Tag Archives: alternative

DIY musician @RustyHookmusic offers sophisticated electronica in “Relief” featuring @Truittmusic

https://soundcloud.com/movingcastle/rusty-hook-relief-feat-truitt

RUSTY HOOK featuring TRUITT, “Relief”

From You Tube tutorials to teaching himself how to use Ableton to becoming a member of the group Slow Hours, and influenced initially by Madeon, France’s Rusty Hook (aka Guillaume Costes) comes to us from a new way of learning and making music, and putting it all together as something diverse and tangible to call to your attention.  “Relief” is a moody, sophisticated slice of electronic music, not what I would say is a dance track meant for clubs.  It’s fairly unpredictable where it goes though of course its constant is the melody which will stay with you after the song is over.  The singing on “Relief” is by one half of rising Nashville sibling electronic duo Truitt, namely the beautiful voice of Brigetta.  “Relief” shifts between chilled out moments and others that are bigger but contained, and the vocals carry the song as much as the electronic wizardry.  “Relief” is from Rusty Hook’s upcoming EP Romance Is Dead, Good Riddance, and you can listen at the link above.

rustyhook

New UK singer @LostChilduk boldly interprets a sparse rendition of @Madonna’s “Skin”

LOSTCHILD, “Skin” (free DL)

It’s so important when an artist covers a song by someone like Madonna that they either get it right in a straight-forward interpretation, or put a unique spin on it to help make it their own.  New UK pop/R&B singer Lostchild chooses the latter path with his version of “Skin”, originally found on Madonna’s 1997 album Ray Of Light.  I honestly hadn’t heard it in a while and had to go back to hear what Madonna achieved with it 20 years ago from one of her most classic albums, which basked in the cutting edge technology of the time.  Lostchild puts aside the focus on technology, opting for a lingering, sparse arrangement that showcases his restrained but often soulful vocal, which is a throwback for me to 80’s alt.pop singers like Feargal Sharkey (“A Good Heart”) or the late Black (“Wonderful Life”).   “Skin” is even shorter than Madonna’s original 6 minute version but its deliberate pacing provides a what’s-coming-up-next? approach that keeps you plugged into it.  “Skin” is a great introduction to Lostchild, from whom we can now look forward to his own new music.  Download “Skin” for free (under the “More” tab) at the link above.

#BILLCSTop30 #519 – October 2/17

The start of Fall brings a chart that is crammed with great music particularly near the top. There’s a new #1 and four new songs to keep your head and feet particularly happy!
The Top 10  

  • Toronto’s Loud Luxury, the duo of Andrew Fedyk and Joseph De Pace, with the wonderful assist from fellow locals Nikki’s Wives, are back at the top of the chart, this time with the bass-laden “Show Me”. That’s two in a row this year following their big ‘n deep house cover of Craig David’s “Fill Me In” with another Torontonian, Ryan Shepherd. But “Show Me” has pretty fierce competition just bubbling below.
  • CVBZ’s “Be Like You”, in a Sean Turk remix (above), inches up to #2, while “Perfect” by L.A.’s Mahalo featuring singer Cat Lewis (below) is on its tail at #3. Who knows what will happen in two weeks! Sooo close!

  • At #5, why it’s Lauv with one of the best club-worthy singalongs of the year, “I Like Me Better”. Already in demand, you can catch the singer/songwriter also on DJ Snake’s new one “A Different Way”.
  • Soaring into the Top 10, up 14-7, is the Franco-American collaboration of “No Love In Brooklyn” by Nick Peters & Frank Pierce featuring Scott Vega. It has one of the catchiest choruses of the year, too!

  • The ever-recognizable voice of singer/songwriter Matthew Koma lands in the Top 10 for the 9th time since 2012 as either a solo or featured artist with the pensive ballad “Suitcase”, rising 12-9.

Movin’ On Up

  • “You (It’s All About You)” by Carlos Nóbrega’s debut album The Art Of Making Love climbs 18-14 to drive home the importance of commitment to one’s loved one. From Carlos’ other project Almageddon, also check out the latest video below for the majestic instrumental “Viva La Vida”.

https://soundcloud.com/latchmeresound/need-your-heart

  • The fastest riser on the chart is the highest debut from the last chart, a club hit in the making for “Need Your Heart”, the classic house opening song for Latchmere’s EP Lovedrunk. It rockets up the chart 23-15.
  • The warm and affectionate “We Won’t Leave You” by Steve Void and Syence continues to climb the chart with its anthemic feel-good message, rising 20-16.
  • The second collaboration by L.A.’s Bobby Nourmand with hip hop artists DOC and Goodmorning is “MIND”, and it jumps 19-17.
  • Possibly the most aggressive and wacked out song on the chart is the dubstep instrumental “Anesthetic” by San Diego’s Convulsic, continue to climb 22-18

  • You can catch a look at the 2017 edition of Sam Smith on Saturday Night Live on October 7, where he will almost certainly sing “Too Good At Goodbyes”, which rises 26-20.
  • “Would You Ever” is a pretty simple piece of songwriting that will leave you pondering if you should! And so it should, as Skrillex and partner-in-crime this time Poo Bear get remixed by MMXVAC’s own scrvp. (in a free download), taking it 27-21 on the chart.

