Browsing Category single track
Mercury Rev feat. Norah Jones – Okolona River Bottom Band
Mercury Rev’s new album, out on 8 February, will be a reconstruction of Bobbie Gentry’s underappreciated 1968 cult classic The Delta Sweete. A star studded rendition, featuring contributions from Norah Jones, Mazzy Star’s Hope Sandoval, Lucinda Williams, Margo Price, Beth Orton, Susanne Sundfør from Norway, Laetitia Sadier of Stereolab fame, Dutch actress Carice van Houten, Rachel Goswell, Vashti Bunyan, Kaela Sinclair, Marissa Nadler and Phoebe Bridgers.
Louisiana Man, off the original album, is missing from the project. It will be replaced by a new version of probably Bobbie Gentry’s best-known song Ode To Billie Joe (a Billboard number 1, which was in fact from her same-titled debut album). Mercury Rev’s version features Lucinda Williams’s vocals. Tip: also check the version Sinéad O’Connor recorded in 1995 for the infamous Help! album.
The Delta Sweete’s opening track, a beautifully orchestrated version of Okolona River Bottom Band (feat. Norah Jones) is the set’s intriguing new single. Looking forward to the rest!
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.
Videoclub – Roi
At the tender age of 17, Adèle Castillon has quite a career already. After quickly rising to fame as a YouTube personality, she was asked to play roles in several French movies. And now, she added singing to her CV. Together with fellow teen, singer-songwriter Matthieu Reynaud (son of French jazz guitarist Régis Reynaud), she forms Videoclub.
After releasing their debut single Amour Plastique in September 2018, Roi (‘king’) is only their second outing. A lovely electronic pop song with classic chanson melodies, coupled with eighties-influenced raps. This song couldn’t have come from any other country than France…
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.
Mamas Gun – Golden Days
Exactly one year after its first single, Mamas Gun’s album Golden Days yields a fifth single. A good old case of saving the best for last, the album’s title track has been chosen to follow in the footsteps of I Need A Win, London Girls, You Make My Life A Better Place, and On The Wire. Golden Days is another one of the band’s trademark modern soul tracks, co-written by Christopher Braide (Sia, Lana Del Rey, Paloma Faith).
If you’re a fan of singer-songwriter Andy Platts’s other project Young Gun Silver Fox, but didn’t know Mamas Gun yet, this is a great introduction. Satisfaction guaranteed!
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.
Garbage (feat. John Doe & Exene Cervenka) – Destroying Angels
While on tour with Blondie and LA punk band X, Garbage worked with John Doe and Exene Cervenka of X to write and produce Destroying Angels. The track, which Garbage describe as a murder ballad, was released as a 7” single on 23 November 2018 for Record Store Day: Black Friday. The initial physical release was limited to only 3.000 copies, but now, the song is available digitally for everyone interested.
The B-side is the band’s take on David Bowie’s 1972 classic Starman, originally recorded for American DJ Howard Stern’s all-star Bowie tribute, which aired in February 2018.
Beyond Destroying Angels, Garbage is also working on their 7th studio album. Last summer, No Horses was our first taste of where this new record is going…
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.
Uncle Frank – Lay It All At His Feet
Even though Fun Lovin’ Criminals released a new single as recent as last November, spin-off project Uncle Frank – based around FLC drummer Frank Benbini and his mate Naim Cortazzi – just came up with a new song as well. It’s part of a project where the duo release a new track on the first Friday of every month, until they drop their brand-new, third album Soul On The Battleground, in March.
Benbini has his own radio show ‘Uncle Frank – Funk and Rare Grooves’, airing every Sunday 7-10PM on BBC Radio Leicester, but with his band, he practices what he preaches. Lay It All At His Feet is a groovy affair, which brings back memories of The Isley Brothers classics like Summer Breeze or That Lady (partly triggered by the sound of Cortazzi’s guitar solo). Wonderful stuff!
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.
Chateau Chateau – Evidence
Only a year ago, in the beginning of 2018, Chateau Chateau was formed in Tucson, Arizona. It took the 7-piece band exactly one single, Crisis Party (released in early summer), to get the attention of Amsterdam-based music label TCBYML (This Could Be Your Music Label).
The parties signed an agreement to release Chateau Chateau’s first 5-track EP, Evidence, in early 2019. It will be preceded by three singles, the first being the EP’s title track. A wonderful up-tempo indie pop song that sounds like a love child of Satellite Stories and Vampire Weekend.
What more do you need to know to hit the play button?
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 2):
Lizzo – Juice
Lizzo’s most recent single Boys ended in the Carte Blanche Music Top 2018. Now, the Minneapolis singer/rapper is back with an equally infectious single.
Juice is a self-confident, funky, danceable jam, with eighties-flavoured synths, a bass line and percussion from the same era, and horns that provide the finishing touch.
Also, be sure to check the song’s video, where Lizzo stars in an ’80s-style workout program, goes on a late-night talk show, sells products on an infomercial, and more.
Juice is this week’s Carte Blanche Music Wildcard!
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.
Evil Edna – Isle Of Dogs
Evil Edna are Paul Cockerham (vocals, harmonica), Joe Thompson (drums), Sam Taylor (bass), and Simon Land (guitar), a rockabilly punk band from London. They have a unique, genre-crossing sound, which blends gypsy harmonica, psychobilly guitar, thumping bass and upbeat drums, as if Madness, The Pogues and the Bintangs were put in a blender. Gogol Bordello fans will be delighted!
If you’re ready to stomp your feet and shake your hips, please meet Evil Edna!
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.
Bear Hands (feat. Ursula Rose) – Blue Lips
Since the release of their 2007 debut EP Golden, and first full album Burning Bush Supper Club three years later, Bear Hands did a lot of touring, including opening slots for like-minded larger bands like Vampire Weekend, Passion Pit, and MGMT. In 2013, they scored their first real hit, when Giants became a surprise Top 10 hit on Billboard’s Alternative Chart.
Now, the Brooklyn indie band kickstarts 2019 with laid-back, groovy new single Blue Lips, which features Ursula Rose. She also co-wrote the track, and a couple of other ones to be released later. Lead singer Dylan Rau says about Blue Lips: “The song is about listening to someone’s problems over and over and over until you die and your lips turn blue. Excuses, promises, optimism crashing on the rocks of reality and getting bored with someone’s schtick and hanging up on them.”
The song is part of an EP, that also contains new track Ignoring The Truth, as well as 2016 single 2AM, and Back Seat Driver (Spirit Guide), which was released last year.
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.
As December Falls – On The Edge
One of the great things of 2018 was the resurgence of female fronted rock, although it didn’t really reach the mainstream yet. Will As December Falls do the trick? They just might…
Although they sound like a great mix of Paramore and Fall Out Boy, they’re in fact a British quintet, formed in 2014 by Bethany Curtis (vocals), Ande Hunter (lead guitar/vocals), Will Brown (rhythm guitar), Timmy Francis (bass) and Lukas James (drums).
After a few EP’s and singles, the band founded their own label ADF Records to release their upcoming self-titled debut album. Following Ride and One More Night, On The Edge is the record’s well-produced third single, and their strongest so far.
Curtis says about it: “I wanted to write a song that said that it’s okay to feel how you feel. You don’t need to conform to something that you’re expected to be. (…) I wanted to say that it’s okay to be crazy. It’s okay to not be happy. It’s okay to cry. It’s okay to get angry and not look perfect all the time. It’s okay to be you.”
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.
