Iowa born singer/songwriter Eli Lieb has created one of those songs that will become ingrained in the musical part of your being after you hear it just once. It’s “Zeppelin”, and while some people might think “why Zeppelin?”, others will think “as in Led Zeppelin?” – and then “but why is Eli Lieb singing about Led Zeppelin?” Well Eli hasn’t risen to new heights for nothing after five years of You Tube recognition, a 2011 self-titled independent album, connections with the likes of Adam Lambert and Cheyenne Jackson, and his powerful 2013 song about male romance “Young Love”. He’s zeroed in on how we sometimes relate to relationships, gay or otherwise, and that is through music and our favourite performers. In this case, his video unfolds below referencing back to great times listening to songs by Led Zeppelin. And while it seem easy to include pop culture in the lyrics, Eli convincingly makes you listen to hear how references to Led Zeppelin songs unfold. “Zeppelin” is destined to put Eli Lieb’s name into the ears of the 18-45 set in the same way that 5 Seconds Of Summer now make the younger set think of American Apparel underwear, and all you have to do is lend it your eyes and ears. It’s available on iTunes.
While their beloved “Nevies” await an EP/album and future concert dates, Toronto trio Neverest have dropped their fourth single in the span of a year, the uptempo and upbeat “Starlight”. The song is sandwiched between the punch of their harder anthems “Rewind” and the free download ‘Take Cover”, and the softer emotional pop of “Immortalized”. To be quite honest, I didn’t care for “Starlight” upon first listens. But I kept coming back to it, thinking about the romantic imagery and how it makes you feel to be thought of as part of something that’s intangible and eternal. It’s pure bliss and serenity as sung by Spee in his gorgeous high register. Then, take a gander at the new video for the song (which has a nice twist, I might add), full of great, familiar Toronto scenery and romance – and I can’t knock a video that shows a record store and vinyl in hand 😛 “Starlight” could also be the ticket these great guys need for the most radio play they could see since “About Us” and “Everything”, and it’s now available on iTunes.
Calan Mai is the stage name for Australian entertainer Jordan Lawrence, and he’s taken the perfectly agreeable folk/pop of “We’ve Got Love” to an entirely different level with its video. It’s a downright goofy, low budget (well except for the bit of animation, maybe) free-for-all that might remind you more of community theatre than a pop music video. But a great time will be had by all, it will not only make you smile, but may cause fits of laughter as well. Calan Mai has an album coming in August called Days Of The Rock Face (which hopefully will get worldwide release), and I have no idea if it will contain more songs with the whimsical good nature of “We’ve Got Love”. But if you need that one thing to make you smile today, you will find it with Calan Mai’s “We’ve Got Love” video below. And keep your eyes on the apple!!!
WRABEL, “Into The Wild” and “Ten Feet Tall” (with Afrojack)
25 year old New York native Stephen Wrabel is following a similar path of fellow New Yorker Matthew Koma. Wrabel is connecting with audiences as the voice behind Afrojack’s “Ten Feet Tall”, already a Top 20 hit in the UK and the Netherlands, and prominently featured in a Budwiser ad during Super Bowl. To me, “Ten Feet Tall” is 2014’s “Don’t You Worry Child” or “Clarity”, an uptempo emotional ballad that will endure long after it leaves the charts, and largely because of Wrabel’s affecting vocal. And you can tell that Wrabel goes way beyond this song by checking out songs from his debut EP for Island called Sideways, including the softer version of “Ten Feet Tall”. “Into The Wild” (co-written with Drew Pearson and the amazing Dan Black) in particular showcases his high range and there is no question that his identifiable voice and songwriting style will serve him well on his forthcoming album, due later this year. Listen to “Into The Wild” below and check out the lyric video for “Ten Feet Tall”.
He’s already co-penned songs with Diane Warren and Lauren Christy, co-wrote Hot Chelle Rae’s “Don’t Say Goodnight”, and collaborated with duo MKTO on their self-titled album. And after some recent touring, somehow St. Louis native Brandyn Burnette is making room for a solo career with his single “Thanks For Nothing”. I love songs that lay it on the line, because they help make others stronger when dealing with relationships. And Brandyn doesn’t mince words when he comes up with other ways of saying “Thanks For Nothing” in the song. With an unexpected pedigree – Brandyn’s father is singer O’Bryan, he of 1982’s “The Gigolo” fame – Brandyn is traversing both R&B and pop, having already recorded a mixtape as well. And a recently minted deal with Warner Brothers records looks promising. “Thanks For Nothing” is a great start. Don’t let the weakish beginning of the song deter you – there’s a genuine hook and playful melody all waiting to be stuck in your head as an end-of-summer song. Get “Thanks For Nothing” on iTunes and watch the lyric video below.
