Sweet Sweat: Canada’s R&B Queen @JullyBlack with “Fever”

https://soundcloud.com/jullyblackexclusives/02-fever-final-mp3

JULLY BLACK, “Fever”

R&B queen Jully Black has been a force like no other in her own country since she arrived on the scene back in 1999 with the still very timely and relevant independent release “Rally’n”.  Since then she’s had several Top 40 hits, most notably the Top Tenner “Seven Day Fool”, has performed for Queen Elizabeth, and has served many times as a Canadian ambassador of music.  “Fever” comes from her upcoming album Made In Canada, her first in a few years since Black Book, yet Jully has never been away from the music scene and has been a very visible presence on Canadian TV.  Unlike past hits like “Sweat Of Your Brow”, “Fever” has a much sweeter and less forceful vocal, yet embraces both the delicate and sexy nature of the lyrics.  Vocally you might put this song somewhere between Alicia Keys, Mary J. Blige, and Rebecca Ferguson, and place Jully on a bill with any of them in concert and you will have a showstopper and crowd-pleaser!  “Fever” is co-written by and produced by YoungPete Alexander, and he and Jully have formed the Officials Music Group, which looks to be a very fine partnership indeed.  Radio stations could easily embrace “Fever” and I look forward to hearing what the Made In Canada album will bring to us by Jully Black.

Symmetry In Motion: “What You Wanted” by @Bimmusic

BIM, “What You Wanted”

Ah the beautiful songs of UK duo Bim often leave me sighing in wonder how Becky and Tim can create them with such symmetry.  Lo and behold, the video for “What You Wanted” finds the duo almost identically dressed with two chairs in an empty room.  This is a fairly common scene with choreographed dance but not so much with a video, which allows for some creative editing – and Becky achieving a handstand!  Aside from that, “What You Wanted” tells about the inner-workings of a relationship when you want each other so much but find shortcomings with your partner.  Do you continue?  Hide your feelings?  Tell the truth?  It’s a pensive, honest story to which so many of us can relate, and the duo gives a lovely performance.  “What You Wanted” is from their new album Two, coming very soon!

Sizzling Electropop from Finland’s @Hannismusic with “Firebreak”

HANNIS, “Firebreak”

It’s been a hot second since I was raving about Hannis’ debut single “Time Has Come”, the unique Europop-meets-dubstep tune that ended up as my #20 song of 2014.  Sticking with the same innovative production team, but co-writing “Firebreak” herself, Hannis builds on the notoriety achieved by “Time Has Come” with a more pop radio friendly song.  But whereas “Time Has Come” focused on the softer and more delicate tones of her voice, “Firebreak” shows what a powerhouse Hannis can be when interpreting the emotion of her song against a feverish melody.  “Firebreak” is one crackerjack electronic pop song and should continue to attract worthy attention for Hannis.  And while it wasn’t released until January of this year, you can get a glimpse of the singer at last by watching the video for “Time Has Come” below.  Get both songs on iTunes.

Smooth ‘n Sultry Singing from @JamesPoole_ on “Anyone But You”

JAMES POOLE, “Anyone But You”

UK singer James Poole hasn’t got his sultry on in a little while… well maybe a tad with his rework of “I Put A Spell On You”, but that was meant to be playfully evil 😛  But if you look back through his viral covers on You Tube, you will know what I mean.  Singers like Michael Bublé and Matt Dusk can easily make company for James in the contemporary crooner category with his original “Anyone But You” (with its very classy artwork too I might add).  I can picture many a fancy dance to this one, which shows how rich and sophisticated his voice can be.  Like Lady Gaga with her Tony Bennett duets, James also introduces the power of vocal jazz to his many young fans.  He’s already tackled classically-based songs of his own as well as straight-up pop songs.  James Poole’s diverse ability to move from style to style seamlessly will continue to win over more fans until a release of his own – hopefully soon! – will allow us to purchase his music.

Soooo Gooood! @EricSaademusic Gets It To “Sting” So Bad

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ERIC SAADE, “Sting”

Swedish star Eric Saade is back in form with his new song “Sting”, which should by all rights be a worldwide smash.  While he’s dropped the riveting dance rhythms and high arpeggios that graced his best music to date from his Saade Volumes 1 and 2 albums, “Sting” takes on a good timey, in-your-face pop attitude for the singer, and you can feel his personality oozing out more than ever.  Performances like in the video below from Sweden’s Melodifestivalen contest should put Eric Saade more on the international map than ever, hopefully both on radio and on tour.  Check your iTunes, “Sting” was released in some parts of the world on Sunday (but not yet in Canada 😦 ).

