Check out the soothing, gentle “Chestnut Spoke to Maple” by Toronto’s @Justin Nozuka

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JUSTIN NOZUKA, Chestnut Spoke To Maple (EP)

I didn’t see this one coming when it dropped early last month, but immensely talented Toronto singer/songwriter Justin Nozuka released Chestnut Spoke To Maple, a four-song EP, kind of out of nowhere, and not really as a follow up to 2014’s bold and experimental Ulysees. It was recorded after a series of acoustic shows which Justin performed throughout last year, as well as opening for the likes of Brian Wilson.  There’s always a lot of deliberate quiet and rawness in some of Justin’s songs, and this EP basks in peace, tranquility, love, and being at one with nature.  The gentle zinger here is a stripped down rendition of Sade’s By Your Side (originally from the 2000 Lovers Rock album) which Justin reinterprets and makes his own.  The EP is rounded out by the soothing ear candy of “September Grass” and “Moonlight”, while only “Willow” seems to fade into the background well before it ends.  Overall though, Chestnut Spoke To Maple is the kind of record to play when you need a distraction or to relax, knowing that someone like Justin Nozuka can make it all feel better for its duration.

The Voice season 9 contestant @Chance_Pena scores with low-fi original “1965”

https://soundcloud.com/chance-pena/1965a

CHANCE PENA, “1965”

15 year old Texas singer Chance Peña was a dark horse Top 20 contestant on the most recent season of “The Voice”, but you couldn’t help but root for him with his sincere performances that soared beyond his young years.  He was too-harshly critiqued for his performance of Imagine Dragons’ “Demons” (below) on the show – I personally thought it was the best of that night, honest and vulnerable to the core, and it got better as it went along – which was his last until coach Adam Levine knew that Chance had more to offer and brought him back.  And without that, we wouldn’t have got to see Chance’s take on The Civil Wars’ “Barton Hollow”, which stood out as thoroughly unique from the rest of the performances.  Like season 8 winner Sawyer Fredericks, Chance simply cannot be placed in the same pop box as the rest of his fellow contestants.  He is working on new original music, and he’s posted “1965” on Soundcloud above for you to hear.  It’s low-fi but that adds to his touching story-telling charm; a song like this needs no busy arrangement.  While he might be leaning towards folk and Americana as his key sub-genres, I still think Chance has a lot to offer as a diverse pop singer.  Keep your ears out for more new music from Chance Peña.

The Voice’s season 6 contestant @iamJakeBarker puts his spin on @Usher’s “You Make Me Wanna”

JAKE BARKER, “You Make Me Wanna”

With two recent EP’s under his belt (Stage Fright, Trip) after his experience on TV’s “The Voice”, likeable NYC-based R&B/pop singer Jake Barker is off to a fine start in 2016.  He kicks off his new campaign with an original spin on Usher’s “You Make Me Wanna”, and has chosen to post new songs every two weeks each month along with some covers (which he explains after the song in the video above) .  It’s only two minutes long but Jake’s unique vocal spin on “You Make Me Wanna” really deserves a full rendition.  This was Usher’s first huge single (and remains my favourite by him) from late 1997, and isn’t heard as often as his later hits these days.  But if you need to be convinced that Jake is someone to watch, this will do the trick.  Continue to watch this blog for more of Jake Barker’s music in the months ahead!

@Eurielle_music’s debut album Arcadia is a bountiful, lush, cinematic escape

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EURIELLE, Arcadia

When I last left off about a year ago with writing about UK pop/classical singer Eurielle’s music on several occasions, she had found her way to the heart of fans of The Lord Of The Rings and The Hobbit movies by recording “The Song Of Durin”.  This led to other related opportunities, and ultimately resulted in two of her songs being included in the album soundtrack to TV’s Downton Abbey!  They are “Nothing Will Be Easy” and “I’ll Count The Days”, which you can hear on this You Tube playlist.  

