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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:
- Shanguy – Toukassé (2019) (WC)
- Saint Motel – A Good Song Never Dies
- Dopha – The Game
- Rick Astley – Every One Of Us
- Lola Le Lann – Portofino
- Daði Freyr & Gagnamagnið – Think About Things
- Pyro – Come Back For You
- Rat Boy – Brave New World
- Håkan Hellström – Alla Drömmar Är Uppfyllda (WC)
- Gotts Street Park feat. Flikka – Favourite Kind Of Girl
- Raye – Natalie Don’t
- Liela Moss – Atoms At Me
- Friedberg – Go Wild (2019)
- Lola Lennox – Back At Wrong
- Fixkes – Dardennen
- Eliza & The Delusionals – Just Exist (2019)
- Angèle – La Loi De Murphy (2017)
- Just Jack (feat. Melissa Jo Heathcote) – Long Grass
- The Magic Gang – What Have You Got To Lose
- Videoclub – En Nuit (2019) (WC)
- Jealous Of The Birds – Something Holy
- Casey Lowry – Psycho
- IBE – Perfect Storm
- IBE – Table Of Fools (2019)
- Lilly Hiatt – Brightest Star
- Angèle – Balance Ton Quoi (2019)
- Izzy Bizu (feat. Chris Martin) – Someone That Loves You ’19 (2019)
- Saint Motel – Preach
- Videoclub – Enfance 80
- The Wannadies – Can’t Kill The Musikk
- Tout Va Bien – This Is How We Say Goodbye
- The Mountain Goats – Get Famous
- Izo FitzRoy – Red Line (WC)
- Temples – Paraphernalia
- Inhaler – My Honest Face (2019)
- Kristiane – Wish I Could Be Your Girl
- Miss Machine – Tout Autour
- Calby – Burnout (2019)
- Child Of The Parish – Relic Of The Past
- Zola – Crystal Floors (2019)
- Raffaella – Ballerina (2019)
- Gin Wigmore – HBIC
- Calby – The Everyday Bit (2019)
- Elsa Birgitta Bekman – All ‘bout Love
- Just – Dark Days
- Pixey – Free To Live In Colour
- boy pablo – 50 Souls And A Discobowl (2019) (WC)
- Merci, Mercy – Fucked Myself Up
- Royal & The Serpent – MMXX
- The Vices – In And Out
- The Radar Station – Subtle Science [2020 Version]
- Charles – Far Gone
- Semisonic – Basement Tapes
- Parov Stelar feat. Muddy Waters – Soul Fever Blues (2019)
- The Black Keys – Shine A Little Light (2019)
- Papooz – Theatrical State Of Mind (2019)
- Jaguar Jonze – Kill Me With Your Love (2019)
- Esteban – Suburban Paradise
- Pet Shop Boys – Monkey Business
- Sitting On Stacy – Chest Hair (2019)
- Grace Farriss – All The People (WC)
- Mélodie Lauret – À Quoi Tu Penses Quand Tu M’adores ?
- AKA George – Bad For You
- Joel Stoker (The Rifles) – Stuck Inside
- Ethel – Rubikscube (2019)
- The Big Moon – Barcelona
- Inge van Calkar – Spinning Around
- Lux Lyall – Mad With The Moon
- League Of Wolves – On The Run
- Charmless i – Superhero
- Maria Mena – Not OK
- Alex The Astronaut – Caught In The Middle
- Rhea – Under My Skin
- Helmut Fritz – Ça M’énerve [2020 Version]
- Don’t Bring Stacey – Waiting For It
- Nana Adjoa – She’s Stronger
- Stuck On Planet Earth – Ghosts On The Radio
- Sheppard – Kiss My Fat Ass (2019)
- The Man Who – Give Me Something (2019)
- Lead Pony – Soul Sucker (2019)
- a-ha feat. Ingrid Helene Håvik – The Sun Always Shines On TV (MTV Unplugged) (2019)
- Barry Moore – Hey Now (2019)
- Ellie Dixon – Space Out!
- Catherine Anne Davies & Bernard Butler – Sabotage (Looks So Easy)
- Gracie Abrams – Friend
- Roads To Roam – Firework
- Baxter Dury – I’m Not Your Dog
- Alfie Templeman – Things I Thought Were Mine
- Sunbather – Softly Spoken
- Eliza & The Delusionals – Swimming Pool
- Pyro – Your Love
- Aili x Transistorcake – Dansu
- Marble Waves – Caught In A Current
- Me & My Toothbrush – Funking Around
- Corine – Je Danse Le Mia (2019)
- Raye – Love Of Your Life
- Michelle David & The Gospel Sessions – Victory!
