Browsing Tag rock
Mondo Cozmo – Come On
Singer-songwriter Joshua Ostrander‘s career began as part of the alt-rock band Laguardia. After one album, he started Eastern Conference Champions with friend and long-time bandmate Greg Lyons. In April 2016, Ostrander released his first solo single under the Mondo Cozmo name: Hold On To Me.
His new single Come On is a star-studded affair. Co-written by Dan Wilson (Semisonic), it features guitarist Peter Hayes (Black Rebel Motorcycle Club) and drummer Sean Friday (Dead Sara). It was produced by Lars Stalfors (Cold War Kids, Foster The People) and mixed by Mark ‘Spike’ Stent (U2, Madonna). Ostrander’s second solo album is due out next year.
On the single, he says: “I went to Dan Wilson’s house and asked him if we could write a song like Low by Cracker. The song that came from that attempt was Come On. During this time the Malibu fires were burning, the idea of watching the city burn was where this imagery came from.”
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 46)
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:
- Halie – Good Kids (Wildcard this week)
- Palaye Royale – Hang On To Yourself (Wildcard last week)
- Clara Luciani – Ma Soeur
- Dua Lipa – Don’t Start Now
- Field Music – Only In A Man’s World
- Jonas Brøg – That Feeling
- Sophie & The Giants – Runaway
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: Ash, George Michael, Róisín Murphy, Tom Walker, Zucchero, and many 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 45)
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:
- Palaye Royale – Hang On To Yourself (Wildcard this week)
- Lizzo & Ariana Grande – Good As Hell [Remix] (Wildcard last week)
- Barrie – Drag
- Hayley Mary – The Piss, The Perfume
- Inge van Calkar – Get Out Of My Way
- Therapie Taxi – Candide Crush
- Zola – Crystal Floors
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: Ariana Grande (with Chaka Khan), Haim, Pixies, The Script, and many 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.
Sex Machine Octopus – I Know
Laurent Boland (vocals, guitar), Oliver Cohen-Daigle (bass), Samuel Morissette (drums) and Georges Gagnon (guitar) are all from Montreal. They met in high school in 2015, where they formed Sex Machine Octopus. Since their first EP Fish In The Sea (2016), they have worked on their debut full-length Plastic Scenes.
During the making of this album, the band’s music style shifted from soulful indie folk to punchy, groovy alternative rock. Both styles are represented on the record, making it an eclectic bunch of songs.
One of the nine tracks on Plastic Scenes is the Canadian outfit’s new single I Know. The band say about it: “With I Know, we took one of our older, less mature songs we had written in high school and exchanged the sad, bluesy ballad parts of it for something way more groovy and badass. It’s still a love song in every way but now it feels fresher and a lot more like summer than previous versions. Honestly, we just want people to have fun with this one. It was one of our first tries as well to push the band into a much more groovy and fun universe.”
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 44):
Palaye Royale – Hang On To Yourself
Palaye Royale are a Canadian fashion-rock trio (Remington Leith, Sebastian Danzig and Emerson Barrett), currently based in Las Vegas. The band is named after the Toronto dancehall where their grandparents met in the 1950s. Combining fast-paced dirty rock ‘n’ roll, glam, sweat, showmanship and song-writing, Palaye Royal aim to build a bridge between the swinging cool of the ‘60s and the swagger of latter day Brit Pop. The Animals singer Eric Burdon’s daughter Alex persuaded the founder of the Sumerian label to go and see the band. He offered them a contract the same night.
So far, Palaye Royal put out two albums: Boom Boom Room Part 1 and Part 2. Additionally, they released 3 singles in anticipation of album #3. Perfectly timed for Halloween, the band’s latest single is a smash. Hang On To Yourself by Palaye Royale is this week’s Carte Blanche Music Wildcard!
In the Wildcards 2019 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.
