Browsing Tag electronic
Stats – Naturalise Me
13 November, only a year and a half after their debut album Other People’s Lives, Stats put out opus #2. The London-based band’s sophomore record is titled Powys 1999. It was recorded in a residential studio close to where frontman Ed Seed grew up in Powys (Wales). On the album, Seed (vocals, guitar) is joined by Nicole Robson (vocals/keyboards), Stu Barter (vocals/bass), John Barrett (drums), Duncan Brown (guitar), Iso Waller-Bridge (vocals/keyboards) and Ant Whiting (keyboards).
Naturalise Me is the long-player’s first single. It’s a funky, danceable pop song with an industrial, Depeche Mode-like feel to it. The track finds Seed questioning his roots. “Growing up I felt like I didn’t fit in or belong where I was born and raised”, he says. “When it comes to the countryside we often talk about the natural – and by implication the unnatural – as if we are talking about the real, and by implication the fake. I felt somehow fake in Powys as a born incomer, un-local, neither Welsh nor English. But by looking at the landscape, I started to realise the construction and extraction behind it, and the myth of its naturalness.”
Recommended as well:
Stats – The Family Business
Stats – Lose 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.
Werner’s Weekly (week 37)
This is Werner’s Weekly, your compass to the music that matters, containing the two most recent Carte Blanche Music Wildcards, and the best of the other new releases in alphabetical order:
- Red Rum Club – Ballerino (Wildcard this week)
- Sebu with Eraserfase – The Worst That Could Happen To Us (Wildcard last week)
- Delta Spirit – The Pressure
- Gizmo Varillas – Rise
- Lucius – Man In My Radio
- Sarah Wolfe – You Don’t Know Me
- The Score feat. Awolnation – Carry On
Click the links for more info and listen to each of the tracks via the Werner’s Weekly player below.
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist. Also added last week: The Aces, Sheppard, and more.
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 36)
This is Werner’s Weekly, your compass to the music that matters, containing the two most recent Carte Blanche Music Wildcards, and the best of the other new releases in alphabetical order:
- Sebu with Eraserfase – The Worst That Could Happen To Us (Wildcard this week)
- Archie X – Loud Boy (Wildcard last week)
- Alex The Astronaut – Caught In The Middle
- Altered By Mom – You Can Do What You Want With My Heart, Babe
- Dancer – Dreamer
- Ellur – Alive
- London Grammar – Baby It’s You
Click the links for more info and listen to each of the tracks via the Werner’s Weekly player below.
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist. Also added last week: Billie Joe Armstrong, Dua Lipa, Sheryl Crow, The Smashing Pumpkins, and more.
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 35):
Sebu with Eraserfase – The Worst That Could Happen To Us
In his band Capital Cities, Sebu specialized in banging pop singles. As a commercial jingle composer, he knew how to write a catchy melody. I bet you’ll recognize their hit Safe And Sound.
As a solo artist however, Sebu makes music that impacts on a more emotional level. Both musically, lyrically and visually. His earlier singles The Secret Is Out and Have You Ever Hurt Somebody are great examples of how minimal music can be meaningful music. And his new song takes this concept to the next level.
The Worst That Could Happen To Us, a collaboration with Los Angeles-based producer Eraserfase, is based around a beautiful piano melody, prominent drums and lots of subtle electronic elements. Its lyrics are more in your face though, and so is the video. The clip is entirely made using the famous, 29 seconds short video of a Lebanese bride in Beirut, filmed at the exact moment an explosion destroyed most of the town. Talk about making an impact…
You can stream the song everywhere, obviously. But if you still like to extend your MP3 library, Sebu offers the track for free (and legally) in high quality via his website.
The Worst That Could Happen To Us is this week’s Carte Blanche Music Wildcard!
Recommended as well:
Sebu feat. Sirusho – Have You Ever Hurt Somebody
Sebu – The Secret Is Out [Lucas Vidal Arrangement]
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.
London Grammar – Baby It’s You
To me, London Grammar’s 2013 debut single Wasting My Young Years has always remained their finest moment. But it was follow-up track Stronger that really caused their break-through. Both tracks were on the band’s debut album If You Wait.
Since their sophomore album Truth Is A Beautiful Thing from 2017, London Grammar went pretty quiet. Apart from last year’s collaboration with Flume, Let Me Know, new single Baby It’s You is their first release in 3 years’ time. And surprise: it’s not one of the band’s trademark ballads this time!
For Baby It’s You, Hanna Reid, Dan Rothman and Dominic Major worked with British electronic pioneer George FitzGerald. This collaboration resulted in a track with atmospheric verses and beat-laden choruses. Somehow, it reminds me of the vibe of early ‘90s project Deep Forest, especially the title track of their debut album.
