Tag Archives: Javi

Tuned-On! Top 30 #327 – May 24/10

As we get closer to the summer months (and at least with some summer weather where I’m from), all kinds of bright and shiny new music continues to surface.  But first things first:  A new #1!

Penguin Prison’s “The Worse It Gets”, a great song for a spring/summer drive (the last such escapist song about cars recently that comes to mind is Darren Hayes’ “Casey”) in a car called Jenny, steals #1 away from the very busy Simon Curtis who spent 4 charts (8 weeks) atop with “Beat Drop”.  Javi’s gorgeous “Situation” slides up 4-3, while “Acapella” by Kelis (who looks like she will be touring with Robyn) looks like a future #1 as it moves up 12-5.

Our favourite new and Florida-based piano man, Clayton Senne, soars 10-6 with the rollicking “Wonderland”, while long-lasting songs by BT (“Suddenly”) and Vampire Weekend (“Cousins”) continue to rise within the Top 10.  And there he is again – the emotional centrepiece to our Boy Robot’s same titled mixtape, “8-bit Heart”, is the fastest riser on the chart, moving 21-10 for Simon Curtis.

In a competitive mid-chart, songs by Mika, Christina Aguilera, Mike Posner, Fabio Lendrum, and Matt Morris either get stuck or hold for two more weeks until other songs above begin to tumble.  This leaves last week’s remaining debuts by Justin Nozuka, The Gossip, and Ryan Star to all rise 6 positions on the chart and stake their claims!

Back to those debuts.  They comprise a bright and shiny mix of electronica, dance, pop/rap, and power pop.  Bright Light Bright Light is really Welsh singer/songwriter/producer/remixer Rod Thomas, who is getting a lot of attention in the BlogVerse (brought to my attention by Paul at MyFizzyPop) with the 80’s post-new wave vibe of “A New Word To Say”, which debuts at #24 (you can hear the song at the top of the page and can download it from the BrightLightx2 official site when you subscribe to Rod’s newsletter).  Next up, Holland’s Armin Van Buuren never fails to disappoint every few years with an intense brand of emotional electronica that is rarely found elsewhere.  Teaming with vocalist VanVelzen, who has a beautifully imperfect voice with great range, his latest is “Broken Tonight” at #25 (see the video at the bottom of the page).  Just on sheer personality alone, my fellow Canadian Drake’s “Over” has immense appeal and it debuts at #26.  And this past week saw the digital release of Evan Taubenfeld’s Welcome To The Blacklist Club, which opens with his latest single “Pumpkin Pie”, which I blogged about previously and now debuts at #27.

8-bit Hit! – Tuned-On! Top 30 #326 – May 10/10

EDIT:  Just in – A lovely acapella rendition of “8-bit Heart” with video shot by Tyler Shields, who did Simon’s wonderful photos.  This will literally send shivers down your back.

“Beat Drop” live at the Roxy!

This edition of my personal chart of course coincides with the aftermath of Simon Curtis’ debut solo performance at The Roxy in Los Angeles on Thursday May 6.  Our Boy Robot continues to reign the chart with “Beat Drop” (with video from the show up top) along with “Joystick” at #3.  But Simon adds to his chart victory with the title track from his mixtape 8-bit Heart debuting this week at #21.  Despite the high energy performance at the Roxy – and you can see the rest of the show in segments at http://www.simondaily.com – I thought Simon’s performance of  “8-bit Heart” to be particularly effective (it’s at  the bottom of this blog).  Remember folks, this is ONLY the beginning, it’s a showcase performance to show what he can do, and that, by jove, is entertain!!  So let’s see Simon on TV soon – maybe late night shows – so that he can show off his voice and talent, and reach out to a wider audience.

Penguin Prison (aka Chris Glover), like Simon, now has two songs in my Top 5.  “The Worse It Gets” replaces “Something I’m Not” at #2 – and it’s such a great song for a spring or summer drive!  Javi’s engaging Monsieur Adi remix of “Situation” climbs to #4, while Vampire Weekend’s “Cousins” and Florida-based Clayton Senne each climb into the Top 10.  Our 2010 piano man has been playing some smaller towns in Florida and appears on The Daily Buzz on May 28!  Check out his MySpace page.

