Summer Dance Floor Vibes with @iamMiDisguise with “East Side Bay”

midisguise

MI DISGUISE, “East Side Bay”

“East Side Bay” is one of the most unique songs for the first half of 2015 courtesy of new producer/remixer – and singer! – Mi Disguise, who readers of this blog first got to know with his release “Alive”, featuring fellow EQMusic singerAdam Tyler (which peaked at #15 on my chart recently).  The first few times I heard it, the beginning of the song was a hard sell, but after the first minute when the intricate instrumental break kicks in, the song becomes a dance floor champion.  It’s very idiosyncratic for dance music in the same way as last year’s surprise Grammy nominee, “Faded” by ZHU.  So by the time the vocal returns, you’ve got the melody (somewhat reminiscent of The Weeknd’s style) and the rest of the song flows in the way that the best dance songs should.  So let down your guard and allow the sneak attack of “East Side Bay” to find its way down to your disco feet! 🙂  Get it on iTunes and watch the lyric video below.

Get to know new Australian band @FarAwayStables1 with “What Are You Waiting For”

FAR AWAY STABLES, “What Are You Waiting For”

It’s a pity that our timetables didn’t cross last week during Canadian Music Week, but Australian quartet Far Away Stables has a distinct style that mixes it up between anthemic and emotional rock with “What Are You Waiting For”.  A tight band rocks out along with singer Brendan Sheargold’s far-reaching voice that will draw in fans of any of Billy Talent, Breaking Benjamin, All Time Low, or Black Veil Brides.  What makes it better is that the song has haunting, memorable melody, and I do believe I hear a layer of classically-inspired music underneath to bring out the softer parts of the song.  “What Are You Waiting For” is a great introduction to Far Away Stables and you can pick up their EP Atlantis on their Bandcamp page.  After North America, Far Away Stables returns to Australia for shows in Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane, so homegrown fans should be sure to check them out 🙂

A Thoughtful fan video college for “I Wanna Be (Free)” by @BrandynBurnette

BRANDYN BURNETTE, “I Wanna Be (Free)” (official fan video)

I don’t usually write another post about a song I’ve already blogged about recently (which you can read right here 🙂 ), but I was definitely curious about the results L.A. singer/songwriter Brandyn Burnette would receive when he asked fans to take a selfie and submit them also stating something they would like to be free of.  So what we have was probably emotionally-wracking and tearful to assemble in the first place, and shows the importance of performers as role models for young people. It also confirms that music is truly an escape from everyday life, where you can forget about the rest of your day and drift off to a song that’s beautifully sung with an enchanting melody like Brandyn’s “I Wanna Be (Free)”.   For some of these young folks, the issues they identify might come at a rough point in their lives which might be temporary; for others, they will live with them forever.  BUT they will never forget a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be included in this video.  For someone whose heart and wisdom beyond his years always seem to be in the right place, be sure to follow Brandyn Burnette on Twitter, Facebook, or your social media app of choice.  

“900 Voices” send a celebratory message, courtesy of Laura Sullivan @lsullivanmusic

LAURA SULLIVAN, “900 Voices”

Sometimes simplicity can be a powerful thing.  So when Grammy-award winner Laura Sullivan asked 900 people to video themselves singing her song, putting the results together must have been challenging in many ways.  But I guarantee that when you watch the video you will feel empowered, united, happy, festive, joyous, and amazed.  While music comes from all cultures and all kinds of people, the results are universal, and colour, culture, gender, sexuality, politics, and religion may not matter at all.  No one can tell us better about this than our young children.  “900 Voices” is a must-see for children in elementary school, and wise music educators should incorporate this video as a part of their music programming.  Enthused secondary students could take the project further in many imaginative ways.  Most of all I would enjoy hearing this song recorded in a few different languages by some powerful vocalists who would feel passionate about the project.  Laura Sullivan has created this “900 Voices” entity unto itself, and it will flourish for many years to come.  Bravo!!

BILLCS Top 30 #456 – May 4/15

It’s testament to the volume of excellent new music out there that most songs have to settle for creeping up only a notch or two on my new chart.  All songs on the chart between 1 and 20 either hold or move up!!  Now that usually means that the chart will shake looser in two weeks, but I expect some songs will have a slow rise to their eventual peaks.

In the meantime, on to the new chart!

The Top 10

  • Not surprisingly, Years & Years are bouncing from country to country, who are all falling in love with the trio’s unique blend of pop and EDM.  “King” gets a third appearance (6 weeks) at #1.

