CRAIG DAVID featuring BIG NARSTIE, “When The Bassline Drops”
It’s like a homecoming when a talented performer finds the right song to get his groove on again. Such is the case with “When The Bassline Drops”, which would be no special event had the stylish vocal not been by Craig David, who deserves a place back on international radio with this one. It’s slick business that would sit comfortably next to Craig’s earlier smashes “Fill Me In” or “7 Days”. UK hip hopper Big Narstie’s break is not out of place and helps move the song along. Remixes could help this one get to the top of dance club charts too. Do yourself a favour and pick up this surprise on iTunes.
It’s a new year, beginning with a new #1 by a performer who holds both #1 and #2 spots, and six debuts make their presence known. Some recent EP’s and albums are causing multiple appearances by the same performers, after a year like last year where multiple entries by the same performers didn’t occur too often.
As I’ve been tweeting the past few days, if you missed Brandyn Burnette’s one-of-a-kind audition on American Idol last Thursday, you need to see it so go to the link right here. So while Brandyn got his golden ticket, he also starts off 2016 with a bang on this chart, with the alternative old soul of “Nothing At All” ascending to the top, while the song he performed in his audition, “Lost (Stripped)”, advances 5-2. 2016 shows every sign of being a great year for Brandyn, and he has one other entry further down on the chart, though his fourth from two weeks ago, “Life’s A Beach” drops off. A video for “Nothing At All” will arrive very soon!
“I Wish (My Taylor Swift)” by The Knocks and Matthew Koma stays put at #3, and a third New Yorker, Penguin Prison, has remixed the song in his own inimitable style, stripping away the SoCal vibe of the song and turning it into something more NYC club ready. Give a listen above. I’m very happy to be seeing The Knocks on January 22 in my city 🙂
I was beginning to feel lonely in my enjoyment of Mako’s “Smoke Filled Room”, but in fact the song soared into Billboard’s Dance Radio Airplay Top 5 over the holidays, so the cat is out of the bag. Members Alex and Logan have a standout beauty here with this song, particularly in the Elephante remix, and it climbs 6-4. A new video for the song is coming too!
MAX Schneider is working double-duty on the chart this week with songs from each of his recent EP’s. Not only does his collaboration with Jared Evan, “Ms Anonymous” (above) rise 7 to 6, but his new club-banger-in-waiting “Wrong” (below), featuring Lil Uzi Vert, is the fastest riser on the chart, zooming 22-13 and is set to close in on the upper reaches in a few weeks.
The only new entry to the Top 10 belongs to the crazy vibe and Portuguese lyrics of “Drinkee” by NYC duo Sofi Tukker, climbing 12-9. The duo will also be on that January 22 bill for The Knocks I mentioned above.
Movin’ On Up
There’s so much activity below the Top 10 besides MAX’s “Wrong” as the fastest riser that I won’t be able to write about all this week.
Suffice it to say, one’s feet can continue dancing past New Year’s Eve. The songs to do just that for you as they eye the Top 10 in two weeks? “The Shadows Of The Moon” (above) by the venerable veteran Rozalla along with producers/DJs House Of Virus, advancing 14-11, along with German DJ/producer Final DJS wisely working with Bright Light Bright Light on vocals for the free download of “Lost In Feelings” (below), which moves up 16-12.
My dream team of Brandyn Burnette and Molly Moore appropriately have songs side-by-side on the chart. Molly’s touching and incisive “Blood. Sweat. Tears.” (above) could be a Jessie Ware song in disguise from her EP Shadow Of The Sun and rises 25-20, while her beau Brandyn’s third song from his Made Of Dreams EP, “Down” (below), jumps 28-21.
Six Debuts!
I’ve had to save most of the space in this post for our six stunning debuts, one of which sneaked onto the chart after only being released on Thursday at midnight.
Wither “Hello”, slipping from 1 to 5 after 4 appearances (8 weeks) at #1, but certainly not forgetting about other songs from the knockout album that is 25. “All I Ask” (above) is almost equally as beautiful and touching, with another amazing vocal… can’t seem to find enough adjectives for this one! It bows at #17, while subsequent single “When We Were Young” (below) also has no trouble finding its way onto the chart at #25. Any performer signed to a major label with access to funds should aim to create as wonderful a record as this, style and genre notwithstanding. 25 is a once-in-a-long-time album experience for anyone.
Crashing onto all platforms on Thursday at midnight was the immense surprise that is Super 8bit Heart, the album redux of 2010’s 8bit Heart, one of my favourite releases of the decade by Simon Curtis (read my blog post from yesterday right here). It’s not at all the same as the original and has its own highlights, but I’m so glad that “8bit Heart” was remade with the same warm touches as the original. “8bit Heart” already reached #1 here in 2010 and remained on the chart for its maximum 10 appearances (20 weeks). But I’m treating this new recording as a brand new entry and I sincerely hope it becomes the focus song for promotion of the new album. So the redux of “8bit Heart” arrives at #19.
