Databoy – Page 3 – BILLCSMUSIC BLOG

BILLCS Top 30 #390, October 22/12

This edition of my personal chart is top heavy with activity, which means only two debuts and a number of songs which will exit the chart in two weeks (including DATABOY’s magnificent #1 “Dreams Are Gold” (#10), which is at its maximum 10 appearances – 20 weeks).

“Spectrum” by Zedd featuring Matthew Koma slides comfortably into #1 as the German producer continues his tour (stopping here in Toronto on November 2) to promote his new album Clarity. But the song will be battling it out in two weeks with the insanely catchy “Music Makes Me Lose Control” by Portugal’s Carlos Nóbrega, which has been itching to bust a move up the chart these past few weeks, and finally does so, vaulting 6 to 2. This leaves “Remember When (Push Rewind)” by Chris Wallace at #3, “Go For Gold” by Kyle Patrick at #4, and the Green Children remix of “Houdini” by Foster The People at #5.

And there’s no shortage of movement in the rest of the Top 10. “Long Time” by Sweden’s John De Sohn featuring Andreas Moe climbs to #6, “Anything Could Happen” by Ellie Goulding (below) jumps 10-7 despite getting lost in the extended success of “Lights”, and “Feel It” by Bright Light Bright Light featuring Mikal Kilgore is the only new addition to the Top 10 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

There’s a bit of a log jam just outside of the Top 10, with “Unheard” by Jeronimo bumped up to #11, and Bim’s “Lights Out” rising to #12. But then we have the fastest riser, “Don’t You Worry Child” by Swedish House Mafia featuring John Martin soaring 24-14 and bound to be a contender for #1 in the coming weeks. Jane Badler’s sensational drama of “Yesterday’s Tomorrows” moves to #15, “Evolved” by Vague-à-bonde (below) climbs to #16 – the lady herself is opening for Diamond Rings in Minneapolis soon – with “It’s Time” by Imagine Dragons and “Between The Raindrops” by Lifehouse featuring Natasha Bedingfield right behind. Lifehouse announced the title of its new album this week, which is called Almeria.

Last week’s debuts make bountiful moves. “Your Body” by Christina Aguilera zips up to #19, with Mika’s “Popular Song” immediately after, and Matt & Kim’s rollicking “Let’s Go” (official lyrics video below) bounding 30-22.

The two debuts this week are guaranteed to make your feet move. The renown BT has teamed up with young Russian DJ/producer Arty and the always marvelous Nadia Ali for “Must Be The Love” at #24. It’s a dandy hybrid of trance and house made even more conspicuous by Nadia’s signature voice, and resonates in the original 12″ version at the top of this page. Both BT and Nadia Ali are no strangers to my chart. Here are their respective chart histories:

Simply Being Loved (Somnambulist), #1, 2003

Superfabulous (featuring Rose McGowan), #1, 2003

The Force Of Gravity (featuring JC Chasez), #3, 2003

Love Comes Again (with Tiesto), #5, 2004

Break My Fall (with Tiesto), #6, 2007

Suddenly (with Christian Burns), #6, 2010

The Emergency, #17, 2011

Nadia Ali and iio

Rapture (Tastes So Sweet) (iio), #3, 2002

At The End (iio), #2, 2003

Smooth (iio), #5, 2003

Is It Love (iio), #21, 2005

Love Story, #3, 2009

Believe It (with Spencer & Hill), #12, 2012

The remaining debut is “Good Girlfriend” by Danish producer/DJ Kid Massive featuring the one and only DATABOY at #25. This song takes a little time to catch on and will finally be available digitally in the coming two weeks. All kids of remixes abound with Alex Van Alff’s currently available as a free download. Do check out the video at the top of the blog. Not only does the song flow really well with the story, you get to see DATABOY’s Cameron and Adam performing (and you can match up the voices to the guys now ;).

