BILLCSMUSIC BLOG

Weekend Grab Bag: New Music from Mika, Adam Tyler, Bim, Andy Suzuki & The Method, and The Aquaducks

Mika, The Origin Of Love

It seems like a long wait since 2009’s The Boy Who Knew Too Much, but Mika’s third album The Origin Of Love arrived this month. While the album on the whole is sturdy and entertaining, it’s taken a while for me to warm up to it. Where past albums have focused mainly on danceable electronica/pop, with some variation, The Origin Of Love switches it around, putting diverse musical styles first over commercial content. That may make it seem like a transitional album for Mika, but I’ve got to admire his confidence for assembling such a varied amount of songs.

The album starts with the title song, which is a big production number, but doesn’t stick with that style and proceeds directly to pure pop in the form of “Lola”, “Stardust”, and the warm-hearted (if synthetic-sounding) “Make You Happy”. I tend to like the songs where Mika clearly speaks his mind, such as “Overrated” and “Love You When I’m Drunk” over some of the other electronic pop-oriented songs like “Underwater” and “Kids”. The album gets better with the creativity of “Popular Song” (based on “Popular” from the play “Wicked”) and his most welcome English remake of his French language smash “Elle me dit”, here reinvented as “Emily”. That song could become a hit all over again in the English market. “Heroes” gets softer and more thoughtful, and the album wraps up with the joyous “Celebrate”, the first single with Pharrell Williams, which is still gradually growing on me and has a video (watch below) which in some ways reminds me of the abandon of 2009’s “We Are Golden”.

Overall, The Origin Of Love is a triumph of content over style and performance. There aren’t as many vocal gymnastics from Mika on his last record but I think if there were, they would take away from the essence of the songs. Give The Origin Of Love some good solid listens and I think you’ll be pleased, and the songs should certainly translate well into live performance.

Adam Tyler, Acoustic Ice (EP)

If you’re a regular reader, you’ll know that Adam Tyler has continued to win me over since his debut single “Friction” in 2010. Not only does he have the songwriting chops and the team behind him to make things happen, which has resulted in him playing all over the USA, Japan, Ireland, England, and Spain (but not Canada…. hmm… yet), but he’s also got a voice that has grown over the past few years. We got a taste of Adam’s talent in videos of “Torn” and “Turning Tables” (below), plus stripped down versions of “I Won’t Let You Go” and “Emergency” on his Shattered Ice album of last year.

So it’s only logical that you should invest in Acoustic Ice, an EP of additional bare-sounding versions of some of the best songs from Shattered Ice. “Like A Drug”, “Pull The Trigger”, and “Music Freak” have all graced the Top 10 of my personal chart, and the blood and guts of these songs come out when less is more in terms of production. The other songs are the title track, “Let Me Breathe”, and “Taking Back My Love”, the latter like “Pull The Trigger” a much more pointed rendition depicting an end of a relationship. Overall, Shattered Ice is a great way to showcase the vocal talent which some of you have seen in concert, and is a sweet segue into a new slew of songs.

Acoustic Ice is available for purchase from Adam’s website and all proceeds go to the Raise The Roof Kenya foundation. Great music for a great cause.

Bim, Lifelines (upcoming EP)

I’ve had the pleasure of hearing the Lifelines EP well in advance of its November 5 release, and my reaction was instant. In time I think this latest effort from UK duo Rebecca Rosier and Denmark Davis will become a favourite of mine this year. As with earlier single “Scream” and lead off single to the EP “Lights Out” (video below), every song within Lifelines is full of intense emotion, powerful vocal interaction, and key lyrical moments that resonate long after the song is over… “you can have my heart, if I can keep my soul” from next single “Burn”, “I will make you see ….. stars” from “Lights Out”, “I’m scared to death that you’ll try to forget” from “Untouchable” – powerful, urgent stuff. So with that taste for you, I’ll be reminding you about Lifelines closer to its release. This EP precedes a full album of the same name due in early 2013.

Andy Suzuki & The Method, “Fairytale”

As this trio from New York City wraps up a Malaysian tour in Brunei of all places, you can get to know their infectious hybrid jazz/rock courtesy of the free download (with email subscription) of “Fairytale” from their website. The song also appears on their recent EP Ghost Stories and has that kind of vibrant, piano-led melody that will turn heads. Andy Suzuki & The Method have been garnering praise throughout the last few years with awards coming from their local city. When they return from Brunei, they will be touring various cities in the U.S. Get a taste of a live performance of “Fairytale” below.

