May 31st, 2018
single track
Zazie – Speed
Isabelle Marie Anne de Truchis de Varennes. Isnāt that a beautiful name? It belongs to a French singer who canāt be blamed for choosing something shorter and more memorable as her stage name. Zazie was already her nickname, referencing the title character of Raymond Queneauās novel āZazie Dans Le MĆ©troā.
Although her debut album Je, Tu, Ils was a minor commercial success in 1992, it immediately landed her an award as Best New Female Pop Artist Of The Year. Since then, she maintains a remarkably steady release schedule of one album every three years. Equally steady is her success: each album is a Top 5 hit in her home country, or even better.
The last three years, Zazie has been a coach on the French version of āThe Voiceā, but the fact she just released a new single indicates that a new album is on its way. It comes out in September, nicely timed to meet her tight three year schedule.
New single Speed is a song that lives up to its title. Starting slowly, it gradually builds into an up-tempo dance anthem. Allez-hop!
For more great new music follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
I’m a music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Have been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, I developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
single track
Carlos Vives – Hoy Tengo Tiempo (Pinta Sensual)
Colombian latin superstar Carlos Vives is not new to the game. He released his first album in 1986, but had his first success in the early ā90s. He released 13 studio albums in total, the latest called Vives.
The album opens with Hoy Tengo Tiempo, a slightly different version of which has now come out as its fifth single. The song contains an infectious mix of tropical styles and a catchy saxophone hook, sounding a little like the one in 1958 rock ānā roll instrumental Tequila by The Champs. All of this makes Hoy Tengo Tiempo a potential summer anthem. YouTubers already discovered the song. Less than a week after its release, the colourful video stands at over 4 million views.
For more great new music follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
I’m a music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Have been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, I developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
single track
Mats Wawa – Easy On The Eye
Norwegian artist Mats Wang had never played with anyone else, and almost not written any songs, when he was booked to the Trondheim Calling festival in 2015. This more or less forced him to form a band: Mats Wawa.
Their debut album Mild Nights was essentially a pop/rock affair, but gradually, they got inspired by blue-eyed soul and old soul. This shows when you listen to their recent EP Scuzz. Easy On The Eye is the great new single off it, which is easy on the ear as well. It sounds like a mash-up of Tighten Up by Archie Bell & The Drells with anything by The Style Council.
For more great new music follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
I’m a music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Have been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, I developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
single track, wildcardWildcard (week 22):
Wildcard (week 22):
Yukon Blonde – Too Close To Love
Yukon Blonde hasnāt been Yukon Blonde all the time. In 2005, they started as Alphababy. After two EP under that moniker, they changed their name to Yukon Blonde in 2009. The band is Canadian five-piece, who specialize in jangly indie pop/rock. However, their latest four singles, all of which will probably be featured on their next album Critical Hit (due for 22 June), have a more poppy sound. The reason is clear: the album was produced by Tony Hoffer (who worked with Air, Beck, The Kooks and zillions more).
Opening with pulsating synths, Yukon Blondeās latest single Too Close To Love ticks all the right boxes, as far as Iām concerned. It even echoes Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, which canāt be wrong. The song, inspired by Milan Kundera’s āThe Unbearable Lightness Of Beingā, is this weekās Carte Blanche Music Wildcard. This means the song has the most prominent place on this blog for a full seven days. That should give you more than enough time to fall in love with it, like I did.
You can find all Wildcards of the year so far in this playlist.
For more great new music follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
I’m a music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Have been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, I developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
album track
Alfa Rococo – Danser Dans Lāombre
After Justine Laberge and David BussiĆØres met in QuĆ©bĆ©c, they decided to form a musical duo and Alfa Rococo was born. 14 years later, the Canadians release their fourth album Lāamour Et Le Chaos, which, indeed, means ālove and chaosā. I wish French was that easy all the timeā¦
Lāamour Et Le Chaos is an album full of melodic pop songs with rock sensibilities. Synth-driven tracks with guitars thrown in the mix. Lyrically, it reflects upon time; lost time and wasted time. Danser Dans Lāombre is my absolute favourite of the 11 tracks on the album.
For more great new music follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
I’m a music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Have been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, I developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
single track
Charmless I – Fire Up (Here We Go)
If you like Blur, The Vaccines and/or Arctic Monkeys, Iāve got some further listening for you. Charmless I is the new band of singer/guitarist Alex Pasveer. His rock songs possess the catchiness of British pop music, driven by soaring guitar parts and a pounding synth-bass, delivered with a distinct Dutch touch.
Debut single Fire Up (Here We Go) was mastered in New York by Andy Vendette, who worked with David Bowie, Deep Purple, and Beastie Boys before. An EP will follow in the fall.
