Tag Archives: alternative

Italy’s @Flyboy_official rides the big wave that is @Krewella with his remix of “Team”

KREWELLA, “Team” (Flyboy remix) (free DL)

Italian producer Flyboy – not even yet 20 – definitely has a great ear for leaving his imprint on a song, even if it happens to be the ever-reliable Illinois duo Krewella with his remix of “Team”.  This one will leave you spinning with all kinds of whirling synths and effects to perfectly match the fresh attitude of the lyrics and vocals calling out the haters.  But Flyboy knows his limits and how to place catchy synth riffs without them driving you crazy.  Flyboy is getting a lot of notice of late, through Spotify and Sirius XM, particularly in France, where some of his music has been picked up by none other than the prestigious Parlophone label through Warners.  This remix of “Team” is only near the beginning so there’s still lots of time to watch Flyboy soar 🙂  Download “Team” for free at the link above.

Toronto’s @InMyComa returns as a quartet with a cool video for rocker “Beautiful Mind”

IN MY COMA, “Beautiful Mind”

Even in the music world, six years between your first two records is a long time, but when you can engage fans like Toronto-based band In My Coma did supporting their debut album Magnets & Miracles, then you turn them into keepers who stick with you for when your new music is ready.  Now at last we have the new single “Beautiful Mind”, with a more refined, polished sound that also continues to allow In My Coma to rock out like they have done in the past as they continue to acquire wider appeal for their songs.  

The original trio of vocalist/guitarist/songwriter Jasper James, bassist LauraDoll, and drummer Mike Paterson was expanded not long ago to include keyboardist Linz Clark, and In My Coma has really gelled as a quartet in concert, opening for the likes of classic Canadian rockers Moist, the diverse USS, and most recently longtime rockers Nazareth.  

To make a big splash, the band has a striking video for “Beautiful Mind”, with ink-and-paper-like images of the band members performing with a series of often comical characters, including the John Oliver-inspired #JustAddZebras, in this case a dancing one.

The music of In My Coma appeals to fans of rock music transcending the 80’s new wave of Duran Duran, and 90’s grunge of Pearl Jam, to the likes of today’s Cage The Elephant.  The co-founder of Moist, Mark Makoway, has produced the band’s upcoming second album Next Life, due on October 6.  

I’m looking forward to the ongoing evolution of In My Coma – some of the finest taltned folks in the biz who are already getting early support from the likes of long-time radio host and Canadian music historian Alan Cross.  Give the video a good solid watch up top!

#BILLCSTop30 #518 – September 18/17

Lots of songs on the rise will change the top songs in the next month or so, and there are three debuts 🙂

The Top 10

  • Bright Light Bright Light’s “New York Pretty” leads the chart for a 4th appearance (8th week).  He has done this before THREE TIMES with “Love Part II” in 2010, “Waiting For The Feeling” in 2012, and “An Open Heart” in 2013/14.  “New York Pretty” is tied with The Chainsmokers and Coldplay’s “Something Just Like This” for most time at the top in 2017.  and BLx2’s Billboard Dance Club Play hit “Into The Night” (below) climbs 10-8 this week too!

  • Staying at #2 for a second appearance is Toronto’s Loud Luxury with Nikki’s Wives and the catchy bass sounds of “Show Me”.  Both groups are touring with Nikki’s Wives bowing in London, Ontario this week.
  • The fastest riser on the chart belongs to Mahalo and Cat Lewis, obtaining their third Top 5 song on the chart with “Perfect” vaulting 15-4.  It will battle with “Show Me” and CVBZ’s “Be Like You” (#3) for #1 in two weeks.  Mahalo and Cat Lewis hit the Top 5 earlier this year with “Be My Love” (#5) and “WTFYWF” (#3), and their other recent collaboration of “Heaven” (below) continues to climb 19-13!
  • Toronto’s Dan Talevski collects his third Top 5 song on this chart with the endless fun of “Birthday Suit” climbing 9-5.  “Guilty As Sin” got to #3 in 2015, and it was followed by “My Religion” (#5).

  • L.A.’s Lauv will be touring with none other than Ed Sheeran in Asia very soon, as “I Like Me Better” continues to make new friends and rises 12-9.