All of last week’s debut fare well in their sophomore chart.  Kelis’ “Acapella” may just be my new theme song for 2010 as it climbs 21-12.  Mike Posner, like Simon Curtis, started out in mixtape land, and has now signed with J/RCA, who have him touring this summer.  The Gigamesh mix of “Cooler Than Me” jumps 24-16 as the song is about to enter the national Top 40!  “Not Myself Tonight”, one of Christina Aguilera’s more intense dance songs, is right behind at #17.  And the quiet late night dance floor power of Fabio Lendrum’s “Trouble” lands at #20.

Our other debuts this week include a second round from Justin Nozuka’s You I Wind Land And Sea, a lilting and beautiful song called “Unwoken Dream (King With Everything)”, arrives at #24.  There’s also riveting pop/dance from Australia’s The Gossip in the form of “Pop Goes The World”, and lastly a belated debut of Ryan Star’s “Breathe”.  One of my 10 Performers to Watch in 2010, Ryan Star’s ticket looks like it’s arrived with “Breathe” as he continues to tour around the U.S.  Check out his always active website.

Tuned-On! Top 30 #325 – April 26/10

The top of my personal chart essentially remains the same in this edition, with Simon Curtis occupying #1 for the third straight chart with the magnificent “Beat Drop”, as well as holding at #3 with the playful “Joystick”, with Penguin Prison’s ambitious-sounding “Something I’m Not” in the runner up slot for a third appearance.  Blake Lewis once again hangs at #4 with the beautiful Billboard Club Play Chart #1 “Heartbreak On Vinyl”, while New York singer Javi rises up to #5 with “Situation” (which is an original tune, not a cover of the 1982 Yazoo hit).

Usually when the top of the chart is under control, things begin to quake down below.  So current faves by Evan Taubenfeld (whose long awaited Welcome To The Black List Club drops May 18!) and Justin Nozuka rise within the Top 10, while others by Example, Penguin Prison, and BT join them.  Check out the live clip of Penguin Prison (aka Chris Glover) performing “The Worse It Gets” in NYC below, as well as the cover art for BT’s emotional electro explosion “Suddenly”, which has taken its time getting to the Top 10 (6 charts).

The middle of the chart is bursting with action with rock  songs by Vampire Weekend, Lifehouse, and Clayton Senne looking like they are Top 10 bound.  The fastest riser on the chart is “Kick Ass” by Mika vs Red One, which climbs 28-18.

Spring Popervescence is the expression I’m using to categories the four newcomers to the chart about whom I’ve already blogged about recently.  Be sure to check out these songs by Kelis, Mike Posner, Christina Aguilera (which despite a lot of naysayers is just fine, thank you), and UK singer/producer Fabio Lendrum.  Free download links to the Posner and Lendrum tracks are available in my chart…

Speaking of which… you can link to the chart right here or use the link in the right side bar under ***BILL’S PERSONAL CHART***.

Tuned-On! Top 30 #324 – Apr 12/10

This new chart came upon me so quickly while I was in New Orleans over the past week, so there’s not too much change.

Simon Curtis continues to rule the roost with “Beat Drop” on top for a second chart, with “Joystick” climbing to #3, sandwiching Penguin Prison’s mighty “Something I’m Not” at #2.  Simon’s 8-bit Heart is now at over 120K worldwide downloads.  He’s opening for Backstreet Boys’ AJ McLean in L.A. on May 6 at the Roxy, and is developing a video with Tyler Shields (who did the wonderful album cover art).  Things seem to be falling nicely into place… I predict Simon will have a record deal very soon!

Blake Lewis’ beautiful “Heartbreak On Vinyl” will attain the #1 spot on Billboard’s Club Play chart this coming week, and it’s well deserved!  The song moves up 6-4 on my chart this week.  Evan Taubenfeld’s Welcome To The Blacklist Club will finally be available digitally in late May, and the effervescent “Starbucks Girl” moves up 10-8.  Justin Nozuka’s You I Wind Land And Sea arrives this week, and the pensive “My Heart Is Yours” jumps 12-10.  But the big mover on the chart this week is by New York singer Javi.  The Monsieur Adi remix of “Situation” soars 16-6… the guy’s got a great voice and you can hear it in his live cover of Muse’s “Supermassive Black Hole” below!

So much great music is stuck slowly moving up the chart, so be sure to check out tracks by Example, BT, Vampire Weekend, Ellie Goulding, Massive Attack, Clayton Senne, and The Envy.  Lifehouse’s “Had Enough”, featuring Chris Daughtry, looks like it’s well on its way, rising 27-21 this week.