In the midst of all of this, record companies came-a-courting while Eurielle recorded this debut album, Arcadia, which arrived last month as an independent release.  No understated new agey album this, Arcadia is rich with a myriad of personalities in a variety of stories which could easily create their own mini-movies.  Each is memorable in its own way; you may prefer a song like “Whispers” (video below), which is pretty much an instrumental with Eurielle’s wordless vocal atop; or “City of the Dead”, full of imagery and stunning high notes; or “Eurielle”, which doesn’t yet reveal the mystery that is the singer herself.  My new favourites are the new “Je t’adore”, plus the previously available “Hate Me” and “Carry Me”, in addition to the three songs from her entire previous EP The Incarnation (“Gold”, “Waterfalls”, “I’ll Be Waiting”) which I first wrote about two years ago and all included.  Arcadia’s timing was perfect, because the performer to whom Eurielle may be compared the most, Enya, recently released her first album of new music in almost 10 years, called Dark Sky Island, and Arcadia is a perfect companion.  But like the music of Enya, Eurielle’s songs will carve their own way.  Lushly, carefully, and lovingly produced, Arcadia is the start of great things to come!

#BILLCSTop75Songsof2015

Onward and upward to 2016!  However the music in 2015 was really strong compared to other recent years.

Chart: BILLCS Top 75 Songs of 2015

01 BRANDYN BURNETTE I Wanna Be (Free)
02 YEARS & YEARS Shine
03 ADELE Hello
04 COREY NILES F/ ALEX LACASSE Chasing Stars
05 YEARS & YEARS King
06 RIVER TIBER Let You Go
07 BRANDYN BURNETTE Sleeve
08 RIVER TIBER No Talk
09 COLOR THEORY Headphones (Matt Mancid Retro Crossover Mix)
10 DAN TALEVSKI Guilty As Sin
11 DENIZ KOYU VS TWOLOUD Goin’ Down
12 THE CHAINSMOKERS F/ GREAT GOOD FINE OK Let You Go (Tiesto Remix)
13 REIGEN Come Back To Me
14 ERIK HASSLE No Words
15 DNCE Cake By The Ocean
16 NATHAN SYKES Kiss Me Quick
17 CHRIS JAMISON Velvet
18 BRANDYN BURNETTE Life’s A Beach
19 THE KNOCKS & MATTHEW KOMA I Wish (My Taylor Swift)
20 TRIBE SOCIETY F/ KIESZA Pain Told Love
21 JESSIE WARE Pieces
22 SMASHING SATELLITES Waterfall
23 ADAM LAMBERT Ghost Town
24 ERASURE Sacred
25 SANDER VAN DOORN, MARTIN GARRIX & DVBBS F/ ALEESIA Gold Skies
26 JESSIE WARE Champagne Kisses
27 ANTONIO GIACCA Sensation
28 PARRALOX Aeronaut
29 DAN TALEVSKI My Religion
30 PENGUIN PRISON Show Me The Way
31 ERIC SAADE Sting
32 GREAT GOOD FINE OK F/ ST. LUCIA Something To Believe In
33 ELI LIEB Lightning In A Bottle
34 BRANDON FLOWERS Can’t Deny My Love
35 CHIC F/ NILE RODGERS I’ll Be There
36 GRAHAM ALEXANDER She’S A Chameleon
37 BOJANA STAMENOV Beauty Never Lies
38 NERVO F/ KYLIE MINOGUE, JAKE SHEARS & NILE RODGERS The Other Boys
39 LUCIEN DANTE Black Water
40 FRANCESCO YATES Better To Be Loved
41 GIORGIO MORODER F/ SIA Deja Vu
42 ERASURE Reason
43 TYLER SHAW Dizzy
44 FALL OUT BOY Uma Thurman
45 YEARS & YEARS Desire
46 GIORGIO MORODER F/ KYLIE MINOGUE Right Here, Right Now
47 MIKKY EKKO Riot
48 CHARLIE PUTH F/ MEGHAN TRAINOR Marvin Gaye
49 LIFEHOUSE Hurricane
50 DATABOY F/ NIKO THE KID When It Rains, It Pours
51 SHIFT K3Y I Know
52 ANTONIO GIACCA Ignited
53 NEW ORDER Plastic
54 SAM SMITH Writing’s On The Wall
55 KRISTINE W. Love Come Home
56 MARTIN LUKE BROWN Take Out Of Me
57 ANTON EWALD Save The Last Dance
58 DISCLOSURE F/ SAM SMITH Omen
59 JULLY BLACK Fever
60 THE WEEKND I Can’T Feel My Face
61 SAM SMITH Lay Me Down
62 SMASHING SATELLITES What It’s All About
63 GIORGIO MORODER F/ FOXES Wildstar
64 STEVE GRAND Time
65 ELEVEN PAST ONE There’s Nothing Wrong
66 THE WEEKND Earned It
67 BOYCODE It’s A Mistake
68 JAMES BAY Hold Back The River
69 MATTHEW KOMA So F**Kin’ Romantic
70 ADAM LAMBERT The Light
71 LAWSON Roads
72 SAM SMITH Like I Can
73 DANIEL ROBINSON Moonmolt
74 TRISTAN THOMPSON Burn Again
75 MI DISGUISE East Side Bay

