electronica – Page 174 – BILLCSMUSIC BLOG

Reeeboot! Shattered Ice (Deluxe Edition) by @AdamTylerx

ADAM TYLER, Shattered Ice (Deluxe Edition)

With this reboot of the almost 3 year old debut album by L.A.-based singer/songwriter Adam Tyler, Adam has shown impressive growth in the new songs, which makes your purchase (particularly if you don’t have the original) all the more worthwhile. He first came to my attention with the riveting single “Friction” in 2010, still one of my favourites from him. I posted about Shattered Ice way back when, and Adam is a frequent visitor to my personal chart. His voice has grown more versatile, and works best on infectious light electropop or darker EDM.

The new single “Knew You Better” (below) is a grower, along the lines of the singer’s “Music Freak” or last year’s “Fade Into The Light” (also included!). Even better is “Criminal”, with a catchy synth line and melody that sends me back to the 80’s, and I can’t wait to see what a video of this might look like. Extremely impressive is the Aron Friedman remix of Shattered Ice’s debut single “I Won’t Let You Go”, which strips away a lot of Adam’s high notes and matches his lower register against a slow house beat. This is a well thought out treat that can stand alone as if it was a brand new song! Single potential all over again!

The other new songs are the Paul Hetherington-produced “Only One” (which I’ve already written about), plus “Magic”, “Paradise”, and “Concrete”. “Music Freak” and “Emergency” see alternate 2.0 versions that are highly complimentary to the originals.

There are 31 songs, mostly produced by pop whiz Sky Felix, including all of the original 11 Shattered Ice tunes, 6 new ones (including “Electric Valentine”, plus the previously released Hetherington-produced “Waiting In Line”) and lots more fun remixes. This deluxe edition is a great strategy to rebrand the timeless songs from the original album, plus provide us with more than an EP’s worth of new ones and more than another EP’s worth of remixes. You will not be disappointed if you pick up Adam Tyler’s Shattered Ice – Deluxe Edition on iTunes, I will guarantee it!

Summerristible: “Instinctual” by @Electrovamp

ELECTROVAMP, “Instinctual”

It’s hard to believe that it took to watching the video for “Instinctual” for my initial opinion to change on the latest song by Welsh sisters Kally and Tammy aka Electrovamp. What could have I been thinking? “Instinctual” is a bubbly and incredibly summery romp, trendy animal makeup notwithstanding! In no time it should rival if not surpass the sisters’ success on the Billboard Dance Club Play chart two years ago with internet sensation Keenan Cahill on “Hands Up”. While it’s quite the larger than life slice of EDM, I’d love to hear what some fantastic remixers could do with “Instinctual”. Just remember these are the gals who already brought you songs with titles such as “I Don’t Like The Vibe In The VIP” and “Drinks Taste Better When Their Free”, as well as supporting the EQ Music Blog with their theme song “Electoqueer”. Watch the video for “Instinctual” above and be prepared to have a lasting smile on your face and some bounce in your ounce!

Electro-Rock-Feel: “To The Extreme” and “Runner Up” by Cars & Calories @carscalories

CARS AND CALORIES, “To The Extreme” and “Runner Up”

Never underestimate the power of Norwegians, especially when a song so riveting like a-ha’s “Take On Me” became the classic it deserved in 1985 and evermore. Other Norwegian acts that come to mind include M2M (featuring Marion Raven, who duetted with Meat Loaf on “It’s All Coming Back To Me Now” in 2006), The Caesars (remember the iPod commercial set to “Jerk It Out”?), and Annie. Cars And Calories is a duo which has nothing in common with any of the above other than their native country. In fact upon hearing their songs you’re more apt to compare them to North American groups like Hot Chelle Rae, All Time Low, or Neon Trees, with emphasis on power(ful) synths. Michael Markussen and Jim André Bergsted comprise the duo, who perform “To The Extreme” equivalent to making power pop on the side of a cliff, whereas “Runner Up” (which I somehow didn’t write about last Fall) puts its heart right out on its sleeve still frantically beating. With a marvelous international cadre of help to put the pieces together behind the scenes, Cars And Calories creates music that stands out with full intent on leaving its mark behind. a-ha are in very good company indeed 🙂

