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2 days ago

Carte Blanche Music

Citizen recorded their fourth long-player Life In Your Glass World in front man Mat Kerekes' garage.

I Want To Kill You is the album’s first single. Opening with a ferocious four-to-the-floor beat, it’s big, sharp and full of hooks. bit.ly/CBMcitizen ... See MoreSee Less

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Carte Blanche Music

2 days ago

Carte Blanche Music

5 March, MONOWHALES release their debut album Daytona Beach.

Their new single Out With The Old is a fitting title at the start of the year. It’s another strong and infectious rock song with hard-hitting drums and instantly hummable melodies throughout. bit.ly/CBMmonowhales3 ... See MoreSee Less

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Carte Blanche Music

3 days ago

Carte Blanche Music

Twan Ray wrote quite a few songs with songwriter/producer Radboud Miedema in quarantine and released them without a label.

With only an acoustic guitar, a slightly transformed voice and a smart whistle, his new single It Never Feel Right is as uncomplicated as it is irresistible bit.ly/CBMtwanray ... See MoreSee Less

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Carte Blanche Music

3 days ago

Carte Blanche Music

Baby FuzZ's upcoming album was entirely made in quarantine, just like new single Before Our Time. A modern glam rock track, including a Brian May-like guitar solo.

The song also features LP, although her vocals appear unrecognizably distorted. bit.ly/CBMbabyfuzz ... See MoreSee Less

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carteblanchemusCarte Blanche Music@carteblanchemus·
22 jan

. @CitizenMi recorded their fourth long-player Life In Your Glass World in front man @MatKerekes' garage.

I Want To Kill You is the album’s first single. Opening with a ferocious four-to-the-floor beat, it’s big, sharp and full of hooks. https://bit.ly/CBMcitizen

Reply on Twitter 1352663032686641157Retweet on Twitter 1352663032686641157Like on Twitter 1352663032686641157Twitter 1352663032686641157
carteblanchemusCarte Blanche Music@carteblanchemus·
22 jan

5 March, @monowhales release their debut album Daytona Beach.

Their new single Out With The Old is a fitting title at the start of the year. It’s another strong and infectious rock song with hard-hitting drums and instantly hummable melodies throughout. https://bit.ly/CBMmonowhales3

Reply on Twitter 1352526668292902912Retweet on Twitter 1352526668292902912Like on Twitter 1352526668292902912Twitter 1352526668292902912
carteblanchemusCarte Blanche Music@carteblanchemus·
21 jan

#TwanRay wrote quite a few songs with #RadboudMiedema in quarantine and released them without a label.

With only an acoustic guitar, a slightly transformed voice and a smart whistle, new single It Never Feel Right is as uncomplicated as it is irresistible https://bit.ly/CBMtwanray

Reply on Twitter 1352300607726624768Retweet on Twitter 1352300607726624768Like on Twitter 1352300607726624768Twitter 1352300607726624768
carteblanchemusCarte Blanche Music@carteblanchemus·
21 jan

#BabyFuzZ's upcoming album was entirely made in quarantine, just like new single Before Our Time. A modern glam rock track, including a @DrBrianMay-like guitar solo.

The song also features @iamlp, although her vocals appear unrecognizably distorted. https://bit.ly/CBMbabyfuzz

Reply on Twitter 1352164286018281473Retweet on Twitter 1352164286018281473Like on Twitter 13521642860182814732Twitter 1352164286018281473
carteblanchemusCarte Blanche Music@carteblanchemus·
20 jan

Written near the beginning of 2018, Raw Thoughts is one of the first songs Bella Latham wrote under her artist name @babyqueen.

The lyrics may be honest and naked, but the track is fully produced. It’s an infectious, hook-laden indie-pop banger. Check:
https://bit.ly/CBMbabyqueen

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Your Favourites (2020)

My container playlist Carte Blanche Music 2020 doesn’t only include all of the 994 songs I recommended last year. It also holds the 100 best tracks in my opinion, the Carte Blanche Music Top 2020, which I published yesterday. But that’s only my selection. Isn’t it more interesting to see which of my recommendations you read the most? In other words: what were Your Favourites in 2020?