Four Debuts

  • New duo Culpriit is a US/UK collaboration bringing us one of the most infectious songs of the year with “Driveway”, which bows at #24. If you’re trying to think of that song that the melody of the chorus may remind you of, it’s OutKast’s “Ms Jackson”.
  • There are suddenly so many great vocal collaborations surfacing in dance music, and this one deserves to be everywhere. Where else would you get verses by both blackbear and MAX? Brought to us by the team of producers It’s Different and Forever MC, “No Hands” arrives at #25, and is available above for free download… for now. It’s MAX’s fourth appearance on the chart but first as a featured vocalist – the others have all gone Top 10 including a #1 with “Wrong” (featuring Lil Uzi Vert).
  • Miami producer Alyx Ander lands his second appearance on the chart this year, this time with a top ten finisher from The Voice, the Ellie Goulding-sounding Caroline Pennell, with “Wake Up For The Night”. A perfect late night clubbing/driving song, it debuts at #27.
  • The fourth debut has another fantastic vocal teaming courtesy of Atlanta producers Halogen on “Can’t Resist”. The incredible voices are from Adriana Gomez and Florida’s Lub from the Porch Family (or lub x tpf), and “Can’t Resist” premieres at #28. Halogen remixed last year’s memorable “Born Ready” by The Disco Fries, which reached #9 on the chart. “Can’t Resist”, too, and for now, is a free download.

View the full BILLCS Top 30 right here, and be sure to click on the photos to hear all of the songs.
Listen to the BILLCS Top 30 Songs on Spotify! Click on this link to take you there, and follow me on Spotify: BILLCS Top 30 Songs
Check out and ‘like’ the new BILLCS Music Projects Facebook page 🙂
Planet Radio Canada is on hiatus and will return http://www.planetradio.ca 🙂

Those “Daddy Issues” get a different perspective, as brought to you by @CallMeKarizma

CALL ME KARIZMA, “Daddy Issues”

He does it all – rap, sing, write, produce – and Minnesota’s Call Me Karizma follows up the deft “Frank Ocean” with his own perspective on “Daddy Issues”.  Just the title alone conjures up a variety of thoughts as to what the song might be all about, but ‘Riz in his unique way takes a few girlfriend case-studies and realizes that they come part-and-parcel with someone who hasn’t yet found love.  So what might seem controversial ends up being a nice-enough love song about moving on with romance …to be continued.  “Daddy Issues” to me is one of ‘Riz’s best records, continuing to discover ways of incorporating a down-to-earth, direct hip hop style with some gentle melodies and sweet vocals as well.  Slick and painless, “Daddy Issues” deserves your attention at the Spotify link above.

I’ll see you on Call Me Karizma’s A Summer High tour when it stops in Toronto at the Hard Luck on November 5.

L.A.’s @Zhaomusic arrives with the ethereal “Lifetime”

ZHAO, “Lifetime”

Producer/singer/songwriter Zhao first came to my attention late last year as the vocalist on an enigmatic, enduring favourite of mine by producer Eric Sharp called “The Thirst” (below).  Now L.A.-based, born in Tennessee but raised in Atlanta, Zhao (first name Kenny) kicks off his EP Ride with “Lifetime”.  It’s a thoughtful dose of melodic electronica that will slip under your skin and transport you to somewhere peaceful and personal for a while.  It’s definitely the flipside of the more aggressive “The Thirst”, and may hold as many influences from the keyboard work of M83 and the sparseness of Rhye as it does from 80’s pop and R&B.  It’s complex music that sounds simple and most pleasing to the ears, and you can watch Zhao himself at work in the fine video for “Lifetime” up top.