I previously blogged  about the second Penguin Prison song to enter this chart, The Worse It Gets”.  The song debuts at #17 out of the gate, is well worth your attention.

I’m really looking forward to seeing the comic book-styled film “Kick Ass”.  Mika and producer Red One have the title track which enters the chart at #28, and you can watch the engaging video below.

The Beat Drops – at #1: Tuned-On! Top 30 #323 – Mar 29/10

It’s time again for a Spring Shakeup on the latest edition of my personal chart (the link is also on the right sidebar).  And there’s no better way for this to happen than to see a song debut at #1 for the first time since the chart of December 10, 2007, when “How To Build A Time Machine” by Darren Hayes began the first of 5 charts (10 weeks) at the top.  With the free download release this week of Simon Curtis’ 8-bit Heart, the rollicking electro-dance of “Beat Drop” commands the chart this week – you can hear it in the link at the top of the page.  It’s my next favourite song on 8-bit to former #1 “Delusional”, which leaves the chart after the maximum 10 chart run.

But there’s more Simon on this chart!  Since the Top 30 is by no means conventional, there are no limits to the songs that can appear, and so the naughty parallel to our friend, the video game, “Joystick” makes a huge splash, debuting at #4.  You can hear the song using the link at the bottom of this page.

All of this 8-bit madness unfortunately leaves Penguin Prison’s “Something I’m Not”, another free download, moving from 6-2, and I’m not sure if it will wrestle away #1 from “Beat Drop”.  After all, “Beat Drop” did knock off Lady GaGa’s “Teeth” after a 2 week stay at the summit.

Nelson Clemente’s clever and quiet electro of “90 Days” manages to reach a new peak at #5, while Blake Lewis’ ode to old-style record stores, “Heartbreak On Vinyl”, climbs to #6.  Songs by Jason Derulo, Justin Timberlake & Matt Morris (the definitive version of “Hallelujah” next to Jeff Buckley’s IMO), and Evan Taubenfeld charge into the Top 10.  The five debuts in the Top 10 cause massive drops by songs by Lady GaGa, Dragonette, Crystal Method, and Lifehouse, but them’s the breaks!

The fastest riser on the chart belongs to Justin Nozuka, whose “My Heart Is Yours” comes from his sophomore CD You I Wind Land and Sea, which is due for release this coming week.  Other big movers in the middle of the chart include Javi’s “Situation” (23-16), a pop/dance track also available for free download that commands your attention, and Vampire Weekend’s brief but insanely catchy “Cousins” (26-20).

As “Halfway Gone” by Lifehouse is about to leave the chart, “Had Enough”, featuring Chris Daughtry, premieres at #27 from the top notch Smoke And Mirrors CD, which you will read about later in the week in more detail in this blog.  Thanks to the excellent and frenetic remix by Breakage, “Dog Days Are Over”, a track from Lungs by Florence & The Machine, arrives at #30.  But if there’s one low key track you must check out this week, it should be “Don’t You Dare” by Matt Morris, which is a bonus song on his debut When Everything Breaks Loose, probably because it doesn’t really fit into the rest of the mood of the album.  This is a much more lushly produced, theatrical song that you might play next to earlier work by Rufus Wainwright.  You can download it for free right here!  (Note:  I don’t link to free downloads unless they are sanctioned by the artist 🙂 )

I will be away in New Orleans during the first full week of April, so a post of my next chart may be delayed (but I’m sure I’ll be armed with all kinds of great music!).

A Half Hour Dance Mix For You!

It goes all the way back to the disco days of the 1970’s when I did dance mixes using vinyl.  I’ve done them all through the subsequent years, but they always end up being a mix of pop, dance, rock, and R&B – not like the beat-matching disco of the 70’s or the beat-matching electro of today.