Smokin’ with Emotion: “Chasing Stars” by @CoreyNiles featuring @Alex_Lacasse

COREY NILES featuring ALEX LACASSE, “Chasing Stars”

Canadian hip hop singer/songwriter Corey Niles may have just outdone himself with “Chasing Stars”.  As regular readers know, I definitely took a shine to Corey’s singles “Rollercoaster” (featuring Dru) and particularly the Top 10 “Get To Know You” (featuring Ish), both of which ended up in my Top 75 of 2014.  “Chasing Stars” is something completely different and unexpected, and Corey continues to delight in this way with each release.  My reference point for it both thematically and melodically is “Rocketeer” by Far East Movement featuring Ryan Tedder – these songs are a great pair!  But whereas Ryan’s vocal really carried that song, “Chasing Stars” has a beautiful balance of emotions happening in both Corey’s gritty raps and truly ear-turning choruses by Ottawa native Alex Lacasse (who is currently working with another one of my favourites, “The Voice”‘s Chris Jamison!) which accentuate the glorious intangible destination of the song.  Both performers complement each other and make the song sound effortless.  Plus, like “Get To Know You”, “Chasing Stars” has some of the cleanest, tighest sounding production around.  It should take no time for “Chasing Stars” to find its way around Canada and possibly beyond, so start spreading the word!  

Flying High with “Cosmonaut” by @Wrathschild from the New EP “Birds”

WRATHSCHILD, “Cosmonaut”

So very talented are the duo of Simon Curtis and Bad W0lfy (Ro Danishei) that they have continued last year’s electronica project Wrathschild, resulting in a seven song EP called Birds, which dropped this week on iTunes.  Included are the effervescent “Fall Into Love” and wistful “Angeles” from last year, plus 5 new songs including “Cosmonaut”.  

I’ve elected to focus on “Cosmonaut” because it is easily the most mesmerizing and enticing song that the pair have either recorded together or separately, starting with an operatic-sounding intro that throws back to Simon’s “Beat Drop”.   “Cosmonaut” draws you in by including themes common in both Simon’s 8bit Heart mixtape and W0lfy’s album End Of The Rainbow – loneliness, needing to be loved, escape, fantasy, and being empowered to stick with it all – carefully reinvented to capture fans’ hearts all over again.  W0lfy’s powerhouse vocal commands the proceedings while Simon uses both higher range and spoken voice to anchor key parts of the song, and then they harmonize gorgeously as always.  

The production by Ray Reich on “Cosmonaut” is lush and subtle, full of WOW moments – like Simon’s introduction into the song after the minute mark that to me is a star-turning move – and will keep your ears mesmerized.  

Positive Vibes Through “No Words” by @Keekmusic

KEEK, “No Words”

“No Words” is a refreshing, upbeat and positive entry by Keek, a Canadian duo hailing from Ottawa, who are Conor Whitehead and Nathan Pearce.  I happened to see Keek perform as an opening act at Mike Tompkins’ show in Toronto at Coda last August.  While they did a great job at energizing the crowd, I really wasn’t feeling their songs at the time.  Hearing and watching the video for “No Words” though signals an immense amount of growth and a bit of a revamp for Keek since that time.  “No Words” is a radio-friendly slice of life that will send great vibes through the Spring and into the Summer.  I like this engaging sound, keep up the great work, Keek! 🙂

BILLCS Top 30 #451 – February 23/15

The top of the new chart stays steady, while the rest is formed of a diversity of so many pop music genres… I like to think my tastes are well-rounded 🙂

The Top 10

https://soundcloud.com/brandynburnette/01-sleeve

  • The names are Brandyn, Reigen, and Chris, and they have a lock on the Top 3!  Brandyn Burnette’s heartwarming (and yet to be officially released) “Sleeve” will continue to have you tugging at it as it stays at #1, while “Come Back To Me” by Reigen holds steady at #2, and “Velvet” by Chris Jamison rests contentedly at #3.  So what songs below could shake the Top 3 loose perhaps even in two weeks?
  • Jessie Ware is always a good bet, as the gorgeous album track “Pieces” slips into the #4 ranking, while rocker Graham Alexander is right behind with his energetic blast called “She’s A Chameleon” up 8-5.
  • The fastest riser on the chart is accompanied by news that Giorgio Moroder will in fact be touring with Kylie Minogue this year!  Undoubtedly somewhere in the show “Right Here, Right Now” will be performed, as the first single from Giorgio’s upcoming album 24 Is The New 74 is the fastest riser for a second week, advancing 14-6!
  • Also new to the Top 10 is the song produced by John Rzeznik of Goo Goo Dolls for Canadian quintet Eleven Past One.  It’s not a single but it’s the gem from their EP The World Is Ours called “There’s Nothing Wrong”, moving up 13-10!  Here it at the Amazon link right here or on other sources like Spotify.

