“Thrill” is a playful new song that knows how to make EDM swing. I really don’t know anything about its mysterious artist TRI, but no matter the droll French lounge jazz vocal married with some simple but standout horns and swinging percussion all work very well together. But adding some well-placed electronic effects gives the song added dimension and helps direct “Thrill” to an entirely different audience. “Thrill” is as quirky and adventurous as what Toronto’s Uninvited Guests attempted to do last year with updated renditions of classical Glenn Gould songs (read my post). It’s full of spirit and sustains its four minutes well. Be sure to give TRI’s “Thrill” a listen at the link above.
Just after the New Year, the BILLCS Top 30 will reach its 500th chart! Now I suppose if I had been posting it weekly it would be well over 1,000 editions by now. In this edition, there are so many hot new songs that several get caught in a mid-chart log jam while others continue to flourish near the top. And don’t discount the four new songs that arrive either!
The Top 10
“Closer” by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey will always be a hard act to follow now that it’s one of the biggest hits of 2016. So that’s all the more reason why Alex and Drew should release another single! Below you can hear “All We Know” featuring Phoebe Ryan.
(free download!)Both “Native Son Prequel” by Gramatik featuring Leo Napier in a Jenaux remix (holding at #2) and “Balance” by The Him featuring Oktavian (up 6 to 3) are positioning themselves nicely to succeed “Closer” at the top. But which one will do it, or will something else beat them to it? Aussie teen Joe Mason is already scoring on this chart with his remix of “Elevated” by RKCB at #13, but check out his remix of “Balance” below (free download!).
MAX gets his second Top 5 hit on this chart with the Two Friends remix of “Lights Down Low”, which vaults 9 to 5. And if you missed my blog post on his new project called Party Pupils, with their cover of OutKast’s “Ms Jackson”, you can check it out right here.
The remixes keep arriving for “Rainbows” by Victor Perry, which continues to advance 8 to 7. Check out Zewmøb’s bright and funky remix below (free download!).
I’m very happy that two EDM acts that continue to break out happen to land in my Top 10 at the same time. Tritonal’s “Broken” (with Jenaux and featuring Adam Lambert, above) climbs 12-9 and “False Alarm” by Matoma featuring Becky Hill (below) moves up 13-10. Matoma put on a heckuva show on September 23 in Toronto , where the audience was very drawn to the variety in his set… imagine what he could do with a stadium-sized audience! Tritonal has their turn coming up in my city on October 14 🙂
Movin’ On Up
The fastest riser on the chart this week belongs to young Norwegian singer Jesper Jenset whose wickedly catchy “High” scores in a Young Bombs remix, climbing 22-15 ahead of some pretty fierce competition!
Also making a key move on the chart this week is Steve James collaboration with duo RKCB on “In My Head”, which like “High” has a drop that’s hard to beat. “In My Head” moves up 20-16.
Rihanna’s “Love On The Brain” advances 21-19 but fear not, it’s just caught in that log jam of great new songs and should break loose in two weeks.
Liquid Diet’s “Luminary” from the trio’s debut album Double Life rises 24-20, while they’ve released a hilarious and raucous NSFW video to their song “My C**t” (below) – if you’ve seen something like it before, think less wild and Austin Mahone (also below) 😉
Rod Thomas, aka Bright Light Bright Light, has now proven three times that he can make great albums and not just great singles. Each of his albums has excellent deeper tracks, and in particular those are the ones that register with me more on Choreography. His collaboration with Scissor Sisters’ Ana Matronic “I Only Want To Please You” is up 26-21.
“Just A Dream” is a dark, hallucinogenic feast for the ears by Molly Moore and featuring Brandyn Burnette in one of their best vocal pairings yet. Culled from Molly’s upcoming EP Now You See Me, “Just A Dream” climbs 27-22.
And They Keep On Comin’ … Four Debuts
Arriving at #23, why it’s Brandyn Burnette again (four times in this chart 😀 ), this time fronting Elephante’s song “Plans” from the I Am The Elephante EP. “Plans” shows incredible versatility from both performers, just when you think there’s not another side that can be showcased, here it is! Just a beautiful song, too.
If it didn’t get you from first listen – for shame! My fellow Torontonian The Weeknd surprised everyone with the immediate release of “Starboy”, featuring none other than Daft Punk, and then its compelling video. It should be topping charts everywhere in the next two weeks, and bows here at #24.
L.A. quintet Satchmode write some pretty interesting songs, and one of them, “Undertow” was recently remixed by NYC brothers Anden, which got it featured on Tiesto’s Club Life mix. Anden gives it a late night cruising-down-PCH feel to it, and it premieres at #27! My original post about it is right here. It’s a free download too!
One of the most inauspicious instrumentals of 2016 received a winning remix this summer, which got it to #1 on the Hype Machine charts. The song is “Vague” by Fabian Luttenberger, as remixed by none other than Saxity’s talented Stan Sax – so yes, do listen for the highlight that is the saxophone break! “Vague” is one sultry affair that will be stuck in your head for days (check out my original post right here), and is new to the chart at #28. It’s another free download!
View the full BILLCS Top 30right here, and be sure to click on the photos to hear all of the songs.