#BILLCSTop30 #473 – December 28/15

It’s my last chart of 2015, and the chart has been flooded regularly with many fine songs which makes creating a year end Top 75 Songs list difficult, not so much for the top part of the list but the rest of it.

The Top 10

  • Adele’s “Hello” holds at the top for a fourth (and likely final) appearance as we are all moving on to listen to the deeper songs on her album 25.  Adele and her team have given the world a new template for how to create a mass appeal album, unfortunately you need loads of money to do it.  Those performers who get signed to a major label need to strive for their own variation of what “their” 25 might be regardless of genre or sub-genre.

  • 2016 looks very bright indeed for L.A.-based singer/songwriter Brandyn Burnette.  First, make sure you tune into American Idol on January 6 to see our Brandyn perform and compete!!  Second, from his rewarding Made Of Dreams EP, “Nothing At All” advances to #2 and the pensive “Lost (Stripped)” climbs to #5.  Third, the determination of “Down” debuts at #28, featuring a striking new video with animated flourishes that will keep you watching!  Three of Brandyn’s songs will appear in my year end Top 30 Songs too.

  • NY producers/DJ’s The Knocks are playing in my city at The Mod Club on January 22, and wouldn’t it be nice if Matthew Koma could make a cameo appearance to sing “I Wish (My Taylor Swift)” – pretty please??  The song holds at #3.

  • Mako’s “Smoke Filled Room” just soared up the Billboard Dance Mix Show Airplay chart 19-5 – I was beginning to wonder who else was championing this winning song!  Like only a handful of performers associated with EDM or dance music, L.A.-based duo Mako home in on the emotional part of songs, both lyrically, melodically and vocally.  “Smoke Filled Room” deserves to be a dance club smash as well, particularly in the Elephante remix 🙂  It rises 9-6.

  • Max Schneider and team are on the right path to many great things.  Not only does the title song from Ms Anonymous (featuring Jared Evan) zip into the Top 10 at #7, his stunning but rhythmically dirty title song from his new EP Wrong is the highest new entry at #22!  2016 promises to be a great year for all things MAX!

  • The Voice contestant Clinton Washington’s beautiful “Hearts Beat Loud” climbs into the Top 10 at #9.  To me it’s still a perfect companion song to Adele’s “Hello” when you’re in the mood for something touching and heart-warming.

  • The last new entry into the Top 10 is the long-lasting “Over” by Chicago’s Goldhouse at #10, which still has the potential to me to break into dance clubs and/or dance and/or pop radio too!

Movin’ on Up

  • It’s so perfectly timed that NYC duo Sofi Tukker have been added to the Toronto show by The Knocks at the Mod Club on January 22 that I will likely grab a ticket very soon!  The incredibly infectuous – even sung all in Portuguese – “Drinkee” is the fastest riser on the chart, climbing 20-12.

  • Dance-hit-in-waiting “The Shadows In The Moon” by classic dance voice Rozalla with DJs/producers House Of Virus advances 19-14 – dance club DJ’s should be all over this one for an immediate dance floor draw!

  • Another sure fire dance club hit, albeit currently available as a free download, is the gorgeous “Lost In Feelings” by Final DJS featuring none other than Bright Light Bright Light on vocals.  The song moves up 23-16 – do check it out!
  • Toronto’s River Tiber has given me two of my favourite songs of 2015 – “No Talk” and the #1 “Let You Go” (currently at #13) from the EP When The Time Is Right.  The great songs from that EP continue with “Waves” crashing into the Top 20 at #19.
  • Right behind is more Canadian talent moving up to #20, Kendal Thompson with “Secret”, a track from her fine EP One.  Call it enjoyable 90’s flavoured pop/R&B with influences from Rihanna and Beyoncé!!  Click right here to hear all of the songs on One!