  • Holding very strong at #2 is “Chasing Stars” by Corey Niles featuring Alex Lacasse.  I’m surprised that Canadian radio hasn’t fallen over backwards over this song – released a few months ago, it follows a song structure similar to the current worldwide #1, which debuts further down, and the two songs make great music bookends 🙂

  • “Waterfall” by Smashing Satellites hangs tight at #3 as the band’s latest single “What’s It All About” is about to take off.  Smashing Satellites play two gigs during Canadian Music Week in Toronto – May 6 at the Hideout, and May 8 at The Phoenix – and I expect to be at one of them!

  • That fantastic veteran dance duo Erasure have yet another Billboard Top 10 Dance Club Play hit with “Sacred”, and the song holds at #5 on my chart.

  • If my Top 5 wasn’t so damn strong, River Tiber’s funky alternative rock “No Talk” would rank higher, but for now it climbs 8 to 6… for now.

  • The only newcomer to the Top 10 is one Sam Smith with that universal pop smash “Lay Me Down” at #10.

Movin’ On Up

https://soundcloud.com/databoy/when-it-rains-it-pours

  • DATABOY’s latest “When It Rains, It Pours” is victim to a slower rise than usual for the dynamic duo, but fear not it settles outside of the Top 10 at #11.

  • “Aeronaut” by Parralox makes an impressive 20-13 jump given the rest of the chart, which bodes well for the coming weeks for John von Ahlen and company 🙂

  • Canada’s R&B queen Jully Black is back and stronger than ever with her latest single, the sultry and steamy “Fever”, which climbs 19-14.  I’ll be checking out Jully’s show May 5 at The Phoenix in Toronto.

  • The fastest riser on the chart has turned out to be one incredibly contagious tune, and that is “No Words” by Erik Hassle, which leaps 26-17.  The talented Swedish singer’s pop career needed this song… and I hope it happens for him internationally 🙂

  • Classy disco music never goes out of vogue and thus Nile Rodgers and Chic have a bonafide club hit once again with “I’ll Be There”, which moves up 25-18.

  • And never underestimate the power of Brooklyn duo Matt & Kim on my chart, ever!  “Hey Now”, from the fun New Glow album, which features some notable EDM inspiration, rises 30-26.

Debuts

  •  The first two debuts are all about that new shining star from New Jersey named Charlie Puth.  He’s also a songwriter and producer (Trey Songz’ “Slow Motion” comes to mind!), and his new EP is called Some Type Of Love.  “Marvin Gaye”, his sock hop throwback duet with Meghan Trainor, bows at #23, and right behind of course at #24 is that massive Wiz Khalifa smash “See You Again” in which he is the featured vocalist.

  • At #27 is the 80’s retro-tinged “Can’t Deny My Love” featuring a powerful vocal by Killers’ Brandon Flowers.  Can’t wait to hear the rest of his second solo album The Desired Effect.

  • And I definitely want to hear more from UK quartet Lawson, who I’ve seen in concert twice and enjoyed every minute of their sets!  Their new single, finally released in North America, is “Roads”, which bows at #28.

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 🙂

Splendid sophomore solo album songs from @BrandonFlowers with “Lonely Town” and “Can’t Deny My Love”

BRANDON FLOWERS, “Lonely Town” and “Can’t Deny My Love”

The Killers are a band whose individual songs I enjoy more than their entire albums, and their 2012 release Battle Born kind of lost me.  But singer Brandon Flowers’ debut solo album Flamingo was one of my favourites of 2010, including tremendous songs like “Crossfire” and “Jacksonville” (on the deluxe edition), and his solo show was much different from a Killers concert.  And as different and standout was Flamingo, you will find the lead off songs from his upcoming second album The Desired Effect to recall the 80’s influenced sound that got The Killers noticed in the first place with the Duran Duran overtones of “Somebody Told Me”.  Both “Lonely Town” and “Can’t Deny My Love” are powerful songs that sound like they want to be stuck in 1985 (when of course the singer was but 4) but fast-forwarded 30 years ahead.  Brandon is always a great storyteller, and I think these songs may draw back some Killers fans who thought his Flamingo album was too far removed from the music of the band.  These songs should also throw Brandon into dance club territory too, so I am very hopeful for some remixes.  “Lonely Town” and “Can’t Deny My Love” (in which I particularly enjoy the vocal break and electronic splash that follows) are ear-worms which should endure into the summer.

