Browsing Tag hip hop
Werner’s Weekly (week 42)
How many Indian summers can one year hold? Not that I’m complaining… Likewise, there are sunny spells in musical respect as well. What other conclusion can be drawn after a week that saw artists like Alma, Joe Jackson, Maggie Rogers, Paloma Faith, Razorlight and Young The Giant drop brand new music? Not to mention the many less known musicians that made our lives a little bit better with great new tracks?
As always, Carte Blanche Music tries to introduce you to the best new tunes, regardless of the artist’s prior status, descent, gender, the language, genre, etc. Just great music for open-minded people that aren’t stuck in a niche but are happy to discover.
All of those wonderful songs are added to my Carte Blanche Music playlist on an ongoing basis, and each Monday I publish my ultimate shortlist: Werner’s Weekly, your compass to the music that matters. This, my friends, is it:
- Janelle Monáe – Americans (Wildcard this week)
- They Might Be Giants – The Communists Have The Music (Wildcard last week)
- Angèle feat. Roméo Elvis – Tout Oublier
- Satellite Stories – The Fame
- SOAK – Everybody Loves You
- Tom Helsen – Be The One
- Wooze – Party Without Ya
More info is behind each link and all seven songs can be enjoyed through the Werner’s Weekly player in the sidebar. Have fun!
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 Charts.
Angèle feat. Roméo Elvis – Tout Oublier
Angèle Van Laeken is one of the most successful young artists to have come out of Belgium the past year. Understandably, for there’s not much not to like about her. She’s cute, sturdy, funny and above all: very talented. Her songs are smart and poppy; contemporary but rooted in tradition at the same time. This provides her tunes with a sense of timelessness. On top of that, her videos are colourful and full of humour.
As a result of this whole package, all of her singles to date (La Loi De Murphy, Je Veux Tes Yeux, La Thune and Jalousie) have become hits in the European Border Breakers Chart. Apart from Belgium, especially France is fond of her songs.
22-year-old Angèle is from a musical family: her father Marka was in the band Allez Allez and her brother Roméo Elvis is a popular Belgian rap star. Her new single Tout Oublier brings brother and sister together. Could this be her (and his) break-through beyond the French-speaking world? We’ll have to see, but for music lovers who feel adventurous, this is a great song to discover.
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 Charts.
Werner’s Weekly (week 33)
With the addition of great new tracks by Elle King, My Baby, Ten Tonnes, You Me At Six and others, the Carte Blanche Music playlist got another quality boost last week. 2018 has proved a fine year for music so far, and it doesn’t show signs of slowing down, even in the midst of summer. On the contrary, when looking at Werner’s Weekly, your compass to the music that matters, one can only come to the conclusion that there are a lot of fantastic new acts to be discovered as well.
As always, this shortlist is made up of the latest two Wildcards, complemented by the best new releases of the last week. More info is behind the links below, and you can listen to the songs via the Werner’s Weekly player in the sidebar.
- Jade Bird – Uh Huh (Wildcard this week)
- Manic Street Preachers – People Give In (Wildcard last week)
- Danko – Hit Me Up
- Dizzy – Backstroke
- Fanclub – Leaves
- Gecko Turner – Un Limón En La Cabeza
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 Charts.
Gecko Turner – Un Limón En La Cabeza
Gecko Turner (born Fernando Gabriel Echave Pelaez) grew up in Badajoz, Spain, a small town about halfway between Lisbon and Madrid. He learned English from the blues artists he loved. After a long musical journey, he started composing in a style that combined jazz, blues, samba, reggae, hip-hop, Arab music, and more into something all his own.
When he went to the copyright office to register his songs, the form had a space for both his proper name and an alias. Being nicknamed ‘Gecko’ since boyhood and loving the music of Big Joe Turner, he wrote down Gecko Turner.
His first album Guapapasea! featured the track Un Limón En La Cabeza, that grew out to become one of Turner’s signature tunes. 15 years later, ahead of the release of Soniquete, a compilation of greatest hits, previously unreleased gems and new songs by Gecko Turner (slated for release in autumn 2018), the track is re-released.
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 Charts.
Werner’s Weekly (week 31)
Even the ‘full version’ of my music recommendations doesn’t drown you in an infinite pool of new songs. My intention is not to present you with all new music, but only with the best new tracks. Last week, I added 20 great tunes to my container playlist Carte Blanche Music, by artists like Elvis Costello, Elvis Presley, Everlast, The Hunna, Miles Kane, Lenny Kravitz, Tom Morello & Knife Party, and Maggie Rogers. Feel free to follow for fresh finds very frequently 😉.
For an overview of the new songs that are not to be missed, this is Werner’s Weekly, your compass to the music that matters. 21 minutes of good stuff, that you can check through the Werner’s Weekly player in the sidebar. Via the links below you can read more about every track.
