Browsing Tag soul
Werner’s Weekly (week 43)
‘Old’ heroes like Claw Boys Claw, Def Leppard, Eagle-Eye Cherry, Kim Wilde, Kylie Minogue, Macy Gray, Richard Ashcroft and Weezer never die, even though you hardly hear them on the radio anymore. Giving them the credits they deserve, I added their new singles to the Carte Blanche Music playlist last week.
However, most of this list consists of younger, mostly emerging artists, like Amber Arcades, Angèle, Boy Azooga, Fil Bo Riva and Oh Pep! The playlist is updated constantly, so if you follow it, I’ll keep you updated about great new music, the moment it comes out (and often even earlier 😉).
The best of them all can be found in Werner’s Weekly, your compass to the music that matters. This week’s edition is below, including links to more information about each track. All for of them are in the Werner’s Weekly player in the sidebar, for your listening pleasure. Enjoy!
- Harts – Shake Ya Pants (Wildcard this week)
- Janelle Monáe – Americans (Wildcard last week)
- Anteros – Ordinary Girl
- Fyfe & Iskra Strings – Gold
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 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 Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart.
Wildcard (week 41):
Janelle Monáe – Americans
On her latest album Dirty Computer, which was preceded by the single Make Me Feel, Janelle Monáe saved the best for last. Americans is the closing track on the album. Combining elements of pop, gospel, R&B, funk and neo-soul, it sounds like a tribute to Prince’s Let’s Go Crazy, but in fact, the song preaches the importance of all Americans coming together and being recognized for who they are and what they contribute to their country. But as we all know, that’s not the way it works in the United States nowadays. Non-male Americans, queer Americans, Americans of colour, poor Americans, etc. are looked down upon.
A spoken bridge and outro by Reverend Sean McMillan lists the marginalised people in contemporary America: “Until women can get equal pay for equal work… Until same-gender-loving people can be who they are… Until black people can come home from a police stop without being shot in the head… Until poor whites can get a shot at being successful… Until Latinos and Latinas don’t have to run from walls… this is not my America.”
I’m not sure if this is Monáe’s new single, but it’s playlisted by BBC Radio 6music. And that’s not all; a great track like this, with such an important message, deserves to be next week’s Carte Blanche Music Wildcard! All 41 of them, so far, are 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 Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart.
Werner’s Weekly (week 41)
Last week’s New Music Friday was a voluminous one. But it was quantity over quality, in my opinion. So, out of the enormous pile I took less than 25 releases to add to my Carte Blanche Music playlist. Among them veteran stars like Kylie Minogue & Jack Savoretti, The Prodigy, Suede and Kim Wilde, but mostly fresh new talent, like boy pablo, King Nun, She Drew The Gun and a re-released There’s A Honey by Pale Waves.
That leaves me with only one task to make your Monday complete: the announcement of Werner’s Weekly, your compass to the music that matters. This week’s list counts six songs, that you can listen to via the Werner’s Weekly player in the sidebar. Or just read on and click the links if you want to know more about one of the following tracks:
- They Might Be Giants – The Communists Have The Music (Wildcard this week)
- morgxn & Walk The Moon – home (Wildcard last week)
- Christine & The Queens – Le G
- Eliza Shaddad – Just Goes To Show
- Hrvy – I Wish You Were Here
- Sophie & The Giants – Bulldog
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)
Last week was a colourful one, musically speaking, with new releases by artists like Interpol, Janelle Monáe, Robyn, Roosevelt, and even Soft Cell. Also, Evil Mama by Joe Bonamassa was finally released on Spotify. All of those, and many more, can be found in the constantly updated Carte Blanche Music playlist, featuring the best new music.
I narrowed this selection down for my ‘best of the best’ list Werner’s Weekly, your compass to the music that matters. You can find it below as a flat enumeration (with more info behind the links), but also in the Werner’s Weekly player in the sidebar as a 23 minute short playlist. Enjoy!
- morgxn & Walk The Moon – home (Wildcard this week)
- Sofi Tukker & Pabllo Vittar – Energia (Parte 2) (Wildcard last week)
- Beaux – My Love
- Cookin’ On 3 Burners – The Jump Off
- Kid Rock – Snatching It Back
- Minyeshu – Aynocheh (Your Eyes)
- The Proclaimers – You Make Me Happy
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.
