Browsing Tag rock
Werner’s Weekly (week 47)
Last week a great diversity of new music saw the light. There were very good releases in every thinkable genre. After applying heavy criteria, I added the likes of Chvrches, Fun Lovin’ Criminals, Hozier, The Kooks, Rita Ora, and The Vaccines to my Carte Blanche Music playlist on Spotify, alongside a host of emerging artists you probably haven’t heard of before. And Jennifer Lopez as well. Listen to her new single Limitless without prejudice and you’ll hear it’s a really good song.
And that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Below, you can find my ‘best of the best’ selection Werner’s Weekly, your compass to the music that matters. Via the links you can access my original recommendations and you can listen to all six of the tracks via the Werner’s Weekly player in the sidebar. Here you go:
- Jonas Brøg feat. Laura Mathilde – I Think Of You I Cry (Wildcard this week)
- Jade Bird – Love Has All Been Done Before (Wildcard last week)
- 1010 Benja SL – Ultimaybe
- Audio Adam – Emma Watson
- Hollydays – Minuit (La Baie Noire)
- Moscow Apartment – Orange
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.
Knife Club – When My Eyes Are Heavy
I’m excited to introduce you to the very first single of Knife Club. This band was formed by three experienced musicians of the Brighton music scene: singer/bassist Chris Hollands, drummer Dave Bishop and guitarist Louis May. They came together in an attempt to make something different to what they had done before, but also modern and relevant.
When My Eyes Are Heavy is a blast of fresh energy, influenced by bands such as Idles, Interpol and Thee Oh Sees. Knife Club recorded this debut at the Levellers’ Metway Studio, where it was produced by Toby May (The Maccabees, The Electric Soft Parade, Clearlake). Those are great references in my book!
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.
Audio Adam – Emma Watson
It’s been over a year since we last heard from Audio Adam. Following the Dutch band’s debut album This Is Our Home and its follow-up Moving Down The Grey Line, they recorded a few stand-alone singles. Break Down was the latest, 14 months ago.
Since then, the band shrunk into a trio, which recorded the songs for their upcoming third album, due to be released in 2019. The first single is out now. Bass player Emiel Schaap says about the pop rock track: “Emma Watson is about worshiping famous people and an unhealthy attraction to celebrities.” The name of Harry Potter actress Emma Watson is not part of the lyrics, however. Schaap explains: “The title comes from the chorus, where we sing ‘Am I what?’, which resembles ‘Emma Watson’.”
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)
Early November and the first new Christmas songs are starting to appear. Honestly, they’re not my thing. Apart from tongue in cheek Christmas songs or festive tunes with an edge, which I add to a dedicated playlist: Werner’s X-Mess. Feel free to follow and get the party started! 😉
Meanwhile, there’s still more than enough ‘normal’ music coming out. By Ice Cube, The Kooks and The Smashing Pumpkins, for instance. I add all of this great new music to my Carte Blanche Music playlist on a daily basis and the highlights are recommended here on the blog.
And then, there is the highest level of honour: a position in Werner’s Weekly, your compass to the music that matters. This alphabetically ordered selection contains only the best of the best of last week’s releases, kicking off with the latest two Carte Blanche Music Wildcards. You can listen to the tracks via the Werner’s Weekly player in the sidebar, while more information on each track is available through the links below:
- Jade Bird – Love Has All Been Done Before (Wildcard this week)
- The Proclaimers – Then It Comes To Me (Wildcard last week)
- Nona – Last To Know
- Ruby Bones – Not Enough
- Sophie & The Giants – Waste My Air
- Sunflower Bean – Come For Me
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.
Sunflower Bean – Come For Me
Julia Cumming, Jacob Faber and Nick Kivlen, who form Sunflower Bean, are a bunch of busy bees. After delivering their second album Twentytwo In Blue last March, they’ve been touring constantly. In the meantime, the New York band also managed to record a new EP. It’s called King Of The Dudes and set for release on 25 January 2019.
The EP is preceded by the single Come For Me, which they recorded with pop producer Justin Raisen, who worked with Charli XCX, Santigold and Sky Ferreira before. This collaboration results in a somewhat poppier vibe, while the song still sounds self-assured and rebellious.
Speaking about Come For Me, Julia Cumming says: “This song was inspired by inner strength, power, and sexual freedom. In 2018 there is no time to waste and no time for shame. This song is a declaration of that. Do you really want to come for me? Do you really want to waste my time? The song is a dare, a threat, and a beckoning.”
