Acoustic Soul: “Son Of Night” by @remingtonshand

REMY SHAND, “Son Of Night”

Yes, Canadian soul singer Remy Shand has been back on the music scene for about a year now, creating new sounds and sharing them online, hopefully in anticipation of a full release sometime soon.  It’s so good to have him back, and the best of what I’ve heard lately is “Son Of Night”, a real throwback to warm, emotional R&B of the 70’s, stripped down to just vocal and guitar with a few effects.  And the ending of this short song just makes you want much, much more!  The best place to buy Remy’s music is on his Bandcamp page.

It’s All Dutch To Me: “Denk Denk Denk” by @JeronimoMusic

JERONIMO, “Denk Denk Denk”

When in doubt, you can always turn to young Dutchman Jeronimo for a feel good song to make you smile.  His latest is “Denk Denk Denk”, sure to have you reeled in before the minute mark with its singalong chorus, and before you know it you might master a little bit of Dutch!  The title means “Think Think Think”… something we all tend to overdo and forget about just having fun.  “Denk Denk Denk” is light and carefree Spring-flavoured pop.  The singer never fails to impress me with his unique voice and expressive performances. You can get it worldwide on iTunes.

Feel The Vibe: “Better Days” by @BoyJumpsShip

BOY JUMPS SHIP, “Better Days”

North-east England is bringing us quite a varied amount of fine music this year, and among it all is rock quartet Boy Jumps Ship, who hail from Newcastle-upon-Tyne.  The video for “Better Days” has so much going for it – a sincere, emotional, energetic performance, as well as a really positive message which hits home in the close-ups.  The prolific band has a grunge-influenced sound that is augmented by melody and a catchy hook in “Better Days”.  Tag Boy Jumps Ship onto your playlist with Cage The Elephant.  The song hails from their EP Be Good Be Gracious, which you can get on iTunes.

A Joyful Celebration: “Fall Into Love” by @Wrathschild (video)

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WRATHSCHILD, “Fall Into Love (video)

I’ve already written about (and charted) “Fall Into Love” by Wrathschild, the new name for the duo of Simon Curtis and Wolfy (Ro Danishei).  Their slightly sci-fi themed video for the song arrived on Friday and it’s a joyful celebration of being carefree while falling in love.  The duo and their director have captured this beautifully with bright colours (pink, for sure), some truly natural smiles in happy close-ups, the beach, playing games, Wolfy in fur (yeah in L.A., but that’s normal 😉 ), and Simon in a comfy unique onesie (stop the frame and take a look at the buttons he’s wearing too).  Huge props to all involved for deciding to make a feel good song and video.  There is a reason why Pharrell Williams’ “Happy” is #1 around the world and Wrathschild taps into that vibe.

BILLCS Top 30 #428 – April 7/14

Dance music rules the ascending songs on my new personal charts, while some striking new pure pop songs debut 🙂

The Top 10

All but one of our songs in the Top 10 move up, and that’s because the only song that moves down was #1 two weeks ago…

  • The irresistible house banger collaboration of Showtek & Justin Prime with Matthew Koma, a reworking of last year’s instrumental “Cannonball” with Koma vocals and lyrics on “Cannonball (Earthquake)” (video up top) grabs #1!  The rest of my active Top 10 however responds to their catch line of ‘Show us what you got / When the m***erfuckin’ beat drops’… It’s also Matthew Koma’s 4th #1 entry, following “Spectrum”, “Parachute”, and “1998”.
  • It looks like “Addicted To You” by Avicii featuring the unbilled Audra Mae is smashing it worldwide too.  It rises to #3 and watch the new video for it below.
  • Ascending into the Top 5 are “Find You” (6-4), which has cracked the Top 40 for Zedd, Matthew Koma & Miriam Bryant, and Adam Tyler’s poptastic free download “Electric Valentine” (7-5), becoming the singer’s 3rd Top 5er on my chart 🙂
  • Sam Smith’s “Money On My Mind” gives way and falls from first to second place, but his entry with Disclosure, the affecting “Latch”, has its eyes on the top of the chart, moving 10-6.
  • The third and last Matthew Koma entry remains in the Top 10 – it’s Hardwell’s “Dare You” up 9-7.
  • The three new entries to the Top 10 breakaway from the log jam on the last chart:  John Newman’s “Love Me Again” climbs 13-8, with Nick Hagelin’s “Finest Clothes In Town” catching fire 14-9, and Disclosure x2, featuring Mary J. Blige on the redone “F For You” at #10.  Listen/watch the latter two below.