BILLCS Top 30 #389 – October 8/12

While the rest of my personal chart is stunted with pent-up activity from songs on the rise, the songs at the top of the chart pretty much stay intact. So that means we have the very talented Chris Wallace gracing #1 for a fourth time with “Remember When (Push Rewind)”, and you can watch for another song from the Push Rewind album to debut in these parts in two weeks.

Zedd has been on Lady GaGa’s lips a lot lately, if you happened to miss the “High Princess/Stache” mashup on the weekend (it’s below). So featuring Matthew Koma’s dulcet boyish tones, the German producer claims #2 with “Spectrum”, which looks to succeed “Remember When” at the top.

“Go For Gold” holds steady at #3 for Kyle Patrick, while “Dreams Are Gold” by DATABOY (#4) continues to hang in the Top 5 – where it has been for all of its appearances but one (it debuted at #8) – while the loveable “Genius” continues to rise at #8. “Houdini” by Foster The People holds tight at #5 with the free download of the Green Children remix, which is just cause for lots of random dancing.

There’s a long stretch of songs on hold or rising between #5 and #15, so I’ll touch on the bigger moves. “Music Makes You Lose Control” by Carlos Nóbrega (below) moves 8-6, hovering just below the Top 5 in anticipation of a bigger move in two weeks – can it get to #1? I have been saying it since I first heard it – Hallowe’en dance parties, this is YOUR song!

Vaulting 12-7 is the emotional Swedish dance music that is currently so appealing by way of “Long Time” by John De Sohn featuring Andreas Moe. Another dance floor filler is Markus Riva’s “We Dance 4 Reason”, holding at #9. And then Ellie Goulding’s “Anything Can Happen” arrives at #10 just as her Halcyon album hits stores tomorrow in North America. Let’s get those remixes onto iTunes as well, shall we?

The fastest riser of the lot is “Feel It” by Bright Light Bright Light featuring Mykal Kilgore, which soars 18-11. Bright Light Bright Light has scored opening UK concert dates for Scissor Sisters, which I hope will translate into a second go round for the Sisters in North America. Their “Let’s Have A Kiki” is still on the pulse of dance clubs right now, and BLx2’s own mashup of it and “Feel It” (“Let’s Have A Feel”) continues to put a smile on my face, prompting me to want to lock the door and lower the blinds… Listen below.

While we do not have a video for Colin Munroe’s triumphant “Over It” (up 17-13), we do have one for previous Top 5 single “The Fight Of My Life” from his mixtape Unsung Hero, so give it a view below. There’s some intriguing imagery completely befitting of the song. Well done!

That smashing duo from the UK, Bim, currently has “Lights Out” climbing the chart, moving 19-14, but in preparation for their stunning Lifelines EP (now on pre-order on iTunes – you can read my initial thoughts on it right here), the pair have a new video on deck below for next single “Burn”, which remembers those fond days when we as children could be superheroes for just one day. There’s some pretty impressive graphic artistry, see the poster below as well.

“Yesterday’s Tomorrows” by Jane Badler climbs 21-17, but that captivating Stormby’s Drama mix of the song is now also featured on the compilation Kiss My Lipstick Off, now available on iTunes and featuring other fine folks like Liz Primo, Spray, and Nathalie Archangel. Last week’s debuts all get stuck together temporarily at songs #20-22, waiting for a gap in the chart to occur (likely in two weeks), so be sure to check out indie release “Evolved” by Vague-a-bonde (watch for the video soon but in the meantime listen to the song below), Imagine Dragons’ “It’s Time”, and “Between The Raindrops” by Lifehouse featuring Natasha Bedingfield (video also due soon).

You can watch the video for the lead debut on the chart (#24) at the top of this post. While I’ve enjoyed the music of Axwell, Sebastian Ingrosso and Steve Angello over the years in solo and various other projects, their Swedish House Mafia project never really got on my radar till this year. And apparently their album Until Now and sell out tour represent an end to the project. I never believe ‘never’ in the music business, but in the meantime we can all enjoy “Don’t You Worry Child”, once again featuring outstanding urgent and emotional vocals by another of Sweden’s go-to-guys, John Martin.