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 45):
Jade Bird – Love Has All Been Done Before
Ever since her debut single Cathedral, I’ve been a Jade Bird fan. She started her career singing covers of songs by the likes of Pixies, Beyoncé and Drake, but switched to originals upon the release of her debut EP Something American, in the summer of 2017.
Last August, her single Uh Huh was a Carte Blanche Music Wildcard and later that month, I witnessed her live with only her guitar and great voice at the Lowlands festival. She came, saw and conquered. Alas, Dutch radio was probably looking the other way at the moment, but thanks to support from radio stations in northern Europe, Uh Huh is currently a well-deserved Top 3 hit in the European Border Breakers Charts.
Without further ado, Jade Bird just released her new single Love Has All Been Done Before, a tune that goes down well at her concerts as well. The song starts off sweet enough, but already after a few lines, there’s no more holding back and the track builds up to an explosive chorus. Sounding like she ate a handful of gravel, Love Has All Been Done Before is easily her most energetic and rocky single to date.
While we’re eagerly awaiting Bird’s debut album to land early in 2019, we give her new single wings by making it her second Carte Blanche Music Wildcard in a row.
In the Wildcards 2018 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.
Aviator Stash – Shot Song
Music is a medicine. Heartache? Loss? Bad mood? Music makes it more bearable and helps to heal the wounds. How appropriate then, that San Diego based indie band Aviator Stash named their upcoming second album Prescribed (out on 16 November).
Singer/guitarist Greg Kellogg explains: “It has a strong theme about loved ones and friends losing themselves to mental health problems. The tone of most of the album is very bright and happy which is the metaphor of so many people trying to hide behind what’s really happening in their heads and portrays everything is fun and one big party!”
Shot Song is the album’s new single. The recipe: a feel good funky guitar riff, catchy lyrics and a little sarcasm. Kellogg: “Shot song is the ultimate bar/party anthem that highlights a time when a friend conducts a party foul and takes her shot before you take yours.”
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.
Sophie & The Giants – Waste My Air
Glad you guys like Sophie & The Giants as much as I do! Last week, I could reveal that my recommendation of their single Bulldog was the most read Carte Blanche Music blog in October. In the meantime, the band also managed to enter the European Border Breakers Chart with the song.
Last week, singer Sophie Scott, guitarist Toby Holmes, bass player Bailey Stapledon and drummer Chris Hill released their first EP Adolescence. In a week and a half, opening track Waste My Air has developed into the band’s most popular track on Spotify. Four tracks into their career, it is indeed their most accessible track so far. I wouldn’t be surprised if (radio) playlist curators would pick it up, enabling Sophie & The Giants’s well-deserved definitive break-through.
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.
Ruby Bones – Not Enough
Ruby Bones are an indie rock band from New Jersey, consisting of singer-songwriter Chris Fox, drummer James Janocha, and bassist FC Spies, who managed to achieve Billboard chart success with their self-released eponymous debut album, last year. Since then, they’ve been picked up by an indie label, that contracted them to release a trio of EPs.
The first of those, Laser, has just come out. It features three high energy rock songs, all of them graced with great hooks and melodies, culminating in huge shout along choruses. First single Not Enough is a fine example!
The band comments on the song: “Not Enough is about one side of a couple never being able to meet the needs of the other, no matter how hard they might try. The song is musically more light-hearted than the last record, while still keeping the wordplay and big hooks intact.”
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 45)
Before the digital revolution, release strategies in the music business were clearly structured; the big-shot artists all came up with new material in October and November, well-placed to fully benefit from the tradition of exchanging presents at Christmas. The start of each new year was the best moment for emerging artists to drop new music, as the established ones had already shot their bolt in the months before.
However, things have changed since the arrival of – especially – the streaming platforms. They lowered the bar to put out music to a potentially worldwide audience, causing a diarrhoea of releases throughout the year, particularly on New Music Fridays. Personally, I love it, but the downside is, that we’re now in a situation of quantity over quality…
This is where Carte Blanche Music comes in! Each week, I listen to as many new songs as I can, but I only add the best tracks to my Carte Blanche Music Spotify playlist. Those additions are then narrowed down into my alphabetically ordered ‘best of the best’ list Werner’s Weekly, which is your compass to the music that matters.
This week’s edition is below, with links to my original recommendations. You can listen to the songs via the Werner’s Weekly player in the sidebar.
- The Proclaimers – Then It Comes To Me (Wildcard this week)
- Isaac Gracie – Show Me Love (Wildcard last week)
- Arthur Adam – O
- Clean Cut Kid – Emily
- Club Drive – Satisfied
- Reel Big Fish – You Can’t Have All Of Me
- Roads To Roam – Believe
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.