Also On The Rise

  • San Diego’s Convulsic brings his inventive EDM/dubstep game with “Love Space” climbing 17-12, with more to come from this talented newcomer.
  • Right behind is Martin Garrix, whose free download of  EDM/trap song “Proxy” is on fire, and packs a wallop on the chart, moving 23-13 as the fastest riser 🙂
  • Semi-Precious Weapons’ “Drink” moves 15-14 behind some heavier songs now, but the band recently released its lyric video to “Look To The Stars” as their full album is on deck for release.  Watch below.
  • Jason Derulo has apparently only teased us with his Tattoos EP, so a full album called Talk Dirty will be coming soon.  While the title song is a lot of fun and climbs 22-18, I’m hoping the new album continues along the lines of some of his pop successes too like “Whatcha Say” or “In My Head”.
  • And talking dirty and “Horny” seem to fall hand-in-hand on this chart, so Lonnie Gordon’s could-be dance club hit moves up 24-20.
  • Sandwiched rather adroitly in-between, “I Wish We Were Leaving” by Bright Light Bright Light and Elton John climb 25-19 while BLx2’s EP of the same name arrived today on iTunes with two remixes of “I Wish”.  Also give a listen to a new song on the EP “She Carves Her Desire” below.
  • FrankMusik continues with his prolific releases in anticipation of his full album called By Nicole.  His opening single “Dear Nicole” advances 28-24, while the video for a new song “These Streets”, with an interesting mix of jaunty melody and affecting lyrics, arrived this past week.  Watch below.

Debuts!!

  • I cannot get enough of Sam Smith, cannot wait to see his show on April 23, and thoroughly enjoyed his two performances on Saturday Night Live.  One of these was for the R&B-flavoured ballad “Stay With Me”, and this stunner bows at #21, from his upcoming In The Lonely Hour album, not due till June (but maybe Capitol/Universal will move it up on the sked…).
  • It’s already caused a stir online, and if you’ve been in hiding then you’ve missed the new project brought to us by Simon Curtis and Wolfy (Ro Danishei) called Wrathschild.  “Fall Into Love” is a gorgeous pure pop testament to those feelings when you’re on that cusp, and it arrives at #22.  And with the pair’s already fine chart pedigree – Simon with 5 #1’s, Wolfy with one of those plus another Top 10er – “Fall Into Love” will do very, very well.
  • It appears we’re on another roll in the boy band genre, but this time with guys who play their music as well as sing it.  England’s Rixton has “Me And My Broken Heart” at #26, and like Martin Garrix, has Scooter Braun management in their court.  Then there’s Australia’s 5 Seconds Of Summer with the extremely fun, catchy “She Looks So Perfect” nabbing #1 in the UK last week and premiering on my chart at #27.

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.

02 01 CANNONBALL (EARTHQUAKE) Showtek & Justin Prime featuring Matthew Koma
01 02 MONEY ON MY MIND Sam Smith
04 03 ADDICTED TO YOU Avicii featuring Audra Mae
06 04 FIND YOU Zedd featuring Matthew Koma & Miriam Bryant
07 05 ELECTRIC VALENTINE Adam Tyler
10 06 LATCH Disclosure featuring Sam Smith
09 07 DARE YOU Hardwell featuring Matthew Koma
13 08 LOVE ME AGAIN John Newman
14 09 FINEST CLOTHES IN TOWN Nick Hagelin
12 10 F FOR YOU Disclosure featuring Mary J. Blige
03 11 TAKE COVER Neverest
17 12 LOVE SPACE Convulsic
23 13 PROXY Martin Garrix
15 14 DRINK Semi-Precious Weapons
05 15 COLLIDE Jake Miller
19 16 READY FOR YOU NOW Sean O’Reilly
20 17 BACK TO CALIFORNIA Steve Grand
22 18 TALK DIRTY Jason Derulo featuring 2 Chainz
25 19 I WISH WE WERE LEAVING Bright Light Bright Light & Elton John
24 20 HORNY Lonnie Gordon
New 21 STAY WITH ME Sam Smith
New 22 FALL INTO LOVE Wrathschild 
11 23 INTO THE BLUE Kylie Minogue
28 24 DEAR NICOLE FrankMusik
08 25 HAPPY Pharrell Williams
New 26 ME AND MY BROKEN HEART Rixton
New 27 SHE LOOKS SO PERFECT 5 Seconds Of Summer
16 28 MOTEL POOL Travis Garland
21 29 INVISIBLE U2
27 30 MANiCURE Lady GaGa

 

 

“Volcano Boy” by @JaneBadler Is A Mystical Pop Charmer

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JANE BADLER, “Volcano Boy”