Somehow like others I’ve missed Melanie Martinez’s major label debut arriving on the scene. I suspect with the success of Lorde, Lana Del Rey, and Charli XCX that Melanie’s release has been overshadowed. But that’s no reason not to notice now. Her EP The Dollhouse arrived in May on Atlantic Records, and she’s one of the few contestants from “The Voice” to land on a major label. You will remember her inspired and original takes on Britney Spears’ “Toxic” and The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” from two years back. “Dollhouse” captures her unique style and chameleon appearance perfectly, and it’s a pretty creepy visit inside of the outwardly perfect family only to find things are hardly perfect on the inside. The video has some striking images which would work just fine at Hallowe’en. Take a look and listen, and get it on iTunes.
Following 2012’s album Pacifica and the single “Goodbye Future” from earlier this year, “No Fun” could be one of the best and most anthemic songs yet from Australian electronic music duo The Presets. The single was launched by a “cube” video – six videos all in one directed by Barnaby Roper, which you can purchase on Google Play. I have not yet seen the cube project, but it was quickly followed by a video surrounding two protagonists, stories of which are apparently part of the cube. So we have a dancer venting in the streets of L.A. while a young woman has a trippy bath, and somehow the images of the two merge. The song itself is a funk-laced club banger, an anthem that Presets fans all over the world will have vocalize at the band’s intense live shows. Let’s hope there’s more to come like this from Jules and Kim – because “No Fun” quite frankly is a whole lot of fun in my books!
I was pleased to see another video surface by the talented River Tiber (aka masterful multi-instrumentalist and videographer Tommy Paxton-Beesley). “Prophets” was initially heard on the now-unavailable free download album Synapses, one of my favourites from last year, and I’ve heard it a few times in concert too. As EP’s and singles slowly resurface of songs from that album, I think we will see it reissued or reshaped for release later in the year. In any case, the video for “Prophets” is definitely a weird dreamscape of images which could all be connected to each other, or mean something important, as the title characters of the song might imply. The repeated images glide along with the variety of electronic movements within the song, and though the video gets to be a bit much towards the end of “Prophets”, it’s certainly memorable. Get it on iTunes (I’ve also read that a 7″ vinyl might be forthcoming).
Here For You is the debut album (yes that’s the CD of it above) by 16 year old British Columbia native Tristan Thompson, whose first single “Tidal Wave” has scored #1 on my latest personal chart, and is a first class effort that distances itself from the run of the mill teen pop of the day. All of the songs were written or co-written by Tylor Johnson, and they aren’t predetermined for a particular age group, allowing Tristan to provide more classic pop kind of interpretations. And besides “Tidal Wave”, there are at least two other golden radio-worthy songs for your attention.
“Mistaken” is the opening song and should be the successor to “Tidal Wave” with a zinger of a hook and a really good story to boot. Like other songs on Here For You, “Lifetime Guarantee” slows things down a bit, again a strong song perfectly suited for Tristan’s voice. “Leaving You Behind” is another uptempo number, while other songs like “Siren” help mix up the set with variety. Here For You is a great showcase that lets Tristan’s vocal influences show their true colours, from Michael Jackson to Backstreet Boys to Jesse McCartney. So – it’s about as far away from Bieber and Cyrus and Gomez and others that you can get! Truly it’s an album that will appeal to all ages.
Tristan Thompson has a bright future ahead and I think Here For You, with top notch production by Adam Tune, will have long legs to take him into next year and beyond.
Listen to the Boomtang Mix radio edit of “Tidal Wave” below.
The new chart has four debuts and the Top 10 is all shaken and stirred…
The New #1
He did it! It’s not easy to trounce Sam Smith from his 7th week at #1 this year (albeit with three songs), but 16 year old British Columbian Tristan Thompson has done just that. The 70’s through 2000’s retro appeal of “Tidal Wave”, plus the fact that young Tristan has already got a great voice, have it leading the pack, at least for the next two weeks, because there’s a bit of a dance club storm brewing underneath. I’ll have my thoughts on Tristan’s full album Here For You in the week, in the mean time check out his video for “Tidal Wave” above 🙂
The Rest of the Top 5… Changing Places
The rest of the Top 5 is the same as two weeks ago, but all of the songs have changed places. Imminent challengers for #1 are “Electrify The Night”, the hard-to-find Europop gem from House Rockerz, Davis Redfield and vocalist Carl Man, which plugs into #2, and Jason Walker & Bimbo Jones’ brillo Hi-NRG-inspired take on Taylor Dayne’s “Tell It To My Heart” at #3. Sam Smith slides to #4 with “Stay With Me” while Martin Garrix’s “Proxy” slowly tumbles to #5.
New To The Top 10
That whirling dervish of a remix by Steve Smart & Westfunk of Little Mix’s “Little Me” soars to #6, while Andy Grammer’s “Back Home” (below) continues to find new fans and could take the song through the entire summer, and it’s up to #10. There’s also a chart debut in the Top 10…
Shakin’ Up The Chart
Is it everywhere yet? “Boom Clap” by Charli XCX vaults up the chart 18-11.