The Aquaducks, “Fuel The Funk”

Do not – do not – let the name fool you! I love humour mixed with music, and The Aquaducks look like they have that in band name and pic below. So until we have some pics to show all their faces, take one look at the video below for “Fuel The Funk”, and you’ll see that this Nashville septet is seriously full of many talents that offer not only pop/rock but jazz, R&B, and reggae stylings in their mix. And those voices will silence even the most inattentive crowd. You can download “Fuel The Funk” below and some other songs from Soundcloud that show how potentially dynamic The Aquaducks can be.

15th Anniversary Edition: BILLCS Top 30 #388 – September 24/12

In some ways it seems like a lifetime ago, in other ways it’s like yesterday. 15 years ago this week I began posting my personal chart online on a regular basis.

As I was discovering the ‘Net through our dial-up connection in 1996/97, I was able to find message boards and chart sites where, yes, there were actually music chart geeks like me, who created their own lists of favourites, or sometimes a list of songs that were heavily influenced by radio play of the day. I had compiled my own charts back in the 70’s, but abandoned that when I joined my university radio station, where I influenced their chart and my fellow DJ’s, and eventually became in charge of producing their chart! I continued to assist with this well past graduation and into my free-lance writing days. After that, I still produced my own lists but they weren’t charts, just a way to keep track of what I liked and what was current.

So the rabid presence of all kinds of music on the Internet has been and will continue to be a blessing for me, and I’ll keep on producing my chart as long as people are interested in reading it and chatting with me about it and its songs. I posted charts now and again throughout 1997 online, but I don’t have copies of any of those charts until January 1998 when I began saving them and documenting them, because I just knew this wasn’t going to go away, though “Turn My Head” by Live was my #1 in September 1997. So I’m 388 bi-weekly editions in (the first 8 months had a Top 10 only), and here’s what’s happening 🙂

His Push Rewind album goes several songs deeper, but “Remember When (Push Rewind)” by Chris Wallace holds at #1 for a 3rd appearance (6th week), with “Dreams Are Gold” by DATABOY not giving up second place yet. This makes it difficult when two fun and engaging songs, “Go For Gold” by Kyle Patrick, and “Spectrum” by Zedd & Matthew Koma, each advance within the Top 5. They are joined by “Houdini” by Foster the People, making it 3 for 3 for the trio following fellow Top Fivers “Pumped Up Kicks” and “Call It What You Want”. Also – Mark Foster’s tweets under @FosterThePeople are so worth following. He’s definitely got interesting opinions but also tweets about great things, including the challenge he gave to a photographer to lose weight over a number of months, with the reward being a financial amount from Mark himself. Inspiring!

You’ll notice that “Spectrum” by Florence & The Machine is now out of the Top 5 at #7 and “Timebomb” by Kylie Minogue rests at #14. But despite reaching #3 and #4 respectively, both songs will rank highly at year’s ends, possibly higher than some of my #1’s! We’ll see! Markus Riva’s “We Dance 4 Reason” climbs to a new peak at #9.

You can view the full chart using the link under ***BILL’S PERSONAL CHART*** to the right, or you can click right here. You can hear all of the songs on the chart or watch their videos by clicking on the pics on the chart page. Any free downloads that are identified are sanctioned by the performer. There’s always a tiny place at the bottom of the blog post with tags and the statement “Leave A Comment” – please feel free to do so

The fastest riser on the chart, for a second time, is the completely crazy and irresistible “Music Makes You Lose Control” by Carlos Nóbrega, which leaps over his own “Turn It Up” (at #11), to move 17-8. You can listen to the full song near the top of this post or below on Soundcloud. Once “MMYLC” grabs you, it doesn’t let go, so you can find it on iTunes – and right now I’m waiting for remixes! Carlos is just finishing off his album, and you’ll know more about that from me as it happens. Joining “MMYLC” in the Top 10 for the first time is the irrepressible “Genius” by DATABOY at #10. That song can also be found on the duo’s Dreams Are Gold album.