Dance music duo @FanBoy_music revives classic house favourite “Follow Me” by Aly-us

ALY-US, “Follow Me (FanBoy Bootleg remix)

I hadn’t played it in years, even though I happen to have an original cassette single of Strictly Rhythm house classic “Follow Me” by Aly-us.  This gospel-flavoured tune was a huge club smash in 1992 whose bass kick could really pound those speakers, and then it received radio play which extended into 1993.  It was my #20 song of that year.  Hybrid Montreal/Madrid duo FanBoy have revived it with all of the contemporary bells and whistles without taking away from the original spirit of the song, and that raises this remix several notches in my book.  I do know that one half of FanBoy is DJ/producer/remixer Kwik Fiks (Danny Voicu), whom you readers will know as one of the pair (Kwik Fiks & Bongiovanni) that crafted a deep house rework of Baby Bash’s “Suga Suga” in 2013 as “Lifted”, one of my Top 10 songs of that year.  So I’m sure more fine music will come from this FanBoy project! 🙂  “Follow Me” is a free download at the Soundcloud link above!

alyus

UK singer @JamesPoole_ re-imagines @50cent’s “In Da Club”

JAMES POOLE, “In Da Club”

As readers of this blog know very well by now, I think that UK singer James Poole is a transformer.  I normally don’t write about performers who have had no official releases yet but James has got something great in store for us when it happens.  In the meantime, I don’t think anyone could have seen a cover of 50 Cent’s “In Da Club” re-imagined as a swinging big band number!!  So don’t expect all of the cussing and references to Dr. Dre or Eminem.  Instead, ponder sheer elegance on the dance floor on a classy cruise ship while a tight band and its vocalist keep on bringing it on stage and won’t stop till the audience drops.  James continues to show off his versatile and adaptable voice while finding a perfect arrangement which will certainly elicit surprise upon first listen.  Fans of rap and the original song who are open-minded will definitely have to take a few steps back before embracing James’ rendition.  “In Da Club” may throw off the odd listener but those who continue to stick with this talented singer will be in store for more transformations like this in future.  Always ambitious, always well done 🙂

Can someone tell me why “Marvin Gaye” by @CharliePuth featuring @MeghanTrainor isn’t a smash everywhere??

CHARLIE PUTH featuring MEGHAN TRAINOR, “Marvin Gaye”

So you all know about Charlie Puth now, right?  He’s the New Jersey You Tube performer who rose to national prominence by being signed to Ellen DeGeneres’ label eleveneleven a few years back.  But now with his vocal on Wiz Khalifa’s “See You Again”, a number one record in most parts of the world, it’s time to take two steps back to “Marvin Gaye”, a totally wicked song released earlier this year and featuring Grammy nominee Meghan Trainor.  It’s a fascinating song with a sock hop vibe to it that brands the late titular R&B legend (and one of my very favourites, ever) as a part of our culture (and as a verb!) through his many classic hits.  Charlie doesn’t use his high register as in “See You Again”, relying though on a perfect pairing with Meghan Trainor to make the song work so well.  “Marvin Gaye” was a Top 20 hit in Australia – a great breaking ground for new music of late.  But really his record company (Atlantic) should be putting some bucks behind “Marvin Gaye” and it could really follow the similarly soul-flavoured “Uptown Funk!” to the top of the charts.  Expect Charlie Puth to be remembered come Grammy time next year – think of him as the next Nate Ruess.

Ex-Gentlemen Hall vocalist @CobiMike soars solo with “Walking Through The Fire”

https://soundcloud.com/cobimike/walking-through-the-fire

COBI MIKE, “Walking Through The Fire”

It’s always sad when a fine band like Boston’s Gentlemen Hall calls it quits after being on the bubble these last few years.  But onward and upward we go, as most of the remainder of the band has now formed Tribe Society, while former vocalist Cobi Mike (he of those anchoring lower notes in songs like “Take Me Under” and “Gravity Will Break Our Bones”) has gone solo with the latest of two singles being “Walking Through The Fire”.  Don’t let the deliberate pacing of this song fool you.  It keeps taking you through next levels of solo, harmonies, emotion, and power.  It’s a quieter anthem for those times when you think the rest of the world is totally out of reach and you’re hidden, in this case by a wall of fire.  The tall, dark-haired Cobi Mike has great stage presence from what I recall when seeing Gentlemen Hall a few years back, so catch him in a club show to check out his new songs.  “Walking Through The Fire” is a fine introduction to his solo career, carrying on what was honed in Gentlemen Hall and taking it all to new places.