After listening to its initial singles, an album that I’ve grown to enjoy thoroughly over the holidays is South Africa-born, Australia-raised singer Troye Sivan’s Blue Neighbourhood. Not only are the songs compelling, but the boy-next-door performance with so much improved vocals by Troye make them so unique next to what’s on the radio. It’s no wonder listeners are flocking to his sold out shows and that people like Betty Who worked with him on the album. I’m currently wrapped up in both “Talk Me Down” (above) and “Wild” (below), so each arrives on the chart, at #23 and #26 respectively. Never did I think that Troye would grow so much after his You Tube performances. He is indeed a talent to watch!
The last debut is “Age Of Innocence” by L.A.-based DJ/producer Elephante featuring Trouze and Damon Sharpe, which I wrote about not long ago and lands on the chart at #27. Club DJ’s are totally on board with this one, currently in Billboard’s Dance Club Play Top 25. The song is actually still available as a free download on Soundcloud too (below). Elephante is one of those talented guys with great ears who we will see playing huge venues with superstar talent in the next year.
The Full Chart
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 hear me online on http://www.planetradio.caevery Monday at 9:00 pm EST counting down a Toronto Top 10 chart from yesteryear, and then again every Tuesday in a rebroadcast at 7:00 a.m. EST on WROCK http://www.wlor.net!
No music could be more welcome in 2016 than the songs of the 2010 free download album 8bit Heart by L.A.-based singer/songwriter Simon Curtis. Before you read further you might want to check out my original post on 8bitHeart right here– some of my opinions have changed, obviously, as have some facts (no autotone – it’s all Simon!). Simon has essentially created a new album of these songs called Super 8bit Heart to set the stage for his upcoming series of Boy Robot books, to be published by Simon & Schuster starting in November, which are based on the songs from 8bit Heart.
I have some personal anecdotes about 8bit Heart before I comment on the new album. 8bit Heart arrived as I was going through probably the most difficult period of my life. The 3D songs revolving around the Boy Robot character with themes of loneliness, desire, humanity, hope, and sex, were the perfect distraction for me at the time, and the huge Twitter campaign behind the record was first massive social networking experience for me. So many people like me absolutely adore these songs and I’m glad Simon chose to go back to revisit them and launch his publishing career with their stories. Songs from 8bit Heart dominated the BILLCS Top 30 in 2010 – “Beat Drop” #1 of that year, plus #1’s for the title song, “Delusional”, and #3 for “Joystick”. I was fortunate enough to meet and see the singer himself in concert in NYC the following year. Subsequent releases from R∆ and his Wrathschild project with Bad W0lfy continue to be active in my iTunes playlist 🙂
Super 8bit Heart must be taken totally separately from 8bit Heart, which simply stands on its own. I expect the new album is essentially the electronic soundtrack to Simon’s Boy Robot books, and the edgy anger and pointed swearing in some of original songs are now muted for a wider audience. They will certainly fit in with current dance music in clubs and I would love to hear remixes.
The big emotion of “8bit Heart” (below) is the highlight, and the new music backdrop is highly complimentary. To me this is the song to focus on with its universal message. I kind of miss the lonely simple piano of the original but it’s easy to treat the two versions separately. As with the original songs, Simon’s far-reaching voice is stunning as ever. Other highlights include “Super Psycho Love”, “Delusional”, “The Dark”, “Diablo” (which has been lengthened), and “Brainwash”, which all benefit from more current arrangements which suit their powerful lyrics. On the other hand, I must stick with the originals of “Beat Drop” (also lengthened), “Joystick”, and “Don’t Wanna Be Alone” – the new arrangements for these songs take them in a different direction and don’t work for me.
Super 8bit Heart will never replace 8bit Heart for me, and the original is still available for free download from Simon’s website. But it’s your opportunity to get to know the songs in new renditions particularly if you hadn’t discovered the originals previously. These songs deserve more fans to help to continue and champion Simon’s many talents and of course to support his on-deck side career as an author. Welcome back to the songs of 8bit Heart and Simon Curtis 😀 Pick up Super 8bit Heart on iTunes.
Those of you who might want a change from the late 80’s early 90’s trend in dance music that’s happening right now will want to hear Calvo’s “Vicious Girl”. The song is already generating huge worldwide club buzz by the likes of people like Avicii, Don Diablo and Firebeatz for the German DJ/producer. It’s a real throwback to the late 90’s with slightly sped-up vocals not overwhelming the swinging house rhythm and party vibe. A bonus for this one for you regular readers of this blog is that the song was co-written by Daniel Volpe (aka Zorro Blakk and one half of The Crush Boys songwriting team)! And while I’m not sure lyric-wise why the girl in the song is so vicious, the video above spins an interesting story as some older femmes mysterieuses hit the dance club. Calvo’s “Vicious Girl” should be smashing the dance club charts soon as brought to you by Armada Music (Armin van Buuren, etc.).
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.
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.
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!
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!
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
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 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
Planet Radio Canada is back! You can hear me online onhttp://www.planetradio.caevery Monday at 9:00 pm EST counting down a Toronto Top 10 chart from yesteryear!
BILLCSMUSIC BLOG 
You must be logged in to post a comment.