Chicago’s Pete Cho @petechosen makes an auspicious debut with “Howlin'”

PETE CHO, “Howlin'”

It was a rather pleasing and unexpected surprise to get to enjoy “Howlin'” by Pete Cho recently.  Pete is a Korean BBQ restauranteur from Chicago turned pop/dance artist who also writes and produces his own music.  And if you’re going to do it then you may as well go big and bold with help from the likes of Dino Zisis (Lady Gaga’s “Applause”).  “Howlin'” sounds great and of course has just arrived in time for Hallowe’en.  That means there’s a spooky video with a few twists, and Pete had his hand in writing it too.  “Howlin'” has a solid overall sound with a lot of punch in its beats that generates appropriate suspense without overkill.  The uncredited singer has a good voice too which adds to the atmosphere.  Check out the video above – you’ll want to hear “Howlin'” again and play it for your friends 🙂

“Flags” by @Shoffymusic (feat. #Yuna) is a low-key start to a fabulous debut album

https://soundcloud.com/shoffymusic/flags-feat-yuna

SHOFFY featuring YUNA, “Flags” (free DL)

Shoffy’s debut album may be one of the best and most understated dance music records to arrive this year, all in a very good way.  I really need to dig deeper into it to write more about it, but I’ll start with the unity-themed lead off single “Flags”, featuring R&B singer Yuna, available for free at the link above.  The singer I’m going to compare L.A.’s Shoffy to is Troye Sivan, not because of similar voices or styles, but for someone who has found his sound, which Troye did on last year’s huge Blue Neighbourhood.  Like other recent finds like Lauv and Kid Froopy, Shoffy has a natural, likeable voice that flows beautifully with his music as well as his singing collaborator.  The overall sound is a low-key electronic delight, one that will stay with you through subsequent listens.  Not all dance music has to result in big bangers, and Shoffy in the two years has been part of some interesting releases by others until he made the Billboard dance/electronic chart last year with “Takes My Body Higher” .  Check out “Flags” for now and I hope to feature more of Shoffy’s songs from his album soon!  

Shoffy’s upcoming east-west US tour starts in NYC on October 11 at the Mercury Lounge.

Come out fighting: @itsKasum returns with “Burned Bridges”

https://soundcloud.com/kasum/burnedbridges

KASUM, “Burned Bridges” (free DL)

If you’re going to take a bit of a break to finish off school and then come back even stronger, then you can use “Burned Bridges” by NYC’s Kasum as a great example.  Not only has Kasum (aka Brandon Weiss) offered the song as a free download for you, but it takes a bit of a nostalgic turn both vocally and melodically into Blink-182/Sum 41 territory, while staying rooted in dance music.  So it’s electronic pop with a punkish side, but the attitude is all about fighting to leave what’s buried behind you in life and getting on with things for the better.  Reminisce about those “Burned Bridges” with Kasum but expect to be bopping along and smiling in the end 🙂

 

“High Tide” is gentle and inspiring folk/pop EP from Toronto’s @JustinNozuka

justinnozuka10

JUSTIN NOZUKA, High Tide (EP)

It’s so hard to believe that Justin Nozuka’s first album Holly was released 10 years ago this Fall, and the thoughtful and emotion-wrenching lead single “After Tonight” became one of my go-to songs for not only the next year but forever more, it has endured so very well.  Flash forward and we’re now at the start of a fourth album release for Justin.  He’s chosen to release it in EP parts instead of all at once, so the first three-song offering is called “High Tide”.  It’s a gracious blend of folk and pop and rock like no one else is making.  Inspired greatly by love and nature, you can feel the gentle power particularly in “No Place In Mind”, which reminds me a lot of songs from Justin’s 2010 album You I Wind Land & Sea.  Opener “All I Need” is satisfying and slicker pop, and could be a nice slice of ear candy for pop/adult/alternative radio.  “Hourglass” takes some kind early advice from parents to reflect on and use as empowering self-realization.  High Tide is a true pleasure to hear, with a lot to say crammed into the thoughts of three songs.  You can check out the entire EP at the Spotify link below, but be sure to pick it up at your favourite digital store too.

“Ride The Wave” is positive pop power from @CosmosnCreature

COSMOS & CREATURE, “Ride The Wave”

Following up their more-than-terrific second single as Cosmos & Creature as lead artist, “Bad Drug”, the ever-busy Brandyn Burnette and Molly Moore continue with “Ride The Wave”.  It is indeed positive pop power to get you moving to make the most of your day by seizing it and not sit back to wait for things to happen.  For the most part, success, even if it’s on ones own terms, comes with drive, and you have to choose the right times to let things come to you.  It’s a fine balancing act but “Ride The Wave” instigates the art of making things happen for yourself starting with you.  The song has a great arrangement, musically and vocally, and it’s hard to think of what Brandyn and Molly cannot do.  Check out “Ride The Wave” above and purchase it online at your favourite music store.