  • Those of you who enjoy the new mystery band Terror Jr. will have a chance to catch Iowa’s Kid Froopy as the opening act on their tour.  The Kid’s exceptionally produced “Drive Slow” moves up 14-10.

Movin’ On Up

  • Matthew Koma’s “Suitcase” breaks loose from lower chart numbers and soars 17-12 and is headed for the Top 10.
  • The Florida-based Tipsy label’s partnership with Epic Oslo is working with stellar new songs like “No Love In Brooklyn”, which has a great singalong chorus.  It’s by French producer Nick Peters paired with American Frank Pierce and with vocals by American Scott Vega, climbing 20-14.
  • “Gold” by Ricky Remedy and John.k rises a big 26-16, thanks to slick production and amazing vocals by John.k.  In fact John.k has already followed it up with a new song “OT”, which you can hear below.
  • What more can I say about the songs from Carlos Nobrega’s The Art Of Making Love?  A dedicated following has provided him with great chart numbers in Europe and has sent so many new visitors to this blog, over 80,000!  The charge started with “You (It’s All About You)” (above), the blog post of which is now my 3rd most viewed – but the blog post for the album is now most viewed at over 36,000 views!!  The song climbs 27-18, as a new instrumental from Carlos’ other project, Almageddon is released, “Almageddon: Madrid”.  This time it’s accompanied by a picturesque video of the famous city where he lives.  It debuted at #1 on the Spanish new age chart this past week.  Check it out below.

  • Steve Void and Syence move up with their touching joint collaboration to support anyone who’s down.  “We Won’t Leave You” rises 25-20.
  • The melodic but crazy dubstep of “Anesthetic” by San Diego’s Convulsic moves up 28-22.

Three Debuts

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

  • A new current favourite of mine that blends in contemporary electronic dance sounds with early 90’s classic house is “Need Your Heart” by Australia-based British producer Latchmere, from his debut indie EP Lovedrunk.  It bows at an impressive #23, ahead of some major major names and deserves your support 🙂

  • Sam Smith has such an amazing voice even if “Too Good For Goodbyes” as a song is weaker than some of his past hits, nonetheless it premieres at #26.  Sam has got to #1 here four times, all in 2014, with “Money On My Mind”, “Stay With Me”, “I’m Not The Only One”, and his collaboration with Disclosure on “Latch”.  The video arrives tomorrow!
  • Arriving on the chart for the first time is multi-Grammy winner Skrillex in collaboration with producer/songwriter Poo Bear (aka Jason Boyd), who co-wrote many songs on Justin Bieber’s Purpose album as well as classics like 112’s “Dance With Me” and Usher’s “Caught Up”.  The free download remix by scrvp. of “Would You Ever”, which gives the vocals and song an entirely different effect from the original, arrives at #27.

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 🙂

“Be Somebody” is more unique and touching encouragement from Oregon’s @CVBZmusic

CVBZ, “Be Somebody”

Throughout 2017 so far, there are few singer/songwriters who have surprised me more than Oregon’s CVBZ.  And it’s not like his music totally won me over at the first few listens.  The great thing about songs is they get stuck in your head and sometimes the rest of their intentions strike you later.  Such is the case with “Be Like You”, which in its Sean Turk remix is one of my favourites of the year so far.  Following up “Be Like You” and the bold and risky “Vicodin” is third single “Be Somebody”.  Like both songs, it’s full of earnest sentiment that comes from a place deep down where you can fill lyrics with both encouragement and well screw that attitude.  So many young people can relate to these lyrics and I hope “Be Somebody” can find its way through the maze of a today’s music scene to get to the listeners who need it the most.  Musically, its big electronic sound is the right backdrop for its lyrics, and some remixes might help follow up the success “Be Like You” has had with dance music lovers.  Check it out at the link above.

