If you thought pairing up New York producer/DJ Chris Malinchak with star-on-the-rise Mikky Ekko for the American funk of “Stranger” was sheer bliss, then how about UK soul wunderkind MNEK? “Happiness” is the best kind of emotional, mid-tempo house music, and it’s an honest and catchy throwback to late 80’s hitmakers like Terence Trent D’Arby, Sydney Youngblood, and Colonel Abrams. Can’t wait to get this one once it’s released but for now, give a listen below.
Well Martin Garrix’s dubstep/trap instrumentals may have won over the pop music world during the first part of 2014, but there’s always room for more. How about a huge House banger?? 🙂 Turkish DJ/Producer Deniz Koyu meets the prolific Twoloud on “Goin’ Down”, which will totally unexpectedly simply command your attention from within the first 10 seconds. And it just doesn’t let up because what’s goin’ down indeed is YOU on the dancefloor! “Goin’ Down” is the dance club slayer for the rest of 2014 and will be available on Beatport on October 3. Another Spinnin’ Records dance gem!
TONY MORAN & DEEP INFLUENCE featuring JASON WALKER, “Ball Of Confusion”
Despite its origins as a Vietnam-era Motown smasheroo by The Temptations in 1970 (and noteworthy as an electronic comeback cover by Tina Turner in 1982 via BEF 🙂 ), “Ball Of Confusion” has never lost its relevance. And so we have a fierce new version in aoun tstanding creation from Grammy nominee and club veteran Tony Moran, frequent collaborator Deep Influence, and, with an extremely well-chosen vocal, New York club star Jason Walker, who just recently had another Billboard Top 10 club hit with his own blistering cover of Taylor Dayne’s “Tell It To My Heart”. Accolades all around – listen for it at your local club and watch it burn up the charts.
Some really great things just can’t wait. And I can understand so soon after releasing your most accessible, colourful, and fun video yet (for “Stabilizher”) might be seen as a tad risky. But who is Vincent Frank but to embrace risk!
So here it is, “2B” by FrankMusik, which doesn’t even appear on the singer’s recent By Nicole album. “2B” is unlike any other FrankMusik video or song. This is a complete throwback to 80’s/90’s house music, and my go to’s here would be Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis from their own Tabu Records roster, as well of course as their Janet Jackson productions, plus perhaps Michael Jackson and Hall & Oates’ work with Diana Ross earlier on in the 80’s. I love the dirty groove which just slams hard enough.
The video, shot by Danny Land again, is simple and classy, with a fair bit of edits, but all FrankMusik. I can’t wait for “2B” to be officially released. It’s going to open a door back into clubland that the songs on By Nicole were not meant for. And the remixes… oh yes, I hope there will be some crazy remixes! I was completely taken aback – excellent job all around on this!!
My new personal chart this week sees some longer lasting songs peaking with no shortage of great new songs to replace them down below. So while it’s an active chart, movement is slow and steady 😉
The Top 10
Tuesday June 17 is release day for Sam Smith’s In The Lonely Hour in North America at last!! So I’ve picked that up and will be listening, but in the meantime Sam’s “Stay With Me” gets a second appearance in at the top, while “Not In That Way” climbs to #8.
It’s looking highly like young B.C. native Tristan Thompson could succeed Sam Smith at the top in two weeks with his debut single “Tidal Wave” (below). It moves up significantly, from 5 to 2! I’ve also included a link to the new Boomtang mix radio edit!
Convulsic now has two of his songs in the Top 10, which is amazing for a new performer. “Love Space” still climbs up to #5, while “The Day You Left” enters the Top 10 at #9. Unique and infectious dubstep just waiting for your attention!
FrankMusik’s “Dear Nicole” rises to #6, as the third video from By Nicole is released. Watch “Stabilizher” below – such a well shot video, full of great colour and effects. Plus, it’s a feelgood video, harkening back to “No I.D” or “Do It In The A.M.” Well done to all!
Bounding into the Top 10 at full velocity is the massive cover of Taylor Dayne’s “Tell It To My Heart” by Jason Walker featuring Bimbo Jones. If you want a song to lift you up and make you feel great, Jason’s fierce rendition will do just that!! Below is a video re-edit featuring the Toy Armada and DJ GRIND club mix.
Moving On Up…
They’re from the nearby town to the north-west of me called Orangeville – the DVBBS brothers (with MOTi) are Top 10 bound with the powerful and rollicking “This Is Dirty” at #11.
“Electrify The Night” by the team of House Rockerz, Davis Redfield and singer Carl Man is a song that resonated with me out of the blue. It only has limited availability, but you can listen to it through the link below from Soundcloud. I predict great things coming for the song on the chart in the next few weeks, and it moves 16-12.
The pop culture references and the feel good vibe make Zorro Blakk & Deniz Olivieri’s “Good News (For People Who Love Bad News)” a treat for your ears and feet! The song is from the mysterious Zorro’s debut album The Fairy Tale of Zorro Blakk and climbs 19-15.