I’ve long appreciated the powerful and soulful voice of Christina Aguilera, though her songs have not always been consistent and therefore haven’t appeared in this chart until more recently. But every time a song has charted (this is the 7th time), it has reached my Top 10. We’ll see if that happens with the outrageous but fun “Your Body”, which bows at #25 with the accompanying entertaining video. It’s from her upcoming 5th studio set (excluding Latin, Christmas, and Best Of compilation) called Lotus.

I recently wrote about Mika’s The Origin Of Love album, which is a diverse collection that may take a few listens to grow on you. One aspect of the record that is very appealing is how it lets loose on a couple of the songs. So two songs debut on this chart, the quirky “Wicked” inspired “Popular Song” at #26, and then his duet with Pharrell Williams (himself no stranger to the chart, having appeared with Snoop Dogg on “Beautiful” and Robin Thicke on “Wanna Love U Girl”, as well as with his trio N.E.R.D. on the #1 “Rock Star” and “Hypnotize U”) on “Celebrate” at #29. These songs mark Mika’s 7th and 8th appearances, with his most successful being in 2009-10 when “Rain” got to #1 and “Blame It On The Girls” and “We Are Golden” reached #2 and #3 respectively. Watch the joyous video for “Celebrate” below.

And at #30 is “Let’s Go” by Matt & Kim, the lead single from their fourth album Lightning, which hit stores last week. I caught them in concert last week and will have my thoughts about that show and their album in the coming week. The duo have worked exceptionally hard to make all of their music accessible in various formats, and have created lyrics videos for each song on the new album. Watch the video for “Let’s Go” below – I’m sure we’ll be seeing and hearing more from Matt & Kim as their tour progresses. The Brooklyn, NY duo have previously reached the Top 5 on the chart with “Daylight” and “Block After Block”.

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.

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.

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.

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 🙂

BILLCS Chart #385 – August 13, 2012 – Might Be My Favourite Top 4 of ’12!

Here’s the list of my current Top 30 favourites, published bi-weekly in these pages, but currently subject to a bit of technical difficulty as I move to new software for formatting purposes. EDIT: The prettier web version of the chart is available by clicking right here 🙂

01 01 DREAMS ARE GOLD DATABOY
02 02 REMEMBER WHEN (PUSH REWIND) Chris Wallace
07 03 SPECTRUM (Calvin Harris remix) Florence & The Machine
04 04 TIME BOMB Kylie Minogue
06 05 HOLLYWOOD RAC F/ Penguin Prison
08 06 LOTION DATABOY
09 07 COLLECTING SUNLIGHT Andreas Moe
11 08 MOVES Bright Light Bright Light
14 09 GO FOR GOLD Kyle Patrick
03 10 ONE KISS Jeronimo
12 11 ANGEL Darren Hayes
05 12 SECRET FEAR Daniel Bedingfield
15 13 HUNTER Baiyu
19 14 TURN IT UP Carlos Nóbrega
23 15 HOUDINI (Green Children remix) Foster The People
16 16 CHASING THE SUN The Wanted
17 17 TURN UP YOUR RADIO Monti Montañez
10 18 ALL OUR LOVE Gentlemen Hall
20 19 WHEN SHE WAS MINE Lawson
24 20 WE DANCE 4 REASON Markus Riva F/ Ralph (PER)
New 21 SPECTRUM Zedd F/ Matthew Koma
26 22 HIGH FOR THIS Ellie Goulding
New 23 GENIUS DATABOY
New 24 LONG TIME John De Sohn F/ Andreas Moe
New 25 BENNY GOODMAN Saint Motel
28 26 EMERGENCY Audio Playground F/ Snoop Dogg
13 27 THESE ARE CENTURIES River Tiber
18 28 WAITING FOR THE FEELING Bright Light Bright Light
21 29 NOTICE ME Vincent Did It F/ Quigley
25 30 CELEB Tao Hypah

My current Top 4 songs are going to be hard to dislodge. This could in fact be my favourite Top 4 of ’12, and only a few other songs released earlier in the year – including Rune RK & DATABOY’S “Memorize Me”, Eric Saade & Dev’s “Hotter Than Fire”, and “Someday” by River Tiber – would be in the mix with them! What’s going to be interesting is to see who gets a turn at #1, which could happen as early as two weeks from now! Stay tuned 🙂 PS Chris Wallace’s debut album Push Rewind will be out September 4 as “Remember When” starts to crack radio airplay!!