Lots of great new songs continue to move up. A massive hit in Sweden, “Long Time” by John De Sohn & Andreas Moe climbs to #12. Andreas also recorded an acoustic version on his Collecting Sunlight EP which I wrote about a while back. “Anything Could Happen” by Ellie Goulding is whetting fans’ appetites while she’s on tour in anticipation of the Halcyon album, and rises to #13. Jeronimo’s “Unheard” isn’t released as a single anywhere, but it’s my next favourite song to the title track of his album One Kiss and jumps to #15. “Unheard” is just one of those singalongs where the lyrics just find their way easily into your mouth. Jeronimo is starring in a new movie called “My Dad’s A Detective – The Battle”, and a video for his beautiful ballad “Firefly” includes snippets of scenes from that movie. I’m not sure if we’ll see this movie in North America, but our young Netherlander is obviously a double threat! Watch the video below.

Songs 16 through 21 keep the chart looking busy – as they should because every song on this chart is a winner regardless of where it peaks. The offbeat melodies and lyrics of songs on Saint Motel’s Voyeur album are really appealing to me, and the clarinet-sample-led “Benny Goodman” is at #16. “Over It” by Colin Munroe looks to follow “The Fight Of My Life” into the Top 10 and rises to #17. “Feel It” is the latest single by Bright Light Bright Light, featuring Mykal Kilgore, and soars to #18. Of course, Rod Thomas (aka BLx2) has double-whammied us once again with a new video for the song, and a mashup for free download called “Let’s Have A Feel”, which has great fun in setting Scissor Sisters’ #1 club hit “Let’s Have A Kiki” to the music of “Feel It”. Watch the video and listen to the mashup below.

UK duo Bim are busy working on an album, and you’ll find out more when you go to their website and download “Lights Out”, which resides at #19. Despite the blond look on the cover of his EP We Should, Kyle Brylin has returned to short brown hair for a new single, the piano ballad “Ain’t The Same” (which you can hear below and download for free from Soundcloud right here). In the meantime, the chart sticks to the electro-house of the poignant “Hurricane”, which climbs to #20. There’s always a place for a theatrical sound on my chart from time to time, and “Yesterday’s Tomorrows” by Jane Badler nails it in spades and rises to #21.

Rounding out the chart are three debuts. I wrote about “Evolved” by Minnesota singer Vague-à-bonde (aka Nicole Brenny) a little while back. The combination of soft, genuine vocals and one of the best chorus hooks you’ll hear this year sends the song into the chart at an impressive #24. You can download it for free right here. It’s taken a little longer than usual for “It’s Time” by Imagine Dragons to sink in, but the opening episode of this season’s “Glee” has kept the song in my head (especially in its Penguin Prison remix, which you can get on iTunes). “It’s Time” bows at #26 (watch the video at the bottom of the post if you’re not yet familiar with it). And this past week I wrote about “Between The Raindrops”, the single from the upcoming new Lifehouse album, which features Natasha Bedingfield in a well-placed guest appearance. The song arrives at #27 and is Lifehouse’s 9th entry on the chart since debuting back at the end of 2000 with one of my all time favourite songs, “Hanging By A Moment”. Here’s the complete list:

“Hanging By A Moment”, #1, 2001
“Sick Cycle Carousel”, #20, 2001
“Everything”, #3, 2001
“Spin” #1, 2002
“You And Me”, #3, 2005
“Halfway Gone”, #3, 2010
“Had Enough” (with Chris Daughtry), “#11, 2010
“All In”, #8, 2010

End Of Summer Pop Blast

BT & Arty featuring Nadia Ali “Must Be The Love”

BT is back and ready to take over dance clubs and radio with “Must Be The Love” in partnership with Arty and featuring the always compelling Nadia Ali on vocals. It’s a radiant 9:52 that moves by in the blink of an eye. That’s because its gradual buildup lasts three and a half minutes, but by the four and a half point, you are now hostage with no way out but to revel in it till the end. This is 2012’s return to Trance the way it should be done, and there’s no one who can take you for a better ride, with all of the glorious details, than BT.

Lifehouse featuring Natasha Bedingfield, “Between The Raindrops”

I was so worried when I found out the new single by Lifehouse would include a featured artist. But it was all for nought when I found out that Natasha Bedingfield was the collaborator on “Between The Raindrops”. In advance of the band’s sixth album, I find that this might be a little softer pop for Lifehouse outside of its ballads, but Jason Wade’s convincing vocals countered by Natasha’s charm make this way better than what I might have imagined.