Those 4 Kongos lads make a great case for infectious rock songs on their album Lunatic. “Hey I Don’t Know” climbs 15-12.
It’s following a bit of a pattern set by Martin Garrix and Convulsic already, but Finnish singer Hannis has a strange gem of a Europop/Dubstep single with “Time Has Come” charging up the chart as the fastest riser, 23-13! I’d LOVE dance clubs to make this one their own!!
“Miracle” by the UK’s E-Mute is not slowing down as this memorable slice of alt.rock moves up 17-14.
Last week’s new entries, “Knew You Better” by Adam Tyler and Sam Dickinson’s “When You Left Me” both make impressive gains, rising 25-18 and 27-19 respectively!
Chart Debuts
Could Anton Ewald outdo last year’s “Begging” (#2) and “Can’t Hold Back” (#3)? The talented young Swedish singer met his match with Danish star Medina, and all parties connected and co-write and recorded “This Could Be Something” from Anton’s new EP On My Way. All I can say is that Katy Perry would probably kill for this song! It’s a strong and summery pure pop record with an engaging video that bows on this chart at #9!!
Watch the video here!For some reason the Internet powers that be are really fussy about You Tube/Vimeo links for videos by Swedish pop stars! 😮
Yes, it’s time for another Bright Light Bright Light song on the chart! Rod Thomas has just released his sophomore album Life Is Easy, which has debuted well on the UK charts, and from it is the follow-up single to his Elton John duet “I Wish We Were Leaving”, but like “Love Part II” from his first album it’s a smashing and breathtakingly upbeat take on the power of love. “I Believe” starts out at #27.
Why look, it’s Davis Redfield and Carl Man, together again (along with some of , if not all of, those same spot-on songwriters)! ActuallyI wrote about “Music Gods”a while back but like any good song, you keep coming back to it. Besides, I’ve always liked the Music Gods myself 😀 “Music Gods” arrives at #28.
More Neon Trees? Yes please, especially after their engaging July 3 concert here in Toronto (and yes, Tyler did crowd surf us 😀 )! I’m not sure if it will be the next official single or not, but “Love In The 21st Century” joins “Teenager In Love” (#17) on this chart at #29.
The full chart can be found further down the page…
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 onhttp://www.d-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.
I was asked to do a pre-recorded weekly New Music Pick of The Week, and a number of the songs on this chart – specifically those by Tristan Thompson, Adam Tyler, Zorro Blakk & Deniz Olivieri, Sam Dickinson, and Anton Ewald – have all recently graced the station, every three hours for a week beginning Mondays at 2:05 a.m. EST.
Do listen in for the Pick of the Week onD-Moos.com, 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 🙂
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.
02 01 TIDAL WAVE Tristan Thompson 05 02 ELECTRIFY THE NIGHT House Rockerz featuring Davis Redfield & Carl Man 04 03 TELL IT TO MY HEART Jason Walker featuring Bimbo Jones 01 04 STAY WITH ME Sam Smith 03 05 PROXY Martin Garrix 11 06 LITTLE ME (Steve Smart & Wildfunk Radio Edit) Little Mix 07 07 THE DAY YOU LEFT Convulsic 10 08 GOOD NEWS (FOR PEOPLE WHO LOVE BAD NEWS) Zorro Blakk featuring Deniz Olivieri New 09 THIS COULD BE SOMETHING Anton Ewald featuring Medina 12 10 BACK HOME Andy Grammer 18 11 BOOM CLAP Charli XCX 15 12 HEY I DON’T KNOW Kongos 23 13 TIME HAS COME Hannis 17 14 MIRACLE E-Mute 06 15 NOT IN THAT WAY Sam Smith 09 16 THIS IS DIRTY DVBBS & MOTi 20 17 TEENAGER IN LOVE Neon Trees 25 18 KNEW YOU BETTER Adam Tyler 27 19 WHEN YOU LEFT ME Sam Dickinson 21 20 YOUR LOVE FADES AWAY Simone Denny 22 21 TRUST IT Nick Hagelin 08 22 ME AND MY BROKEN HEART Rixton 26 23 BIG CITY GIRLS (DON’T FALL IN LOVE WITH SMALL TOWN BOYS) Zorro Blakk 16 24 BLACK LEATHER SIRPAUL 13 25 LOVE SPACE Convulsic 14 26 SHE LOOKS SO PERFECT 5 Seconds Of Summer New 27 I BELIEVE Bright Light Bright Light New 28 MUSIC GODS Davis Redfield featuring Carl Man New 29 LOVE IN THE 21ST CENTURY Neon Trees 19 30 DEAR NICOLE FrankMusik
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