So while you might not consider this one to be a dance mix in its true sense, it’s a good sampling of some of my current favourites – 18 of them – all in 32 minutes!  For some songs you get a minute or so, for others close to 3 minutes.  I’m proud of some of the mixes – couldn’t likely do some of them with turntables – others, well, will at least catch your attention 😉

Here’s the rundown of the 18 songs.  Your comments would be welcome, particularly if you would like to see more of this kind of blogpost in future 🙂

Download it right here and go to the file “Half Hour Dance Mix 2010.mp3”

PLAYLIST

Intro…

Crystal Method f/ Emily Haines “Come Back Clean”

Tiga “What You Need”

Dan Black “Pass That Head Noize”

Gorillaz f/ Mos Def & Bobby Womack “Stylo” (see video below)

Massive Attack f/ Horace Andy “Girl I Love You”

Florence & The Machine “Dog Days Are Over”

Metric “Gold Guns Girls”

Mika “Rain”

Blake Lewis “Heartbreak on Vinyl”

Matt Morris “Don’t You Dare”

Fabio Lendrum “Trouble”

Javi “Situation”

Ellie Goulding “Starry Eyed”

SSSHHH IT’S A SECRET (bloggers please do not reveal!!)

Lady GaGa “Teeth”

Penguin Prison “Something I’m Not”

Annie “Don’t Stop”

Mike Posner “Cooler Than Me”

Show Us Your Teeth: Tuned-On! Top 30 #320 – March 1/10

Could Lady GaGa get her first #1 on this chart?  While Mika’s “Rain” reigns steadily with former #1 “Delusional” by Simon Curtis right in tow, “Teeth” by Lady GaGa charges 12-3 to become her biggest hit on this chart, surpassing the #4 peak of “Bad Romance” and the current #4 position of “Speechless”.  It’s really hard to say what’s my favourite song from The Fame Monster, I could pick and choose between the three and be very happy.  Not to take away anything from “Teeth” (whose King5kat remix is outstanding) or even “Bad Romance”, but there are other challengers that could get to #1 too…

Also new to the Top 10 besides “Teeth” are Blake Lewis’ retro happiness of “Heartbreak On Vinyl” and “Pick Up The Phone”, the plea from the dancefloor by Dragonette.  But just outside of the Top 10 is our first debut, and it’s the highest one in quite some time.

I lumped Penguin Prison’s “Something I’m Not” in with last week’s highlighted songs, but the tune has grown immensely on me during the last week to make it one of this year’s must have records, and it debuts on the chart at a huge #11!  And the great part of it all is that it’s a free download!  Chris Glover has a massive talent up his sleeve, and it’s too bad Interscope Records didn’t take him up on it as cited in this excellent story about him.  I’m not sure if “Something I’m Not” can get to #1 next week, but it will give it the old college try!  Do check it out – you will miss something special from this talented singer/producer/remixer otherwise!

Next, I have to comment about Evan Taubenfeld’s terrific track “Starbucks Girl”.  Because of its connection to Starbucks, and Evan’s fans’ reaction to his use of autotune, the song has been pulled from the Welcome To The Blacklist Club CD and is no longer available as a free download.  And that’s a damn shame.  As is, “Starbucks Girl” has immense appeal, and the excellent, simple video expands on that appeal.  Sure, I said that I’d like a version without the autotune too, but to no longer make the original version available is a mystery to me.  Watch the video yourself and decide!  The song still moves up 25-20 on the chart!!

The chart is full of massive activity this week.  P!nk’s Grammy performance of “Glitter In The Air” is her best record in more than 6 or 7 years, and debuts at #23.  New Yorker Javi, of Puerto Rican and Panamanian background, debuts at #24 with the gorgeous European-sounding Monsieur Adi remix of “Situation” .  UK’s Example could give Calvin Harris a run for his money with “Won’t Go Quietly” at #25.  This song may seem a little static at first but it really grows on you.  Then blog-darling Ellie Goulding arrives at #26 with “Starry Eyed”, which has many remixes (including one by Penguin Prison), but my preference is for the shimmering retro Monarchy remix.  Justin Nozuka’s fans light up this blog as his new CD You I Wind Land and Sea gets closer to release.  “My Heart Is Yours” bows at #27.  And finally, Vampire Weekend enters the chart at #28 with “Cousins”.  The indie band scored a #1 Billboard album with Contra a few weeks back.

One last piece of housekeeping:  I don’t think I’ve mentioned it since I started this blog last Fall.  I have one rule on my personal chart.  Songs must leave the chart after 10 appearances (20 weeks).  This allows a fresh rotation of songs to occur, but it doesn’t prevent them from re-entering at a later date, though this doesn’t happen very often.  Both Mika’s “Blame It On The Girls” and Dan Black’s “Alone” left the chart this week for this reason.

Have a great week and let’s see your comments 🙂