Richard Barone “I Belong To Me”

It’s not a new song, but not one that you’re likely to know. You can change all of that with this free download which precedes the 25th anniversary of Richard’s seminal Cool Blue Halo album, from which the song comes. I’m a huge fan of the former Bongos singer’s solo albums Primal Dream, Clouds Over Eden, and 2010’s Glow. At the time, I found Cool Blue Halo to be offbeat for me and I didn’t enjoy its stripped away production. But after Richard’s impressive body of pop music work, I’m looking to get reacquainted with its songs again. Watch a recent video of Richard performing “I Belong To Me” below and find out more about the celebration around Cool Blue Halo at Richard’s website.

Adaku “Silent Treatment”

I introduced you a little while ago to Nigeria-born Adaku, with her comfort food for the soul in the form of “Or You Can”. She continues to dazzle, in a quiet but confident and impressive way with alternative soul in the form of “Silent Treatment”. The song sits comfortably next to others by Frank Ocean, Jill Scott, Eric Benet, and Alicia Keys. Download “Silent Treatment” for free right here, and keep your ears peeled for more Adaku.

Stone Walters “Dancing In The Dark”

UK singer Stone Walters has been a constant in this blog throughout the year, starting with the stunning heart tugger “Home”, and then with the hopeful “World Keeps Turning”. Now he takes a chilled out approach to Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing In The Dark”- and you can’t mess with a song like this unless you can truly sing it. Listen to the song below, and download it for free by heading over to Stone’s website with your email address.

Nik Miles “Beautiful People” (live snippet)\

Not many pop singers will abandon everything at their fingertips in New York City for Malmo, Sweden. But as you know from these pages and from those of other bloggers, Sweden could at any point take over the pop world, and not just in a retro Ace Of Base kind of way. So singer/actor Nik Miles is in good hands if the danceable pop of “Beautiful People” is any indication. He has a powerful, versatile voice that can transform nicely if given the right kind of song to sing. But as you’ll see from the live snippet, he’s got the personality, energy, and commitment to make it happen too. Much is in the works, so look to hear more from Nik Miles before the end of the year.

And don’t forget to check out:

The mind-blowing Skrillex-influenced Birdy Nam Nam remix from left field of Ellie Goulding’s “Anything Could Happen” that blew up last weekend.

The lyric video for “Dreams Are Gold”, the first single and title track of the debut album by DATABOY, which you owe it to yourself to have in your collection.

And one of the best and wildest EP’s you’ll hear all year from the reliable and unpredictable FrankMusik (in disguise as his Vincent Did It moniker) with The SOPA Opera EP, now available to hear via Soundcloud. Plus, Vince has a daffy and funky instrumental “Grasping At Nothing” available for free download, as well as his remix of “Flesh” by Simon Curtis.

Music Is Our Release: Secondhand Serenade’s “A Naked Twist In My Story” and “Unsung Hero” by Colin Munroe

At the worst of times, music is our release, it’s where you can turn when you need to clear your head and fill it with something else. John Vasely of Secondhand Serenade and Colin Munroe have had their bad times, and are fortunately such talented performers that they can share it with us through their music.

Secondhand Serenade “A Naked Twist In My Story”

We have actually heard John’s story, back in 2008 when its sparkling, doe-eyed showcase song “Fall For You” could be heard everywhere (it got to #7 on my personal chart). But it’s one of the few happy songs on the record, coinciding of course with the start of a promising relationship that ultimately falls apart. A Naked Twist In My Story is A Twist In My Story stripped away to near-bare bones, but without the studio enhancements the story becomes a much more emotional and personal affair.

I can’t really say that “Fall For You” is improved; this version is its gritty companion. Being in a different place myself in 2012 than in 2008, the pain and sorrow of songs like “Why”, “Pretend”, and “Goodbye” is better understood and the raw performances shine through. There’s a lovely new bonus song too, “Belong To”, which doesn’t set out to be another “Fall For You” and I think is the point of hope that we all reach at a certain part of our stories. I saw Secondhand Serenade in concert three years ago. About 80% of the attendees knew the words to most of the songs that were played, and John and his band made a medium sized venue quite intimate for their fans, many of whom will be on board for this new part of the story.

A Naked Twist In My Story is an independent release that will whet your appetite for Secondhand Serenade’s fifth full album, due later this year. Buy it on iTunes and listen to a snippet of “Belong To” below.