I think it’s funny to see the Carte Blanche Music blog has a strong archive function. That’s apparent from the number of older posts you still like to visit (and which you find via search engines). A good example is the best read article this year: Toukassé by Shanguy. It stems from 2019, just like 24 other entries in the list below. Even more impressing is La Roi De Murphy, Belgian songstress Angèle’s debut single from 2017 (also her break-through), which is still among the 20 most read blogs in 2020.

Thank you for being such loyal visitors of Carte Blanche Music. Don’t miss a single recommendation by following me on Twitter, Facebook or, new for 2021, Instagram! I’ll do my best to make sure those accounts will soon be your favourites too, just like the tracks below:

  1. Shanguy – Toukassé (2019) (WC)
  2. Saint Motel – A Good Song Never Dies
  3. Dopha – The Game
  4. Rick Astley – Every One Of Us
  5. Lola Le Lann – Portofino
  6. Daði Freyr & Gagnamagnið – Think About Things
  7. Pyro – Come Back For You
  8. Rat Boy – Brave New World
  9. Håkan Hellström – Alla Drömmar Är Uppfyllda (WC)
  10. Gotts Street Park feat. Flikka – Favourite Kind Of Girl
  11. Raye – Natalie Don’t
  12. Liela Moss – Atoms At Me
  13. Friedberg – Go Wild (2019)
  14. Lola Lennox – Back At Wrong
  15. Fixkes – Dardennen
  16. Eliza & The Delusionals – Just Exist (2019)
  17. Angèle – La Loi De Murphy (2017)
  18. Just Jack (feat. Melissa Jo Heathcote) – Long Grass
  19. The Magic Gang – What Have You Got To Lose
  20. Videoclub – En Nuit (2019) (WC)
  21. Jealous Of The Birds – Something Holy
  22. Casey Lowry – Psycho
  23. IBE – Perfect Storm
  24. IBE – Table Of Fools (2019)
  25. Lilly Hiatt – Brightest Star
  26. Angèle – Balance Ton Quoi (2019)
  27. Izzy Bizu (feat. Chris Martin) – Someone That Loves You ’19 (2019)
  28. Saint Motel – Preach
  29. Videoclub – Enfance 80
  30. The Wannadies – Can’t Kill The Musikk
  31. Tout Va Bien – This Is How We Say Goodbye
  32. The Mountain Goats – Get Famous
  33. Izo FitzRoy – Red Line (WC)
  34. Temples – Paraphernalia
  35. Inhaler – My Honest Face (2019)
  36. Kristiane – Wish I Could Be Your Girl
  37. Miss Machine – Tout Autour
  38. Calby – Burnout (2019)
  39. Child Of The Parish – Relic Of The Past
  40. Zola – Crystal Floors (2019)
  41. Raffaella – Ballerina (2019)
  42. Gin Wigmore – HBIC
  43. Calby – The Everyday Bit (2019)
  44. Elsa Birgitta Bekman – All ‘bout Love
  45. Just – Dark Days
  46. Pixey – Free To Live In Colour
  47. boy pablo – 50 Souls And A Discobowl (2019) (WC)
  48. Merci, Mercy – Fucked Myself Up
  49. Royal & The Serpent – MMXX
  50. The Vices – In And Out
  51. The Radar Station – Subtle Science [2020 Version]
  52. Charles – Far Gone
  53. Semisonic – Basement Tapes
  54. Parov Stelar feat. Muddy Waters – Soul Fever Blues (2019)
  55. The Black Keys – Shine A Little Light (2019)
  56. Papooz – Theatrical State Of Mind (2019)
  57. Jaguar Jonze – Kill Me With Your Love (2019)
  58. Esteban – Suburban Paradise
  59. Pet Shop Boys – Monkey Business
  60. Sitting On Stacy – Chest Hair (2019)
  61. Grace Farriss – All The People (WC)
  62. Mélodie Lauret – À Quoi Tu Penses Quand Tu M’adores ?
  63. AKA George – Bad For You
  64. Joel Stoker (The Rifles) – Stuck Inside
  65. Ethel – Rubikscube (2019)
  66. The Big Moon – Barcelona
  67. Inge van Calkar – Spinning Around
  68. Lux Lyall – Mad With The Moon
  69. League Of Wolves – On The Run
  70. Charmless i – Superhero
  71. Maria Mena – Not OK
  72. Alex The Astronaut – Caught In The Middle
  73. Rhea – Under My Skin
  74. Helmut Fritz – Ça M’énerve [2020 Version]
  75. Don’t Bring Stacey – Waiting For It
  76. Nana Adjoa – She’s Stronger
  77. Stuck On Planet Earth – Ghosts On The Radio
  78. Sheppard – Kiss My Fat Ass (2019)
  79. The Man Who – Give Me Something (2019)
  80. Lead Pony – Soul Sucker (2019)
  81. a-ha feat. Ingrid Helene Håvik – The Sun Always Shines On TV (MTV Unplugged) (2019)
  82. Barry Moore – Hey Now (2019)
  83. Ellie Dixon – Space Out!
  84. Catherine Anne Davies & Bernard Butler – Sabotage (Looks So Easy)
  85. Gracie Abrams – Friend
  86. Roads To Roam – Firework
  87. Baxter Dury – I’m Not Your Dog
  88. Alfie Templeman – Things I Thought Were Mine
  89. Sunbather – Softly Spoken
  90. Eliza & The Delusionals – Swimming Pool
  91. Pyro – Your Love
  92. Aili x Transistorcake – Dansu
  93. Marble Waves – Caught In A Current
  94. Me & My Toothbrush – Funking Around
  95. Corine – Je Danse Le Mia (2019)
  96. Raye – Love Of Your Life
  97. Michelle David & The Gospel Sessions – Victory!
  98. Some Sprouts – At Full Capacity
  99. Papooz – Figs And Gorgonzola
  100. Fickle Friends – Pretty Great

