Browsing Category single track
The Allergies feat. Andy Cooper – 2 Much!
The Allergies (a production/DJ outfit consisting of Rackabeat and Moneyshot, from Bristol, UK) are a busy bunch. Their stream of releases never seems to dry, they’re gigging all over the place, record podcasts and mixtapes, and make remixes of other people’s tunes (most recently of Get A Hold On This by Aldo Vanucci feat. Kylie Auldist)…
Next up is this great new single. 2 Much! is funky as hell, groovy as no other and full of vibes. It features Marietta Smith on vocals, Mr. Woodnote on sax, and of course lyrics by Andy Cooper, who is rapidly becoming The Allergies’ third member. Talking of speed: 2 Much! includes one of the fastest rap verses ever laid down. Ch-ch-check it out!
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
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.
Albert Hammond Jr. – More To Life
The Strokes have a few European festival shows in their agenda, but that doesn’t stop Albert Hammond Jr. from exploiting his solo career. After 2018’s album Francis Trouble, he released the single Fast Times (which hadn’t made it onto the long-player) last February. That same month, he was spotted in the studio with Natalie Imbruglia, and I’m very curious to hear what came out of those sessions!
What we don’t have to wait for, however, is another one-off track by Hammond Jr. He says about the new song in a statement: “More To Life was recorded at Sunset Sound in Studio 3. (…) It was recorded live through a collection of analogue gear, Prince’s mojo (he lived in this studio in the late-’80s) and our ever present digital medium that held all these beautiful melodies. (…) This is my first full L.A. production. I hope you enjoy and please play it loud!”
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
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.
John Van Deusen – Whatever Makes You Mine
John Van Deusen’s music is difficult to pin down. In his early career he was the frontman and primary songwriter of indie rock band The Lonely Forest, and currently, he yells and plays bass in hardcore punk band Buffet. Meanwhile, he also pursues a solo career, which I’ll focus on here.
As a solo artist, Van Deusen is working on a four-part album series, titled (I Am) Origami. Part 1 (The Universal Sigh) and Part 2 (Every Power Wide Awake) are out already. (I Am) Origami Part 3 (A Catacomb Hymn) is set for release on 19 July, and might be his most raw and personal release yet. The album is centred on fear, doubt and depression.
About the first single, Whatever Makes You Mine, Van Deusen says: “Alone at a lodge in the Cascade Mountains, right at the heart of Bigfoot territory, I kept feeling like some big hairy creature was watching me sleep. I was frightened by the eerie creaks and noises while my mind obsessed over dark Sasquatch legends. I wrote Whatever Makes You Mine in the dead of night as a response to my loneliness and fear; my desire to be with someone (anyone), was overwhelming.”
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
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.
Mosa – Losts And Founds
Six years ago, David Ashbourne’s musical project Samual Zasada went into hiatus. Since then, he had a difficult time with personal setbacks, and concentrated on making music for video games in his home studio near Oxford, UK.
Now, Ashbourne continues where he left off, with a new project named Mosa. He brought the electronic edge of his music for games into the Mosa sound to complement his guitar and deep vocals. This results in a more powerful, soulful sound, with electronic influences added to his folky roots. His new single Losts And Founds is a fine example of where Ashbourne now stands as a person and as an artist.
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
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.
Wildcard (week 23):
Rammstein – Ausländer
Rammstein have never got out of the way of controversy. On the contrary, it’s a game they play very well. No better way to introduce their new eponymous album than with the provocative video for first single Deutschland. Following a milder clip for second single Radio, the band are now back for a next hit, in more ways than one.
Third single Ausländer has a title that may raise eyebrows, but its video also has titties that may raise eyebrows. Content-wise, it plays with both colonialism and the current refugee problem. All of this seems to have been done in order to evoke a debate. Mission accomplished, for contrary to the criticism that followed the Deutschland mini movie, the Ausländer clip has already received much praise, especially outside Germany.
