Over the summer, my fellow Canadian Mike Tompkins released an original and very contagious single “YOLO (Sorry I’m Not Sorry)”, which was followed by a tour and very enjoyable show, and somewhere amid it all he co-produced a single by Jennifer Hudson with Timbaland, “Walk It Out”, which appears on her latest album JHUD. But Mike returns to the acapella form, his unique anchor for success, with the unlikely mashup of Taylor Swift’s “Take It Off” and Bastille’s “Pompeii”. The mashup does not take away from either song, but like with Mike’s other online works, it almost makes both songs into one new one. And as before, to introduce new listeners and viewers, Mike informs us after the song about how he creates the layered acapella sounds. Watch the fun above and I look forward to new and original music from Mike soon. But I won’t knock these mashups as long as he chooses to create them 🙂
Well Martin Garrix’s dubstep/trap instrumentals may have won over the pop music world during the first part of 2014, but there’s always room for more. How about a huge House banger?? 🙂 Turkish DJ/Producer Deniz Koyu meets the prolific Twoloud on “Goin’ Down”, which will totally unexpectedly simply command your attention from within the first 10 seconds. And it just doesn’t let up because what’s goin’ down indeed is YOU on the dancefloor! “Goin’ Down” is the dance club slayer for the rest of 2014 and will be available on Beatport on October 3. Another Spinnin’ Records dance gem!
Suddenly we move into Fall, and the entire landscape at the top of my chart is changing. Not unexpectedly, the high energy dance experience that we enjoyed for most of the year is shifting to quieter music with top notch vocal power and three songs that will rule the top of my chart for the next while.
The Top 10
The hint from two weeks ago proved to be true. Sam Smith acquires his 4th number one song of the year on my personal chart with “I’m Not The Only One”, moving up 4-1. This is one song that’s grown immeasurably on me from In The Lonely Hour since it was first release. It’s in fine contention to be one of the top songs of 2014, along with “Stay With Me”, “Money On My Mind”, and “Latch”. The relentless worldwide touring must be taking its toll – Sam had to cancel his Toronto stop on his tour.
The fastest riser is right behind, and it’s “Smile” by Mikky Ekko, bounding 17-2, certain to be #1 whenever “I’m Not The Only One” concedes. The singer is touring with Alt-J, which is already seeing sold out shows across the country, including the Toronto stop on November 11.
Harriet’s rich vocal tones send “Afterglow” from 6 to 3. It’s from her fine 3 song EP What’s Mine Is Yours, containing the solid pop song of the same name, plus a cover of Judie Tzuke’s “If (When You Go)”, and they’re all grandly produced by Steve Anderson.
“This Could Be Something” by Anton Ewald & Medina is proving to be enduring, slipping 2-4, just can’t get the ‘oooh oooh’s’ out of my head yet!
Davis Redfield & Carl Man’s “Music Gods” moves up 9-7, ever so eyeing the Top 50 in two weeks amid fierce competition.
It’s Mikky Ekko again at #8, this time as featured voice on Chris Malinchak’s funky club song “Stranger”, rising 11-8.
“Get To Know You” by Corey Niles & Ish is picking up in radio airplay across Canada! The infectious and tightly produced song climbs 12-9.
From the forthcoming album The Couch Surfing Chronicles, Brandyn Burnette’s “Thanks For Nothing” moves 15-10. Brandyn’s one well-grounded old soul kind of guy and his tweets are well worth your perusal! He plays in L.A on Monday September 22 at the Hotel Cafe. Take a look at his “Life’s A Beach” video below – it will make you smile!
On The Way Up
The remix of Adam Tyler’s 2011 single “I Won’t Let You Go” in an Aron Friedman remix is once again on its way to the Top 10, where it previously peaked at #5. Also climbing is the Paul Hetherington-produced “Criminal”, up 23-18. You can preview a new single featuring Adam further down below 🙂
The positive folk/pop of Knoxville, TN based singer Lyonn (aka Tyler Gelrud) continues to flourish as “Just Say Hello” climbs 20-15.
Soon to make an international breakthrough is Graffiti6 singer Jamie Scott with his latest single “Unbreakable”, from his upcoming album My Hurricane. The song jumps 24-16. Watch the new heart-stirring video above.
Slick R&B/pop from Chromatone, with a winning video full of great dancing and choreography, comes in the form of “Play For Me”, which rises 26-21.
Premiering
Like many others, I can’t wait till the release of Jessie Ware’s Tough Love album as well as the UK singer’s North American tour, which brings her to Toronto on October 26 (and I’m going YAY). In the meantime, “Say You Love Me” and its quiet power makes a splash on the chart at #20. Jessie’s only previous appearance on my chart was on a reissue of Miguel’s “Adorn”, which got to #1 last Fall. The Tough Love album also features a 70’s R&B flavoured Miguel composition “Kind Of…Sometimes…Maybe”, which you can hear below.
As his former #1 “Tidal Wave” is about to depart the chart after a maximum 10 appearances (20 weeks), the latest from 16 year old Tristan Thompson arrives on the chart at #22. Watch the video for “Mistaken” below.
