Browsing Tag ska
Wernerâs Weekly (week 15)
This is Wernerâs 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. No complaints about diversity, Iâd say, 6 out of the 7 being female(-fronted) acts:
- Georgia – About Work The Dancefloor (Wildcard this week)
- Maggie Lindemann – Friends Go (Wildcard last week)
- Moddi – Kriegspiel
- Self Esteem – Girl Crush
- Stefanie Heinzmann – You Get Me
- The Veronicas – Think Of Me
- Yonaka – Lose Our Heads
Click the links for more info and listen to each of the tracks via the Wernerâs Weekly player below.
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist. Also added last week: Alex Lahey, Circa Waves, The Heavy, Vampire Weekend, whenyoung, and many 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.
Wernerâs Weekly (week 14)
This is Wernerâs 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:
- Maggie Lindemann – Friends Go (Wildcard this week)
- Shanguy – ToukassĂ© (Wildcard last week)
- Kakkmaddafakka – Sin
- Model Depose – Damage Control
- Neo Minor – Run
- Vant – Propaganda Machine
- Vendredi Sur Mer – La Nuit
Click the links for more info and listen to each of the tracks via the Wernerâs Weekly player below.
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist. Also added last week: AngĂšle, Perry Farrell, Rammstein, and many 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.
Wildcard (week 13):
Maggie Lindemann – Friends Go
When Los Angeles singer-songwriter Maggie Lindemann released her debut single Pretty Girl in 2016, she immediately hit the bullâs eye. It was a Top 10 hit all over Europe, clocking 550 million Spotify streams to date. Thatâs such a huge number, that some of her other tracks, with 20 to 50 million streams, almost seem like flops (which they arenât, obviously).
On her funky new single, Lindemann tries a new sound, incorporating ska elements. In an interview with Billboard, she says that her love of pop-punk and ska hasnât been represented in her music before, so she wanted to create a track that offered something new to her fans. âI love No Doubt, Panic! At The Disco, but I also love my pop music. So I wanted to give all of that kinda in one, my own take on it.â
Also looking forward to a remix Blink-182âs Travis Barker made of this track. But for now, the single version of Maggie Lindemannâs Friends Go is the Carte Blanche Music Wildcard, giving it the most prominent position on this blog for a whole week.
In the Wildcards 2019 playlist you can find all of this yearâs 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.
Wernerâs Weekly (week 51)
This is Wernerâs Weekly, your compass to the music that matters, containing the two most recent Carte Blanche Music Wildcards and the best new releases in alphabetical order:
- I Wear* Experiment – Almere (Wildcard this week)
- The Vaccines – All My Friends Are Falling In Love (Wildcard last week)
- All Good Things – Machines
- Fever High – Avec You
- The Orielles – It Makes You Forget (Itgehane)
- The Specials – Vote For Me
Click the links for more info and listen to each of the tracks via the Wernerâs Weekly player.
For more great new music, follow the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist. Also added last week: Ian Brown, Janelle Monae, Pip Blom, Rival Sons and many 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.
The Specials – Vote For Me
You may know The Specials as the ska band they are, who scored hits like A Message To You Rudy, Ghost Town and Nelson Mandela (as The Special AKA) in the early eighties. But perhaps youâre more familiar with bands that originate from The Specials, like Fun Boy Three, General Public or The Colourfield. Anyhow, thanks to several reunions throughout the years, The Specials have never really been away from the scene.
On 1 February 2019, the band â including original members Terry Hall, Lynval Golding and Horace Panter â will release their new album Encore. Vote For Me is the first single off it. A great song, that brings back memories of their hit Ghost Town.
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.
Wernerâs 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 â especially â 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 weâre now in a situation of quantity over qualityâŠ
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 âbest of the bestâ list Wernerâs Weekly, which is your compass to the music that matters.
This weekâs edition is below, with links to my original recommendations. You can listen to the songs via the Wernerâs 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.

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.
Reel Big Fish – You Can’t Have All Of Me
At the end of the 80âs, Fishbone were one of the earliest ska punk bands. They were a real treat live. The 90âs gave us acts like No Doubt, Reel Big Fish, Smash Mouth and Rancid, but the last two centuries, hardly any ska punk band achieved mainstream success anymore. Wouldnât it be great to have a ska punk revival?
Maybe Reel Big Fish can lead the way again. Probably best-known for their early singles Sell Out, She Has A Girlfriend Now and a-ha cover Take On Me, the band have never really been away. But their new single You Canât Have All Of Me is their best in recent memory. Back to the old days, in a good way. Even better: a new album, Life Sucks… Letâs Dance, is announced for December. Party on, dudes!
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.
España Circo Este – Lo Stomaco E Il Bullone
An Italian band with Argentinian roots. So, itâs completely logical that their music is a red hot melting pot. âTango punkâ, they call it themselves. More specifically, España Circo Este mixes rock, ska, latin and Balkan music. You can think of them as Mano Negra for a new generation.
After over 500 shows, the band are tight like a sweater when playing live. But donât believe my word for it, just go and see for yourself. There are plenty opportunities the coming months.
Hot on the heels of their current tour they will release their second album Scienze Della Maleducazione. An album that will be danceable as ever, but with more of a punky edge. Excellent festival material! The first single gives a good impression of what to expectâŠ

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.
Wernerâs Weekly (week 10)
Itâs impossible for me to write about all good music that comes out each week. So I must make a selection for this blog. With a few exceptions to the rule, I usually choose brand new artists to feature on Carte Blanche Music, tracks that you probably havenât heard yet, and that would run the risk of passing by unnoticed if I wouldnât place them on a pedestal.
But there is so much more⊠Thankfully, there is Spotify. My Carte Blanche Music playlist has enough room to feature all great new tracks that appear each week. Not only by brand new acts, but also by more established artists like Little Steven, Bush, Lorde, DJ Premier, Di-Rect and Spoon. All of them great acts, with great new songs. Subscribe to that playlist and youâll never miss any good new music anymore. Promised!
Which brings me to this weekâs alphabetically sorted list of my most highly recommended tracks: Wernerâs Weekly (which you can subscribe to as well, of course). Listen to these eight songs via the Wernerâs Weekly player in the sidebar and read my recommendations by clicking the links.
- San Fermin – No Promises (this weekâs Wildcard)
- MisterWives – Machine (last weekâs Wildcard)
- Banner. – Compass
- Disciples – On My Mind
- Dreadzone – Area Code
- Groenland – Healing Suns
- Kid Francescoli – The Player
- The Curious Incident – Honey Hunger

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.
Dreadzone – Area Code
In 1993, former members of Big Audio Dynamite (who were in The Clash before) founded a new band: Dreadzone. They redefined dub by mixing it with elements of dance, rock, folk and breakbeat, gradually building a reputation as an energetic and powerful live act.
Existing for over two decades, the band just released its eighth studio album Dread Times and this is my favourite track on it: Area Code. It features 90âs ragga duo Louchie Lou & Michie One (best known for their hit Shout from 1993) and sounds a little like an updated version of The Selecterâs On My Radio.

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.