Browsing Tag funk
single trackSpecialists – I Got You
Specialists – I Got You
Specialists were formed in New York in 2017 by singer/guitarist Will Harden and bassist/producer Mikey Rotunno. As a duo, they composed works for bands of various sizes, across a multitude of genres. In the process, they evolved into a fully-fledged quartet, featuring Christian Hickey on drums and Pete Harden on keys. Their sound, a fine blend of funk, rock, R&B and jazz, is built around layered guitar and vocals, driving electric bass and a contagious groove.
The band currently have three albums out, and a fourth full-length effort is scheduled for release this spring. I Got You is the first single to be released ahead of it. With a more dance-oriented sound, it paints a neat picture of what to expect from the upcoming record. The disco bassline is a distinctive part of the song. It’s complemented with pop/rock verses, a slap bass chorus and EDM-influences. All ingredients to get you on your feet are present. Lyrically, the song is about Will and Mikey’s close and ever-growing friendship.
Follow Specialists on Facebook | Instagram | Spotify
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
I’m a music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Have been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, I developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
werner's weekly
Werner’s Weekly (week 12)
This is Werner’s Weekly, your compass to new music that matters, containing the two most recent Carte Blanche Music Wildcards, and the best of the other new releases in alphabetical order:
- Haley Ganis – Just Pretty
(Wildcard this week) - Iris Gold – Crushed Velvet
(Wildcard last week) - Beka – Don’t Call Me A Friend
- Brooke – That’s Rich
- Gorgeous – Divine
- Nazzereene – That’s How I Like It
- Tommy – Uninvited Attention
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: Arcade Fire, Fickle Friends, Skunk Anansie, and more.
I’m a music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Have been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, I developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
werner's weekly
Werner’s Weekly (week 11)
This is Werner’s Weekly, your compass to new music that matters, containing the two most recent Carte Blanche Music Wildcards, and the best of the other new releases in alphabetical order:
- Iris Gold – Crushed Velvet (Wildcard this week)
- Two Year Vacation – Chasing The Morning
(Wildcard last week) - Daimy Lotus – Never Get Me
- Gang Of Youths – Forbearance
- Nikki & The Waves – Online Chess
- Reddi – The Show
- The New Shining – Thief
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: Florence & The Machine, Megan Thee Stallion & Dua Lipa, Sigrid, and more.
I’m a music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Have been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, I developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
single track
Shirley Davis & The Silverbacks – Take Out The Trash
Shirley Davis has been around the world quite a bit. Born in London to Jamaican parents, she moved to Australia when she married at 16. She stayed downunder for many years and built a successful career in the funk/soul/R&B scene. In 2016, shortly after returning to Europe, Sharon Jones invited Davis on stage at one of her shows in Madrid. A label representative who attended the concert immediately invited her to record an album with Spanish band The Silverbacks.
This resulted in the successful record Black Rose, which was followed in 2018 by sophomore long-player Wishes And Wants. Their colourful blend of exotic soul and funk, both light and heavy, firmly put the band on the international map. On 23 March, third album Keep On Keepin’ On will come out. It’s named after the last advice Sharon Jones texted to Davis.
Take Out The Trash is her new single. A fast and frantic funky soul track that sounds old-school and organic. Almost 50 years old, Davis gives it her all. Props to The Silverbacks as well, who are strutting their stuff as if they were The Dap-Kings themselves.
Follow Shirley Davis on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify
Follow The Silverbacks on Facebook | Instagram | Spotify
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
I’m a music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Have been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, I developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
single track, wildcardWildcard (week 10):
Wildcard (week 10):
Iris Gold – Crushed Velvet
I don’t have to tell you that nowadays, the amount of new artists and tracks is huge. On the one hand that’s great; if you’re open-minded and not afraid to listen to totally unknown acts or songs, you might very well stumble upon a new personal favourite. On the other hand, it’s easier than ever to overlook a great act or fantastic song. In that respect, I ask myself how it’s possible I didn’t come across the brilliant Iris Gold before?
Iris’ career finally took off in 2015, after a long and not too successful run-up. She was offered record deals, but she didn’t sign when she felt she had to make too many compromises. Which was almost every time. Free from restraints and restrictions, she made a debut album that was truly her own. This record, Planet Cool, was a tribute to diversity and to staying true to yourself, no matter the cost.
Since some time, Iris Gold collaborates with David A. Stewart, of Eurythmics fame. He co-wrote and produced her new single Crushed Velvet. Sounding like a hard-hitting version of Funky Town, it’s a song Lenny Kravitz would kill for.