Listen to the BILLCS Top 30 Songs on Spotify! Click on this link to take you there, and follow me on Spotify: BILLCS Top 30 Songs
Listen for me with my Pick of the Week at 2:20/6:20/10:20 AM/PM EST onhttp://www.planetradio.ca most days Monday through Sunday, and my flashbacks to a Toronto Top 10 of yesteryear Tuesday evenings at 9pm EST
L.A.-based, Philly-bred Dylan Orvell, aka producer/DJ Speaker Of The House, has great ways to shape a classy deep house groove around what really is a fine pop song. Such is the case with his latest original “Awake, Asleep”. To make it even that much better, he’s got Remmi as its vocalist. You already know her from these blog pages from her endearing vocal on LZRD & Spirix’s “Take Me Apart”. As a result the song has an intriguing, breezy, dreamy quality about it, with a classic melodic structure, and when that drop comes along you are already sold. “Awake, Asleep” goes down easy and will take you deep into the night 🙂 Listen above and pick it up on iTunes.
It’s a great song choice to launch a side project and MAX (Schneider) and his producer/remixer buddy Ryan have done just that as the duo Party Pupils and their cover of OutKast’s “Ms Jackson”. Following on the recent success of MAX’s album Hell’s Kitchen Angel and a lot of touring, launching another venture seems like a good idea. Party Pupils definitely want you to have a great time, so they’ve taken the essence of “Ms Jackson” and turned the beat around so the sway of the original turns into a wicked EDM bounce. This is just the start… club DJ’s would be remiss let this one pass by… with more to come over the next few weeks from Party Pupils. In the meantime download “Ms Jackson” for free at the link above.
Chicago’s Clew is off to a great start with his debut single “Tarzan”. This one will totally catch you off guard with its insanely catchy tribal/island house rhythm. And then you are going to completely dig the way Clew’s hip hop verses flow over top, as they segue into the melodic hook of the song. My only thumbs down is about the overuse of autotune in the chorus, which gives a dated Lil Wayne/T-Pain feel to that part of the song, which doesn’t really belong there. But the song briskly sails by and is an unanticipated blast. Check out “Tarzan” at the link above and just be forewarned that your body might get a few steps ahead of your mind…
UK producer/DJ trio Black Saint arrive with the slick and varied “Could You Love Me”. Even though they call this their “dub mix”, if you’re not a fan of that style, don’t let that label detract you. While there’s a solid basis of classic dub style in this mix, particularly in the first minute of the song, there is so much else going on that is worthy of your attention. “Could You Love Me” has plenty of terrific soulful vocals, including the hook which is over an on-point early 90’s house groove, but also drifts into jazz and dubstep flavours. So Black Saint are determined to win you over with many tricks up their sleeves which all work quite well in one package. Check it out at the link above.
There seem to be songs far and few between that can get a little steamy around the edges these days. On its own, Stalking Gia’s “Second Nature” is already sultry ‘n sexy with a teasing vocal and a funky bassline. Sean Turk’s remix flashes forward a few times with a seductive drop that will help you get that groove on either in early evening or very late at night. So you’re all covered, from the bedroom to the club and back again, in your pajamas or decked out to the nine’s 🙂 Sean’s work has proven to be varied and adventurous – perspective is everything these days in dance music. So this remix of “Second Nature” is an inspired pairing of performer and remixer who have the same thing in mind, just different ways to get there. And you can find out yourself by downloading it for free at the above link!
ARNO COST featuring ERIC LUMIERE, “Again” (Neevo x Eldar & Jack Quade remix)
Fresh off the presses after Tritonal’s Painting with Dreams comes another record on their Enhanced label featuring a bevy of talent: Arno Cost featuring the highly recognizable voice of dance/EDM veteran Eric Lumiere with “Again” in a remix brought to us by Neevo, Eldar and Jack Quade. It’s hard to transform a song that’s meant to be a punchy pop/dance floor filler into something more, but the guys have transformed it into a powerfully magnetic, love-hungry EDM ballad anthem. But it doesn’t get turned down too low, there’s lots of room here to keep you moving in the right direction. Preview the remix above and pick it up at your favourite digital music store.
At a time in this year when some of the dance music coming out of the U.S. is starting to sound a tad stale, there is always Britain and the rest of the world to help kick up a storm. “Your Love” is a rollicking, deft slice of straight-up British electrohouse by E.N.V featuring Little Nikki. It rarely lets up and takes it up several notches beyond so much downtempo songs that are surfacing right now. If you want your crowd to keep dancing without any crazy trap or dubstep effects, just add dance radio-worthy “Your Love” to the mix. Check it out at the link above.
Greek producer/remixer/DJ Aero Chord returns with something unexpected and totally on point instrumental called “The 90’s”. He takes several futuristic twists and somehow marries it to some melodies that will definitely make you recall the last decade of the last century, and the one that keeps popping into my head is “Nightmare” by Brainbug, which was all over clubs in the last part of that decade. So be prepared to slide back and forthfrom slick ’16 rhythms to retro techno and europop. “The 90’s” is worth the trip back in time through your stereo speakers. Listen at the link above.
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