(WC)    ex Carte Blanche Music Wildcard

chart, year-end chart

Carte Blanche Music Top 2020

Ahead of your favourites among this year’s Carte Blanche Music recommendations, which I’ll publish tomorrow, these are my personal choices from the songs that came out in 2020. This list holds only 100 tracks, but you can find all of my 994 recommendations in my container playlist Carte Blanche Music 2020.

As always, I love to share some statistics about the Carte Blanche Music Top 2020. These findings are further evidence of the fact that the music radio stations play for you is far from representative of the wealth of great new music out there. Thankfully, there are blogs like Carte Blanche Music that are independent and unbiased, and don’t want to please everybody at the same time. We’re here to surprise you with great new music, no matter what genre or gender, origin or orientation. Just a few statistics:

  • Judging from this Top 100 alone (let alone the full container playlist), 2020 was a great year for pure pop music, young artists, ‘80s influences, independent releases, the Australian music scene, queer pop-rock and female vocalists
  • A whopping 70% of the tracks in this year’s list feature female lead vocals (and I thought the 60% in the Carte Blanche Music Top 2019 was impressive already)
  • Overall, rock ruled. 54% of the tracks in my year-end chart is guitar-based (just over last year’s tally)
  • The list clearly shows there are more countries that produce great artists than Great-Britain and the United States alone. This year, more nationalities than ever are represented in my Top 100. You’ll also find artists from Armenia, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland
  • As a result, although most lyrics are in English, you’ll also hear songs (partly) sung in French, Italian, Japanese, Spanish and Swedish

The Carte Blanche Music Top 2020 features 100 tracks, which are presented below in alphabetical order. You can listen to them all via the Spotify player. If you prefer another order, just use the shuffle button 😉.

Meanwhile, you can read my original recommendations through the links below.

(WC)    ex Carte Blanche Music Wildcard
(*)       album track

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Your favourites (November 2020)

Below, you can find all 10 of Your Favourites in the month of November; my recommendations that you read the most. The links bring you directly to the original posts. Each of them features a player that allows you to listen to the track via the platform of your choice. Enjoy!