SIRPAUL smashed it last weekend at Long Island Pride (along with the likes of Debbie Gibson and Robin S!). The singer lays it all out bare 😉 with “Black Leather” rising 22-18 from his album Seventh Star.
The fastest riser belongs to the quartet of brothers who go by their last name of Kongos. The gritty and bassy “Hey I Don’t Know” moves up 25-19.
E-Mute’s “Miracle” gets easily stuck in your head with a compelling vocal and classical piano work. It climbs 24-20.
Debuts
I haven’t been a fan of their past efforts, but even months after its original release “Little Me” by Little Mix has won me over with the swirling carousel of a remix by Steve Smart and Westfunk. It gets down and deep but the keyboard melody and the vocals which build up the chorus are the selling points. Plus the song has a very important and positive message for young women about beauty and image. It debuts at #23.
Next at #24 is another great new female voice and songwriter – Charli XCX. Her song “Boom Clap” from “The Fault In Our Stars” will immediately remind you of a more pop-edged Lorde, but it’s immediately catchy and memorable, and certain to be a huge pop hit as we head into summer, given the singer’s success as appearing on Iggy Azalia’s “Fancy”.
I wrote about this next song recently and now here it is on my chart. Simone Denny was the voice behind great dance hits like Love Inc.’s “Broken Bones” and “You’re A Superstar”, as well as Wide Life’s “All Things (Just Keep Getting Better)”. She’s never been away and is back with something a little more subdued which is perfect for her wide-ranging voice. “Your Love Fades Away” bows at #25 from the upcoming album The Stereo Dynamite Sessions Volume 1.
The last debut belongs to Atlanta-based Nick Hagelin, with another choice song for summer from his free download EP City Lights. “Trust It” scores all the way around – great rhythm, story, and one of Nick’s best straight ahead pop vocals. It arrives at #26.
Extra, Extra… Give ‘Em A Listen (or Five)
HANNIS, “Time Has Come”
The more I hear songs like “Time Has Come”, the more I enjoy the EDM dubstep experience. This song by the Finland native, who got into listening and singing to EDM at the request of her boyfriend, starts off like many great European electro records of the early 2000’s with a soft introduction with Hannis’ inviting voice. And then right before the minute and a half mark, this huge layered wall of dubstep hits and lulls you in like it’s your best friend 🙂 This is truly amazing production work from Alwegs, who hails from Latvia. If his name gets out there, he’s gonna be noticed! “Time Has Come” is a terrific but unassuming start for Hannis, and big things could happen if word of mouth gets out about the song and its unique hybrid EDM style that totally works. You can download the song for free using a link from Hannis’ Soundcloud page.
TANYA THE SAVAGE, “We Were Once Built There”
It’s somewhat of an interesting recording name, but Tanya The Savage records songs which are guaranteed to embed a mark on your listening experience. She’s based out of Miami, and has been performing since she was a child violinist age 8! “We Were Once Built There” is gorgeous, emotional British/European-flavoured EDM that would be much different without her affecting and powerful vocal. It’s another song to hit you square right out of nowhere and then make you want much more. Tanya The Savage is currently recording an album with Grammy-nominated producer Chris Rodriguez. “We Were Once Built There” is available on iTunes.
And Now, 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.
01 01 STAY WITH ME Sam Smith 05 02 TIDAL WAVE Tristan Thompson 02 03 PROXY Martin Garrix 04 04 ME AND MY BROKEN HEART Rixton 06 05 LOVE SPACE Convulsic 07 06 DEAR NICOLE FrankMusik 09 07 SHE LOOKS SO PERFECT 5 Seconds Of Summer 10 08 NOT IN THAT WAY Sam Smith 11 09 THE DAY YOU LEFT Convulsic 13 10 TELL IT TO MY HEART Jason Walker featuring Bimbo Jones 14 11 THIS IS DIRTY DVBBS & MOTi 16 12 ELECTRIFY THE NIGHT House Rockerz featuring Davis Redfield & Carl Man 15 13 BACK HOME Andy Grammer 03 14 ELECTRIC VALENTINE Adam Tyler 19 15 GOOD NEWS (FOR PEOPLE WHO LOVE BAD NEWS) Zorro Blakk featuring Deniz Olivieri 18 16 BE MINE Kendal Thompson 08 17 FALL INTO LOVE Wrathschild 22 18 BLACK LEATHER SIRPAUL 25 19 HEY I DON’T KNOW Kongos 24 20 MIRACLE E-Mute 23 21 TEENAGER IN LOVE Neon Trees 12 22 LATCH Disclosure featuring Sam Smith New 23 LITTLE ME (Steve Smart & Wildfunk radio edit) Little Mix New 24 BOOM CLAP Charli XCX New 25 YOUR LOVE FADES AWAY Simone Denny New 26 TRUST IT Nick Hagelin 17 27 I WISH WE WERE LEAVING Bright Light Bright Light & Elton John 21 28 FINEST CLOTHES IN TOWN Nick Hagelin 26 29 BACK TO CALIFORNIA Steve Grand 27 30 MONEY ON MY MIND Sam Smith
Montreal/Toronto DJ/producer Kwik Fiks (he of last year’s “Lifted” collaboration with Bongiovanni) is back but with a versatile throwback to the late 80’s and early 90’s. “Never Here” combines elements of classic house and acid house with a pop sound that made the song “Show Me Love” by Robin S a long-lived classic. But somehow it still wants me to start humming The Chemical Brothers’ “Get Yourself High” too. This is fun, unpredictable stuff that will keep your body going into the wee hours. Bonus: It’s a free download at the above link 🙂
Ready now for imminent takeover of the worldwide dance club charts is “Dare You”, combining the many talents of Dutch DJ/producer Robbert Hardwell and the always splendid Matthew Koma, who copped two of my Top 10 Songs of 2013 with “1998” and “Parachute”. It’s great to see Matthew’s continued connection to the dance community with such a strong song, which sets out its lyrical intentions early on so you can jump and bounce and do whatever after the first minute or so. Bound to be one of the biggest dance records of the year, I hope it crosses over to pop like Matthew’s work with Zedd.
