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Videos!

Premiere: Night Drive – Drones [Remix EP and Video]

drones night drive

Texan synthpop crew Night Drive is releasing a new Remix EP for their latest single “Drones”. It’s a safe bet that you’ve already been (or at least should be) non-stop jamming to Bit-Funk’s stellar version of the track for the past week. Here’s your first chance to check out the full collection of dance floor bangers including additional remixes from Glasnost and Crystal Vision.

Also, below we’ve got the premiere for the superbly cut and visually stimulating music video for “Drones”. As the band puts it about their filming experience for the video, “We shot tons of footage over the course of 2 days, and at the end of the last day we were all pretty delirious. Rodney and I were lying down on a green screen and the crew started dropping pieces of paper on our faces. Jim filmed it and we ended up really liking it. Now we have all of this unused footage we plan to turn into a silent detective film.”

Night Drive (Soundcloud)

NIGHT DRIVE – DRONES (Official Music Video) from nightdrivemusic on Vimeo.

Rating 8.3

brown8

reviewed by
06-18-13

Interview w/ Josef Salvat

Sam Hiscox - Josef Salvat - Beach

This week marks the release of “Hustler”, the new (and just) second single from internet and UK based pop sensation Josef Salvat. B3SCI writer Erin Feathers recently caught up with Salvat for a quick Q&A about his rise to notoriety, knack for brooding lyrics and other messy cerebral stuff. Have a peek at their conversation below.

B3SCI: You are quite the internet sensation this year. Congratulations. Do you find yourself constantly smiling or are you overwhelmed by all the attention?

Josef Salvat: I haven’t really had time to think about it all, which is probably a good thing! But when I do it’s a little bit of column A and a little bit of column B.

B3SCI: Earlier this year your beautifully understated ballad “This Life” premiered with a bang. Your catchy maudlin lyrics and vocal cadence have people comparing you to Lana del Rey. Do you feel like you can relate in any way? What sort of an opening statement is “This Life” for you as an artist?

Josef Salvat: The comparisons are really flattering, I think she’s excellent. I think “This Life” is probably more a part of an opening statement than ‘the’ opening statement and hopefully that will become clearer as I release more stuff.

B3SCI: While we are on the subject, what are you most grateful for in this life?

Josef Salvat: The people in it – my parents, my friends, people I’ve worked with – I’ve been amazingly lucky in that department.

B3SCI: How is it finding your sound and image as an artist in light of becoming such an ‘overnight’ success?

Josef Salvat: I think the term ‘overnight success’ might be a bit premature. But essentially I’m still just doing what I want, to my own standards, which is what I’ve always done. The one difference is, now that people are watching, I have to learn from my mistakes faster than I used to.

B3SCI: Can you picture yourself crossing over from Pop to another music genre? If so, what genre(s) entice(s) you?

Josef Salvat: ‘Pop’, as I conceive it, is a pretty broad genre and one that allows you to dip into a whole bunch of different styles at the same time – so whilst my influences might shift around I don’t think I’d stray so far as to leave it altogether. But you never know. At this point I’m not sure where I’d go.

B3SCI: Your latest track “Hustler” is an immense hit amongst the blogosphere. The video is beautiful as well. Can you tell us a little about the song and how the video concept relates with your vision?

Josef Salvat: I guess “Hustler” was me trying to voice the psychology behind certain self-destructive behaviours. I tried to reflect that in the video and draw that distinction between the process of thought and all the messy cerebral stuff that goes on inside.

B3SCI: We noticed you have a gift for brooding lyrics. Is it difficult ever to translate seemingly real life struggles into your music?

Josef Salvat: It’s not something I can consciously do very well – if lyrics come about something then they come. If I sit down and go ‘I’m going to write a song about this’ I’m rarely happy with the end product.

B3SCI: Now that you are based in London, have you taken into the live music scene?

Josef Salvat: Absolutely – there’s no place like it.

B3SCI: As an artist what basic message do you hope to convey for posterity?

Josef Salvat: I don’t really have a basic message – I think I’d find that kind of limiting. And if one appears, it probably won’t have been dictated by me but inferred by others, which I think is usually what happens.

Interview by Erin Feathers

Josef Salvat england (Facebook) (Purchase on iTunes)

reviewed by
06-13-13

Dom La Nena – Sambinha

dom la nena

We. are. in. love. New music from Brazil c/o of the sweet-voiced songstress Dom La Nena and her faithful to the great musical canon of her country sounds of “Sambinha”. Muito bonito.

Dom La Nena (Facebook)

Rating 8.2

brown8

reviewed by
06-07-13

Lewis Watson Performs “Once Before” [Exclusive Live Session]

Lewis Watson elias kdrphnc

We recently spent some quality time in Los Angeles with Oxfordshire, singer-songwriter, Lewis Watson and Music Supervisor and KCRW DJ Jason Kramer. Together we played some ping-pong, caught Lewis woo-ing his fans for a takeaway performance near the Beverly Fountain, and captured this exclusive session at Elias Arts in Santa Monica. Have a look below and be sure check out his new single “Calling” from Watson’s latest Four More Songs EP release.