BILLCS Top 30 #432 – June 2, 2014

Back on December 10, 2013, I wrote that Sam Smith’s “Money On My Mind” was the first great song of 2014. It went to #1 in the UK (and on my chart) upon release, and it’s hanging in at #27. Sam’s sung on every major TV talk show plus Saturday Night Live, toured all over the place, sometimes more than once (I caught him in concert in April 🙂 – his subsequent show at a bigger venue here for September sold out in a snap). 2014 is indeed a year of Sam Smith. And his album isn’t even on release yet in North America.

Number One!

It should not be any surprise to find Sam Smith at #1 on my chart for the third time this year, this time with “Stay With Me”, which is another UK #1 and a Top 20 hit thus far in North America. The world cannot get enough Sam Smith right now. “Not In That Way” pulls up to #10 this week, and “Stay With Me” has also been recorded as a duet with none other than Miss Mary J. Blige – and I kind of think that the Disclosure guys had something to do with that!

The Rest of the Top 10

This leaves fun songs like former #1 “Proxy” by Martin Garrix and “Electric Valentine” by Adam Tyler surrendering to our Sam. Just a reminder though that Adam’s deluxe version of Shattered Ice sees release on Tuesday, June 10! 31 songs!!

Rixton have just launched their tour of North America at what appear to be small-ish sized venues, so tickets will go fast! “Me and My Broken Heart” climbs to #4.
The fastest riser on the chart is Canadian 16 year old Tristan Thompson with “Tidal Wave”, a real throwback in styles in so many ways. Now I keep hearing late 70’s early 80’s L.A. pop/soul. It soars 15-5! Stream Tristan’s album Here For You right here.

The official video for “Love Space” by Convulsic (below) has arrived as the song holds at #6. It’s an interesting trip for sure 🙂 And the dubstep performer’s other entry “The Day You Left” moves up to #11 too.

“Dear Nicole” by FrankMusik continues to stay in my head constantly after several months due to the singer’s fine vocal, which grows from storyteller mode to full throttle. From his latest album By Nicole, the song rises 9-7.
The third new entry to the Top 10 is from a group whose performance was a highlight of the Billboard Music Awards. 5 Seconds Of Summer are more than meets the underwear, and “She Looks So Perfect” climbs 14-9.

Moving Up… and One Debut

Last week’s two dance floor scorching debuts burn up the chart again as well. Jason Walker’s ultra-splendid Hi-NRG-styled Billboard Dance Club Play Top 10 remake of Taylor Dayne’s “Tell It To My Heart” jumps 20-13, while the triad of House Rockerz, Davis Redfield and singer Carl Man bound 22-16 with “Electrify The Night”.

Toronto-based vocalist Kendal Thompson has an ear-catching pop tune with “Be Mine”, which continues to move up the chart at #18.

“Good News (For People Who Love Bad News)” by Zorro Blakk & Deniz Olivieri is up to #19 and is also my Pick of the Week heard every three hours during the coming week on http://www.d-moos.com Canada’s National Internet Radio Station.

SIRPAUL’s steamy “Black Leather” is in control at #22, followed by “Teenager In Love” and poignant alt.pop from Neon Trees at #23, and bass-laden rock from those Kongos boys lands at #25 with “Hey I Don’t Know.
After last chart’s massive seven debuts, we’re back to a solitary one this time with “Miracle” by E-Mute at #24. It’s one of the more haunting alt.rock songs you will hear lately on which singer Theo Mak is both pianist and drummer.

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.