Colin Munroe, “Unsung Hero” (mixtape)

If I’m reading the lyrics correctly (and I may not be), I’d say that Colin Munroe struck rock bottom in both professional and personal hell in the last few years. However, as strange as life turns around, we are benefitting from the results through his new record deal with Capitol/EMI and his compelling recent releases, which have landed inside his latest mixtape “Unsung Hero”. And it’s definitely a different kind of ‘unsung hero’ that we heard back in 2008 with his mixtape “Colin Munroe Is The Unsung Hero” or when he first appeared as a featured artist on songs by the likes of Donnis and Drake.

“Unsung Hero” doesn’t rest on one kind of style of pop music, navigating easily through accessible but cutting pop like “Over It”, the cathartic R&B hip hop of “The Fight Of My Life” and “Scars ‘N Stars”, the almost giddy “Fucking Amazing”, and the thought-provoking, deliberately paced “Your Eyes”. Colin Munroe has such talent with his craft that one shouldn’t forget that his vocals are spot on, too. And he has a bevy of friends to help him build his castle of a resolve, including Cassie, K.Flay, Pusha-T, Kendrick Lamar, Memoryhouse, and RZA. In some ways, “Unsung Hero” is also a good companion to JMSN’s †Priscilla† of earlier this year.

“Unsung Hero” may still be available for free download at some sites, but I’m not sure if that was the intent. Regardless, you can stream the entire record on Colin’s Soundcloud page below. I’d say Act II of Colin Munroe’s musical career is well-underway with a lot more ahead for us to hear.

BILLCS Chart #387 – September 10/12

I often refer to my bi-weekly chart as a list of my favourite songs of the moment, but it also serves as a recap of what I’ve been listening to over the last few weeks.

Suffice it to say, my last week has been filled with Chris Wallace songs from his solo album Push Rewind, which was released last Monday, and I posted my thoughts about it in the week. Lead single “Remember When (Push Rewind)” holds on to #1 on my chart quite handily, the first of what I expect will be a few appearances for Chris on the chart in the coming months. With three songs on the chart, DATABOY is hardly out of the picture, with “Dreams Are Gold” ranking #2 and the fun “Genius” rising to #13. Both “Spectrum”s on the chart now surround “Go For Gold” by Kyle Patrick, which rises to #4. Florence & The Machine stay at #3 with the Calvin Harris remix, and Zedd & Matthew Koma soar to #5 (the video is below if you’ve missed it). Who will succeed Chris Wallace at #1. Frankly, I just don’t know yet!

Also climbing within the Top 10 is Bright Light Bright Light with “Moves” from Make Me Believe In Hope at #6 – though it’s not the second single from the album (more on that below). Right below is “Houdini” in a free download Green Children remix by Foster The People. New to the Top 10 are Baiyu’s “Hunter” at #9 and “We Dance 4 Reason” from Markus Riva at #10. Baiyu may get a wild card spot on “The Next” TV show in coming episodes due to her strong performance in the New York City round. Markus has another single up his sleeve, with a video being shot soon for “Chase”. The video for “Reason” is below.

Portugal’s Carlos Nóbrega is close to descending on the Top 10 with two songs, “Turn It Up”, which rises to #11, and the big, bouncy anthem “Music Makes Me Lose Control”, which is the fastest riser, vaulting 23-17. The trance-oriented “Long Time” by Sweden’s John De Sohn featuring Andreas Moe on vocals moves up to #14 (strange but eye-catching video below), Ellie Goulding’s infectious single “Anything Could Happen” from her upcoming Halcyon album rises to 16, “Benny Goodman” by Saint Motel is up to #19, “Lights Out” by UK duo Bim jumps to #22 as a free download, and “Hurricane” by Kyle Brylin is at #25.

Three familiar faces comprise 3/4 of our debuts. My next favourite song from young Netherlands singer Jeronimo’s album One Kiss after the title track is the jaunty “Unheard” (listen below), which bows at #20 as “One Kiss” spends its last appearance on the chart after a maximum of 10 (20 weeks). Then, Toronto’s Colin Munroe unleashed his latest mixtape Unsung Hero mid-last week, and I’ll have some detailed words on that in the week. In the meantime, his free download of the empowering “Over It”, which I wrote about last week, arrives at #23. The second official single from Bright Light Bright Light’s Make Me Believe In Hope is in fact the tailored-for-clubs “Feel It”, featuring Mykal Kilgore in a shimmering remix below, at #26. The last debut, if you didn’t guess it from yesterday’s blog post, is “Yesterday’s Tomorrows” by Jane Badler at #28.