Think of this as your pre-Christmas present when you might be going to watch Dorothy in the tornado on the way to Oz. Its origins are actually in the 80s (by Urban Discharge featuring uncredited vocalist Heather Leigh-West), and it became a UK #1 single in 1998 mashed up with a sample of “Can You Feel It” by The Jacksons as “Feel It” by The Tamperer featuring Maya Days. And it was Ms Days who tweeted Angelica Salem’s rework of the classic “Drop A House On That Bitch” to me on the weekend. Score!! It’s got a dirty bassline with an appropriately fierce vocal by lovely 20 year old Connecticut native Angelica (who has appeared on a recent mixtape with Wyclef Jean), and I think that clubs should embrace it. For upcoming official release: Click! Click! Click! go the ruby slippers 😀
I’ve been writing for close to two years now about the amazing alternative electronica pop/rock music released independently by Toronto’s River Tiber, which is a live, functioning, and very tight band, but otherwise a studio project for ace multi-talent Tommy Paxton-Beesley. A review of “The City” by SPIN Magazine this past summer signals some great things about to happen. So on deck tomorrow on iTunes we have a new EP focusing around “The Star Falls”, a song from the earlier Synapses free album release (now pulled off the market I’m afraid – some things you’ve just gotta get when you have the chance – but I think a re-release is in store 😀 ). Watch the video below which was released earlier this year. The EP will feature two unreleased songs, “California” and “North”, which naturally is very appealing to me 🙂 as well as “The City” and “What Are You Afraid Of”, also both previously on Synapses.
Also focusing on the diversity of the music of River Tiber, Tommy’s pal DJ/producer Kwik Fiks has transformed “The City” from being a mini-odyssey lost in the beauty of a big city, and into a seriously catchy and house-y club affair. Dance mavens and DJ’s will love this one as it stands out well on its own without taking anything away from the original. Big bonus: Download it for free below.
And I won’t finish up here without posting the stunning video for “The City” which captures the essence of the song. “The City” was #1 for a month on my personal chart this past February.
River Tiber plays a release party for The Star Falls on Thursday, November 21 at the Drake Hotel in Toronto.
FollowingFriday’s post featuring links to preview songs from WWW, the full 8 song electropop mixtape surfaced today as a free download from Simon’s good friend Bradley Stern akaMuuMuse.com. Fans will remember that WWW features unreleased songs (which Simon announced today were written for other people) that will not appear on Simon’s upcoming official album release. That’s not to say that they are any less than what should be on an official release. Many times songs do not make the cut for a variety of reasons which have nothing to do with whether or not they were ‘good enough’. Straight away, the best song hands down is the epic dance track “Do I Have To Dance”. This is a massive club hit in the making, taking early house influences and marrying them with the Britney/Katy/GaGa pop of the day that Simon so adores. The song features some of Simon’s best vocals and showy production, giving his lower and higher registers a major workout. “Berlin Wall” is another battle cry that Simon’s fans love and the song just cruises along from beginning to end. Similarly “Fight For Your Life” draws listeners in as Simon makes it a highly personal experience.
The Swedish-pop-sounding “Heart In 2” (above) is the closest to what could be a pop hit, another fine piece of songwriting and production. “Diamonds On The Dancefloor” (below) is solid 3 minute serendipitous pop if a little more familiar sounding as some of Simon’s other songs. Even almost more unassuming is “Satellite”, another tidy pop song that clocks in at just over 2 minutes long. “Meteor” was quietly unleashed online after being featured in the ABC Family show “Twisted”, but it and “Neon Lights” are to me needlessly filled with autotune that detracts from Simon’s brilliant voice. These are the only songs on WWW which lose me. But I’m so glad Simon chose to offer WWW to us as a free download after more than two years without new songs. WWW finds him generally on a much more pure pop mission than in the past, thanks to input from new co-songwriters and producers, and this bodes well for what’s coming. If there’s one song that stands out though it’s “Do I Have To Dance”, a truly monster dance song revolving around Simon hypnotically and repeatedly singing “notice me”, for which I would love to hear remixes 🙂
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