Canadian singer/songwriter @TristanTmusic’s Diamond Cafe project continues with Prince-ly “It’s Been A Mess (Without You)”

DIAMOND CAFE, “It’s Been A Mess (Without You)”

Earlier this year, 19 year-old Tristan Thompson stepped aside from his solo pop records to venture into soulful Michael Jackson/Prince territory with his new project called Diamond Cafe and an initial EP “Breathe”, which I wrote about.  And a singer doesn’t step in the direction of the style of either two superstars unless he can cut it with his vocals.  Tristan more than succeeds with a follow up called “It’s Been A Mess (Without You)” from a new album also called Diamond Cafe.  Like songs from “Breathe”, “It’s Been A Mess” revisits the fading classic style of Prince between about 1988 and 1992, which only seems to surface lately in music by the likes of Pharrell, Miguel or Childish Gambino, with a slow but emotion-filled pace and some major WOW high notes.  Logically, the next step would be to get out there with shows to reinforce how Tristan can sing in concert (and he certainly can!).  But for now we may have to settle for recordings to continue to impress us.  Anyone interested in classic soul done right should check out Diamond Cafe’s “It’s Been A Mess (Without You)” and the new album at this Bandcamp link.

UK singer/songwriter @JamesPoole_ continues to carve a new path with seething synths of “I Am Lion”

JAMES POOLE, “I Am Lion”

After returning to music after a hiatus and a bit of a rethink this Spring with the fun but blunt “I’ve Started Fuckin’ Someone Else”, UK singer/songwriter James Poole has unleashed the potent “I Am Lion”.  It envisions Lion as the ultimate warrior with the chorus finale of the five ferocious words “I am lion, fear me“, screamed/sung by James in a holy fuuuckkk moment like no one outside of the metal genre.  It’s followed by a daunting blaze of celebratory synths that make the song seethe even more with indelible power.  Aside from this “I Am Lion” plays out like a medieval short story in a unique production.  Check it out at the link above and support your Lion king by picking it up at your favourite local digital store.

Chicago duo @MilknCooks deliver chilled out ‘n jazzy “Joy District”

milkncooks

MILK ‘N COOKS, “Joy District”

Chicago’s Milk ‘n Cooks have been on the dance music scene long enough to know how to mix it up with their releases.  “Joy District” is a chilled out and jazzy alternative late night track that steps away from big beats in favour of a melody for a cruise down the highway, accompanied by standout guitar work by Andrew Slutsky.  The guys altered their vocals for this song which definitely adds to its sublime intrigue.  Be sure to lend your ears for a listen to “Joy District” at the link below.  Milk ‘n Cooks are on tour in various US cities throughout September and October, so watch for them near you!

Hard ‘n soulful trap from @VOVIIIdj with “CYFI”

VOVIII, “CYFI” (free DL)

“CYFI” by the Boston duo of Brandon and Josh who call themselves VOVIII (that’s actually 5-0-8) is one hard-hitting dose of trap/electronica that you won’t want to miss.  The main chorus of the song, featuring a powerful female R&B vocal, sounds like a sample from a soul hit of yesteryear – and maybe it isn’t – but it trades off with whirling synths, bright percussion sounds, and big bold beats.  This makes “CYFI” a must for fans of tougher EDM who like their music to leave them breathless.  After receiving support from folks you know like NGHTMRE and Borgeous, VOVIII are off to a wild start through powerhouses like Spinnin’ and MMXVAC which only makes you want to hear more.  You can get “CYFI” for free at the link up top.

#BILLCSTop30 #517 – September 4/17

Some of my favourite songs of the year continue to appear on this latest chart, which makes ranking them – which is totally subjective here, there’s no formula! – very difficult.  As a result some may end up ranking higher on the year end chart than other songs which peak at the same position.  Enough chart geekery, it’s another busy chart with four debuts!

The Top 10

  • “New York Pretty” by Bright Light Bright Light currently has an incredibly tight lock on #1 – may have to wait for another chart to see who might be coming next!

  • With that in mind, Toronto’s Loud Luxury and Nikki’s Wives make a strong case for #1 as “Show Me” is the fastest riser two charts in a row.  Loud Luxury were already up top earlier this year with Ryan Shepherd on their amazing redux of Craig David’s “Fill Me In”, so is a second consecutive #1 in order? 🙂
  • I second all of the emotions in CVBZ’s lyrical “Be Like You”, which in its Sean Turk ‘bedroom bass’ remix climbs 6-3.  

  • Dan Talevski acquires his 4th Top 10 hit on this chart with the fun and contagious “Birthday Suit”, which rises 11-9.  Dan has just wrapped an EP which is coming soon!