Video Alert: “Yesterday’s Tomorrows” by Jane Badler

USA-born, Australia-based performer Jane Badler is known best to most of the world as Diana in the 80s TV show “V” and a role in the soap opera “One Life To Live”, as well as appearances on TV in prime time shows like “Falcon Crest”. But she’s been scoping out another career as a singer for a while now, and as you know from these pages, I’m enthralled by her latest project Mistaken Identity, which features the dynamic and noble “Yesterday’s Tomorrows”, a song that could be a ready-made theme song to an action movie, or the basis for an entire stage play! Jane’s got a fantastic team behind her to make this all happen.

It was so wonderful to hear that a video was in the works, and it doesn’t hesitate to get up close and personal to draw you into the old-fashioned love-letter storyline and drama of the song. Best of all later in the video Jane gets to wear a stunning black gown and ponder on a beach, complete with what looks like fireworks before a colourful sunset, making the East Hamptons look quite magical in the process.

Get Mistaken Identity and the remixes of “Yesterday’s Tomorrows” on iTunes. A debut on my chart this weekend perhaps, too?

Push Rewind…Again and Again: Slick Debut Solo Album from Chris Wallace

The stunning rising hit and feel good end of summer anthem “Remember When (Push Rewind)” (currently atop my personal chart) has paved the way for former White Tie Affair frontman Chris Wallace’s debut solo album, Push Rewind.

There are no stunning revelations within. It’s a slick pop record focusing on to-the-point and often empowering lyrics set to shimmering melodies that will light up radio playlists. No complicated themes, no hidden meanings, Chris and his songwriting team tell it like it is. Best of all are Chris’ sharp, unique vocals. There is no doubt that this boy can sing and his voice will take him far. Compare the studio version of “Keep Me Crazy” and the acoustic version – Chris Wallace doesn’t need fancy effects on his voice to cut to the chase or dazzle you.

Another great thing about Push Rewind is that it won’t ride on the success of “Remember When”. Superlative songs like “Hurricane”, “Time Bomb”, the soulful “Don’t Mind If I Do”, and “Invincible” emerge at every turn, making the album a breeze to hear, and best of all, making you want more, hence the title of this post.

Push Rewind is finely crafted, shiny pop made by a team who know their stuff for a singer with a fine voice. Pop music fanatics should flock to this record. Next stop: Chris Wallace live shows, where the essence of these songs will be brought to life. Buy it on iTunes – U.S. folks can get “Remember When” for free this week! You can also listen to excerpts of the songs on Chris’ website right here.

September Pop Grab Bag: Colin Munroe, Sky Ferreira, Vague-à-bonde, Sam Sparro, River Tiber, Vista Cruiser, Elle Vee, and Jane Badler

Colin Munroe “Over It”

Colin’s new Unsung Hero mixtape finally dropped today, but preceding it last week was “Over It”, which isn’t as heavy as “Fight Of My Life” and “Invincible”. Even in more of an accessible pop vein like this, the Toronto performer’s sympathetic vocals and resolute lyrics are extremely powerful. Expect more of the same grittiness in the mixtape, but I’ll save my comments about Unsung Hero for later in the week. In the meantime start yourself with “Over It” by downloading it right here.

Sky Ferreira featuring Blood Orange “Everything Is Embarrassing”

At last, it’s a Sky Ferreira song that captures the sexiness and vulnerability I saw on stage in New York City in April 2011. It’s a pretty sparse and fragile sound from her upcoming EP Ghost that could easily put the much-praised Sky in the same leagues as Ellie Goulding in no time. More like this please… and remixes could send clubs positively spinning.

Vague-à-bonde “Evolved”

Hailing from Minneapolis, Nicole Brenny has recorded her second album under the name Vague-à-bonde, and in advance of it comes “Evolved”. Not far removed from Sky Ferreira or Ellie Goulding but with the tough edges we find with Pink and Rihanna, “Evolved” starts out gently unassuming and then seemingly out of nowhere comes this amazingly hooky chorus that will simply slay you. After all what would a vague-à-bonde be if not restless? I can’t wait to hear a live performance of “Evolved”. Get the free download right here and look for more soon from Vague-à-bonde.

