Browsing Category wildcard
Wildcard (week 23):
Certain Animals – TV
Thijs van Leeuwen (vocals, guitars), Niels-Jan van Dijk (bass, vocals) and Kees Braam (drums, vocals) are Certain Animals. The trio, fans of The Beatles, Beach Boys, Neil Young, Crosby, Stills & Nash and ELO, are real DIY enthusiasts. While busy touring, they managed to build their own recording studio in Rotterdam. That’s where they write, produce and mix all of their songs themselves. Watch out for their debut album Songs To Make You Move, out on 25 September.
Until then, the band release a single a month. TV is the sixth single to be released ahead of the long-player. It opens with a phaser-turned drum fill, followed by a fuzzy double guitar harmony. The rhythm section consists of congas, bongos and a grunting bass. A melodic rock track filled with vocal harmonies, that wouldn’t have sounded out of place in the ‘70s. Apart from the influences mentioned above, Joe Jackson, Focus and Queen shine through in it as well.
This week, TV by Certain Animals is the new Carte Blanche Music Wildcard!
In the Wildcards 2020 playlist you’ll 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.
Wildcard (week 22):
Håkan Hellström – Alla Drömmar Är Uppfyllda
Long after Phil Collins, Don Henley, Sheila E. and several others, singing drummers are back again. Georgia is my favourite of the current bunch, but I just discovered Håkan Hellström as well. He recorded several albums as a drummer and bass player with acts like Broder Daniel and Honey Is Cool, before completely focusing on his solo career. He is very successful in his homeland Sweden. All but one of his ten albums so far reached #1.
Last week Hellström released his new album Rampljus Vol. 1, another chart topper. Alla Drömmar Är Uppfyllda, his new single, shot straight into the Swedish Top 10. I don’t know if it’s meant to be, but the track sounds like a pop quiz. How many historical references do you spot?
The song starts with a version of the ‘ging, gi-gi-gi-gi-ging’ part in Marlena Shaw’s Woman Of The Ghetto (the live version of which was famously sampled in Blue Boy’s Remember Me). The percussion must have been inspired by The Rolling Stones’ Sympathy For The Devil, Baba O’Riley by The Who is incorporated and Bruce Springsteen’s Jungleland springs to mind as well. With so many great influences, what could possibly go wrong? Well, nothing. Alla Drömmar Är Uppfyllda is both classic and timeless. Well done by Håkan Hellström and (Caesars and Teddybears frontman) Joakim Ahlund, who co-wrote and produced the song.
An edited version with English lyrics could very well become a hit outside of Sweden as well. But why wait? This week, Alla Drömmar Är Uppfyllda by Håkan Hellström will feature prominently at the top of the Carte Blanche Music blog as our new Wildcard!
In the Wildcards 2020 playlist you’ll 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.
Wildcard (week 21):
Gizmo Varillas – Born Again
Since releasing his debut album El Dorado in early 2017, Spanish singer-songwriter Gizmo Varillas received praise from Yoko Ono, opened up for Jack Savoretti and was added to George Ezra’s Spotify playlist. Varillas’ mix of folky pop, tropical instrumentation, and Latin and Afrobeat rhythms make for an overall happy sound. But don’t be mistaken, in some cases this contrasts with sad lyrics.
His new single however, has a message of hope. In Gizmo’s own words, Born Again is ‘about personal transformation, changing from within and giving yourself the chance to start over’. “Even if we reach our lowest point, we can always rise up again. And in many ways, it’s about never giving up and empowering yourself to go on.”
Born Again is the third single off Varillas’ upcoming album Out Of The Darkness (out on 5 June). It’s also featured in the BBC’s brand-new series ‘Alabama’. The song’s chorus has a slight resemblance with XXL by Mylène Farmer, of whom I’m a big fan as well.
This week, Born Again by Gizmo Varillas is the Carte Blanche Music Wildcard. As a result, it’ll feature prominently at the top of this blog for a whole week.
Recommended as well:
Gizmo Varillas – Losing You
In the Wildcards 2020 playlist you’ll 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.
Wildcard (week 20):
Bloxx – Lie Out Loud
British band Bloxx consists of singer/songwriter Fee Booth, Paul Rau (bass) and Taz Sidhu (lead guitar). Within four years since their first release, they already put out more than a dozen songs. More than enough for The Wombats, Sundara Karma and Pale Waves to ask them to come on tour with them. Doubtlessly, this makes them the most successful band from Uxbridge in recent memory.
All of these accomplishments are only stepping stones for more to come. New single Lie Out Loud sounds like the missing piece in forcing Bloxx’s break-through. It’s energetic, fresh and a little bold. Even better: the chorus has ‘Dua Lipa on speed’ written all over it. What more do you need?
Lie Out Loud is this week’s Carte Blanche Music Wildcard!
In the Wildcards 2020 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.
Wildcard (week 19):
Shade – Morningmaker
Shade may be from Canada, but they were raised on a diet of Brit rock and grunge. While they don’t intend to hide that, they inject their influences with a fresh dose of 21st-century swagger.
The five-piece band just released their debut album Combat Rave. A record full of hooks, energy and ambition. It includes all of the band’s singles so far: Controller, She Told Me (both 2018), this year’s Brain Suck, Drive Me Wild and Combat Rave, plus five new tracks. One of those is Shade’s new single Morningmaker. Their best track so far, it sounds like a slightly polished version of Oasis. Meanwhile, the reverb on the guitar reminds of The Smiths’ How Soon Is Now? References they shouldn’t be ashamed of, I’d say.