04 01 STAY WITH ME Sam Smith
01 02 PROXY Martin Garrix
03 03 ELECTRIC VALENTINE Adam Tyler
05 04 ME AND MY BROKEN HEART Rixton
15 05 TIDAL WAVE Tristan Thompson
06 06 LOVE SPACE Convulsic
09 07 DEAR NICOLE FrankMusik
08 08 FALL INTO LOVE Wrathschild
14 09 SHE LOOKS SO PERFECT 5 Seconds Of Summer
11 10 NOT IN THAT WAY Sam Smith
12 11 THE DAY YOU LEFT Convulsic
02 12 LATCH Disclosure featuring Sam Smith
20 13 TELL IT TO MY HEART Jason Walker featuring Bimbo Jones
16 14 THIS IS DIRTY DVBBS & MOTi
17 15 BACK HOME Andy Grammer
22 16 ELECTRIFY THE NIGHT House Rockerz featuring Davis Redfield & Carl Man
10 17 I WISH WE WERE LEAVING Bright Light Bright Light & Elton John
21 18 BE MINE Kendal Thompson
25 19 GOOD NEWS (FOR PEOPLE WHO LOVE BAD NEWS) Zorro Blakk featuring Deniz Olivieri
07 20 CANNONBALL (EARTHQUAKE) Showtek & Justin Prime featuring Matthew Koma
13 21 FINEST CLOTHES IN TOWN Nick Hagelin
28 22 BLACK LEATHER SIRPAUL
29 23 TEENAGER IN LOVE Neon Trees
New 24 MIRACLE E-Mute
30 25 HEY I DON’T KNOW Kongos
19 26 BACK TO CALIFORNIA Steve Grand
23 27 MONEY ON MY MIND Sam Smith
24 28 HORNY Lonnie Gordon
18 29 FIND YOU Zedd featuring Matthew Koma & Miriam Bryant
27 30 ADDICTED TO YOU Avicii featuring Audra Mae

Breaking Through: @MNEK with “Every Little Word” and a Cool Cover Tune

MNEK, “Every Little Word” and “Never Leave You”

It’s been about a year and a half since I last wrote about British singer/producer/remixer MNEK being someone to watch for, and 2014 could see that breakthrough given the quality of his new single “Every Single Word”. Back in 2011 he was somewhat of a whiz kid on the scene at only 17. Now at 19 and signed to Virgin, it looks like his own recordings and performances could be poised for great things. “Every Little Word”, supported by a colourful Lamar & Nik video, has a really 80’s new jack swing retro vibe but with a vocal quality that will put him in the same leagues as fellow Brit Sam Smith, but with more rhythmic songs. An equal joy to listen to, and as a free download available below, is his ‘refix’ of a song that would be considered now as a guilty pleasure to some – Lumidee’s 2003 Top 5 hit “Never Leave You”. But the singer nails it and brings out a convincingly fun vibe to make the song his own. You can get “Every Little Word” on iTunes now.

https://soundcloud.com/mnek-1/never-leave-you-lumidee-refix

It’s All Italian… Yes It Is: New EP Mi Senti by @RoisinMurphy

ROISIN MURPHY, Mi Senti (EP)

One of the most unique projects of the year thus far, for those of you who don’t mind hearing music in another language, is Mi Senti, a six song EP of songs sung in Italian by none other than Róisín Murphy. Being married to an Italian I’m sure must have been an impetus for tackling songs in that language, but she apparently has been fascinated by it for a long time. The result is a lovely, moody, mainly chilled out and occasionally danceable release that will certainly please fans of the singer. Róisín is at her best and immersed in the songs, which, if you speak another language, you know is very hard to do. The best ones here are the opener “Ancora Ancora Ancora”, the laid back disco of “Ancora Tu”, and the mysterious cabaret-flavoured “Non Credere”. Open your ears folks and give a listen to the entire EP below. It’s available on iTunes on May 28. Give this terrific article a read for more background.

BILLCS Top 30 #431 – May 19/14

The new chart is positively shaking! So much activity – a new #1, and 7 debuts smash onto the chart! And because of the latter I’ll be skipping over some songs that are making headway, and we’ll catch up with them in two weeks.