- Some Sprouts – At Full Capacity
- Papooz – Figs And Gorgonzola
- Fickle Friends – Pretty Great
(WC) ex Carte Blanche Music Wildcard
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
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.
- A Is For Arrows – Every Now And Then
- Abbie Ozard – True Romance (WC)
- Aili x Transistorcake – Dansu
- Aitana – 11 Razones
- Alex The Astronaut – I Think You’re Great (WC)
- Alice & Moi – T’aimerais Que Ce Soit Vrai
- Altered By Mom – Better On The Page
- Amy Allen – Difficult
- Archie X – Loud Boy (WC)
- Ava Max – Kings And Queens
- Awolnation feat. Alice Merton – The Best
- Badflower – 30
- Baxtr – Bloom (WC)
- Bée – Nothing Alike (WC)
- The Beths – Mars, The God Of War
- Betty Who – The One
- Blossoms – It’s Going To Be A Cold Winter
- Bloxx – Off My Mind
- Bloxx – 5000 Miles (WC)
- Calogero – La Rumeur
- Charles – Far Gone
- Daði Freyr & Gagnamagnið – Think About Things
- Dagny – Coulda Woulda Shoulda (*)
- Don Diablo – Invincible
- Don’t Bring Stacey – Waiting For It
- Dopha – Anti Breakup Song
- Doves – Prisoners (WC)
- Dua Lipa – Physical (WC)
- Dua Lipa – Break My Heart
- Dua Lipa (feat. DaBaby) – Levitating [Single Version]
- Efecto Pasillo feat. Huecco – Funketón [2020 Version]
- Egoism – You You (WC)
- Ella Grace – Unfree
- Ellur – Alive
- The Flowers – You Don’t Say!
- Francesco Gabbani – Il Sudore Ci Appiccica
- Genes – Super Single
- Gin Wigmore – HBIC
- Grace Farriss – All The People (WC)
- Gracie Abrams – Friend
- Grand Corps Malade – Pas Essentiel (WC)
- Håkan Hellström – Alla Drömmar Är Uppfyllda (WC)
- Harper Bloom – Walk My Way
- Hedda Mae – Madness
- The Hold Steady – Family Farm
- Hollie Col – She Knows (WC)
- Holy Holy (feat. Queen P) – Port Rd (WC)
- Hope D – Second
- Hoshi feat. Corine – Larmes De Croco (WC)
- Icona Pop & Sofi Tukker – Spa
- Indochine x Christine & The Queens – 3Sex
- Izo FitzRoy – Red Line (WC)
- Jaclyn – Energy
- Jake Bugg – Rabbit Hole
- Joan – Want U Back
- Joel Culpepper – WAR (WC)
- Julie Bergan – Commando (WC)
- Kailee Morgue – This Is Why I’m Hot (*)
- Keleketla! – International Love Affair (WC)
- Killboy – That’s OK I’ll Just Fuck Myself
- King Princess – Pain
- Kristiane – Wish I Could Be Your Girl
- La Oreja De Van Gogh – Te Pareces Tanto A Mí
- Lauran Hibberd – Boy Bye
- Lime – Fever
- Lola Lennox – Back At Wrong
- London Grammar – Baby It’s You
- The Lottery Winners – An Open Letter To Creatives (WC)
- Lova – Black Converse
- Lova – One Day Left
- Lucas Hamming – Falling
- The Magic Gang – Make Time For Change (WC)
- May-a – Apricots
- Miss Li – Therapy
- Miss Machine – Tout Autour
- MisterWives – Rock Bottom (WC)
- Monowhales – BL/FF (Fake Friends) (WC)
- Ocean Grove – Dream
- ONR (feat. Nile Rodgers) – Kill TV (WC)
- Palace Winter (feat. Penny Police) – Richard (Says Yes) (WC)
- Pixey – Just Move (WC)
- Pyro – Your Love
- Raave Tapes – Habitual
- The Radar Station – Zanzara [2020 Version] (*)
- Raye – Love Of Your Life
- Red Rum Club – The Elevation
- Ren – I Drive Me Mad (WC)
- Rinse feat. Hatchie – Back Into Your Arms
- Rooue – What You Want (WC)
- Sebu with Eraserfase – The Worst That Could Happen To Us (WC)
- Semisonic – Basement Tapes
- Sidonie with Delaporte – Mi Vida Es La Música
- Slum Sociable (feat. Kye) – You’re In My Head
- Super-Hi x Neeka – Following The Sun
- T99 vs. Youngr – Anasthasia [Youngr Bootleg]
- Temples – Paraphernalia
- Texas & Wu-Tang Clan – Hi
- Town Of Cats – Lemons (WC)
- Veronica Fusaro – Beach
- Videoclub – Enfance 80
(WC) ex Carte Blanche Music Wildcard
(*) album track
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
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!
