughout just as you’d want it to. Marr’s vocal style often reminds of Morrissey, leading me to ponder how their many years together might have made an impact. Much of the album is upbeat, but there is a more melancholy track that will please many Smiths fans. That is “New Town Velocity”. It is easy going with a beautiful flow. Marr will embark on an 18-date North American tour in April that will include Coachella, with shows in Las Vegas and Santa Barbara with New Order. By Bruce Rave

Johnny Marr – New Town Velocity

Johnny Marr england (Official)

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

reviewed by
02-23-13

Throwback Saturdays: E Ness – Rest ya Neck

E Ness

You may remember Elliot Ness from MTV’s Making The Band. He was the Philly battle rapper always getting into fights. What you probably don’t know is that he has some really good music. “Rest ya neck” is 55 bars of punch line after punch line. He reminds me of a flashier Sean Price. They both put forth complex rapping but E. Ness expresses style and the new school, while Sean typically rambles over steadily less effective, golden-era instrumentals. Notice the multisyllabic/compound rhymes Ness spits effortlessly on top of the engaging, bouncy bass and spellbinding, spooky whistle. The track is from 2008 and still resonates. It sucks Diddy didn’t hone his skills for mainstream success. By Teddy Pendergrass

E Ness – Rest ya Neck

E Ness (Facebook)

Rating 8.0

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reviewed by
02-23-13