The singer says about her new single: “The world can be crazy sometimes and sometimes all the time. With this song i guess i can offer you 2 min. of escape to a carefree purple planet. A headbangers ball for ya’ll.”
As far as I’m concerned, Gold will strike platinum with this one. Just like her latest single Piece Of Mine two months ago, Crushed Velvet is the Carte Blanche Music Wildcard. This means it’ll feature at the top of the blog for a full seven days.
Recommended as well:
Piece Of Mine
Follow Iris Gold on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify
In the Wildcards 2022 playlist you’ll find all of this year’s Carte Blanche Music Wildcards so far.
I’m a music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Have been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, I developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
single trackNikki & The Waves – Online Chess
Nikki & The Waves – Online Chess
Nikki Milla, Tom Spencer and Tom Want are Nikki & The Waves. They’re a Liverpool-based band that released its first EP Look How Blue The Night Looks in 2018. Four years and more than a handful of tracks later, their second EP is coming up. Entitled Songs To Play Tennis To, it’ll be out in April. All six tracks on it were recorded in just two days, and produced by Joel Patchett (King Krule, The Orielles and Billy Ocean).
Talking to online magazine Bido Lito, the band say the EP shows their more playful side. Both musically and lyrically. It represents something of a love letter to pop, R&B and funk and the songs are about genuinely mundane things.
Online Chess is the EP’s first single. An infectious track built around a squelching bass sound, simple but effective trombone notes and some fine Rhodes piano.
Recommended as well:
Anywhere
Shirts
Follow Nikki & The Waves on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
I’m a music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Have been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, I developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
werner's weekly
Werner’s Weekly (week 9)
This is Werner’s Weekly, your compass to new music that matters, containing the two most recent Carte Blanche Music Wildcards, and the best of the other new releases in alphabetical order. As you can see, Aussie artists did a great job last week:
- Dylan – No Romeo (Wildcard this week)
- Barks IV & I.Am.Em – Hittin’ It (Wildcard last week)
- Alice Offley – Pour (Your Love On Me)
- Hollie Col – Seasick
- Hope D – Hate Goodbyes
- Slowly Slowly – Nothing On
- Sunday Hunter – Illogical Sphere
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: Brian May, Regina Spektor, Tears For Fears, and more.
I’m a music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Have been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, I developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
single trackAlice Offley – Pour (Your Love On Me)
Alice Offley – Pour (Your Love On Me)
Do you like disco, funk and other kinds of feel-good music? Think Prince, Kylie Minogue, Chic, Diana Ross, Whitney Houston, Billy Ocean or Moloko… If so, you’re in good company. Alice Offley loves them as well. And she knows what she’s talking about. She happens to be a cousin of Dusty Springfield, and credits her family for her love of soul and disco music.
As a professional musician and singing bass player, she shared the stage with the likes of Thompson Twins, Tricky and Cyndi Lauper. Having toured internationally with bands and solo since she was a teenager, she built a great live reputation.
As said, Offley is a solo artist as well. Her day job is singing and playing piano in London bars. In 2020, she put out two singles, which are now followed by new track Pour (Your Love On Me). A sultry disco stomper with funky guitars and, obviously, a prominent bassline.
Offley says about the tune: “I’d written a fair few songs about heartbreak and loss, and I wanted to focus my next batch of material on happier subjects. Pour is about lots of feel-good things in life – from new love to sugar, angel delight, dancing, drinking, and fun!”
Follow Alice offley on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist.
I’m a music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Have been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, I developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
werner's weekly
Werner’s Weekly (week 4)
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:
- Nile Marr – Only Time Can Break Your Heart (Wildcard this week)
- Iris Gold – Piece Of Mine (Wildcard last week)
- Bash! – In My Head
- Emma Dilemma – Vulnerability
- Mamas Gun – Looking For Moses
- Niko Rubio – Hold Me Down
- Stacey Jackson – Flipside
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: Aurora, Billy Talent, Purple Disco Machine + Sophie & The Giants, and more.
I’m a music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Have been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, I developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
werner's weekly
Werner’s Weekly (week 3)
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:
- Iris Gold – Piece Of Mine (Wildcard this week)
- Superbird – Elevation Airways (Wildcard last week)
- Goodbye June – Stand And Deliver
- Karin Simonian – Beat On My Heart
- Spence Paull – When I’m Lonely
- The Vices – Strange Again
- Who Parked The Car – Rock Climbing
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: Eddie Vedder, Placebo, Richard Ashcroft, White Lies, The Wombats and more.
I’m a music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Have been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, I developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.
