electronica – Page 160 – BILLCSMUSIC BLOG

Music for sunny days: “Dreamin'” by @iamEmbody featuring @CamdenCoxmusic

EMBODY featuring CAMDEN COX, “Dreamin'”

When I last wrote about Lithuania-born, London-based producer Embody, he was working great things with UK soul singer A*M*E. A year later and he’s totally crushing it with tropical-themed deep house to help get a lot of us through the winter months with “Dreamin'”, featuring UK singer Camden Cox. The combination is irresistible – a Caribbean-sounding trigger guaranteed to make you bounce while Camden’s playful vocal makes those flashes of dreamy beaches and palm trees almost in reach. I don’t see “Dreamin'” in my iTunes store so hopefully it will be a matter of time. So check out yours and enjoy this song above as it sneaks up on you!

#BILLCSTop30 #471 – November 30, 2015

The new chart is crammed with new music on the rise that is deserving of your attention! Three debuts add to the fun 🙂

The Top 10

Yes, I am in Camp “Hello”. Adele gets a second appearance at the top. I’m not sure when she will give it up or to whom, always fun to wait and see.

Joe Jonas and DNCE get a personal best on my chart with “Cake By The Ocean” rising to #2. It tops Joe’s own “Make You Mine” from 2012, which peaked at #3. The band was a wild party in Toronto a couple of weeks back (photo below). I’m waiting for their new song “Naked” to surface on an upcoming release.

It’s one of those clever songs that you just want to learn the lyrics so that you can sing along. “I Wish (My Taylor Swift)” by The Knocks & Matthew Koma rises 6-4.

While Dan Talevski’s “My Religion” appears to have peaked at #5, I didn’t want to go without highlighting his beautiful, completely on-point recent acoustic cover of Adele’s “Hello”. Pretty flawless and the best I’ve heard of several. Available for free download at Dan’s Soundcloud page too!

Chicago’s Lucien Dante has held a steady pace in the Top 10 as the unique sound of “Black Water” climbs to #6, from his album Our Of We. “Black Water” is still available as a free download.

There’s plenty of competition ahead but Brandyn Burnette’s “Nothing At All” from his Made Of Dreams EP is a force to be reckoned with on the chart as it soars 14-7.

https://soundcloud.com/brandynburnette/nothing-at-all

Movin’ On Up

It’s been more traditional fare than ever for Sam Smith so it hasn’t really captured the hearts of radio listeners, but you cannot deny his supurb performance on the “Spectre” theme “Writing’s On The Wall”, which moves up to #11.

I’m going to take advantage of a live acoustic clip that Brandyn Burnette posted of “Lost (Stripped)”, which rises 20-12. It features his talented gal Molly Moore (who co-wrote it) – completely honest, earnest talent at work here. The original appears on Brandyn’s Made Of Dreams EP.

The fastest riser on the chart is the joyous Elephante remix of Mako’s “Smoke Filled Room” which vaults 26-13. It’s one of those unassuming songs in its original mix that benefits from this killer remix, which is also a free download below.

Ms Anonymous is the title song from the recent EP by MAX (Schneider) featuring Jared Evan that shoots right up through the middle of the chart, landing at #15 from #25. MAX is touring throughout the USA in various cities in December.

Their new album Astoria definitely harkens back to the Masterpiece Theatre days, full of great songwriting and Josh Ramsay powerhouse vocals. “One Love” is the single release and it rises 19-16.

There’s already a new single coming from Nathalie Archangel, after peaking within the Top 25 on Billboard’s Dance Club Play chart with “A Higher High”, which continues to climb here 27-23.

Debuts

I have to recall the fun concert in May by Matt and Kim, who always put on a fine high energy show. It’s only 2:11 but “Make A Mess” is a bubbly, jazzy, almost ska-sounding bit of fun from their New Glow album, and it arrives at #28.

I’m hoping club DJ’s will latch on to Rozalla’s “The Shadows Of The Moon” in the same way they did “If You Say It Again” earlier this year, which got to #3. This pairing with producer/DJ’s House Of Virus is irresistible for the dance floor, and bows at #29 (from the same songwriting team of Nathalie Archangel’s “A Higher High” too!).