Kid Rock – Snatching It Back
This week, the album Muscle Shoals: Small Town, Big Sound comes out. It features artists like Steven Tyler (Aerosmith) & Nuno Bettencourt (Extreme), Eli ‘Paperboy’ Reed, Michael McDonald, Aloe Blacc, Candi Staton and Brently Stephen Smith (Shinedown) interpreting tunes initially made famous by The Rolling Stones, Etta James, the Staple Singers, Wilson Pickett, Bob Seger, Bob Dylan and others.
Kid Rock releases the first single off the project. He covers Clarence Carter’s Snatching It Back, using the original instrumental bed from 1969 (featuring the iconic Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section), with added electric piano by session veteran Jim ‘Moose’ Brown. Surely, nothing beats the original, but this comes very close!
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.
Cookin’ On 3 Burners – The Jump Off
Six weeks ago, when Warning by Cookin’ On 3 Burners feat. Kaiit was the Carte Blanche Music Wildcard, I already mentioned its great instrumental B-side The Jump Off. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one to like that track, as the Australian Hammond organ trio has now decided to release it as a single in its own right.
The Jump Off, which will feature on the band’s next album Lab Experiments Vol. 2, just like Warning, is a brilliant funk track, that I would have loved to have heard James Brown’s vocals on.
For this new single, Cookin’ On 3 Burners asked B-boys and B-girls to submit their moves and represent their city. Breakers The Wildup Crew (Rome), Young Masters Crew (Melbourne), Bboy Levi (Erlangen), Bboy Bruce Wayne (Paris), and Bboy Banjo (Sunshine) were chosen to feature in the video. The result is a crowd sourced collaboration cut together highlighting their skills and celebrating the funk.
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 39):
morgxn & Walk The Moon – home
16 December 2016, nearly 30 years after I started, I made my last regular Carte Blanche radio show. In that program, I played the track home by morgxn, a guy from Nashville who already sung in a gospel choir at the age of 6. As a 9-year-old, he took singing and piano lessons and started writing his own songs. Then he went to New York, where he ended up in the theatre world.
By 2016 however, morgxn refocussed on his music, which led to the release of his album vital, containing his singles love you with the lights on, Duran Duran cover notorious and the stomper home. The latter alone is so far good for 8 million Spotify streams.
Fast forward to 2018. A slight reworking of home has just been re-released, this time featuring Walk The Moon singer Nicholas Petricca. The two versions don’t differ dramatically, but this sure is a fine reminder of the great electronic soul track home already was!
This week, the Carte Blanche Music blog is the song’s temporary home, as it is the new Wildcard. This means it features here prominently, and it’s only one mouse click away from listening. Just like all of the tracks 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 Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart.
Werner’s Weekly (week 38)
Out of the many, many new songs that were released last week, I added only the 29 very best to my 2018 container playlist Carte Blanche Music. Among them well-known artists like Richard Ashcroft, Ben Folds, Hooverphonic, Lenny Kravitz, Amy Macdonald, Novastar and The Smashing Pumpkins, but also a lot of emerging acts and other artists that haven’t yet been embraced by the media and/or the public yet. It’s those acts that this blog focuses on, but I don’t shy away from recommending great new songs by established artists.
Today’s edition of Werner’s Weekly offers the latest two Carte Blanche Music Wildcards plus a fine collection out of all of the categories I mentioned, presented in alphabetical order. This makes it your compass to the music that matters, as always…
- Sigala feat. Ella Eyre, Meghan Trainor & French Montana – Just Got Paid (Wildcard this week)
- Bernhoft & The Fashion Bruises – Humanoid (Wildcard last week)
- Alice Merton – Why So Serious
- Confidence Man – Try Your Luck
- Corine – Maquillage
- Florence & The Machine – Patricia
- Hozier (feat. Mavis Staples) – Nina Cried Power
The links above point you to more information about the songs, all of which you can listen to via the Werner’s Weekly player in the sidebar.
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.
Hozier (feat. Mavis Staples) – Nina Cried Power
With only one smash hit to his name (Take Me To Church has been streamed over 860 million times on Spotify alone), Irish singer-songwriter Hozier may appear to be a one-day fly. Truth is, that he influenced so many other artists with his infectious mix of blues, soul and gospel, that he made his definitive mark on this decennium’s music.
The title track off his EP Nina Cried Power is Hozier’s new single. It features legendary American soul/gospel singer Mavis Staples, and Booker T. Jones on the organ. The track names iconic artists, activists and other people who fought for human rights. Among them Joni Mitchell, John Lennon, James Brown and Nina Simone, who is name-checked in the song’s title.
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.