Fleshing out the Top 10 are some joyous tunes by RAC & Penguin Prison, DATABOY (making it two out of three), former #1 Jeronimo, and Andreas “he’s everywhere (including elsewhere on the chart)” Moe, with new Top Tenners not surprisingly from Bright Light Bright Light (currently kicking it in France – so jealous!) and Kyle Patrick (coping with massive Singapore love).

Special mentions outside of the Top 10 must go to Baiyu, with the title song of her Hunter mixtape resting at #13, as she appears on The CW Network’s new show “The Next” starting Thursday. Best of luck, love 😀 Then there’s the ever-so-busy Carlos Nóbrega, whose powerful dancefloor filler “Turn It Up” climbs to #14 as he releases yet another new song, “Music Makes You Lose Control”. This one is Carlos at his best, fun and dramatic at the same time! Listen to the snippet below – you won’t want to miss out on the full song, so get it on iTunes!

Foster The People’s Green Children remix of “Houdini” magically becomes the fastest riser, leaping 23-15 while singer Mark journeys through India. Also on the rise are Darren Hayes’ delightful take on Madonna’s “Angel”, “When She Was Mine” by rising UK quartet Lawson, and “We Dance 4 Reason” by Latvian star and radio DJ Markus Riva. You won’t be able to go anywhere soon without hearing Ellie Goulding’s magnificent new “Anything Could Happen”, as I wrote about on the weekend, but in the meantime her rendition of The Weeknd’s “High For This” is up to #22.

A common theme throughout 2012 has been a series of unique voices. One such young man, who, like Andreas Moe, is popping up everywhere especially in dance music circles, is Matthew Koma (ab0ve), who hails from Long Island and was once in a group called Bandcamp. One of the brightest songs of ’12 and a current Top 5 Dance Club Play hit is the second song in the chart called “Spectrum” by German DJ Zedd, featuring Matthew’s ear-catching vocals that sound like nothing this year has had to offer, as well as some dreamy lyrics (“breathing you in when I want you out…”). He’s also featured in Alesso’s latest club hit “Years”, and will be touring some upcoming dates with Owl City. You can hear both songs below plus excerpts of Matthew’s EP Parachute, available on iTunes.

The next debut is of course more from DATABOY, whose Dreams Are Gold album is the full length release that is resonating with me most throughout the year. Its emotional content, smart stories, and of course amazing beats and rhythms put smiles on my face each time I hear it. I’ve grown a bit attached to opening song “Genius” – it’s simply a fun song to listen to in the car, and it definitely throws people for a loop the first time they hear it. I humbly suggest you keep in mind the TV show The Big Bang Theory and a certain animated self-proclaimed genius when listening 🙂 But you’ll have to give it a preview on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Genius/dp/B008F9FV7U and buy it there or on iTunes!

At #24 is “Long Time” by John De Sohn, featuring Sweden’s Andreas Moe, and currently in the Billboard Top 25 of the Dance Club Play chart. I had some comments about it in a recent blog post. The full length version appears on Tiësto’s Club Life Volume 2: Miami compilation. You’ll hear a lot more from Andreas before the year is out!

Lastly at #25 is the quirky “Benny Goodman” by L.A.’s Saint Motel, currently touring their album Voyeur, which I wrote about recently. Below is a video of the band jazzing up the song and swinging along in a studio performance. They also released an equally quirky video for “1997”, which you can also check out below. The band has this neat way of making you watch… 😉

BILLCS Chart #384 – DATABOY Score Gold For A Third Time

My bi-weekly chart of favourites is delightfully abuzz of a great bunch of new songs, which is making it increasingly difficult to rank every two weeks. So the ups and downs of songs look like they will be a bit dramatic during these summer months, and the wait for #1 for some top notch songs may continue longer than it normally would.