Sam Sparro “We Could Fly”

Backtracking to the soul/funk and emotional pop combo of Sam Sparro’s sophomore album Return To Paradise, I would like to humbly suggest “We Could Fly” as the next single. After the video of the the downbeat but cathartic “I Wish I Never Miss You”, “Fly” could serve as a reprise of the vibe of the first single “Happiness” and with some innovative remixes will help this intriguing album gain momentum again.

River Tiber “What Are You Afraid Of”

As regular readers know, I consider Toronto band River Tiber to be one of The Finds of 2012. I adore the many moods of the debut album From Now On, particularly “Someday” and “Symmetry”, which reached #1 and #2 on my personal chart. Led by singer and multi-instrumentalist Tommy Paxton-Beesley, River Tiber segues into more experimental electronic pop/rock on “Afraid”, full of gorgeous smatterings of electric guitar, which all resonate through the images in the video. Watch below, and look for many more fine things to come from Tommy and River Tiber this Fall.

Vista Cruiser featuring Vanessa Barfod “I Dig, You Dig”

A humorous party rock song will always get my attention if the whole package rises among the generally inane setting. Such is the case with Montreal’s Vista Cruiser, comprising Mich and Andy Manaras, who were more known for rocking out a decade ago than the fun electropop behind “I Dig, You Dig” would let on. But with platinum award-winning producer John Nathaniel somewhat uncharacteristically at the helm, and a clever, eye-popping video, you will have a tough time getting the song out of your head. So party on…

Elle Vee featuring Tek-neek “I Like Girls”

Hailing from L.A., Elle Vee is Lindsay Vinarsky, a diverse songwriter whose “I Like Girls” puts her definitively in Britney Spears sounding territory but with lyrical bite that takes no prisoners along along with a well-placed rap. Give a listen below and check out numerous other songs, which show some other sides of Elle Vee on her Soundcloud page.

A reminder, in anticipation of its video launch on Saturday, September 8, do check out Jane Badler‘s wonderful “Yesterday’s Tomorrows” below in all of its original glorious drama and then in the so chi chi Stormby’s Drama Mix. I’ll have the video coverage on the weekend. There are all kinds of details on Jane’s Facebook page .

BILLCS Chart #386 – August 27/12 – Be Kind, Push Rewind!

The top of my personal chart is tighter than ever, as DATABOY’s “Dreams Are Gold” gives way ever so slightly to “Remember When (Push Rewind)” by Indiana-born Chris Wallace, which advances to #1 just before the release date of his album Push Rewind (album cover art above, reprise of the video below). There’s a lot of the Top 10 that stays the same – with good reason, the songs on this chart are especially strong – but in the midst there is some notable movement.

Kyle Patrick has been to Singapore, the Philippines, and Malaysia these past few weeks. The house that The Click Five built over there is significant, and Kyle’s “Go For Gold” is making great strides on their charts. From his self-titled EP, “Gold” is definitely winning, and climbs to #6 on the chart. Down further there are two new entries to the Top 10. The spry Green Children remix of Foster The People’s “Houdini” works its magic at #9, while fastest riser “Spectrum” by Zedd featuring Matthew Koma is headed for the upper reaches, advancing 21-10.

Mark Thursday, August 30 on your calendar to watch the New York episode of The CW network’s new show “The Next”. The supremely talented Baiyu is one of four contestants – and her competition had better be on their game! Best of luck to Baiyu 🙂 Her song “Hunter” climbs to #11 on my chart. Her coach on the show is none other than Nelly.

Several other upwardly mobile songs continue towards the Top 10. “We Dance 4 Reason” by Latvian dancer, model, DJ/producer, and singer, Poptronik performer Markus Riva vaults 20-14, followed directly by the long-lasting “When She Was Mine” by Lawson at #15. Watch their video for the UK Top 5 hit “Taking Over Me” below. The third chart entry for DATABOY, the splendiforous “Genius”, jumps to #16, with “Long Time” by Sweden’s John De Sohn and singer/songwriter Andreas Moe (also still residing at #7 with “Collecting Sunlight” himself) rising to #17. The feel good vibe of L.A.’s Saint Motel continues at #22 with the swinging “Benny Goodman”, while “Emergency” by Audio Playground with Snoop Dogg is up to #24.

