Last Thursday I had the opportunity to see NYC duo Great Good Fine OK in concert for a second time. They have grown so much in a year as a live outfit (with guitarist and drummer to round out the sound) and created such an upbeat party atmosphere in the small Underground room at The Drake Hotel in Toronto. Their new single “Already Love”, while still beautiful and upbeat, takes a few steps away from full throttle dance music with a more radio-friendly sound that recalls Prince and Hall & Oates songs of the 80’s. Jon Sandler’s voice is accustomed to hitting multiple octaves out of the park, but here it’s a showcase of restraint, also highlighting Luke Moellman’s solid keyboard work and production. Back with this indie release after last year’s major label EP 2M2H (featuring that great pairing with St. Lucia, “Something To Believe In”), Great Good Fine OK should have no problem scooping up more interest and are more than ready to take it to the next level. Pick up “Already Love” on iTunes.
Like The Knocks and Matthew Koma, German production duo Saxity aims to reduce the gap between the EDM/dance producer duo and live musicians. Testament to this is Saxity’s ambitious take on X Ambassadors’ much-respected hit “Renegades”, which features “The Voice (France)” contestant, Canadian vocalist and violinist Gabriella. This rendition is full of real strings, bass, and guitars, which alone make it stand out all on its own. The anthemic quality of the original is toned down a touch so that a more club-friendly vibe becomes prominent. “Renegades” is a really well-thought, listenable, and danceable effort by Saxity that you can download for free using the Soundcloud link above.
A scorching new #1 and 4 debuts highlight edition my 478th bi-weekly chart since 1998 🙂
The Top 10
MAX Schneider’s “Wrong” hangs in long enough to score an appearance at the top 🙂 I couldn’t let all of those Prince-ly high notes get away just yet! This is because MAX has already released a video for a song from his upcoming album Hell’s Kitchen Angel, out on April 8. Check out “Holla” below.
Congratulations to The Knocks for their excellent long-awaited album 55, which was released this past Friday. The Wyclef Jean-led “Kiss The Sky” climbs 4-2 and undoubtedly more songs from 55 will prevail on this chart 🙂
Troye Sivan is a vivid force on this chart with three showings: “Talk Me Down” (below) glides 7-5, while “Wild” climbs 9-6 and “Fools” rises 17-13. All songs are from his continually impressive Blue Neighbourhood album. “Youth” is beckoning from outside of the Top 30 too.
While Simon Curtis’ redux of “8bit Heart” slips to #4, the Super 8bit Heart version of “Super Psycho Love” continues to climb 10-7 as Simon’s “Boy Robot” novel gets an earlier October release!
Fun on the dance floor continues as Craig David & Big Narstie arrive at #9 with “When The Bassline Drops”. It’s Craig’s first Top Tenner here since “7 Days” in 2002.
The fastest riser on the chart has its designs on #1 – soon! Canadians DVBBS and Dante Leon should be all over dance club charts – and maybe even pop charts too – with the irresistible “Angel”, which soars 23-10.
The Voice Season 10 has started up again with some interesting contestants, including Nick Hagelin, who I’ve written about many times and will be writing about soon again. Clinton Washington gave an excellent showing two seasons ago and has produced some beautiful songs lately. Despite the emphasis on my chart towards dance music, his gorgeous ballad “Frozen” rises 14-11.
The rest of the last chart’s debuts all break into the Top 20. The joyous and anthemic Cloudchord remix of Jamie xx & Romy’s “Loud Places” bounds 24-17, and right behind it is the Norwegian EDM grace of “Faded” by Alan Walker (featuring the gorgeous voice of Iselim Solheim) up 25-18 (both above), and rising 27-20 is the both truthful and amusing “u suck” by Minnesota’s Call Me Karizma (below), featuring a cool interpolation of “Why Don’t You Do Right” as recorded by Bev Lee Harling.
Premiering
It takes a lot for me to enjoy a cover version as much as or even maybe more than the original. I love the way that Jonas Blue and Dakota have made Tracy Chapman’s huge 1988 hit “Fast Car” into this introspective song for a highway drive along a beach coast. And of course you can dance to it too, so I’m looking forward to official remixes! This Top 5 UK hit should do the same on North American shores. I particularly enjoy covers when they don’t take anything away from the original. This one expands on that and runs with it 🙂 “Fast Car” arrives at #23.
Another song for warm, late nights and dancing on the beach is “Beat The Sunrise” by SNBRN featuring vocalist Andrew Watt, as remixed by Dutch producer/DJ Steve Void. It’s all warm and good natured for middle-of-the-night grooving and bows at #24.
Sweden’s Hellberg is on a breakthrough with the emotional EDM of “Synchronize” featuring a fine vocal by American singer Aaron Richards. This is just a taste of great things to come from this talented producer/DJ and debuts at #25.
Miguel’s Wildheart naughtiness has caught up with me and I have completely given in. And it makes me ask, almost belatedly, why “Waves” isn’t all over everywhere yet? It could still happen with new remixes by the likes of Tame Impala and one featuring Travis $cott. But I like the sexy original best and it jumps onto the chart at #26. It’s Miguel’s first appearance here since “Adorn” went to #1 in 2013 in his UK duet version with Jessie Ware.