DATABOY score their third number one song on the chart with “Dreams Are Gold”, a song that’s awash in as great a melody as it is with lyrics that totally hit home for me with its message. They’ve already been on top with “Just Once” last summer (also included on their Dreams Are Gold album), as well as with Rune RK for “Memorize Me”, the song that brought sunny Ibiza sounds to my winter months. Be sure to listen to “Dreams Are Gold” below.

That means that “Remember When (Push Rewind)” by Chris Wallace, which is starting to get national radio play in the U.S., moves up to #2. It’s surely a contender for #1, but it’s a matter of WHEN it will get there with “Dreams Are Gold” ahead of it. That also means “One Kiss” by Jeronimo, one of my most played current songs, drops somewhat early to #3 but should hang in and around the Top 10 for a few more weeks. And did you know that one of Jeronimo’s songs is the Cartoon Network ID for some parts of the world (outside of Europe and North America)??

The fastest riser on the chart, because I can’t get it out of my head 😉 , is “Timebomb” by Kylie Minogue, which soars 15-4 somewhat in anticipation of what she’ll release next. All of Kylie’s 5 songs that have got on my chart have reached my Top 10; “Timebomb” surpasses the #5 peak of “Can’t Get It Out Of My Head” to become her biggest chart hit. Watch her performance from “The Voice” (UK) below. Daniel Bedingfield has been performing some gigs in L.A., which hopefully bodes well for them to spread to other parts of North America in the near future. “Secret Fear” jumps to #5, matching the same peak of “Wrap My Words Around You” back in 2005.

The rest of the Top 10 moves up, with the exception of “All Our Love” by Gentlemen Hall, which slips to #10. “Hollywood” by RAC featuring Penguin Prison climbs to #6, and DATABOY’s concurrent Top Tenner “Lotion” moves to #8. The second new entry to the Top 10 is “Collecting Sunlight” by Andreas Moe, which arrives at #9.

The third newcomer to the Top 10 is the highest debut this week. The Calvin Harris remix of Florence & The Machine’s “Spectrum (Say My Name)” turns the song into a most colourful and rousing dance hit that is the current UK #1. It bows on my chart at #7, giving the band their second Top 10 hit following 2009’s “Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)”, which got to #2. I’m glad “Spectrum” got release as a single as something needed to give new life to the Ceremonials album while Florence waits to return to touring after throat problems caused some gigs to be cancelled.

And as if that wasn’t enough, the chart continues to be busy below the Top 10. “Moves”, the song by Bright Light Bright Light that’s immersed in a late 70’s disco strings arrangement, leaps 21-11, while “Angel” by Darren Hayes (the flip side to the single of “Talk Talk Talk”) is right behind, up 16-12. “Go For Gold” has certainly arrived right in time for the Olympics, so don’t be surprised if Kyle Patrick’s song (moving 23-14) gets some deserved attention during the many weeks to come. Kyle has also recently released his self-titled EP on iTunes, while “Go For Gold” continues to be a free download. Watch the video below.

I’m pleased to report that New York singer Baiyu is a contestant on the new CW show “The Next”, which features Gloria Estefan, Joe Jonas, John Rich, and Nelly as panelist judges. The show begins on August 16, so be sure to tune in to see how far this talented gal can go. In the meantime, watch her video for “Invisible” (#22) below. The club-oriented title song from her Hunter mixtape also climbs to #15.

“Chasing The Sun” by The Wanted charges to #16, while Monti Montañez’s “Turn Up Your Radio” (from This Beat Is… Poptronik Volume One) moves up to #17. The high dose of summer energy that is “Turn It Up” by Portugal’s all round entertainer (and fellow Poptronik performer) Carlos Nóbrega vaults 26-19 (listen below), while UK foursome Lawson reach #20 with “When She Was Mine”.

