Browsing Tag dance
Pet Shop Boys – Undertow
The Pet Shop Boys’ album Super already produced the radio singles The Pop Kids, Twenty-Something and Say It To Me. A fourth release is on its way.
The album track Undertow will be issued as a vinyl EP on 21 April. The record will feature two remixes of the lead track, a remix of Burn and, most interestingly, a new version of one of my all-time favourites: Left To My Own Devices. The latter was produced by Stuart Price, who based his mix on the version the Pet Shop Boys perform during their (still ongoing) Super Tour.
If Pet Shop Boys would ever consider releasing another single proper from their Super album, I’d suggest this sure fire hit… it’s Groovy baby!
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.
Mosimann (feat. Joe Cleere) – Never Let You Go
Quentin Mosimann is a Swiss DJ/producer. At the age of 20, he won the French TV reality show Star Academy and currently he is coach in The Voice Belgique himself.
He is ranked in DJ Mag’s Top 100 of best DJ’s for the fourth consecutive year, makes remixes for other artists and also releases his own songs. His most recent single is a great one. Never Let You Go features vocals by British singer Joe Cleere.
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 10):
Fatboy Slim – Where U Iz
Beats International, Freakpower, Pizzaman, Mighty Dub Katz, Fatboy Slim… It’s all one and the same man: Norman Cook, who started his career as bass player in The Housemartins.
Fatboy Slim is far and away Cook’s most successful alias and it’s been too long since we heard from him. Over three years, to be exact. He broke through with The Rockafeller Skank, in 1998, and followed it up with classic dance tracks like Praise You, Right Here, Right Now and – more recently – Eat, Sleep, Rave, Repeat. That was at the end of 2013.
Now the boy is back with an epic new track. It’s bound to set both dance floors and living rooms on fire with its joyful party vibe, Elton John-style piano, infectious horns, funky guitars and repetitive lyrics (“Where U Iz is where it’s at, and you can’t beat that with a baseball bat”). I absolutely love it, so the whole of the coming week it’ll feature on top of the Carte Blanche Music blog as this week’s 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.
Werner’s Weekly (week 10)
It’s impossible for me to write about all good music that comes out each week. So I must make a selection for this blog. With a few exceptions to the rule, I usually choose brand new artists to feature on Carte Blanche Music, tracks that you probably haven’t heard yet, and that would run the risk of passing by unnoticed if I wouldn’t place them on a pedestal.
But there is so much more… Thankfully, there is Spotify. My Carte Blanche Music playlist has enough room to feature all great new tracks that appear each week. Not only by brand new acts, but also by more established artists like Little Steven, Bush, Lorde, DJ Premier, Di-Rect and Spoon. All of them great acts, with great new songs. Subscribe to that playlist and you’ll never miss any good new music anymore. Promised!
Which brings me to this week’s alphabetically sorted list of my most highly recommended tracks: Werner’s Weekly (which you can subscribe to as well, of course). Listen to these eight songs via the Werner’s Weekly player in the sidebar and read my recommendations by clicking the links.
- San Fermin – No Promises (this week’s Wildcard)
- MisterWives – Machine (last week’s Wildcard)
- Banner. – Compass
- Disciples – On My Mind
- Dreadzone – Area Code
- Groenland – Healing Suns
- Kid Francescoli – The Player
- The Curious Incident – Honey Hunger
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.
Disciples – On My Mind
Disciples are a British production trio that reached the masses in 2015 via a collaboration with Calvin Harris on what became a worldwide Top 5 hit: How Deep Is Your Love. Their collab with David Guetta (No Worries) fared less well, but their new tune is a very smart one.
The track is all about the power of repetition. After three minutes there’s no denying what the title is: On My Mind. And that’s exactly where the song will stick for the rest of the day…
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.
Werner’s Weekly (week 9)
Last week, my container playlist Carte Blanche Music, with the best new music of 2017 so far, has been updated with tracks by The Amazons, Maggie Rogers, Nina June, Spoon and many others. But believe it or not, none of those great songs made my final selection of the very, very best tracks of the past seven days: Werner’s Weekly.