- Young Gun Silver Fox – Kingston Boogie (Wildcard this week)
- Lizzo – Boys (Wildcard last week)
- Axel Flóvent – Close To You
- Big Data – Evolution Once Again
- Jennie Lena – Trouble
- Radkey – Basement
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 Charts.
Werner’s Weekly (week 30)
A-typically, since it’s mid-summer, last week was a good one for rock music. Adelitas Way, Imagine Dragons, Man With A Mission, Metric, and Spring King are among the acts that delivered great guitar tracks, all of which you can find in my 2018 container playlist Carte Blanche Music. But it also welcomes new songs by Mary J. Blige, David Bowie, Kodaline, and Muse, to name but a few. In other words: it comes close to the holy grail of music discovery 😉.
If you have less time, or trust me to make the right choices for you, Werner’s Weekly is your compass to the music that matters. Always short and snappy, with only the best of the best new music. The songs are listed below and you can listen to them all through the Werner’s Weekly player in the sidebar. Click the links for more background!
- Lizzo – Boys (Wildcard this week)
- Satellite Stories – Carried Away (Wildcard last week)
- Joan – Stop And Stare
- Leoniden – Kids
- Nona – It’s Alright
- Stillmode – Wild One
- Waylon – That’s How She Goes
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 Charts.
Wildcard (week 29):
Lizzo – Boys
Lizzo is the stage name of 30-year-old American rapper Melissa Jefferson. She’s based in Minneapolis, which probably explains the funk in her music. But she doesn’t shy away from injecting a fair amount of soul into her songs either. Good As Hell and Worship (both from her Coconut Oil EP) are great examples. And don’t forget to check YDLM by The Griswolds (‘you don’t love me’), which features Lizzo in a major way. I loved the track so much back then, It ended high in the Carte Blanche Top 2016. Over the years, Lizzo featured on songs by Bastille, Clean Bandit and Prince & 3rdeyegirl as well.
Boys, however, is a new solo outing. And boy, do I like it. The song combines a heavy bassline, tinkling cowbell and groovy guitar licks with Lizzo’s trademark funny verses about all varieties of boys lucky enough to get her attention. An infectious homage to unbridled joy, energy and sexuality, Lizzo’s Boys is this week’s Carte Blanche Music Wildcard (all of which you can find in the Wildcards 2018 playlist).
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 Charts.
Werner’s Weekly (week 29)
A diverse set of music acts, ranging from Suede and The Hunna, via Galantis and Sigrid to Sofi Tukker and Confidence Man, was added to my 2018 gross list Carte Blanche Music last week. That playlist is updated constantly and contains the best music that the year 2018 produced so far. It’s impossible for me to review all of those tracks here, so please follow that list for a bigger picture of great new music. All killers, no fillers.
Every Monday I present you with a more condensed overview. Werner’s Weekly features only the best of the best, and is your compass to the music that matters. You can listen to them all via the Werner’s Weekly player in the sidebar and get more information by clicking the links below. Enjoy!
- Satellite Stories – Carried Away (Wildcard this week)
- Carlos Jean feat. Teyou & Annya – Yucatán (Wildcard last week)
- DRMS & L’Isle – La Vague
- Johnny Marr – Day In Day Out
- Laurence Jones – Don’t You Let Me Go
- teddy<3 – I Was In A Cult
- TenTemPiés – Only You
- The Bamboos – Night Time People
- Vanille – Glace Vanille
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 Charts.
The Bamboos – Night Time People
The Bamboos are an Australian funk and soul band that was formed in Melbourne right at the start of this century. Last autumn, the 9-piece scored a Carte Blanche Music Wildcard with their cover of The Easybeats’ I’ll Make You Happy, but this year, they’re back with some originals.
Night Time People, The Bamboos’ eighth studio album, is their first long player in three years’ time. It was preceded by the singles Lit Up and Broken (which came in three versions, with three different MCs). Third in line is the album’s title track, that allows singer Kylie Auldist to shine.
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 Charts.
Werner’s Weekly (week 27)
All Time Low, The Asteroids Galaxy Tour, Chromeo, Sheryl Crow, Florence & The Machine, Jain, Pale Waves and Paramore and many more well-known artists came up with great new music the last week. At the same time, of course, a lot of huge acts released crappy music, but that’s not what this blog is about 😉.
My bulk playlist Carte Blanche Music features the best new music of the year so far. Mostly brand new tracks by artists that are yet to be discovered. Following it is highly recommended. And to make your life even easier, I publish a shortlist every Monday with only the very best new songs. Werner’s Weekly is your compass to the music that matters. You’ll find it below. Click the links for more info and listen to the tracks via the Werner’s Weekly player in the sidebar.
- Jara – Something Else (Wildcard this week)
- Shanguy – King Of The Jungle (Wildcard last week)
- Aly & AJ – Good Love
- Buika – Deadbeat
- Freya Ridings – Ultraviolet
- Sloes – Misunderstood
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 Charts.