Movin’ On Up

  • Sam Smith’s last entry “Restart” topped out at #11, so let’s see if “Like I Can” will become the 4-time Grammy winner’s 6th Top Tenner on my chart, as the lovely “Lay Me Down” becomes his latest single.  In The Lonely Hour is the album that keeps on giving 🙂
  • Years & Years are the band to watch in 2015, and with good reason – catchy, well-performed songs like “King” from their self-titled EP!  The song climbs 19-12 on the chart.
  • Daniel Robinson’s breezy take on EDM pop, the mysterious “Moonmolt”, moves up 17-13 as the singer announced the imminent arrival of an EP called I Don’t Know How It Is, in advance of his album called Truant.
  • UK’s Shift K3Y definitely is getting around, remixing songs such as “You & I (Forever)” by Jessie Ware!  The singer rises 21-15 with the single “I Know”
  • Canadian quartet Smashing Satellites, led by striking ex-My Darkest Days singer Salvatore Costa, has one of the hardest hitting videos of 2015 so far created for their song “Waterfall”, which climbs 25-18.  Look for the band playing regularly around North America – with side trips elsewhere, who knows? – throughout the year.
  • Another hard hitting song, and a standout from his debut album, is “Riot” by Mikky Ekko, performed on TV’s David Letterman show last week.  It moves up 26-19.
  • Matt McAndrew’s “Wasted Love” has a wonderful singalong chorus, and the runner-up contestant on Season 7 of “The Voice” climbs 27-21.  Look for Season 8 of “The Voice” starting Monday February 23 (recent Grammy winner Christina Aguilera returns).
  • Lifehouse’s “Hurricane” climbs 28-22 but I think the song will let loose everywhere in the coming weeks.  Watch out!

4 Debuts

  • Why it’s Jessie Ware again!  And while the video is a tad, urhm, unconventional, the song is brilliant.  “Champagne Kisses” is one of my faves from Tough Love and bows at #23, likely to join “Pieces” in the Top 10 at some point.
  • It’s taken a little while longer than usual to hear what a brillo song that 19 year old DJ/producer Mi Disguise (aka Louie Garcia) and BILLCS chart fave Adam Tyler have created with “Alive”.  I did write about it a while back in September, but it’s finally debuted on the chart at #27.
  • Samantha Gibb, she of the famous last name as daughter of The Bee Gees’ Maurice, premieres on the chart with her sunny and reflective “Memories” at #28.
  • It’s kind of strange how my fellow Torontonian The Weeknd (aka 25 year old Abel Tesfaye) had yet to appear on my chart until now, but his song from “50 Shades Of Grey” called “Earned It” is a dramatic stunner with a compelling vocal that I bet will land him a Grammy nomination.  The song is already a Top 5 UK hit (a good sign), and arrives on my chart at #29.  Fellow “50 Shades” performer Ellie Goulding did appear on my chart in 2012 with her free download cover of The Weeknd’s “High For This”, the original of which you can find on his House Of Balloons album.

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 for My New Music Pick Of The Week on D-Moos.com!

Every week I feature a New Music Pick of the Week on D-Moos, which is usually either on my chart or may soon be!  Listen in amid the great variety of older music as I bring cutting edge new music to the rotation of over 20,000+ songs!!

 

 

Flood On The Dance Floor: “When It Rains, It Pours” by @DATABOYmusic featuring @NikotheKid

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DATABOY featuring NIKO THE KID, “When It Rains, It Pours”

Hot off the presses is the latest single from Austin-via-Los Angeles EDM duo DATABOY, featuring producer/remixer Niko The Kid, on “When It Rains, It Pours”.  The song joins a fabulous series of dance songs about the rain – “I Can’t Stand The Rain”, “It’s Raining Men”, “When The Rain Begins To Fall”, and more of course – and will definitely create one whirlwind of a flood on the dance floor.  The lads (being Cam and Adam) have created a striking but different and often deeper vocal arrangement in this song which will serve them well as they prepare more new songs, which I hope will lead to album #2 (after a true favourite of mine, 2012’s Dreams Are Gold).  With past pairings with the likes of Rune RK and Kid Massive, DATABOY have great creative instincts which leads to some of the most listenable dance music around.  I’m hoping for some big, original remixes this time – “When It Rains, It Pours” is most deserving of international dance club play.  DATABOY continue their evolution and have come a long way since I saw them perform in NYC in 2011!!  Listen below and get it now on iTunes.

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