Apart from the imagery, I think Rammstein’s new single is a great song. Hard-hitting, but with great melodies. As the new Carte Blanche Music Wildcard, Ausländer will feature here prominently for a whole week!
In the Wildcards 2019 playlist you can find all of this year’s Carte Blanche Music Wildcards so far.
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.
Otherkin – On And On
As a rock band, Otherkin enjoyed significant success in recent times. But instead of continuing on the chosen path, the Irish quartet have changed its course by adding an electronic edge to their sound.
New single On And On is driven by a dirty synth bassline, and features a kick ass guitar riff alongside screaming keyboards and a catchy chorus. Richly produced and with an Oasis or Kasabian-like swagger to it. In one word: epic.
Speaking on their inspiration, the band say: ‘’We were listening to a ton of French House before making On And On, and felt inspired to make a song for the dance floor. As we were approaching it from the context of being a guitar band, we thought it would be cool to break the song up with a huge riff, bringing the two worlds together. We paired it with a story of a guy we know who’s a conniving, scheming weasel that’ll never change his ways, regardless of what happens to him. This song is like one fist in the air and one middle finger in the air to him.’’
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
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.
IAMJJ – My Two Eyes
IAMJJ is the artist name of a 25-year-old Danish singer-songwriter, who writes and performs in English. Following in the footsteps of his heroes Nick Cave and Leonard Cohen, his tracks are drenched in melancholy. Both musically and lyrically. A modern crooner!
He now drops My Two Eyes, the first new track since his 2018 debut album Bloody Future. Where he previously wrote songs full of pictorial metaphors and poetic lyrics, My Two Eyes is a more direct story of love. Easier to relate to than his earlier output, this might be just the song his career needed to expand beyond his current fan base.
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
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.
Bess Atwell – Swimming Pool
Bess Hildick-Smith, known by her stage name Bess Atwell, grew up in the English countryside, one of four children to an eclectic family of artists, songwriters and doctors. Soon after starting her own musical career, she was described in the press as ‘a promising folk poet of suppression and inner anxiety’ and ‘a gifted singer-songwriter with a voice like slow, cool water’. Eventually, her former solo project evolved into a full band affair, incorporating traces of traditional folk music with newer indie-rock influences.
Atwell’s just-released EP Big Blue includes the new tracks Harvested and Ventnor Villas. The other three songs have been issued as singles via Spotify, but were never actively promoted outside her home country. Swimming Pool, which was met with praise in late 2018, now gets a proper promotional treatment outside the UK. A romantic yet realistic song, influenced by the likes of The National, Fleet Foxes, and Sharon Van Etten.
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
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.
Delmoro – Dove Siamo Finiti
After graduating in architecture, Mattia Del Moro reinvented himself and turned a singer by the stage name of Delmoro. A year after his debut album Il Primo Viaggio, he released the EP Balìa, including the singles Filippiche and Idiosincrasia, as well as three new songs.
One of those three is his new single Dove Siamo Finiti (‘where we end’). The song is rooted in the Italian song tradition from the ‘60s to the ‘90s, coloured with balearic beats and disco influences.
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
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.
Polish Club – Goddamn!
When David Novak (vocals, guitar) and John-Henry Pajak (drums) formed a band in 2014, it wasn’t difficult to name it. Both of them having Polish roots, Polish Club was an obvious choice for a name. Their official biography describes them as both ‘the loudest goddamn soul outfit you’ve ever heard’ and ‘the sweatiest rock band in Sydney’. Sounds (and probably smells) like a fun act!
On 7 June, the duo release their second album Iguana, and Goddamn! is the third track to precede it. “Goddamn! was the first song we wrote during the writing process for this record,” the band said in a statement. “It’s also the most fun. It’s also a song where Novak is pretty much screaming the whole time. It’s also got a title with an exclamation mark. It’s also got heaps of drums and shit on it.”
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
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.