The ones that did make the cut, are listed below (in alphabetical order). Click on the links to read what I wrote about them when they first featured on this blog and if you want to listen to all six songs while reading about them, simply start the Werner’s Weekly Spotify player in the sidebar. You’ll be done in 20 minutes.
- MisterWives – Machine (this week’s Wildcard)
- Fishbach – Y Crois-Tu? (last week’s Wildcard)
- Can’t Swim – We Won’t Sleep
- Loyle Carner – Ain’t Nothing Changed
- Regina Spektor – Older And Taller
- TANA – Leave Away
Obviously, the above titles are a selection of a selection, since I’m not able to write about all the tracks that I add to my container playlist. If you want to hear them all, or if you want to make your own selection, click on the image in the sidebar, which will open the complete Carte Blanche Music playlist on Spotify.
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.
TANA – Leave Away
Do you like music in the vein of Disclosure and Chainsmokers, and are you looking for more in that genre, then you’ll probably like Ukrainian band TANA, from Kiev. That name is short for ‘The Active New Atmospheric music band’.
Frontwoman Tanya Stepanova is surrounded by musicians who play keys, electronic drums and guitars. So, obviously they play electronic music, covering subgenres like future bass, electronic chill-out and downtempo.
So far, TANA have only released one EP. You can find Broken on Spotify. As you’ll hear, it all sounds very modern. The most commercial track on the EP, Leave Away, even makes me think of CHVRCHES. Just check it out and you’ll be convinced!
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.
Tom Tyger – Dimini
Many people will only remember Guinea singer-songwriter Mory Kanté for his pan European number one hit Yé Ké Yé Ké, the first ever African single to sell over one million copies, back in 1988. Although he never repeated the success of this song (despite numerous remix versions), Kanté recorded a total of 11 albums.
The album Tamala/The Voyeur (2001) contained the track Dimini. You’ll immediately recognize it as a Mory Kanté track, although the production is somewhat more modern. Which isn’t strange of course, 13 years on…
French remixer Tom Tyger has updated the track once again and released this remix under his own name. Mory Kanté’s name is nowhere to be found. So, now that we’ve set the record straight, enjoy this cover. For that’s what it is…
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.
Sir Notch – Please Don’t Go (Sam Feldt Edit)
Sir Notch is a Dutch dance pop project surrounded by some mystery. It is unclear who is/are hiding behind that smiley face. As far as the summery new single Please Don’t Go is concerned, the credits reveal that Sir Notch likes to work with talented people. The track was written by Christon Kloosterboer (who appeared on this blog before). He was also asked to sing the track. Furthermore, Sir Notch asked Sam Feldt to provide the radio edit. No wonder that radio’s response to the song is very positive.
Or for all you Spotify freaks out there:
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.
Werner’s Weekly (week 2)
Each Monday morning I’ll publish Werner’s Weekly on this blog. This might need a little explanation…
All the tracks that I recommend here (and more) appear in my container playlist Carte Blanche Music, as far as they’re available on Spotify. You’ll find this list by clicking on the image in the sidebar. The absolute highlights from this lot are selected for Werner’s Weekly, which is refreshed every Monday morning. This list (with no particular order, well, alphabetical order that is) is featured in the sidebar as well. But only one track can be the best of them all. This song is chosen as Wildcard, which will be announced on Wednesdays (Wildcard Wednesday, anyone?) and will feature prominently on top of my blog for one whole week.
That’s how it works. Now, hit the player in the sidebar to listen to the tracks in Werner’s Weekly while reading about them by clicking the links below… Enjoy!
- Sophie Ellis-Bextor – Wild Forever
- Christon feat. Maxime Barlag – Perfect World
- Dua Lipa – Thinking ‘bout You
- The Gift (feat. Brian Eno) – Clinic Hope
- Hifi Sean feat. Crystal Waters – Testify
- The Little Kicks – Goodbye Enemies, Hello Friends
- Ozark Henry – A Dream That Never Stops
- Public Service Broadcasting – Go! (Live At Brixton)
- Twin Peaks – Disappear
- Young Gun Silver Fox – Lolita
Apart from these highlights the Carte Blanche Music playlist also contains songs from Alex Clare, Bastille, Deep Sea Arcade, London Grammar, Sia and The XX, to name but a few.
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.