  1. Just – Dark Days
  2. Kristiane – Wish I Could Be Your Girl
  3. Lola Le Lann – Portofino
  4. Don’t Bring Stacey – Waiting For It
  5. Dopha – The Game
  6. Pixey – Free To Live In Colour
  7. Saint Motel – A Good Song Never Dies
  8. Raye – Love Of Your Life
  9. The Cribs – Siren Sing-Along
  10. Temples – Paraphernalia

chart

Your favourites (October 2020)

Below, you can find all 10 of Your Favourites in the month of October; my recommendations that you read the most. The links bring you directly to the original posts. Each of them features a player that allows you to listen to the track via the platform of your choice. Enjoy!

  1. Pyro – Come Back For You
  2. Saint Motel – A Good Song Never Dies
  3. Gin Wigmore – HBIC
  4. Lola Le Lann – Portofino
  5. Charles – Far Gone
  6. Dopha – The Game
  7. Superbird – Operate
  8. Jealous Of The Birds – Something Holy
  9. Miss Li – Therapy
  10. The Vices – In And Out

chart

Your favourites (September 2020)

Below, you can find all 10 of Your Favourites in the month of September; my recommendations that you read the most. The links bring you directly to the original posts. Each of them features a player that lets you listen to the track via the platform of your choice. Enjoy!

  1. The Mountain Goats – Get Famous
  2. Just Jack (feat. Melissa Jo Heathcote) – Long Grass
  3. Miss Machine – Tout Autour
  4. The Wannadies – Can’t Kill The Musikk
  5. Saint Motel – A Good Song Never Dies
  6. Rick Astley – Every One Of Us
  7. Temples – Paraphernalia
  8. Stix Bones feat. Imani Coppola – Breakin’ The Dance Floor
  9. Eelke – Leech
  10. Jealous Of The Birds – Something Holy

chart

Your favourites (August 2020)

Below, you can find all 10 of Your Favourites in the month of August; my recommendations that you read the most. The links bring you directly to the original posts. Each of them features a player that lets you listen to the track via the platform of your choice. Enjoy!

  1. Lola Lennox – Back At Wrong
  2. Saint Motel – A Good Song Never Dies
  3. Liela Moss – Atoms At Me
  4. Raye – Natalie Don’t
  5. Dopha – The Game
  6. Catherine Anne Davies & Bernard Butler – Sabotage (Looks So Easy)
  7. Grace Farriss – All The People (WC)
  8. Lola Le Lann – Portofino
  9. Town Of Cats – Lemons (WC)
  10. Sebu with Eraserfase – The Worst That Could Happen To Us (WC)

(WC) = former Carte Blanche Music Wildcard

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Your favourites (July 2020)

Below, you can find all 10 of Your Favourites in the month of July; my recommendations that you read the most. I appreciate you, dear readers, for not only liking the usual crop of British and American artists, but music from all over the world. Of course, most songs are in English, but I’m glad to also spot lyrics in French, Swedish and even a Belgian regional accent in your Top 10. And just below, at #11, La Oreja De Van Gogh appear, with their track Te Pareces Tanto A Mí, in Spanish.

The links below bring you directly to the original posts. Each of them features a player that lets you listen to the track via the platform of your choice. Enjoy!

  1. Dopha – The Game
  2. Esteban – Suburban Paradise
  3. Liela Moss – Atoms At Me
  4. Fixkes – Dardennen
  5. Shanguy – Toukassé (WC)
  6. Raye – Natalie Don’t
  7. Roads To Roam – Firework
  8. Håkan Hellström – Alla Drömmar Är Uppfyllda (WC)
  9. Grace Farriss – All The People (WC)
  10. Lola Le Lann – Portofino

(WC) = former Carte Blanche Music Wildcard

chart

Your favourites (June 2020)

Below, you can find all 10 of Your Favourites in the month of June; my recommendations that you read the most. The links bring you directly to the original posts. Each of them features a player that lets you listen to the track via the platform of your choice. Enjoy!