All of our new entries are by performers who have already visited the chart, some more recently than others. We’ll start with a couple of doubles, please. The highest new entry at #20 is the instantaneously ear-pleasing pop of Ellie Goulding with her first single from the upcoming Halcyon album (artwork above) with “Anything Could Happen”. While “Lights” took its sweet time getting to the upper reaches of the international charts, the response to “Anything” should be swifter. Ellie’s free download cover of The Weeknd’s “High For This” continues to climb at #19. Then we have the good natured dance floor fun brought to us by Portugal’s Carlos Nóbrega, whose latest song “Music Makes You Lose Control” (#23) will be sure to inspire much dancing at those upcoming Hallowe’en parties. The anthemic “Turn It Up” is lifted to #12 as well.

After “Scream” from this past Spring, one could see that UK duo Bim are headed in the right direction as they create songs for their upcoming sophomore album. Their latest single, “Lights Out” (video reprise below), is a free download that combines the emotion of the songs from Scatterheart and some wickedly powerful vocals to create a song that is completely captivating and arrives at #27. Their “Head Over Heels” got to #3 on my chart in 2010. Lastly Kyle Brylin is back with some slick electronica featuring catchy melodies and hooks like we heard last year in “Everything I’m Missing” (#5) and “Never Love A DJ” (#8). From his latest 4 song EP comes the emotional house track “Hurricane” at #28. So that makes Kyle (Patrick), Kyle (Brylin), and Kylie on the chart – a nice triple play 🙂

AND DON’T FORGET: A year in the making, the Poptronik festival in Sitges, Spain will be a dream come true for electronica fans on September 1 and 2. Needless to say I’m jealous of all those who can party on the beach to some great performers, including Andy Bell of Erasure, Markus Riva, Adam Tyler, SIRPAUL, Garcon Garcon, and many more. Best of luck to all involved!

REEEE-CAP… and a Dance Popervescence Mix for You!

Zedd featuring Matthew Koma “Spectrum”

One of my current songs of the moment is Zedd’s irresistible “Spectrum”. A truly captivating, feel good (despite the end) video, featuring “Sons of Anarchy”‘s Taryn Manning, makes it one of the best views and listens around. Look fast for both Zedd and Matthew!

Kyle Brylin “Hurricane”

Our Kyle keeps the electronica comin’ on his new 4 song EP We Should, which features this rich emotional house song, which keeps you thinking while you get your work out. This is Kyle’s most promising original effort since last year’s similarly clubby “Never Love A DJ”. Other songs include the biting title track, “Making Memories”, and “Inferno”. Do blonds have more fun? Get it on iTunes.

Kid Massive featuring DATABOY “Good Girlfriend”

We all know what happened when fave duo DATABOY went Danish and met up with DJ/producer Rune RK – we got the mesmerizing “Memorize Me”. Fellow Dane DJ/producer Kid Massive (aka Benjamin Pedersen) brings the boys into the mix for his upcoming release with the new single “Good Girlfriend”, which is a rollicking and slamming good time, and we would expect absolutely nothing less.

Marco “Heartbeat”

18 year old Marco Santarlasci is the latest young buck from NYC to cause young hearts to flutter with his earnest and soulful debut single “Heartbeat”. He’s got a lovely imperfectly charming voice that carries the genteel video storyboard along. Watch for great things from Marco – put him about halfway between Conor Maynard and Jesse McCartney.

Ross Lynch “Heard It On The Radio”

I don’t normally slide over to the Disney side of the fence to write about one of their performers too often, but 16 year old Ross Lynch (Austin on TV’s “Austin & Ally”) has a natural screen presence, and seems to have the musical chops as well, playing guitar, drums, bass and keyboards. So his debut single “Heard It On The Radio” is a breezy and joyous summer day on the beach whose chorus stays in your head afterwards. He’s also in the band R5, featuring his brother Ryder, who is one of the Warblers on TV’s “Glee”.

And here’s a new dance mix for you, featuring excerpts of 18 songs in 39 minutes. This is what you’re getting into 😉 : The Zedd/Matthew Koma and Kyle Brylin songs above, plus others (many on my current chart – shameless plug) by RAC/Penguin Prison, Baiyu, Foster The People, Florence & The Machine, The Knocks/Mandy Lee, Bright Light Bright Light, Darren Hayes, Lana Del Rey, Markus Riva, John De Sohn/Andreas Moe, Nina, DATABOY, Ellie Goulding, Bim, Sky Santos/Carlos Nóbrega, and The Weeknd. Guaranteed to make you move in all kinds of different ways! Let me know what you think – I’m particularly proud of a couple of the mixes, since I haven’t done this in a while 🙂