Image

Pop

Lara Maxen – Your Anything (Prod. Mickey Valen)

laramaxen

18 year-old Lara Maxen gets a potent production assist from indie pop hitmaker Mickey Valen on “Your Anything”. Valen, who’s had a successful run of singles this year with EVVY and Jojee (who is a co-writer on “Your Anything”) sets a kinetic modern pop production frame on “Your Anything” achieving a good mix of space, energy and flow for Ms. Maxen’s vocal.
Lara Maxen (Soundcloud)
Track Reviews
reviewed by
12-10-15

Jeremy Zucker – Bout It (Feat. Daniel James & Benjamin O)

jeremyzucker

I found Jeremy Zucker randomly browsing through Soundcloud and I am glad I did. Jeremy’s most recent EP “Breathe” is a short six-song display of some beautifully crafted vocals with hip-hop inspired mellow beats. The featured song “Bout It” features a relaxed-vibe beat with a catchy vocal hook accompanied with a couple of smooth rap verses from the track’s feature emcees Daniel James and Benjamin O. Reviewed by

Jake Goldsstein

.

Jeremy Zucker (Soundcloud)
Track Reviews
reviewed by
12-07-15

Lucy Sunday – December Love

C8038935-1F29-4F25-9140-2115F4817CF0

The calendar appropriate “December Love” is the beautiful debut track from Los Angeles singer Lucy Sunday. Sunday’s calming alto guides the song over low-keyed drums and hushed electronics creating for a magnetic envelope of warm -sounding modern pop.
Lucy Sunday
california (Soundcloud)
Track Reviews
reviewed by
12-07-15

LOYAL – Blue & The Green

unnamed (2)

“Blue & The Green” is the very strong debut track from Good Years (BANKS, Lil’ Silva) signee LOYAL. An essentially rhythmic indie pop song embellished by a transporting whirl of electronics and anchored with a thoughtful lyrical narrative, “Blue & The Green” is an impactful opening statement of intent from an artist we’re very keen to hear more from. A++
LOYAL
england (Soundcloud)
Track Reviews
reviewed by
12-06-15

HONNE – Gone Are The Days

honne3

At this point in the year we are on the final countdown to our year-end lists (Best Album/Best Track/Artist-to-Watch (2015!)) and (dare we say) UK dynamo duo HONNE are a shoe in for a pick at (or near) the top (on possibly all three lists). The singer-songwriter pair hit #1 on our list of 2014’s Best Tracks with their totally fresh sultry-hazy vocals-led blusey-folk-pop sound on “Warm On A Cold Night” (which is a superbly transcendent track). We adore HONNE even more (is that possible) after hearing their excellent new mild-mannered piano-led up-tempo rhythm-infused year-end treasure “Gone Are The Days” which we think broaches a new sleeker, effortless (radio ready) sound for the duo that we hope carries into next year (the vocals are especially smooth). Also after having one of the best albums of the year under their belts (Over Lover), the guys seem to posses a seasoned artistic confidence which we think comes through beautifully in the song . HONNE are incredibly talented gents and we can’t wait to see how it all unfolds for them at year end (and into 2016). Stay tuned!
Reviewed by

Erin Shay

HONNE
england (Soundcloud)
Track Reviews
reviewed by
12-03-15

Oliver Riot – Hallucinate

olvierriot

Get lost in the sensational Sam Smith-caliber bluesy singer-songwriter rising-star potential of LA-based twin duo Oliver Riot (Ben and Alex Moore) on their very soulful feel-good, melody-driven, stunning guitar-tickled gem “Ivory Black” which is track #2 off of the pair’s debut “Hallucinate” EP. We particularly dig the dreamy-ambient guitar-led acoustic ending and the track’s superbly poetic lyrics. Reviewed by Erin Shay.

Oliver Riot (Soundcloud)

reviewed by
12-02-15

Foreign Air – Free Animal

foreignair

Prepare yourself for a positively dynamic first impression from new-to-B3 artist Foreign Air (US-based), a mysterious new act who we like for their slick and tremendously catchy memorable-hooked radio-ready career debut tune “Free Animal” which is a cross between some pretty solid classic nineties alt-rock vibes and a more modern Alt-J-esque sound. Reviewed by Erin Shay.

Foreign Air (Soundcloud)

reviewed by
12-02-15

Gallant – Weight In Gold (Brasstracks Remix)

gallant

Gallant track “Weight in Gold’ is likely to make it into our year-end lists (in some fashion) for a number of reasons; one being it’s sheer ubiquity (leading ostensibly to it being one of the most heavily remixed tracks of the year. ) To our pleasant surprise B3-lauded Brooklyn musician/producer duo and electronic-brass-hybrid style mavericks Brasstracks busted out a pretty sweet remix of the song; which is (obv) adorned with the duo’s signature brassy accents (as well as some golden acoustic guitar touches). We highly recommend “Weight In Gold” which (even with the glut of remixes out of it this year) is among the best! Reviewed by Erin Shay.

Brasstracks (Soundcloud)

reviewed by
12-02-15

TĀLĀ – As I Am (Feat. Atiye)

tala3

We’re digging “As I Am” (or Oldugum Gibi in Turkish) the latest track from rising-star London artist TĀLĀ; which is also the last single to release off her excellent “Malika” project (that includes B3 covered 100% fire Banks joint collaboration “Wolfpack”). With a touch of some calming cosmic mid-tempo atmospherics, “As I Am” is perhaps a bit more mellow and straightforward than the other tracks from the EP, yet it still features TĀLĀ’s signature otherworldly artistic ferocity and complexly-intwined exquisitely composed meld of beautiful asymmetrical world beats. We totally adore Atiye’s fiesty mantra-based lyrics as well! Great collaboration. “As I Am” is a superb way for TĀLĀ to top off one of the year’s best EPs (one that may make it to our best of 2015 list). Reviewed by Erin Shay.

reviewed by
12-01-15