  1. Shanguy – Toukassé (WC)
  2. Dopha – The Game
  3. Fixkes – Dardennen
  4. Lola Le Lann – Portofino
  5. Saint Motel – A Good Song Never Dies
  6. Baxtr – Bloom (WC)
  7. Håkan Hellström – Alla Drömmar Är Uppfyllda (WC)
  8. Rhea – Under My Skin
  9. Tones & I – Ur So F**king Cool
  10. Josephien – Talk To Me

(WC) = former Carte Blanche Music Wildcard

chart

Your favourites (May 2020)

In another good year for new music, I already collected over 450 great new tunes for you in my 2020 Spotify-playlist. If you generally like what you read and hear here, you can trust these to be the 450 best new songs of the year so far. Together, they form a great listening experience, stretching over 26,5 hours. But prepare for a trip through a varied musical landscape. Carte Blanche Music encourages you to listen to a wide range of genres, both inside and outside your comfort zone. For you know: the best experiences start where your comfort zone ends 😉

On behalf of this blog, I select the best of the adds to my Spotify playlist, and write a recommendation for them. Last month, like every month, I recommended 10 new songs per week; 2 per working day. The ones that reached most viewers come together in the monthly Your Favourites chart. On the 1st of June, obviously, I look back upon Your Favourites in May.

I love it that Shanguy’s 14-month-old former Wildcard Toukassé is still at #2 in your chart. In fact, ever since entering your Top 10 in March 2019, it has only left the ranking for 1 month. This kind of achievements give a whole new dimension to the term ‘hit’. The Italian/French act was beaten to the #1 position with the smallest of margins. This month, the top position is for The Rifles frontman Joel Stoker, whose ‘isolation version’ of the aptly titled Stuck Inside was my most popular recommendation among Carte Blanche Music readers. Rat Boy’s equally aptly titled Brave New World completes the Top 3.

Below, you can find all 10 of Your Favourites in the month of May. The links bring you directly to the original recommendations. Each of them features a player that lets you listen to the track via the platform of your choice. I like to make things easy for you 😉. Be my guest and click around. Enjoy!

  1. Joel Stoker (The Rifles) – Stuck Inside
  2. Shanguy – Toukassé (WC)
  3. Rat Boy – Brave New World
  4. Daði Freyr & Gagnamagnið – Think About Things
  5. Razorlight – Burn, Camden, Burn
  6. Be Charlotte – Lights Off
  7. Saint Motel – A Good Song Never Dies
  8. Videoclub – Enfance 80
  9. Nana Adjoa – She’s Stronger
  10. The Calicos – Nova

(WC) = former Carte Blanche Music Wildcard

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Your favourites (April 2020)

Another month has passed, and what a month it was… Well, it was the month of April, obviously, and it was a very busy one. It strikes me that the number of new releases has exploded during the pandemic. And If I may be honest: a lot of it doesn’t meet the Carte Blanche Music standards. Sometimes, I’d like to yell: “It’s not enough to have the time and the means to make a recording. For a decent song, you need talent as well!” In other words: I listen to a lot more songs lately, only to end up with the ten good ones a week that I’d really like to recommend you. But hey, I happen to love listening to new music and making the best selection possible for you guys, so I’m not complaining!

Still, there’s much more great new music than I can write about. Check (and follow) my 2020 Spotify-playlist for the rest of the best. I update it constantly, so you’ll find it there first.

So, which of my recommendations were most popular in April? As you may know by now, I write about artists for all over the world, not sticking to the countries that provide most of today’s popular music, the US and the UK. I’m very glad to see that reflected in the articles that you liked best in the past month. France (Shanguy), Iceland (Daði Freyr), Belgium (Tout Va Bien), Canada (Roquemore) and even my own tiny Netherlands (Inge van Calkar) are represented amongst Your Favourites. That makes me proud.

Below, you can find the full Top 10. Your Top 10. Are there entries you didn’t know yet? Just click the link to go to my recommendation directly and listen why others liked it so much. Allow yourself to be amazed!

  1. Shanguy – Toukassé (WC)
  2. The Magic Gang – What Have You Got To Lose
  3. Daði Freyr & Gagnamagnið – Think About Things
  4. Tout Va Bien – This Is How We Say Goodbye
  5. Lilly Hiatt – Brightest Star
  6. Roquemore – Blame (WC)
  7. Rat Boy – Brave New World
  8. Gotts Street Park feat. Flikka – Favourite Kind Of Girl
  9. Inge van Calkar – Spinning Around
  10. Child Of The Parish – Relic Of The Past

(WC) = former Carte Blanche Music Wildcard

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