Check out “14 Februari” a beautifully arresting re-interpretation of Aunt Sade’s (Happy Birthday btw) classic “I Never Thought I’d See The Day” by Swedish act Houston. Expect a full length from Houston later this year.
Houston – 14 FebruariHouston 
(Tmblr)
Rating 8.6
“Celwydd”, which is Welsh for “pizza”, marks the return of rising soulful electronic musician Ifan Dafydd. The gorgeous “Celwydd” is built on multi-layered skillfully interspliced vocals (one of which could very well be Adele?) and smoother-styled garage rhythms. “Celwydd” is a definite strong return.
Ifan Dafydd – CelwyddIfan Dafydd 
(Twitter) (Facebook)
Rating 8.5
The self-proclaimed folktronica wünderkind Blackbird Blackbird recently let loose a magical remix of the well liked “Even Though”, by Giraffage and XXYYXX. The track boasts a great use of space and really brings out the best elements of the original song, it’s an impressive piece of production. San Francisco based Blackbird Blackbird hits the road soon with Starfucker for a little over a month of dates in the US, and then, just announced, will go to Europe in May with the above mentioned XXYYXX, Giraffage, as well as Slow Magic and Beat Culture. By Brian Litwin
Giraffage & XXYYXX – Even Though (Blackbird Blackbird Remix)Blackbird Blackbird 
(Facebook)
Rating 8.3
Grimey NYC post-punks Young Boys prescribe an enticing dose of new wave inspired synth rock with their latest, “Love Hits”. The band’s aticipated debut LP, New York Sun drops February 26th via Holloweyed Records. Here’s one for your radar.
Young Boys – Love HitsYoung Boys 
(Facebook)
Rating 8.1
Antwon, who’s “Living Every Dream” was one of our favorite tracks of last year, links up with fellow Bay Area artists Friendzone (who have produced for A$AP Rocky & Main Attrakionz and others) for the excellent Sigur Ros(!)-sampling “Automatic”.
Antwon – Automatic (Prod. by Friendzone)Friendzone (Soundcloud)
Rating 8.2
“Kill Kill Kill” by Swedish trip-hop journeymen Club 8 is likely the most chill pro-vegetarianism paean you’ll ever hear. Club 8 is currently wrapping up their 8th studio album, which should see release by year’s end.
Club 8 – Kill Kill KillClub 8 (Official)
Rating 8.1
Jake Bellows, frontman for Omaha band Neva Dinova, readies solo side project with release of lead track “Help”. The deserted prairies of the Midwest stylings of “Help” is just one of several generes tackled by Bellows on the upcoming (cassette only) full-length. Recorded with the backing of the Saddle Creek version of Led Zeppelin (incl. members of Rilo Kiley, The Faint, The Good Life and Bright Eyes’ band), the limited cassette LP contains a trove of new to tape Bellows back material.
Jake Bellows – HelpJake Bellows 
(Official)
Rating: 8.3
Team b3’s favorite crust merchants Dinosaur Jr. are hitting the road in the UK later this month. Along with the tour announcement, the band are releasing a further single from last year’s very nice I Bet on Sky LP, “Don’t Pretend You Didn’t Know”. The new single stays relatively tight to the typical D Jr. lane with maybe a bit more reliance on tighter song structures and syncopations.
Dinosaur Jr. UK Tour Dates: (If you’re not in Manchester or Leeds, sucks.)
Jan 30 Glasgow – Arches SOLD OUT
Jan 31 Leeds – Leeds University Stylus
Feb 1 Manchester – Ritz
Feb 2 Brighton – Concorde SOLD OUT
Feb 3 Bristol – Fiddlers Club SOLD OUT
Feb 4 London Electric Ballroom (NME Awards show) SOLD OUT
Dinosaur Jr. 
(Official)
Rating 8.104
The DJ’s responsibility is to get the crowd moving. Mike Simonetti takes this quite literally. His alias Billions & Billions (with vocalist Monty Luke) actually tells you to dance throughout “The Dance”. You can’t help but listen and enjoy his directions and rants alongside the uplifting beat. Don’t girls love a man that can get them to shake their bodies to music? You like how I wrote that, yeahhh.. By Teddy Pendergrass
Billions & Billions – The DanceBillions & Billions 
(Soundcloud)
Rating 8.3
Moodgadget labelmates Foxes in Fiction and Benoit Pioulard connect on the sweeping “Ground Glass”. The track, part of a limited 7″ being released by Wool Recordings, combines the two principal’s love for blending traditional pop song structures and field recorded sounds. The results of the collaboration, as evident here by the dreamy otherworldly warmth of “Ground Glass” are next level. “Ground Glass” is some of the most beautiful music we’ve heard thusfar this year.
Foxes in Fiction + Benoît Pioulard – Ground GlassFoxes In Fiction 
(Facebook)
Benoît Pioulard 
(Soundcloud)
Rating 8.4
The smokey slow burner “Knew You’d Never” is new from 21-year old Montreal songwriter Kandle Osborne. “Knew You’d Never”‘s hypnotic feel and repeated minor keyed guitar figures helps shroud the excellently written and constucted song in a powerfully withdrawn and remote atmosphere.
Kandle – Knew You’d NeverKandle (Facebook)
Rating 8.0
The collaboration between producer Dawaun Parker and LA-based R&B singer Phil Beaudreau yields another class track. Galvanized by an excellent lot of melodies and some next level production, “Anyway” is smooth and slow jammy without sounding hokey or derivative. We are into it.
Phil Beaudreau – Anyway [Interlude]Phil Beaudreau (Soundcloud)
Rating 8.2