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 34):
Archie X – Loud Boy
Debut singles seldomly come any stronger than this. Archie X are a Belgian duo, and their first track is totally exciting. Parts funk and parts jazz, but 100% pop at the same time. Excuse me if I raise the bar too high, but Billie Eilish is a fair reference in my ears.
Last year, Charline D’Hoore took part in Belgian TV talent show The Voice Of Flanders, where she impressed the jury with her version of F.U. by Little Mix. Apart from playing the guitar (like she did in her audition), she also plays the piano and saxophone. Tom Lodewyckx, a musician in bands that accompany talents during TV talent shows, is her musical partner.
Loud Boy is their very first single and a very promising one. I love the kind of confident bass lines it starts with. After a short into, together with Charline’s voice, a simple but effective beat kinks in. What follows, is a rollercoaster of vocal layers, voice effects, changes in tempo, creepy whispering, a jazzy interlude and more.
D’Hoore’s impressive delivery and Lodewyckx’ tight production make for a song with international hit potential. Immediately picked up by Warner Music, it’s up to them to transform this promise into reality (no pressure 😉 ).
For starters, Loud Boy by Archie X is this week’s Carte Blanche Music Wildcard, which means it’ll feature prominently at the top of this blog for a whole week.
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.
Werner’s Weekly (week 34)
This is Werner’s Weekly, your compass to the music that matters, containing the two most recent Carte Blanche Music Wildcards, and the best of the other new releases in alphabetical order:
- Town Of Cats – Lemons (Wildcard this week)
- Altered By Mom – Walking With The Enemy (Wildcard last week)
- Altered By Mom – Better On The Page
- Amy Allen – Difficult
- Fritz – Arrow
- Liela Moss – Turn Your Back Around
- Päter – Sleep
Click the links for more info and listen to each of the tracks via the Werner’s Weekly player below.
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist. Also added last week: The Cribs, eels, Tame Impala, Weezer, and more.
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 33)
This is Werner’s Weekly, your compass to the music that matters, containing the two most recent Carte Blanche Music Wildcards, and the best of the other new releases in alphabetical order:
- Altered By Mom – Walking With The Enemy (Wildcard this week)
- The Magic Gang – Make Time For Change (Wildcard last week)
- Badflower – 30
- Black Honey – Beaches
- Leoniden – L.O.V.E.
- Lola Lennox – Back At Wrong
- Sycco – Dribble
Click the links for more info and listen to each of the tracks via the Werner’s Weekly player below.
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist. Also added last week: Midnight Oil, Saint Raymond, Yello, and more.
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 32):
Altered By Mom – Walking With The Enemy
As you may have noticed, Australia and Canada are currently two of my favourite sources of exciting new music. Altered By Mom are from Toronto.
The project started as an excuse for producer/songwriter Devon Lougheed to play with some of his favourite musicians from all across Canada. But it really took shape with the permanent addition of Gina Kennedy (bass/vocals) and Jamie Williamson (drums). Well, not really permanently actually, for in 2020, Altered By Mom are a duo consisting of Lougheed and Kennedy. In general, they play all instruments themselves.
Long before Corona kicked in, the band set a goal for themselves: they would release a song a week this year. That’s 52 songs. In other words: quite a lot! Still, they manage to maintain a high standard, combining a knack for infectious melodies and classic song-writing with a quirky sense of humour and a tongue-in-cheek post-grunge aesthetic. They describe themselves as ‘like Sloan had a baby with Barenaked Ladies… and then that baby stole your cigarettes’.
Walking With The Enemy is the pair’s latest single. Or, by the time you read this, they’ll probably have released a follow-up already. But Walking With The Enemy is a song worth servicing to radio stations and playlist curators. It’s an above par track which starts with an ‘80s, Neue Deutsche Welle kind of synth, before the drum kicks in. What follows is a tune so catchy, it deserves to be a hit (whatever that may mean these days).
As I like to put my money where my mouth is, Walking With The Enemy by Altered By Mom is this week’s Carte Blanche Music Wildcard!
Recommended as well:
Altered By Mom – Hear That Sound
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.
Werner’s Weekly (week 32)
This is Werner’s Weekly, your compass to the music that matters, containing the two most recent Carte Blanche Music Wildcards, and the best of the other new releases in alphabetical order:
- The Magic Gang – Make Time For Change (Wildcard this week)
- Crimer – Eyes Off Me (Wildcard last week)
- Alfie Templeman – Things I Thought Were Mine
- Bloxx – Off My Mind
- Everything Everything – Violent Sun
- Machine Gun Kelly – Bloody Valentine
- Yours Truly – Together
Click the links for more info and listen to each of the tracks via the Werner’s Weekly player below.
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist. Also added last week: Bastille feat. Graham Coxon, Biffy Clyro, Semisonic, Snow Patrol & The Saturday Songwriters and more.
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.