The last debut would not have sounded out of place at all on either of Bright Light Bright Light’s album releases to date. As a featured artist, Rod Thomas teams up with German producer/DJ Final DJS for “Lost In Feelings” at #30. And it’s a free download too!

The Full Chart

Listen to the songs or watch the videos using the links on the pictures on the pretty and detailed web edition of my chart. Go on, have a look and listen/watch 🙂

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 back! You can hear me online on http://www.planetradio.ca every Monday at 10:00 pm EST counting down a Toronto Top 10 chart from yesteryear!

Dance this mess around: “Drinkee” by NYC duo @SofiTukker

SOFI TUKKER, “Drinkee”

NYC duo Sofi Tukker picked a great variation on a famous celebrity’s name, using their own names: Sophie Hawley-Weld and Tucker Halpern. And it looks like their debut single “Drinkee” is going to be the talk of the winter on the dance club circuit. It’s got this slinky R&B groove that will make you think of ZHU’s “Faded”, a guitar hook that recalls “Seven Nation Army” by The White Stripes, and a sultry vocal that’s singing… in Portuguese (but adapted from poetry by Brazil’s Chacal). And that really creates bliss on the dancefloor as you try to make sense of it all. “Drinkee” is very entertaining – perhaps you might look back to the first time you heard Enur & Natasja’s “Calabria” (only of course to realize that one was in fact rapped in English) – and Sofi Tukker are protégés of The Knocks, having been signed to their label Heavy Roc, with an EP on the way. I’m predicting great things for this one. Check it out below and pick it up on iTunes.

L.A.’s @SugarJoans shows off her gorgeous range in “Nvr”

SUGAR JOANS, “Nvr”

You will undoubtedly remember Sugar Joans as a contestant from Season 7 of “The Voice” whose blind audition made mincemeat out of Aretha Franklin’s “Chain of Fools”, among her many standout performances. And appearing on such a show is never about the winning when a song like “Nvr” comes out of nowhere and grabs your ears. Sugar comes from musical roots – her father is pop/R&B singer Joe Pizzulo, whose own striking voice was the lead on 80’s hits by Sergio Mendes, “Never Gonna Let You Go” and “Alibis”. Marry Sugar’s multi-octave voice with a chilled out EDM backdrop and you have a breakout when she goes to town with the strong, emotional and retrospective lyrics of “Nvr”. It might be a touch long at over 5 minutes long but it’s a fine story, and I would definitely enjoy hearing what some remixers might do with it for the dancefloor. You can pick up “Nvr” on iTunes.

Australian producer/DJ @LateNiteTuffGuy updates a Timmy Thomas classic with “Live Together”

LATE NITE TUFF GUY, “Live Together (LNTG No More War Rework)”

It’s been a while since I wrote about veteran Australian producer/DJ Late Nite Tuff Guy (aka Cam Bianchetti), who has been touring Australasia, Europe, and the UK with his clever and reverent DJ sets full of contemporary reworks of classic pop, dance and disco songs, and more. He’s back with a timely mix for you, “Live Together”. He reinvents Timmy Thomas’ North American 1973 #1, the sparsely organ and percussion driven “Why Can’t We Live Together”, by giving it a bassline bounce that will surely make you sway and dance. That and the timely restated messaging (including an excerpt of a famous speech) makes its reappearance today well-chosen. Naturally, all you DJ’s must mix it up with Drake’s “Hotline Bling”, which uses a repeated sped up sample of the original – a guaranteed dancefloor filler. It’s just all round terrific for the Tuff Guy.