For more great new music follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
I’m a music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Have been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, I developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
single track
Des Rocs – Used To The Darkness
Danny Rocco used to work in the legal department of major label Epic. He quit his day job in October 2015 however, to fully concentrate on music. He formed pop duo Secret Weapons with Gerry Lange and released their debut single Something New that same month. Last summer, it was followed by second single Limousine and album As The Setting Sun Comes Crashing Down On Me.
Now, Rocco has a new project of his own. When it comes to this, he says, āDes Rocs is something Iāve felt inside myself since the first day I started making music. Itās a more personal expression of the energies that make me tick.ā
After his first single HVY MTL DRMMR, last month, he now comes up with Used To The Darkness.
For more great new music follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
I’m a music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Have been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, I developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
single track, wildcard
Wildcards week 20 and 21
Well, wasnāt it quiet here the last two weeks? I was on holiday with limited access to internet. I did manage to keep the Carte Blanche Music playlist updated, however. So, for a quick overview of the best new tracks that were released during my vacation, please follow that link. And to make sure you never miss out on any great new music in the future, feel free to subscribe to it.
As you can see in the playlist, well-known and lesser-known artists just keep on dropping fine fresh tracks. And holiday or not, the very best of them continue to be chosen as Carte Blanche Music Wildcards each week. The past two weeks as well, although I had no chance to inform you about them. Let me set that straight. For the record, here they are:
Week 21: Welshly Arms – Down To The River
Cleveland, Ohio four-piece Welshly Arms, named after a sketch in Saturday Night Live, follow past singles like Legendary and Sanctuary with Down To The River. Delivered in their characteristic style, combining genres like blues, gospel, rhythm & blues and rock, this is a new banger, that sits somewhere halfway Imagine Dragons and Hozier. If you like what you hear, Welshly Armsās second album No Place Is Home is highly recommended.
Week 20: Christine & The Queens feat. DĆ¢m-Funk – Damn, Dis-Moi
Christine & The Queensās break-through in Great-Britain and North America caused a little delay in recording their second album, but the first single off it was worth waiting for. Damn, Dis-Moi sounds like a Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis production from the late 1980s. Think Janet Jackson, for example. Janetās dance moves also seem to have inspired the choreography in the clip for Christineās damn fine new single. A welcome return!
As always, you can find all of this yearās Carte Blanche Music power plays in the Wildcards 2018 playlist.
For more great new music follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
I’m a music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Have been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, I developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
single track, wildcardWildcard (week 19):
Wildcard (week 19):
Ali Barter – Girlie Bits
Do you know the expression ākicking against the pricksā? Thatās what Australian singer Ali Barter does on this single. Itās a tradition that goes back to powerful women in music in the ā70s and ā80s of the last century, but in 2018, the subject is as current as ever.
Ali Barter says about Girlie Bits: āIt has nothing to do with body parts, itās about the cage of what we expect of women: girlie guitar parts, girlie singing, hair; this idea of āfemininityā and how to fit within it. But women are not some gentle, watered down version of men. We do it our own way. We work really hard to write good songs and play great gigs – only to have people critique our clothes and the look on our faces, instead of the music.ā
Girlie Bits was first released in 2016, but Barterās label found a new distribution partner, thatās confident the song deserves a second chance. I agree the track is likely to appeal to a whole lot of people, women and men alike. And if youāre not into lyrics, but youāre a fan of Juliana Hatfield or Tracy Bonham (or Alex Lahey or Courtney Barnett, who are Australians like Barter), thereās a lot to like here as well!
This week, Girlie Bits by Ali Barter is the new Carte Blanche Music Wildcard, providing the song and its message with a well-deserved prominent platform.
For more great new music follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
I’m a music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Have been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, I developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
single track
CesĆ”r Sampson – Nobody But You
Iām not a connoisseur as far as the Eurovision Song Contest is concerned. Itās a game with rules I donāt understand. What I do know, however, is whether or not I like a song. And in recent years, in my opinion, the number of decent pop tracks in the competition has been growing.
This year, I already wrote about Mercy by Madame Monsieur (the French entry) and A Matter Of Time by Sennek (who will sing on behalf of Belgium). This being the ESC week, I thought Iād give you one more recommendationā¦
Austria sends in CesĆ”r Sampson. Early this century, he toured the world as the lead singer from bands like KruderĀ & Dorfmeister and Sofa Surfers. Since then, he preferred working behind the scenes in music production, song writing and as a vocal producer. The last two years, Sampson and his production collective Symphonix International helped the Bulgarian entries Poli Genova and Kristian Kostov reach a historic fourth and second place in the Eurovision Song Contest respectively, with If Love Was A Crime and Beautiful Mess. He also provided backing vocals for both tracks.
This year, Sampson gets back in the lime lights again with Nobody Like You, a track written by himself and Symphonix International. Itās a catchy, modern song, with a piano hook that sounds like the one in James Blakeās Limit To Your Love (2011). Great entry! (so, not a winner, presumably š ).
For more great new music follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
I’m a music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Have been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, I developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