Jara – Don’t Drop The Funk
Jara Jurado, a musician and songwriter from San Diego, is inspired by ’80s horror films like ‘Nightmare On Elm Street’ and ‘The Lost Boys’, as well as artists like Prince and The 1975. Just in time for Halloween 2019, the horror-pop icon has launched a new single.
Don’t Drop The Funk opens with a playful intro before a tight synth-bassline kicks in. Further synth stabs, screams and a guitar solo add some suspense, but it never gets scary. On the contrary, this might be the most (radio-)friendly Halloween song you’ll hear this year.
Recommended as well:
Jara – Something Else
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.
Hayley Mary – The Piss, The Perfume
So, I was in Australia the last month. A great country/continent, with a great music scene. A lot of bands from down under have graced these pages already, and I will continue to ask your attention for them.
One of Australia’s most popular bands is The Jezabels. With the group on hiatus since 2017, it was only a matter of time before frontwoman Hayley Mary went solo. Her debut single The Piss, The Perfume was produced by Scott Horscroft (Silverchair, Middle Kids, The Presets). Part punk, part classic American rock, the track doubles as both a love song and an ode to the singer-songwriter’s hometown Sydney.
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 40)
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:
- Georgia – Never Let You Go (Wildcard this week)
- Mélodie Lauret – 23h28 (Wildcard last week)
- Ana & The Changes – Beneath My Lungs / I Turned 30 Yesterday
- Lizzo – Good As Hell
- Madame Psychosis – Kapow
- Sheila & The Kit – Mike
- The Lighthouse – Pretty Classy
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: Liam Gallagher, Sløtface, Tegan & Sara, Temples, and many 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.
Madame Psychosis – Kapow
Madame Psychosis are a five-piece, female-led, alt-pop/indie-rock band, based in Toronto, Canada. But let’s talk about that name first. It comes from a David Foster Wallace book called Infinite Jest. One of the characters in the book, Joelle Van Dyne, goes by the moniker of Madame Psychosis. The band loved the name, so they adopted it as theirs.
Then, more importantly, the music. The band tend to say their music sounds like a cross between The Black Keys and Alabama Shakes. Others also mentioned similarities to Metric and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. With a description like that, it’s a complete mystery to me why Madame Psychosis didn’t cross my path earlier than this week.
The band just released their second album Survivor. It contains the great singles Just Wanna Be Myself, Crashing Down, and the most recent one: Kapow. Mindful of the slogan ‘don’t bore us, get to the chorus’, they don’t waste any time on an intro. And less than a minute after the explosive opening chords, we hear the first guitar solo. Furthermore, the up-beat feel-good song contains a catchy chorus that’s impossible not to sing along to.
In Madame Psychosis’ words: “Kapow highlights the pursuit that lies at the heart of getting someone you’re interested in to give you a chance, and the heart-dropping moment of being rejected. This song is easily one of our favourites to perform live with its high-energy vibe. We wanted to create a fun summer song that people could sing along to and we believe we pulled it off.” Like hell they did!
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.
Larkins – Not Enough Love
Larkins are one of the most exciting and in-demand bands to emerge from Manchester in recent times. This summer, they released their Sugar Sweet EP, containing most of their earlier singles. Now, it’s time for a brand-new track.
Not Enough Love is rich with synth-infused guitars and will go down well with fans of The 1975. It finds the four-piece reminiscing on nostalgic times and looking forward to the future. Regarding the single frontman Josh Noble says: “Not Enough Love was born from thinking about our hometown. I just remember feeling like we just had to get out of there and moving to Manchester was such a big deal for us. The production is my favourite yet. We slowed stuff down to record and then sped it up to create really cool guitar tones. I think lyrically I just wanted to talk about everything that went on when I was a kid and being so frustrated with the politics that comes with a small suburban town.”
Larkins are currently recording their debut album with producers Dan Nigro (A-Trak, Sky Ferreira, Lewis Capaldi), Andrew Dawson (Kanye West, Fun, Kid Cudi) and Chris Zane (Friendly Fires, Passion Pit).
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.