They say about the song: “We’re all still trying to figure out exactly who/what the ‘Morningmaker’ is but we’ll leave it up to the audience to make up their own minds. Making coffee in the morning, Morningmaker. Catch the bus on time, Morningmaker. Getting that pay cheque early, Morningmaker. The Morningmaker is anything and all that’s just right, perhaps. The universe lining up. You can really only tell after four minutes and 13 seconds.
Let me explain what Morningmaker is: it’s the new Carte Blanche Music Wildcard. In that capacity, it’ll feature here prominently for a who week. Not in the shade, but in the spotlights!
In the Wildcards 2020 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.
Wildcard (week 18):
MisterWives – Rock Bottom
MisterWives came together in New York at the end of 2012 when singer Mandy Lee wanted an ’80s cover band for her birthday party. When she couldn’t find one, she decided to start a band herself with some friends. They came on my radar in 2015, when I thought Our Own House was one of the best singles of that year.
The band never disappointed me ever since. I love their high-energy, radio-friendly pop songs and the air-tight production that comes with them. It landed MisterWives earlier Carte Blanche Music Wildcards with their singles Machine and Never Give Up On Me.
Rock Bottom is their brilliant new tune. Mandy Lee explains: “Rock bottom is where I’ve spent most of my time these last couple of years, but this song is about getting up and out of that dark and painful place and knowing you never want to get to that lowest low again.”
It’s got a real fun dance groove and I absolutely love the horns on it. As far as I’m concerned, radio stations that don’t program this gem, should turn in their license immediately. For a whole week, Rock Bottom by MisterWives will feature prominently and proudly on the Carte Blanche Music blog as our new Wildcard.
Recommended as well:
MisterWives – Whywhywhy
MisterWives – Never Give Up On Me
MisterWives – Machine
In the Wildcards 2020 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.
Wildcard (week 17):
Grand Corps Malade – Effets Secondaires
Frenchman Fabien Marsaud originally wanted to become a basketball pro, but an accident prohibited him from fulfilling that ambition. This is reflected by his artist name Grand Corps Malade, which means ‘large sick body’. Now that a virus turned the whole world into a large sick body, the singer recorded a charity song. All of its proceeds will be donated to two French hospitals.
Effets Secondaires (‘side effects’) features Grand Corps Malade’s characteristic speak-singing style. It sits on top of an impressive composition by Swiss DJ/producer Quentin Mosimann, who also produced GCM’s upcoming album.
Obviously, the song applauds the real heroes of the Corona crisis, the healthcare workers. But it also points at other global disasters taking place. It warns that if Corona showed us one thing, it’s that we’re all in this together. Sooner or later, the problems of total strangers will become your problems as well. We’re all in the same boat, fighting the same threats.
A universal message that transcends the current pandemic. It’ll feature on top of this blog for a whole week as the Carte Blanche Music Wildcard!
In the Wildcards 2020 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.
Wildcard (week 16):
Dive In – Give Me A Reason
Dive In released two EP’s in 2015 and a handful of singles the year after. The Glastonbury band just put out their first track in four years. ‘And certainly not the last’, they promise on social media.
Let’s hope so, for new single Give Me A Reason has an epic sound. Equal parts electronic and guitar-pop, it’s made for festivals. The one in their backyard for starters, although that’ll have to wait until 2021.
By the way: also check out the artwork to Dive In’s releases, which has been remarkably consistent (as well as beautiful) throughout the years.
In the Wildcards 2020 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.
Wildcard (week 15):
Izo FitzRoy – Red Line
I recommended Red Line by Izo Fitzroy before, but some songs just can’t get enough attention. An ultimate spring track, it’s this week’s Carte Blanche Music Wildcard!
On Red Line, alongside her own band, FitzRoy is backed by The Haggis Horns and The Soul Sanctuary Gospel Choir. Already a great track on her album How The Mighty Fall, the radio version is a beefed up affair. It’s got even more drive than the original and puts greater emphasis on the horns (which is never a bad idea). You might want to check this live version as well, by the way!
The long-player was produced by Colin Elliott, who worked with Richard Hawley, Jarvis Cocker and Paul Weller amongst others. Disco don Dimitri From Paris and Young Gun Silver Fox’s Shawn Lee lent a hand as well. With this album on repeat, you won’t even think about leaving the house!
In the Wildcards 2020 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.
Wildcard (week 14):
Roquemore – Blame
Nicolas Carette was the lead singer of Canadian band The Vasts. The past tense in this sentence does not apply to the frontman, he’s still very much alive. The band however has been disbanded. Carette will from now on be known as Roquemore.
On its Facebook page, Roquemore is described as ‘a beat-driven, baroque-orchestral rock project’. It was ‘born of a desire to recklessly reframe personal turmoil and world events’. Alrighty then… WTF?!?
I guess the best you can do is listen to Roquemore’s debut single, which is plain wonderful. Entitled Blame, it sounds like a cross of early Arcade Fire and Massive Attack. Expect tragic string arrangements, compact grooves and tormented vocals, but boy, what a beauty. Blame was engineered by Jean Massicotte, who worked with Bran Van 3000 and Patrick Watson before.
I truly can’t wait for more! Until then, Blame by Roquemore is this week’s Carte Blanche Music Wildcard.
In the Wildcards 2020 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.
