Last week was exceptionally busy and while I had already decided on my new chart rankings by Friday, I did decide to attend the Erasure and Frankmusik show at Sound Academy in Toronto, hence today’s belated blog. More on the show later, on to chart news.
I’m still riding the Rainbow – End of the Rainbow that is – thanks to one of the best records of 2011! That would be the sinfully delicious “Wicked Baby” by Ro Danishei featuring Simon Curtis (click to listen) that ascends to #1 on the Top 30, and looks like it might hold grip in wicked ways for the next several weeks. That “Wicked Baby” should blitz the chart all the way to the top is even surprising to me. And hand in hand with Simon’s anthem “Laser Guns Up”, which rises to #2, it knocked down what I thought was a sure thing for #1, which is “Made Of Pop” by Eric Saade, which now resides at #5. Two further items of note: Ro Danishei’s arrival at #1 is the first for a female singer on my chart since Lady GaGa’s “Teeth” back near the beginning of 2010 (I know I’m…. wicked). And Simon Curtis packs a 1-2 punch holding court in the Top 2 for at least likely the next month. If you have not sought out these talented singers, be sure to check out their respective albums (End Of The Rainbow for Ro, R∆ for Simon) on iTunes!
Definitely in the mix are the song that everyone’s trying to figure out, “Pumped Up Kicks” by Foster The People, at #3, and Bright Light Bright Light’s “Disco Moment” at #4. In any other year they would both be chart toppers. Right below you can check out the “So Hard” mix of “Disco Moment” by Blx2 himself, Rod Thomas, also available on Blx2’s official site 🙂 Do I detect early 90’s Pet Shop Boys? Hmmm.
Next up are late night New York dance delights in the forms of Jessica 6’s “Prisoner Of Love”, which climbs to #8, and yet another Top Tenner for Chris Glover’s Penguin Prison and “Multi-Millionaire” at #10. Penguin Prison’s much-awaited self-titled debut album is out everywhere but in North America now (due date October 18). I’m also charting the Dirty Vegas remix of “Fair Warning”, which hops to #18 and will certainly join “Multi-Millionaire” as a Top Tenner sometime soon.
Outside of the Top 10 there are several songs looking in with confidence! Matthew Kurz’s amazing independent ballad “Fix Me” is now at #11, followed immediately by the glorious Adele with “Set Fire To The Rain” at #12, and then the Rye Rye and Robyn duet of the inspiring “Never Will Be Mine” at #13. Neon Hitch’s “Bad Dog” is turning into a new favourite as it’s the Fastest Riser on the chart, up 25-15. It’s followed immediately by a third song from Saade Volume One, “Stupid With You” by Eric Saade (watch for Volume Two later this year and hear this song in a concert clip below) and Kyle Brylin’s effervescent “My Fizzy Pop” at #16 and #17 respectively.
Our three debuts were previewed for you two weeks ago at around this time. “Pull The Trigger” is vying with “I Won’t Let You Go” as my favourite song from Adam Tyler’s independent debut album Shattered Ice, and soars into the chart at #22, as the singer completes a North American club tour and is off to Japan. I can’t wait to see the video for Darren Hayes’ Australian single “Bloodstained Heart” which arrives at #24. Don’t rule out a debut for “Black Out The Sun” sometime soon… there’s just that much competition right now! And lastly, powerhouse Florence Welch previews her forthcoming untitled album with “What The Water Gave Me” at #26.
You can view the full chart using the link under ***BILL’S PERSONAL CHART*** to the right, or you can click right here.
Erasure and Frankmusik, Sound Academy, Toronto, Sunday September 11/11
Erasure and Frankmusik performed excellent sets last night which for me were just what the doctor ordered 🙂 I was anxious to see what Mr. Frank (Vince Turner) had to offer up for his debut performance in Toronto, since he is also the producer of Erasure’s upcoming Tomorrow’s World album (due October 4 in North America). The last time I saw Erasure in concert was in 2003 for their Other People’s Songs tour. In this show, there were no covers (yes, no ABBA, no Blondie), but they weren’t missed at all.
This was the fifth time I’ve seen an Erasure show, and I think this was one of their best and most engaging shows yet. Singer Andy Bell was definitely glad to be back in Toronto (“Toronto always makes me horny”). Andy looked extremely fit and basked in the audience’s gaze, while keyboardist/guitarist/producer Vince Clarke looked dapper in red and black behind his gargoyle-like keyboard.
They had an attentive audience that soaked in their new songs like “When I Start (To Break It All Down)” (which is bound for my chart), “A Whole Lotta Love Run Riot” and “Fill Us With Fire”, which may be some of their best songs in the last 10 years, and fell contently into place next to their hits. And what choices of hits they were! “Blue Savannah”, “Drama!”, “Ship Of Fools”, “Chorus” (view a clip of the song from the show at the top of the blog), “Love To Hate You” (I was singing every word to those last two), “Chains of Love”, and “A Little Respect”, and even something a little more obscure going back to 1986, “Push Me, Shove Me”, which most of the audience didn’t know (but I did since I have the Wonderland album). Their 90 minute set closed with the glorious “Oh l’amour” and, naturally, “Stop!”.
While a replay of greatest hits isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, when it’s this well done (despite some poor sound) and highly entertaining, then I’ll gladly have Erasure coming back again and again. The set certainly exceeded my expectations.
Frankmusik’s new album Do It In The A.M. is due at last on September 27, and to get word out in person, he’s opening for Erasure on their entire North American tour. Vince and band performed a 45 minute non-stop set that not only set the stage for Erasure, but showcased the clever singer/songwriter/producer’s repertoire and some of his inspirations. So he mixed in older songs like “Better Off As 2”, not only with excellent new songs like “Do It In The A.M.”, “Struck By Lightning”, “Ludicrous”, and my favourites of the evening “Wrecking Ball” and “No ID” (featuring his gal Casey Carlson subbing for Colette Carr), but with either sung verses from noteworthy hits “You Can Call Me Al”, “Disco Inferno”, and “Music Sounds Better With You”, or well-placed samples of Eric Prydz’s “Call On Me” and Daft Punk’s “Around The World”. Frankmusik wrapped the audience up tightly in his set and the unpredictability of it won them over. The cheerful club party vibe and Frankmusik’s eagerness to please made for an exceptional set.
Last week, we saw the premiere of the video for “No ID” by Frankmusik and Colette Carr. I’m so glad some of today’s videomakers are looking back to not too long ago (well, maybe before they were born but not me) for simple stories, inspiration (in this case a certain movie from the 70’s) and positive attitude with some fun choreography. If it doesn’t put a big smile on your face then back to bed with you! Watch in particular the scenes with Vince and Colette in the video below. And there’s a familiar male dancer in the blue sweater with Boy Robot glasses…
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