Listen to the songs or watch the videos using the links on the pictures on the pretty and detailedweb edition of my chart. Go on, have a look and listen/watch 🙂
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
You can now hear me online onhttp://www.planetradio.caevery Tuesday at 9:00 pm EST counting down a Toronto Top 10 chart from yesteryear, and then again every Thursday in a rebroadcast at 7:00 a.m. EST on WROCKhttp://www.wlor.net!
ELEPHANTE, “Temporary Love” x “Walking On A Dream”
I can’t get enough of L.A.-based Elephante’s recent releases, and look forward to them when they appear. While he’s in the midst of touring in the U.S. and Europe, Elephante (Tim Wu) concocted a mashup of his own song from last year “Temporary Love” along with the recently-revived Empire Of The Sun’s “Walking On A Dream”. This is one helluva rave-up that should be played really loud, a seamless mix of Elephante’s own diverse EDM style that keeps the appeal of the original “Walking On A Dream” completely in place. This one will leave you smiling. Download it for free at the Soundcloud link above.
JR JR’s “Gone” is a recent Warner Brothers release that’s looking to expand its listenership through a remix contest. One of the entries is this MaxR redux which has Avicii influence in its pocket and EDM anthems in its head. MaxR takes the pop/folk qualities of the original and makes them soar uncharacteristically through powerful hi-end synths and rhythms. MaxR (aka Max Weinik) is a Baltimore-based producer/DJ relatively new to the scene, and whether or not he wins the remix contest, this is a fine job that should turn some ears. Download it for free at the Soundcloud link above.
One of the best rock ‘n roll surprises I found out about last year was the Repeat Deceiver album by NYC’s Graham Alexander. A key track on that album “She’s A Chameleon”,found its way to #5 on the BILLCS Top 30 and was on repeat on my own playlists for the better part of the year. And with such a keen reverence to 60’s and 70’s rock, I later learned that Graham had in fact played Paul McCartney in a few Beatles productions on Broadway. No matter that I think vocally he here sounds more like John Lennon or George Harrison at times… the new video for “Repeat Deceiver” will continue to attract new fans to Graham’s fun approach to a modern version of that classic rock sound. The video gives him much more to do on camera this time than in the past, and I like the studio shots of the band, which remind me of an old-style American Bandstand kind of set. Watch the video above and pick up the Repeat Deceiver album on iTunes.
Long a favourite of mine since I first heard them some five years ago, Austin duo DATABOY (aka Cameron and Adam) return after a bit of a quiet period that saw them in songwriting mode after last year’s “When It Rains, It Pours”. The duo has the unique ability to tread in both pop and dance territory simultaneously, and if their songwriting break has brought more great tunes like “Top Of My Lungs” then we are the kind recipients! In fact, the song won first place recently in the John Lennon songwriting contest (judges included Fergie, Red Hot Chili Peppers and American Authors)!! “Top Of My Lungs” incorporates more voices than just the pair, and the production on this song shows a lot of growth beyond the charming EDM/pop of their songs on the 2012 album Dreams Are Gold. Can’t wait to hear more DATABOY songs in 2016.
DATABOY perform a rare showcase at SXSW on March 15 and 17 🙂
Prolific Australian EDM/dance outfit Parralox recently released a 32 song (!) remix EP of tunes from last year’s Aeronaut album called Wildlife (excellent photo artwork above), containing not only the title song but 3 others from that album including one of my favourites, “Somebody II”. Containing one of John von Ahlen’s best vocals, it’s an uptempo nod of the head to Depeche Mode, one of whose famous 80’s songs is a ballad called “Somebody”. While Aeronaut was steeped in 80’s homage, producer and performer-on-the-rise Mi Disguise gets his young, contemporary thoughts all over the song. He definitely keeps John’s voice in centre stage when it needs to be there, but later lets loose a scorching set of synths and builds the rest of the song around it. This is immensely creative transformation at its best and is so complimentary to the original song. Pick up the Mi Disguise remix of “Somebody II” on iTunes and check out the video below.
LOST KINGS featuring COSMOS & CREATURE, “Marathon”
L.A. production duo return following a lot of interest with last year’s EP The Bad with the gentle and uplifting “Marathon” on Spinnin’ Records. Lost Kings really up their ante with “Marathon” in partnership with Cosmos & Creature, aka Brandyn Burnette and Molly Moore, who also received wild notice for their collaboration with The Netherlands’ Vicetone on “Bright Side”, which I wrote about recently. “Marathon” is a mid-tempo pop/dance song that tells a great story in the unique ways of Brandyn and Molly. Life, love, friendship and more are all marathons that we’re in, and it’s better to be in them together. The perfect place to celebrate this is on the dance floor or at a party. Spin “Marathon” and watch your audience take notice. It’s from Lost Kings’ upcoming EP The Good. Watch the lyric video below.
One aspect of a great song that will always attract listeners is the ability to relate to something we all have in common. “Carry On” captures this so well and will immediately draw people to the dance floor as a result. It’s by some talented fellow Torontonians, production duo Pairanoid and singer Alexandria, whose low and high ranges and power are all used to full effect in “Carry On”, and you’ll want to hear more from all of them as a result. Next up for Pairanoid is a collaboration with Shaquille O’Neal! You can download and stream “Carry On” from all platforms. Always great to hear more local talent emerging in Toronto’s very active dance community 🙂 Watch the video below.
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