The Top 10

Yes, it’s 18 year old Martin Garrix who has scored his second consecutive #1 with the free download “Proxy”, following the so-amazing success of “Animals”. And there always seems to be Martin Garrix news to report on every few weeks. The latest is collaboration with Sander van Doorn and DVBBS featuring vocalist Aleesia on “Gold Skies”. The new song is a mix between Tegan & Sara’s “Closer” and Zedd & Foxes’ “Clarity”, and the video is day in the life of couple on a road trip. Could be a summer sleeper!

Adam Tyler has a personal best this week as “Electric Valentine” climbs to #3. His deluxe edition of his album Shattered Ice, featuring new songs and reduxes of songs from the album, plus last year’s “Fade Into The Light” and of course “Electric Valentine”, will be available on June 10. You can stream the new songs at the link below, and I draw your attention to a really infectious piece of business called “Criminal”, which will have you singing along and humming to a melody which is a bit of a throwback to the 80’s.

https://soundcloud.com/adamtylermusic/sets/shattered-ice-deluxe-edition

Happy 22nd Birthday to Sam Smith, who has three entries on the chart, two of which are on the rise – “Stay With Me” rises to #4, and “Not In That Way” is up to #11.

Rixton is turning out to be the pop flavour of May with “Me And My Broken Heart” now heard everywhere, and up to #5 on my chart!
“Love Space” continues on the rise for Convulsic at #6, while “The Day You Left” is also on fire at #12!

They were all destined for the Top 10 and arrive this week: “Fall Into Love” by Wrathschild at #8, FrankMusik’s “Dear Nicole” at #9, and “I Wish We Were Leaving” by Bright Light Bright Light & Elton John at #10. New videos are in the works for both FrankMusik (“Stabilizher”) and Wrathschild, while Bright Light x2’s sophomore album Life Is Easy is on deck for July 7.

The Fastest Risers

Last week’s debut by DVBBS & MOTi “This Is Dirty” is the one to watch as it climbs 23-16.

Right behind is Andy Grammer’s heart-tugger “Back Home”, moving up 22-17.

And Now, On To Those Debuts

I’ve written about them all, so their arrival on my chart proves they have staying power, and then some!

Most noteworthy is Tristan Thompson’s “Tidal Wave” from the Canadian singer’s debut album Here For You. Check out the rich, soulful style… and he’s only 15! It’s kind of appropriate (and totally unintentional) that “Tidal Wave” makes a huge bow at #15 🙂 Stream Tristan’s entire album including “Tidal Wave” right here.

I’ve been having such a good time with Jason Walker’s cover of Taylor Dayne’s “Tell It To My Heart” (featuring Bimbo Jones) that the club hit blasts on to my chart at #20!

It’s not really readily available, but since it’s released somewhere, the explosive “Electrify The Night” by House Rockerz, Davis Redfield and UK singer Carl Man charges on to the chart at #22. I’ve put the song on my Soundcloud site for now so you can hear it (hopefully it doesn’t get taken down) 🙂

One of the most inventive songs around with a contagious melody is “Good News (For People Who Love Bad News)” by Zorro Blakk (aka Daniel Volpe) featuring Deniz Oliveiri, which arrives at #25, from Zorro’s debut album The Fairy Tale Of Zorro Blakk.

Though I’ve been listening to SIRPAUL’s “Black Leather” for quite a while now, the arrival of its NSFW and limit-testing video in support of this latest single from the singer’s Seventh Star album sends it on to the chart at #28. WARNING: Uncensored version – discretion advised!

Pop Psychology by Neon Trees is one of the year’s best surprises for me in terms of a straight forward, well done pop album that still retains its alt.rock roots. I’m going off the beaten path though and the song that lands on my chart is “Teenager In Love” at #29.

Kongos’ diverse sound with South African roots has won me over with their rock album Lunatic, and the bass-laden “Hey I Don’t Know” debuts at #30.

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.