I’ve previously written about 3 of our remaining 4 debuts, which you can see/hear below. Foster The People’s “Houdini” (#23) is a real sleeper that comes alive in the clubby Green Children remix. Poptronik performer Markus Riva (who is also a DJ on Latvia’s Capital radio) gets his second chart entry with the pulsating “We Dance 4 Reason” at #24. “High For You” was written and originally recorded by Toronto’s noted The Weeknd and has received some radio play as well in his home city. Ellie Goulding puts a slow grooving spin on the song, which is also a free download. While the pop world delights with playing her song “Lights”, “High For This” arrives at #26 on my chart. Lastly, as with their Billboard Top 10 Dance Club Play hit, “Famous”, Canadian trio Audio Playground has found that their latest single “Emergency” (featuring Snoop Dogg) has broken out of Quebec. “Emergency” lands on the chart at #28.

BILLCS Top 30 #383 – July 16/12 – One, two, three – BOOM!!

It’s as easy as 1…..2…..3…..

1…..

2…..

3……

You’ll know that people aren’t jumping from high places when you suddenly hear several cries of Jeronimo, as the Dutch singer’s utterly delightful “One Kiss” rises to the top of my chart. But it is immediately being challenged by the glorious words and melodies of DATABOY, whose title song from their album Dreams Are Gold gets 2nd place, while fastest riser “Remember When (Push Rewind)” by Chris Wallace gets 3rd. These are three of the most eminently likeable songs of 2012, and it would be a shame for you to pass them up! Get ’em all on iTunes too!

Meanwhile in the lower half of the Top 10, there’s plenty of activity with Daniel Bedingfield’s stellar title song from his EP Secret Fear – Stop The Traffik climbing to #6, with Boston’s Gentlemen Hall in too at #7 with “All Our Love”. RAC featuring the vocals of Chris Glover from Penguin Prison, is a new entry to the Top 10 with “Hollywood” at #8, and DATABOY’s second song on the chart from Dreams Are Gold is the winning “Lotion” at #10.

The rest of the chart is pretty busy. There is no shortage of great music out there and every song seems to fight not only for highest placement but longevity (to the maximum of 10 appearances, natch) as well. “Collecting Sunlight” by Andreas Moe, who has recently been in Tokyo performing to large crowds, is Top 10 bound at #11, and River Tiber’s jazzy “These Are Centuries” climbs to #13. If “Remember When” by Chris Wallace hadn’t soared 17 places, then the fastest rise would have been the 14 place move up for Kylie Minogue’s “Timebomb”, whose chorus is presently stuck in my head, now at #15. Right behind is Darren Hayes’ lovely rendition of Madonna’s “Angel” at #16, while Baiyu’s percolating title song from her mixtape Hunter is now at #17, and “Chasing The Sun”, which got to #1 on Billboard’s Dance/Club Play chart for The Wanted, jumps to #19. Down a bit further but rising steadily are “When She Was Mine” by UK foursome Lawson at #22, and the second entry from Baiyu, a sultry ballad featuring Rotimi called “Invisible”, is at #24.

Three new entries to the chart should be of no surprise to you. While “Waiting For The Feeling” gives up #1 after four appearances (eight weeks), I’m still waiting to hear about a next single release from Bright Light Bright Light’s album Make Me Believe In Hope, which is one of the year’s finest releases. The magnificent emotional disco throwback that is “Moves” is the highest premiere on the chart at #21. Watch BLx2 perform the song below in London, followed by one of last year’s best singles, “Disco Moment”.

I know I only wrote about this one yesterday, but it’s effect on my chart is instantaneous! “Go For Gold” by the Click Five’s Kyle Patrick bows at #23. Another feel good, high energy song to keep you happy during the summer 🙂

Lastly at #26, high energy in more of a club vibe kind of way comes from “Turn It Up”, the latest single from Poptronik artist Carlos Nóbrega. Carlos joins fellow Poptronik album performers Tao Hypah, Markus Riva, and Monti Montañez, who continues to rise up the chart with “Turn On Your Radio” at #18.