That Jane Badler was also a well-reputed singer as well as a leading actress (most noted for portraying Diana in the TV show “V”) came to my attention about two years ago when she released the EP “Yesterday’s Tomorrows” and the beautifully dramatic title song, which got to #8 on my personal chart.  A few releases later and we have “Volcano Boy”, a lush and very accessible pop song.  It has a mystical side to it – a boy born out of a volcano? – and a sense of fearlessness which are quite in contrast to the pop melody.  “Volcano Boy” is another lovely surprise from the multi-talented Australia-based (but America born) Jane, who makes fine choices in the songs she records.  You can buy “Volcano Boy” on iTunes and watch for the remixes coming April 14.  Check out the video below.

Get Your Groove On to “Ghosts” by @AdakuMusic

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ADAKU, “Ghosts”

You’ve got to give Nigerian-born US-based R&B/pop/jazz singer/songwriter Adaku credit for the beginnings of what looks to be a diverse and respectful repertoire as the release date of her album Plasma approaches.  “Ghosts” follows the warm and fuzzy “Or You Can”, the eclectic “Silent Treatment”, and her mashup “Is This Love Song” in a bit of delightful deception.  It starts off in fine pop/jazzy form that allows Adaku to show off her one-of-a-kind voice.  But by the mid 2 minute mark, a reggae-styled Andy Summers/Police-like guitar break starts to shake things up, and the rest of “Ghosts” transforms with more rooty rhythms that could hail from the Caribbean or Africa.  Basically, “Ghosts” is not the slight pop song as it seems at the start – more like the “Ghosts” Adaku sings about want to get their groove on with us.  Adaku is holding a release party for Plasma on April 24 in Washington, DC at 6pm at Ozio Restaurant.  It’s free and she’ll be signing CD’s, so it’s a good chance to meet this rising talent if you’re in the area.  In the meantime, get “Ghosts” on iTunes.  I’ve posted the terrific video for “Or You Can” again below.

“Ghosts”:

“Or You Can” (video):

 

Your Latest Seduction: “Creature Of The Night” by @DaniElleDeLaite

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DaniElle DeLaite, “Creature Of The Night”

Recalling some of the best songs and visuals of Madonna and Kylie Minogue, among others, Sydney, Australia raised and L.A.-based DaniElle DeLaite strikes much more than a pose in “Creature Of The Night”.  It’s more than just the clothes and camera shots and solid production that make a talent happen, and DaniElle has the vocals to match.  It’s riveting Dance/EDM that will cause stirs in clubs when the video is shown, it’s simply that striking.  L.A. and Australia are lucky to have DaniElle; the rest of the world should soon find out more courtesy of the enticing power of “Creature Of The Night”.  Get it on iTunes and watch (out) below.

Whatta Voice: “Wonderful” by Houston-based singer Ferni

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FERNI, “Wonderful”

There are so many great, lesser known voices out there in the world, and on some occasions I am privileged enough to write about them.  With these days of accessibility to music everywhere, we get to hear songs we would never otherwise have heard.  Ferni Lopez is a veteran blues/rock singer from the Houston area, and his ages-old voice packs the emotional wallop that just doesn’t grow on trees.  “Wonderful” is not everyone’s cup of tea – it’s a thoughtful, deliberately paced, sparse-sounding blues/rock song.  But regardless of your rock music affinities, it will rivet you with its subtleties and intensities.  Yup, all in one song.  It’s from Ferni’s recently released EP Afterburn, which you can buy on iTunes but also hear on Ferni’s Bandcamp page.  And remember where you read about it 🙂

Listen to the Classic Alt.Rock Sounds of @RadioDriveMusic with “A Taste Of Heaven”

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RADIO DRIVE, “A Taste Of Heaven”

Radio Drive is Minneapolis-based singer/guitarist Kevin Gullickson, though once upon a time it was a full fledged band.  Now out on his own, Kevin is on to something with his new single “A Taste Of Heaven”.  It draws not only on 80’s alt.rock like The Replacements or R.E.M., but quite clearly on classic rock melodies of The Beatles, John Lennon, The Raspberries, and others.  Kevin meshes the basics with a full rock sound, augmented by fine session musicians, and you will hear some strings near the end.  “A Taste Of Heaven” could have been jangly pop/rock, but replaces the jangle with rich effects, a positive song to keep you company on the road wherever you may go.  It’s produced by Chris Garcia of Celine Dion and Katy Perry fame, and mastered by Les Paul’s son Gene.  Listen to “A Taste Of Heaven” on Radio Drive’s Reverb Nation page and get it on iTunes.