Lastly, it’s a great reason to fall in love with a song you enjoyed the first time around. Penguin Prison has put a disco spin on his cover of Sade’s first single “Hang On To Your Love”. It’s available to you as a free download in anticipation of PP’s sophomore album, and bows on the chart at #25. PP has a great track record on my chart – “Hang On” is his 7th entry, plus he’s been featured on one other Top 5 song (RAC’s “Hollywood”) and remixed four songs (by Jamiroquai, The Temper Trap’s #1 “Resurrection”, Ghost Beach, and Lana Del Rey).
Extra! Extra!
Here’s what Adam Tyler’s up to in his spare time. His 19 year old producer friend Mi Disguise has featured him on the exuberant “Alive”, which has loads of dance club potential. You can preview this new song below. Enjoy!
Listen to the songs or watch the videos using the links on the pictures on the pretty and detailedweb edition of my chart.
04 01 I’M NOT THE ONLY ONE Sam Smith 17 02 SMILE Mikky Ekko 06 03 AFTERGLOW Harriet 02 04 THIS COULD BE SOMETHING Anton Ewald featuring Medina 05 05 NO FUN The Presets 01 06 I BELIEVE Bright Light Bright Light 09 07 MUSIC GODS Davis Redfield featuring Carl Man 11 08 STRANGER Chris Malinchak featuring Mikky Ekko 12 09 GET TO KNOW YOU Corey Niles featuring Ish 15 10 THANKS FOR NOTHING Brandyn Burnette 03 11 TIME HAS COME Hannis 08 12 TEN FEET TALL Afrojack featuring Wrabel 19 13 I WON’T LET YOU GO (Aron Friedman remix) Adam Tyler 16 14 ZEPPELIN Eli Lieb 20 15 JUST SAY HELLO Lyonn 24 16 UNBREAKABLE Jamie Scott 21 17 AMNESIA 5 Seconds Of Summer 23 18 CRIMINAL Adam Tyler 07 19 WHEN YOU LEFT ME Sam Dickinson New 20 SAY YOU LOVE ME Jessie Ware 26 21 PLAY FOR ME Chromatone New 22 MISTAKEN Tristan Thompson 28 23 KILLER WHALES Smallpools 10 24 BIG CITY GIRLS (DON’T FALL IN LOVE WITH SMALL TOWN BOYS) Zorro Blakk New 25 HANG ON TO YOUR LOVE Penguin Prison 13 26 ELECTRIFY THE NIGHT House Rockerz featuring Davis Redfield & Carl Man 14 27 TIDAL WAVE Tristan Thompson 18 28 BOOM CLAP Charli XCX 22 29 KNEW YOU BETTER Adam Tyler 25 30 LITTLE ME (Steve Smart & Wildfunk radio edit) Little Mix
Listen for My New Music Pick Of The Week onD-Moos.com!
As many of you are already aware, after many years away from the microphone, I am now pleased to be back as a voice onD-Moos.com Canada’s National Internet Radio Station, which mainly plays a selection of oldies, mostly from the 50’s to the 90’s, with soon to be more intrusions from the 2000’s and other new music.
Do listen in for my New Music Pick of the Week feature onD-Moos.com8 times per day starting at 2:05 AM EST on Mondays, and while the station is only live in the evenings from 9:00 pm to midnight (with my long-time musical partner in crime “The Musicman” James Rogers), you can hear my voice at other odd times, particularly if you’re an oldies loving night owl on the weekend overnights 🙂
British singer James Poole does have an EP release in the works, as he releases a third new treasure in advance for your listening pleasure, “Runaway”. The piano backdrop is very quiet as James sings about a guy who tries to win back his former love by wanting to have her stay, fix her, and then run away with her. Alas the story is well past its end by the time fixing her is raised, so “Runaway” is a retrospective story of could-have-been, possession, and regret. James’ high register gets a workout throughout committed to the heartache that the song conveys. But whether his voice is high or low, loud or soft – and his low register often has this gruff, recognizable sound to it – it carries “Runaway” through to a thoughtful piano break a minute before the end. Quiet power in British pop is definitely ‘in’, not only with big names like Sam Smith and Adele, but others who you find in my posts such as Harriet and Eurielle. As you know from past posts in these pages, James Poole’s stunning voice leads the way in 2014. Watch the lyric video above. Top notch artwork too, really reflects the mood of the song.
Wanna brighten your day? Maybe it’s time to take a little trip and slip away to wherever you want with the person you adore. Those are the sentiments that come across in the latest from New Jersey-based singer/actor Val Emmich with “Hey Hey Hey”. I like when songwriters can get right down to the basics and write an uncomplicated song that seals the deal in 3 minutes. And Val does just that, with a help from a fine vocal assist from fellow New Jersey performer Christina Alessi. Val’s no stranger to my personal chart as songs from his 2008 release Little Daggers reached the Top 10 (“Get On With It”, #3, and “Down”, #10). “Hey Hey Hey” comes from Val’s upcoming EP Pack Your Bags, Pack Your Heart.You’ll find from this linkthat you can download “Hey Hey Hey” for free, but also that you can only purchase the EP by buying a ticket to Val’s Stage It show on Tuesday September 30. Enjoy!