02 01 PROXY Martin Garrix
01 02 LATCH Disclosure featuring Sam Smith
04 03 ELECTRIC VALENTINE Adam Tyler
06 04 STAY WITH ME Sam Smith
09 05 ME AND MY BROKEN HEART Rixton
07 06 LOVE SPACE Convulsic
03 07 CANNONBALL (EARTHQUAKE) Showtek & Justin Prime featuring Matthew Koma
11 08 FALL INTO LOVE Wrathschild
13 09 DEAR NICOLE FrankMusik
12 10 I WISH WE WERE LEAVING Bright Light Bright Light & Elton John
15 11 NOT IN THAT WAY Sam Smith
17 12 THE DAY YOU LEFT Convulsic
05 13 FINEST CLOTHES IN TOWN Nick Hagelin
16 14 SHE LOOKS SO PERFECT 5 Seconds Of Summer
New 15 TIDAL WAVE Tristan Thompson
23 16 THIS IS DIRTY DVBBS & MOTi
22 17 BACK HOME Andy Grammer
08 18 FIND YOU Zedd featuring Matthew Koma & Miriam Bryant
10 19 BACK TO CALIFORNIA Steve Grand
New 20 TELL IT TO MY HEART Jason Walker featuring Bimbo Jones
25 21 BE MINE Kendal Thompson
New 22 ELECTRIFY THE NIGHT House Rockerz featuring Davis Redfield & Carl Man
14 23 MONEY ON MY MIND Sam Smith
18 24 HORNY Lonnie Gordon
New 25 GOOD NEWS (FOR PEOPLE WHO LOVE BAD NEWS) Zorro Blakk featuring Deniz Oliveiri
19 26 LOVE ME AGAIN John Newman
20 27 ADDICTED TO YOU Avicii featuring Audra Mae
New 28 BLACK LEATHER SIRPAUL
New 29 TEENAGER IN LOVE Neon Trees
New 30 HEY I DON’T KNOW Kongos

@divaJasonWalker is Back and Killing It With “Tell It To My Heart”

JASON WALKER featuring BIMBO JONES, “Tell It To My Heart”

You all may know New York singer Jason Walker best for a little ditty called “Set It Free”, which glided all the way to #1 on Billboard’s Dance Club Play chart in 2005. Jason’s had other songs do very well, but he’s back killing it (with UK DJ/remixers Bimbo Jones) with a cover of Taylor Dayne’s classic “Tell It To My Heart”. That I’m writing about a cover of that song says lots! This is a frenetic rave up that just won’t let up! Like Taylor’s original, the song requires a HUGE vocal and Jason absolutely takes no prisoners. It’s already Top 20 on the Dance Club Play chart and no wonder. It’s just plain gosh darned explosive! Get the 25 (!!) remix EP on iTunes (the Toy Armada & DJ Grind remix is particularly cool) and listen and dance to it in every shape and form possible 🙂 *out of breath*

@OsvaldoSupino … the Tease…

Would this hard-working Italian guy lie to you? 🙂

I can’t be too certain, though pictures tend to say many more words… in this case “Reset”….

All Anew: “Beginning Everyday” by @Naommon

NAOMMON, Beginning Everyday (EP)

“Beginning Everyday” is the fresh start you need to hear as the summer months approach. It’s one of those songs you want to hear on a beautiful sunny morning, even though you’ll know that there is a serious undercurrent to it. Its singer, Naommon, hails from France but is based out of London. He’s got a fine, restrained voice that shows off a lovely timbre on “Beginning Everyday”. Think of Sweden’s Darin with a slightly deeper voice, and a somewhat minimal sound that would go hand-in-hand with fellow French dance artist The Aikiu, who I wrote about not long ago. “Beginning Everyday” (video below) is a pleasant alterna-pop record that might just need an edit for radio play, being a little long at close to 5:00. Also included in its EP are five remixes. Australia’s Parralox comes off best, giving a gracious house-lite flavour to the song. The other remixes succeed in not blowing the song up into a dance anthem and capture its subtle qualities quite nicely. Beginning Everyday is available on iTunes. You might also check out Naommon’s cover of Blur’s “Girls And Boys” (also below), which trades in-yer-face middle-finger-salute sarcasm of the original and replaces it with a droll and contemporary disco cabaret rendition.