And the Third Debut Belongs to…

  • Molly Moore!  After notching up a #14 appearance for “Natural Disaster” earlier in the year, the L.A. based singer/songwriter recently released a moody, captivating alt.pop EP called Shadow Of The Sun.  It features “Blood. Sweat. Tears”, which arrives on the chart at #25.  Watch the beautiful acoustic performance of the song below with her beau Brandyn Burnette – it’s so scary how talented these two are either separate or together!  

The Full Chart

Listen to the songs or watch the videos using the links on the pictures on the pretty and detailed web 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

Planet Radio Canada is back!  You can hear me online on http://www.planetradio.ca every Monday at 9:00 pm EST counting down a Toronto Top 10 chart from yesteryear!

MAX (@maxgschneider) keeps the rhythm dirty with “Wrong” (featuring @LilUziVert)

MAX featuring LIL UZI VERT, “Wrong” 

Hot on the heels of the diverse and extremely enjoyable Ms Anonymous EP (whose title song is at #11 on my personal chart) comes a follow up EP by the immensely talented MAX (aka Max Schneider) called Wrong.  It’s full of equally listenable and danceable songs which will sound great at a MAX concert and bring him new fans.  The title song has a wicked, dirty EDM rhythm that suits MAX to a T, with a rap by Lil Uzi Vert that fits the vibe of the song so well.  The video is quite a razzle dazzle affair too, with MAX officially joining the Justin Bieber and Nick Jonas shirtless crowd 😛  “Wrong” could be MAX’s strongest single yet so be sure to get it and the entire EP on iTunes.  I hope some remixes will follow because “Wrong” would tear it up in dance clubs too!

Meet Toronto’s @JulianTroiano with the soulful “Try”

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JULIAN TROIANO, “Try”

Canada has produced so much talent this year to the attention of the rest of the world that there is always room for others.  Toronto’s Julian Troiano is one that you should pay attention to.  Not only does he have great pedigree (being the nephew of the renown late guitarist Domenic Troiano) but there’s deep down soulfulness afoot if “Try” is any indication.  The gospel backdrop in the song along with Julian’s soaring voice makes try instantly memorable and is the kind of song that would quell a noisy room into complete silence.  I heard some of Julian’s music a couple of years back but that seemed like a false start.  Time to build on “Try” and let’s hear much more from Julian in 2016.  You’ll be very glad you downloaded “Try” for free below 🙂

https://soundcloud.com/benudoyou/try-julian-troiano

Australia’s @KelsyKarter tantalizes with “Crystal Blues” and “Kiss The Boys”

KELSY KARTER, “Crystal Blues”, “Kiss The Boys”

It’s very easy to say that Australian-raised, New Zealand-born multi-instrumentalist Kelsy Karter will instantly remind you of Amy Winehouse-meets-Lana Del Rey.  But it’s also obvious that there is a much deeper musical background at play here that brings out blues, jazz, and classic rock in both “Crystal Blues” and the title song from her EP Kiss The Boys, that a better reference point for me would be April Smith & The Great Picture Show’s 2011 release Songs from a Sinking Ship.  Like April Smith, Kelsy has a wide-ranging, expressive voice that can wield a big diss for an ex (hence the title song) or become all wrapped up in the memory of his eyes as in “Crystal Blues”.  Both songs have well-directed, entertaining videos that keep you watching.  Get to know Kelsy Karter more by picking up her EP on iTunes.

Let #MelanieDurmic raise the spirit of glorious love songs past with “I Follow You”

MELANIE DURMIĆ, “I Follow You”

It is not a bad thing when the arrangement of a song creates an immediate reference point to Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey classics of 25 years ago.  It also happens to be a gorgeous song lyrically, but primarily stands out because of the no-holds-barred performance.  So here we have The Netherlands-based singer Melanie Durmić and her piano bringing back a style that isn’t heard on the radio, but is much loved everywhere with “I Follow You”.  Produced by award-winner Vladimir Graic and co-written by 2014 Eurovision-winning songwriter Charlie Mason (the song is also available as recorded in Serbian), “I Follow You” is a feel-good, mass-appeal song to enjoy and showcases a charming vocalist with a refreshing set of pipes who deserves to be heard internationally.  Watch the elegantly-set video above and follow Melanie on Facebook right here.