Lewis Watson england (Facebook)

Lewis watson ping pong

reviewed by
06-03-13

B3SESSION: Benjamin Francis Leftwich

Ben Leftwich Bootleg LA B3SCI

We linked up with York UK-based singer-songwriter Benjamin Francis Leftwich while he was in Los Angeles this past winter kicking off his debut headlining U.S. tour. We had the very distinct pleasure to capture a couple exclusive performances; including “Maps” filmed on the inside of a photobooth as well as an impromptu performance of “Break The Day Open” from his In The Open EP.

Since wrapping his last string of European tour dates, Ben has been recording and prepping the release of a new album. We can’t wait and we will definitely keep you posted but in the meantime enjoy our B3 session with Ben Leftwich below.

Benjamin Francis Leftwich england (Facebook)

reviewed by
05-24-13

Quadron – Hey Love (Live Acoustic) [Video]

quadron acoustic

Longtime B3 favorites Quadron style up a live a cappella trio-assisted version of their hit alt-soul track “Hey Love”. Lets get those toes tapping, people! Feel good!

Quadron (Soundcloud)

Rating 8.4

reviewed by
05-16-13

Listening Party: Daft Punk – Random Access Memories @ the Bootleg Gallery in L.A. this Tuesday 5/21/13

daftpunk

This coming Tuesday night, the Bootleg Gallery in Los Angeles is celebrating the release of Daft Punk’s eagerly awaited, and fourth studio album, Random Access Memories. On this night of album’s release, the club will be hosting a special listening party for electronic music fans and disco revivalists alike. So come get your dance on and get lucky at one of the best clubs in the city as you jam to your favorite album of the summer. We’ll see you there… with a drink in hand! The event is free, begins at 11:00 PM and is 21+.

DAFT PUNK – RANDOM ACCESS MEMORIES TRACKLIST
1. “Give Life Back to Music” (featuring Nile Rodgers)
2. “The Game of Love”
3. “Giorgio by Moroder” (featuring Giorgio Moroder)
4. “Within” (featuring Chilly Gonzales)
5. “Instant Crush” (featuring Julian Casablancas)
6. “Lose Yourself to Dance” (featuring Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers)
7. “Touch” (featuring Paul Williams)
8. “Get Lucky” (featuring Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers)
9. “Beyond”
10. “Motherboard”
11. “Fragments of Time” (featuring Todd Edwards)
12. “Doin’ It Right” (featuring Panda Bear)
13. “Contact” (featuring DJ Falcon)

The Bootleg (Party Info) (Purchase Random Access Memories)

reviewed by
05-16-13

MOKO – Hand on Heart

moko

MOKO, a 21 year old soul singer from New Cross, London offers up a proper debut track (she only uploaded her first song to Soundcloud 8 weeks ago!) in the form of the early 90’s house/school of Whitney Houston gospel-informed track “Hand On Heart”.

MOKO (Soundcloud)

Rating 8.3

brown8

reviewed by
05-15-13

MØ – Waste of Time

MØ

MØ’s run will not stop. “Waste of Time” is the latest in her unblemished record of worldbeating electro-pop tunes. It’s MØ, no doubt, but “Waste of Time”‘s engine is gassed up on a few different types of sounds; namely some very sultry guitar leads and stuttering hip hop-schooled drums. Right, as if you need any more from us, anyway, it’s MØ, get to it.

(Facebook)

Rating 8.6

reviewed by
05-14-13

Claire – Games

claire copy

On new track “Games”, Munich’s Claire distill through neatly-constructed synth pop an interesting mix of sounds and influences for the genre. Touchstones from house, to urban music, to more traditional pop are all assembled here, and done so in a way that’s both different (a standout song in a currently crowded genre) and tuneful (there are three of four melodies here that could be a chorus.) A++

Claire (Facebook)

Rating 8.4

brown8

reviewed by
05-13-13

B3SCI Session: Avi Avital

avi avital

World renowned and Grammy-nominated Deutsche Grammophon recording artist Avi Avital recently linked up with B3SCI in Austin, TX to chat about his musical relationship with the mandolin and to play us the bulgarian folk dance “Bucimis”. We captured Avi doing what he does best with this unique and special impromptu performance at the Bungalow on Rainy St. during mid-day set up at SXSW 2013. Avi really gets into it about half-way through. Check it out below…

Avi Avital (Facebook)

reviewed by
05-13-13

The National – Sea Of Love [Video]

the national

Death, taxes, American Idol & The National. What do our Ohio-born friends have in common these other three entities? CONSISTENCY. But in contrast to those lame to not so awesome things, The National are consistently great. “Sea of Love”, The Big N’s latest single from the forthcoming sixth LP Trouble Will Find Me, is just the most recent in a decade-plus collection of really fine classic music. Sample the new single below.

The National newyork (Official)

Rating 8.7

brown8

reviewed by
05-08-13