“Echo” by @CutSnake gets an edgy, dirty deep house mix by Chicago remixer Snøwmass @snowmassbeats

CUT SNAKE, “Echo” (Snøwmass remix) (free DL)

“Echo” by Australian producer/DJ’s Cut Snake is one of those sneaky sultry late night club songs which will grab you when you aren’t paying attention with its slickly styled EDM house rhythms. Chicago remixer Snøwmass gives the song a different kind of punch with an in-your-face beginning that turns into a deep, bass-laden dirty house track at about the 1:25 mark. By that time it’s too late to turn back, your speakers will be vibrating and you’ll be wondering what comes next in this unpredictable mix. While the original mix is beautifully suited to the female vocal, Snøwmass provides for a contrasting approach that totally works. I love remixes because someone else takes a song into places that perhaps it wasn’t intended, and if they’re successful it works out well for everyone. Check out the original “Echo” above and the Snøwmass remix below available for free download.

https://soundcloud.com/snowmass/cut-snake-echo-snowmass-remix

@BrightLightx2 pairs up with German producer @FinalDJs with the disco throwback “Lost In Feelings”

FINAL DJS featuring BRIGHT LIGHT BRIGHT LIGHT, “Lost In Feelings” (free DL)

Even while his latest single, “Blood Moon”, is more chilled out and laid back electronica, you cannot keep Rod Thomas (Bright Light Bright Light) away from a dance song too long. In this case he’s paired up with German producer Final DJs (aka Sebastian Stuetz) for “Lost In Feelings”. It’s a heavenly Nu Disco 70’s throwback full of classic rhythms and melodies that will leave you swooning on the dance floor, and of course comes with a thoughtful emotional side courtesy of our Rod. Don’t let this one sneak by you – it’s available as a free download too – it’s all the more reason to keep you going until the next full set of Bright Light Bright Light music!

Can’t keep a good pop song down! @iamtheELEPHANTE kicks up a dance storm with @weareMako’s “Smoke Filled Room”

MAKO, “Smoke Filled Room” (Elephante remix)

I hate to see great songs escape out from underneath us and fall off the radar. Sometimes remixes can bring new interest and flavour to a record, and reknown remixer/producer Elephante (Jack Ü/Justin Bieber, The Magician/Years & Years, among many) has done exactly that with L.A. duo Mako’s engaging “Smoke Filled Room”. It starts deceptively with slow piano chords, which play into winning lyrics and melody that complement the vocals, which remind me sometimes of The Fray’s Isaac Slade. It has radio hit written all over it with a gritty, emotional side that will turn heads. Elephante amplifies the emotion and intensifies the song by making the chorus much more frenetic than in the original mix. It will have you bouncing in bliss long after dark. Mako’s “Smoke Filled Room” is a gem waiting to be found, so pick it up on iTunes. You can download Elephante’s remix for free below by clicking the link to follow him and Mako on Instagram.

80s style synthpop comes alive with “Washout” by @MaybtheMoon (free DL)

MAYBE THE MOON, “Washout” (free download)

There’s Walk The Moon and Walk Off The Moon but out of the three, only Maybe The Moon captures an 80’s synthpop vibe and makes it come alive all over again. San Franciscan duo Karmen and Alex both play keyboards, while Karmen sings lead and Alex also plays guitar. The rhythm is Hall & Oates’ “Out Of Touch”, the style is Laura Branigan meets Simple Minds. “Washout” has a beautiful, flowing melody and original vocal that make it standout. I think Maybe The Moon could fare very well in dance club play land along with some remixes. Download “Washout” using the link above.

L.A. producers/remixers @TwoFriendsmusic reinvent @Blink182’s “I Miss You” for dance clubs (free DL)

https://soundcloud.com/two-friends/blink-182-i-miss-you-two-friends-remix

BLINK-182, “I Miss You” (Two Friends remix) (free download)

Purists of this alt.rock classic might be slightly aghast at the thought, but L.A. producers/remixers Two Friends have managed to reinvent Blink-182’s 2004 hit “I Miss You” for dance clubs while being reverent to the punkish emotional attitude of the original ballad. The switch from ballad to dance raveup may seem a bit jarring but club goers will certainly connect with it. Not only that, but Two Friends (best friends Eli and Matt) turn it into a feel-good reminiscence without throwing too many bells and whistles into the mix, instead revolving their EDM flavours around the simple repeated guitar riff. In this early part of their career, Two Friends have already worked with the likes of Krewella and The Chainsmokers, and with remixes like “I Miss You” they should continue to build on these connections towards many more interesting and club-worthy remixes. Download it for free at the link above.