  • He’s at the top of the chart but also at #10 – Bright Light Bright Light’s latest Top 40 Billboard Dance Club Play hit is “Into The Night”, and with its companion video to “New York Pretty” moves up 15-10.

Movin’ On Up

  • A song called “I Like Me Better” has all the potential for being cloying and annoying, but singer/songwriter Lauv has managed to make it cool and clever all at once, which is why is climbs 18-12.  Why American radio is not all over this song yet is totally beyond me!!  I’ve given up asking about things like this and radio.

  • Iowa’s Kid Froopy has landed the opening act slot on Terror Jr.’s upcoming tour and most dates are already sold out.  The Kid also has an EP in the works, but for now you can indulge in his delightfully quirky and immensely appealing single “Drive Slow”, rising 20-14.
  • One of the grittiest songs for the wee hours on the chart is the latest from L.A.’s Mahalo in his pairings with singer Cat Lewis on “Perfect” (above), which jumps 21-15.  Yes folks, all of the vocals in the song are by the elusive Mr. Lewis.  The duo are also up 22-19 with the soulful club-pleaser “Heaven” (below).
  • Matthew Koma’s beautiful “Suitcase” – an older song of his which has finally seen release – continues to move up, this time 19-17.  It’s one of a few solid songs that is stuck in a bit of a jam which may break loose in two weeks.

  • “No Love In Brooklyn” could be seen as a song associated with the end of summer relationships with some great, memorable lyrics.  It’s brought to you by producers Nick Peters, who hails from France, and American Frank Pierce, along with US singer Scott Vega.  It wastes no time charging 25-20.
  • Bobby Nourmand’s second match-up with vocalists DOC and Goodmorning, following the #1 “D E E P in NY”, is the infectious “MIND” which rises 28-23.

4 Debuts

  • I’m absolutely loving the collaboration of one of our favourite young Dutchmen, Steve Void, and American duo Syence, in the heartwarming “We Won’t Leave You”. Its universal message of love and support is very welcome, and the guys manage to give the song a choral effect along with the electronics which bring it home.  The highest debut, “Leave” bows at #25.
  • Debuting on the chart is a powerhouse duo from Florida, Grammy-nominated producer Ricky Remedy with compelling new vocalist John.k and “Gold”.  This one will dazzle you with its restrained, on-point production and amazingly versatile vocals by John.k.  “Gold” arrives at #26.
  • Carlos Nobrega’s new album The Art Of Making Love has brought over 50,000 – you read that right! – visitors to these blog pages – totally amazing!  All of the wait for new music for Carlos was teased out with 4 preceding singles, including “You (It’s All About You)”, which premieres at #27.  It’s already at over a million plays on Soundcloud.  Carlos has took over this chart before, back in 2012 with “Music Makes You Lose Control (MMYLC)”, which also appears in The Art Of Making Love.
  • San Diego dubstep producer Convulsic is back after a 3 year absence from this chart with the dirty and dynamic instrumental “Anesthetic”, which debuts at #28.  This one will leave you a little more than shaken ‘n stirred!  It follows Convulsic’s 2014 Top Tenners here “Love Space” (#5) and “The Day You Left” (#7).

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

Planet Radio Canada is on hiatus and will return http://www.planetradio.ca 🙂

Coming September 4:  the BILLCS Music Projects Facebook page 🙂

A fresh Fall ballad: “Disguise” by @Labrosemusic, the new duo of @perksofbeingvic and @Ficciofficial

LABROSE, “Disguise”

While he’s working on more songs to follow up his engaging 2016 EP 4AM Nostalgia, New York-based pop/R&B singer Victor Perry has partnered with Birmingham, England producer Ficci (aka Alisdair Mason) for their new project Labrose for PM Recordings.  The first song to come from this partnership is “Disguise”, a self-reflective post-breakup ballad that’s well-timed as we head into the Fall months.  Victor’s nuanced, expressive vocal beautifully suits the flow and lyrics which might be too understated by someone with a less distinct voice.  This makes Ficci’s soft and elegant acoustic-oriented backdrop work even better, allowing you to soak in the emotion of the song quite well by its end.  Labrose looks like the start of a worthy undertaking for those who like their pop and R&B subtle and just off the radar.  Give it a listen at the Spotify link above.