This edition of Songs Of Innocence is in fact an 11 song preview of the full album which is due for official release on October 13, also featuring acoustic sessions, two new songs, and alternate versions of two songs within (“The Troubles” and “Sleep Like A Baby Tonight”). So it’s a reverse promotion to what other performers have done recently – U2 has given us most of the album to enjoy, with the extras to follow instead. I was wondering what U2 would do next after their solid (and originally free) charity single from earlier this year, “Invisible”, didn’t really resonate with music fans.
I guess like many people, it would be interesting to know why the decision with iTunes to create the free download, for a band that has already made millions of dollars from records and touring. There are a number of other secure ways of creating a download that would have seemed less intrusive. I mean iTunes now creates a lot of people’s record collections, which of course have a deep personal attachment. Every artist has fans who would have been delighted with this. But imagine if it was Justin Bieber or One Direction? It would have been received even less, uh, warmly. And I’m hoping that iTunes will allow people who downloaded Songs Of Innocence to ‘complete the album’ rather than buy the entire package – that would be a nice gesture.
As for the album preview itself? It’s a fine release. I’m not sure if U2 will be able to surpass their classic era of late 80’s and early 90’s albums, but there are many songs on the Danger Mouse produced Songs Of Innocence which have lots of potential. In particular “The Troubles” (lyric video above), with featured vocals by Lykki Li, is an outstanding collaboration that should receive notice. At least five of the other songs – “Song For Someone”, “Raised By Wolves”, “Every Breaking Wave”, “The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone)”, and “Cedarwood Road” – will all catch your attention with the ever-distinct guitar work by The Edge and some Bono vocal work which will remind you of that classic era of U2 that I already referenced.
Despite the way that its promotion has occurred, do be sure to give this preview of U2’s Songs Of Innocence a fair shot. Read more about iton U2’s website.
29 year old British singer Jessie Ware had many fine moments on her debut album Devotion two years back. But the songs that she’s been releasing thus far from her sophomore album Tough Love show that these songs are joining a new classic vocal era that was raised to new heights by Adele four years ago. Sam Smith is the male comparator, of course, and he and Adele and Jessie Ware can join forces and send us all into complete bliss. “Say You Love Me” is lilting and dreamy pop that is awoken with a choral climax that helps make the song memorable. The video showcase is simple and understated and all Jessie. Brilliant and chart bound internationally! North America gets Tough Love on October 21, eight days after the UK and other countries. I’m looking forward to seeing her show on October 26 in Toronto 🙂
TONY MORAN & DEEP INFLUENCE featuring JASON WALKER, “Ball Of Confusion”
Despite its origins as a Vietnam-era Motown smasheroo by The Temptations in 1970 (and noteworthy as an electronic comeback cover by Tina Turner in 1982 via BEF 🙂 ), “Ball Of Confusion” has never lost its relevance. And so we have a fierce new version in aoun tstanding creation from Grammy nominee and club veteran Tony Moran, frequent collaborator Deep Influence, and, with an extremely well-chosen vocal, New York club star Jason Walker, who just recently had another Billboard Top 10 club hit with his own blistering cover of Taylor Dayne’s “Tell It To My Heart”. Accolades all around – listen for it at your local club and watch it burn up the charts.
Hot on the Canada-wide vibe caused by his debut single “Tidal Wave”, which has received national (and New Zealand!) airplay as well as TV exposure for the British Columbian singer, comes a new video for “Mistaken”, from Tristan Thompson’s album Here For You. This time Tristan’s singing a story as the knowing voice of regret at the young age of 16, as set to an 80s inspired synth pop melody, and the song’s earworm of a chorus will have you humming “Mistaken” for days. Plus there are some good performance scenes with a cool vehicle 🙂 The bonus with Tristan having such a great voice at his age is that all of his songs come across as convincing and mature, making his music open for a wider audience than your average teenage pop star. If you’re in western Canada, look for Tristan as part of the TeenFest tour, and who knows maybe it will head eastward to the rest of the country. Be sure to support this fine talent and pick up any of his songs on iTunes for 99 cents each or buy the entire Here For You album (andyou can read my blog post about it here). “Mistaken” is a fine candidate for international radio play, and could also do well in clubs with remixes.
Just when you think that 5 Seconds Of Summer have the Aussie boy band market cornered, along come The Janoskians with a mighty silly but highly enjoyable video for their latest single “That’s What She Said”. The Janoskians I believe pre-date 5SOS by a year or so, known more initially as a teen troupe of pranksters, consisting of brothers Beau, Luke and Jai (who are twins), Daniel, and James . And the pop/rock world can always use a dose of prankster ideology to get your attention. Well the lifeguards-on-a-beach antics with a few racy twists may just be what the doctor ordered to help get us through the Fall months on these shores. The Janoskians should be playing somewhere near you (and me – in October) as they try to find favour in North America. But really what’s not to like? Take in that randomness people and enjoy “That’s What She Said” 🙂 After all the group’s name is an acronym for Just Another Name Of Silly Kids In Another Nation (+S).
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