- Just – Dark Days
- Kristiane – Wish I Could Be Your Girl
- Lola Le Lann – Portofino
- Don’t Bring Stacey – Waiting For It
- Dopha – The Game
- Pixey – Free To Live In Colour
- Saint Motel – A Good Song Never Dies
- Raye – Love Of Your Life
- The Cribs – Siren Sing-Along
- Temples – Paraphernalia
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
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!
- Pyro – Come Back For You
- Saint Motel – A Good Song Never Dies
- Gin Wigmore – HBIC
- Lola Le Lann – Portofino
- Charles – Far Gone
- Dopha – The Game
- Superbird – Operate
- Jealous Of The Birds – Something Holy
- Miss Li – Therapy
- The Vices – In And Out
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
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!
- The Mountain Goats – Get Famous
- Just Jack (feat. Melissa Jo Heathcote) – Long Grass
- Miss Machine – Tout Autour
- The Wannadies – Can’t Kill The Musikk
- Saint Motel – A Good Song Never Dies
- Rick Astley – Every One Of Us
- Temples – Paraphernalia
- Stix Bones feat. Imani Coppola – Breakin’ The Dance Floor
- Eelke – Leech
- Jealous Of The Birds – Something Holy
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
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!
- Lola Lennox – Back At Wrong
- Saint Motel – A Good Song Never Dies
- Liela Moss – Atoms At Me
- Raye – Natalie Don’t
- Dopha – The Game
- Catherine Anne Davies & Bernard Butler – Sabotage (Looks So Easy)
- Grace Farriss – All The People (WC)
- Lola Le Lann – Portofino
- Town Of Cats – Lemons (WC)
- Sebu with Eraserfase – The Worst That Could Happen To Us (WC)
(WC) = former Carte Blanche Music Wildcard
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
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!
- Dopha – The Game
- Esteban – Suburban Paradise
- Liela Moss – Atoms At Me
- Fixkes – Dardennen
- Shanguy – Toukassé (WC)
- Raye – Natalie Don’t
- Roads To Roam – Firework
- Håkan Hellström – Alla Drömmar Är Uppfyllda (WC)
- Grace Farriss – All The People (WC)
- Lola Le Lann – Portofino
(WC) = former Carte Blanche Music Wildcard
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
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!
- Shanguy – Toukassé (WC)
- Dopha – The Game
- Fixkes – Dardennen
- Lola Le Lann – Portofino
- Saint Motel – A Good Song Never Dies
- Baxtr – Bloom (WC)
- Håkan Hellström – Alla Drömmar Är Uppfyllda (WC)
- Rhea – Under My Skin
- Tones & I – Ur So F**king Cool
- Josephien – Talk To Me
(WC) = former Carte Blanche Music Wildcard
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
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!
- Joel Stoker (The Rifles) – Stuck Inside
- Shanguy – Toukassé (WC)
- Rat Boy – Brave New World
- Daði Freyr & Gagnamagnið – Think About Things
- Razorlight – Burn, Camden, Burn
- Be Charlotte – Lights Off
- Saint Motel – A Good Song Never Dies
- Videoclub – Enfance 80
- Nana Adjoa – She’s Stronger
- The Calicos – Nova
(WC) = former Carte Blanche Music Wildcard
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
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!
- Shanguy – Toukassé (WC)
- The Magic Gang – What Have You Got To Lose
- Daði Freyr & Gagnamagnið – Think About Things
- Tout Va Bien – This Is How We Say Goodbye
- Lilly Hiatt – Brightest Star
- Roquemore – Blame (WC)
- Rat Boy – Brave New World
- Gotts Street Park feat. Flikka – Favourite Kind Of Girl
- Inge van Calkar – Spinning Around
- Child Of The Parish – Relic Of The Past
(WC) = former Carte Blanche Music Wildcard
Music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Has been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, he developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.