Often featured LA-favorite Wildcat! Wildcat! (who was discovered here at B3) comes out of the blue with a surprise track called “Straight to the Top” (after a year or so without releasing anything on Soundcloud). A straightforward blend of catchy casually-delivered melody-infused vocals and low-key indie elementals, “Straight to the Top” reminds us why we fell for Wildcat! Wildcat! to begin with all those years ago. Reviewed by Erin Shay.
We’re into the latest XLRXR-rep’d tune called “All The Same” from Berlin-based producer/DJ & live act Vincent Vedat, who learned his production craft at music school in Transylvania. A Chicago house-influenced b-side off Vedat’s four-track vinyl-only Hustle record, “All The Same” sports a cooly-expansive slightly-reserved combination of moody-watery synth accents, light n’ sensual rock steady beats and repetitive-natured moody-poetic atmospheric club-inspired vocal touches. Reviewed by Erin Shay.
The genre of “Feeling U Feeling Me” Alicia Keys remixes is a vast and storied one. This new update of the Diary of Alicia Keys track comes to us from Australian producer Mall Grab and incorporates elements of late night house and low touch beats. We dig.
We’re listening to the swoony jazzy-horn-led melange of Cumbia-rhythm-textured world-funk instrumentals, golden touch folk-tinged psych guitar riffs, and sweetly-enveloping sunny Kinks-vibe vocals on new track “Sun City Creeps” from New York-based band Woods (who also run a label called Woodsist). Woods, who we showcased here in 2013 for their roots-y folk rock tunes “Be All That Easy” and “God’s Children”, are veterans who have earned a reputation in the industry for creating great psychedelic folk music. The phenomenal new “Sun City Creeps” is no exception. A multi-dimensional instrumentally-stunning psychedelic/folk hybrid track with a very catchy-hook, “Sun City Creeps” is a great first single to lead Woods’ impending album. Look for the group’s 9th album City Sun Eater In The River Of Light to drop on April 8th. Awesome. Reviewed by Erin Shay.
On the heels of his trap-percussion-drenched falsetto-vocals-tinged ambient atmospheric melodic wonder “No Doubt”, Netherlands producer Sensi Sye turns in luminous instrumental track “Be With You”. Lovely. We recommend the track for its fantastic finely-tuned blend of simple percussion, shimmery synth effects and divine keyboard melody. Reviewed by Erin Shay.
The Peckham trio get inspired by Brazilian pop on new “Flora”. About the track’s genesis the band said, “’Flora’ was partly inspired by the Brazilian jazz singer, Flora Purim. We tried to evoke her rich, steamy tones within our own style, as well as exploring improvisational techniques to form the melody of the song.” We love this stylistic turn for BH and we’ll be looking for the single on Feb 26 through Caroline.
New-to-B3 Cali production artist ZUPER (who is 1/2 of French house duo Milos) wows us with a supremely soulful mildly-repetitive piano-melody-led jazz-hop diddy called “Daily Routine”. Absolutely beautiful. Reviewed by Erin Shay.
B3 fave style-setter producer Krs. enchants with a bass-line heavy twist on “Baby”, the whisper-y Ravyn Lenae-featuring love-emoting acoustic lullaby from Chicago producer Monte Booker. Using his signature sultry bass accents and minimalist touch, Krs. transforms the softly-sung vocals-led melodic wonder into something very sensual and modern. We really dig the song! Reviewed by Erin Shay.
Get reacquainted with B3-featured Baltimore producer/beatmaker Rashad Tek Williams, also known as TEK.LUN, who we last discussed for his luscious and whimsical dynamic-dub-infused sweeping-energetic synth-y mood changer “Where I Was Born”. We’re listening to his latest unrelenting bass-laden beat-dominated dynamo called “Left and Right”, an all consuming track that beyond excels for its cinematic cartoon-esque keyboard interludes. The intense scatter-y keyboard melody (also an artful expression of the essence of the song’s title) contrasts beautifully with TEK.LUN’s intricately layered mix of psychedelic bass-vibes, spacey atmospheric synth, and distant vibe-y television effects. Reviewed by Erin Shay.
Wow. “Body” is the debut single online for London-based singer Elle Watson. What a debut! The minimal R&B/dark pop thing is well-worn through at this point in its trend cycle but this “Body” track, just wow. We are very pleased to have been introduced to Elle Watson today.
LA producer and Flo-fi label co-founder Fortune retouches superb slow-burner They track “Back it Up” to a stunning result. (We marveled at the original from the LA-based duo in October and noted their immense rising-star promise.) We really appreciate the vintage vibe soul chorus sample Fortune adds in for the intro and we think he also does a fantastic job at enhancing the duo’s outstanding r&b-dipped vocals with a provocative sense of cool understatement. Excellent remix. Reviewed by Erin Shay.
