Do you have your list of “Songs I Can’t Listen To”? @NeonTrees understands!

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NEON TREES, “Songs I Can’t Listen To”

So out of the blue came a new single by Neon Trees last week called “Songs I Can’t Listen To”.  Like with their underrated Pop Psychology album of last year, the band has tapped into something every listener has – but has there ever been a song about it?  It’s inspired pop thinking for the quartet, who are obviously still music fans at heart too, and they are playing an ‘intimate’ club tour of select U.S. dates starting in June.  You can get “Songs I Can’t Listen To” on iTunes until the band is ready to drop more new music.  Oh, and I hear drummer Elaine is with child – congrats!  That baby’s gonna have great rhythm 😀

North America needs to fall in love with @YearsandYears with “Shine”

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YEARS & YEARS, “Shine”

The music industry baffles me, for I do not yet understand why North America has not yet embraced ever-so-talented UK trio Years & Years like the rest of the world.  “King” (currently #1 on my personal chart, and a UK #1 too) should have been all over everywhere, but alas not to be.  So the more familiar “Shine” could do the trick.  And after around the first minute, keen-eared music buffs will see many similarities to another current favourite of mine, “No Words” by Erik Hassle – the melodic structure allows both songs to be mashed up easily.  Thematically, too, both songs are similar, sad sources set to an pbeat, memorable melody.  And of course “Shine” has that remarkably diverse voice of Olly Alexander (who also collaborated on Clean Bandit’s latest “Stronger”) to its advantage.  I think Years & Years needs to get to the rest of North America to perform, besides SXSW, NYC, and L.A., so that the rest of the continent can fall in love with “Shine” and its creators.  “Shine” is culled from the upcoming album Communion, and is available on iTunes in Canada.

Dance To Diss: @BrightLightx2 & @MsAnaMatronic with “Good Luck” (remix)

BRIGHT LIGHT BRIGHT LIGHT & ANA MATRONIC, “Good Luck” (remix)

The music of Bright Light Bright Light is never too far away from a blog post, and I’m happy to hear that a remix album Life Is Hard is coming in June.  To kick it off is “Good Luck”, a song from BLx2’s album Life Is Easy, which grew on me months after the album was released.  It’s a pretty potent diss of a song that goes perfectly with the early 90’s house rhythm, and is dead on similar in theme to Basement Jaxx’s 2004 hit also called “Good Luck” (mashup, please?).  For the remix album and the above new video – and who’d have thought of Rod Thomas as a boxer – well, perhaps metaphorically 😛 – Scissor Sisters’ Ana Matronic joins to inject an entertaining, welcome campy side to the song.  Good on Rod and his team for giving “Good Luck” its own due showcase.

Shooting Star: Toronto’s @FrancescoYates with “Better To Be Loved”

FRANCESCO YATES, “Better To Be Loved”

From the beginning of the song, it tricks you into thinking that it might be a cover of “Billie Jean” or “Uptown Funk!”, and then the voice kicks in and this hybrid Justin Timberlake/Bruno Mars vocal by 19 year old Toronto singer Francesco Yates has you hook, line and sinker with “Better To Be Loved”.  That’s not to say that either he or his song are derivative.  This is an inspiring, invigorating pop/R&B song and talent that has got the attention of Pharrell Williams for a full album.  And last week I got to see what the fuss was about with a performance in Toronto during Canadian Music Week that was energetic and completely captivating.  Next stop the U.S. and the rest of the world for Canada’s latest talented export!

Your chance to see him!  Francesco Yates plays the Virgin Mobile Mod Club in Toronto on Thursday, May 21.

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

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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.