Friday, August 27, 2010

New Picks of the Week August 29, 2010

It never fails. When someone does even a halfway decent dance remix of an eighties hit, I am all over it. And that is what we have with Gaby Dershin & Steven Lee’s cover of Asia’s 1982 #4 hit “Heat Of The Moment”. There are some songs from the 1980s that lend themselves really well to the electronica format, and this one definitely fits the mold. What Gaby & Steven have missed out on though is the harmonic opportunities and doing more with the chorus of the song. I love the grooves and the various remixes but it’s just a little too minimalistic for me. So close though. Nice try guys!


I love this new haunting and dramatic single from British/Russian singer-songwriter Katie Melua. The 25-year old singer puts you into a trance at the beginning of this record called “The Flood” and then suddenly the beat kicks in and although the haunting overtones remain, you start moving. And then in traditional classical form it returns to the beginning theme almost creating an A-B-A form. I am very anxious to hear the club remixes of this song. I am also looking forward to hearing more from this intriguing artist.


Good for Christian rock bands that can cross over and influence today’s youth. Lead singer Lacey Mosley and her Texas-based quintet Flyleaf has been leading the charge the past few years starting with their #40 hit from 2008, “All Around Me”. Now they are back with another great rocker called “Missing”. It is from their current album “Memento Mori”. The song is already picking up airplay at Christian radio. We’ll see if this one has the crossover success they have had in the past with both “All Around Me” and “Fully Alive”.

This week's chart update:


It’s going to be pretty difficult for Eminem to top his biggest hit of all time. Back in 2002, the 37-year old Kansas City native went to #1 the first week of October with “Lose Yourself” and nearly held down the top spot the remainder of that calendar year. His run ended at 12 weeks. He is half of the way there with his current single. This week he makes it six weeks at #1 with “Love The Way You Lie” featuring Rihanna.

Eminem is not the only rapper and hip hop star having a big week. There are two huge debuts in the Top 40 this week from rap superstars. 27-year old Lil Wayne powers in at #6 this week with “Right Above It” featuring Drake. It’s the New Orleans rapper’s first Top 10 appearance sing 2008 when he went to #10 with “Got Money”. Lil Wayne has four career Top 10 headliner hits. He has appeared on five more.

The other big debut this week is from 35-year old veteran Nelly. He is in at #12 with “Just A Dream”. It’s Nelly’s first Top 40 appearance sing 2008 when he reached #40 with “Party People”. It’s his highest peak since 2006 when he went all the way to #1 with “Grillz” featuring Paul Wall, Ali & Gipp.

And then making a big move amongst all these hip hop giants is newcomer Bruno Mars who leaps from 16-9 with a former new pick of the week, “Just The Way You Are”. The only Top 40 songs that can top that 7-notch move this week is country act Lady Antebellum which rockets from 33-23 with “Need You Now”. The song already has peaked at #2 and spent 54 weeks in the Hot 100. And the other is “Deuces” from Chris Brown featuring Tyga & Kevin McCall which is up from 39-29.

One other debut in the Top 40 this week. American Idol superstar Adam Lambert bows at #32 with “If I Had You”.

Come check out my website at www.songerstudio.com

Sunday, August 22, 2010

New Picks of the Week August 22, 2010

This the 70s retro sound that I absolutely love. Thank you to the Staten Island Afro-funk band Budos Band for providing it. The band which has been around for five years has just released their third album “The Budos Band III” (they enjoy titling their albums like Chicago). My favorite single from their new album is “Mark of the Unnamed”. I love the funky unison horn lines with the organ, funk guitar and African drum grooves layered underneath.

The Plain White T’s are doing everything they can to get out of the one-hit-wonder label that they firmly had placed on them with their mega hit “Hey There Delilah”. They technically got rid of it last year with their minor hit “1234”. Now they are making another attempt with “Rhythm Of Love” which is another fun vocally captivating tune with a Jason Mraz “I’m Yours” type of feel. I of course love the line “My heart beats like a drum” followed by the hard hits on the bass drum. Then comes the line “a guitar string to the strum” of course followed by the guitar hook. It’s too bad they didn’t follow the next line “a beautiful song to be sung” with some harmonic vocal line or even a small choir.


This week’s free iTunes download was “White Lies” by Stacy Clark. Stacy is a 29-year old singer-songwriter from Buffalo, New York. Her first big time release is quite similar to Sara Bareilles‘ new single “King Of Anything” without the horns (unfortunately). It has a fun pop beat with a cool piano groove. If you get a chance, download this one for free before the week is over. But it is definitely worth the one dollar too.

Chart update:
It’s going to be pretty difficult for Eminem to top his biggest hit of all time. Back in 2002, the 37-year old Kansas City native went to #1 the first week of October with “Lose Yourself” and nearly held down the top spot the remainder of that calendar year. His run ended at 12 weeks. He is over one third of the way there with his current single. This week he makes it five weeks at #1 with “Love The Way You Lie” featuring Rihanna.

Two songs are on Eminem’s trail though. 28-year old British newcomer Taio Cruz has already proved he can hit #1 here in the states. He nailed down the top spot earlier this year with “Break Your Heart”. This week he is at #2 with “Dynamite”. And leaping from 9-5 is Katy Perry’s “Teenage Girl”. She is looking to displace Eminem out of #1 and seek revenge for him knocking her out with “California Gurls” which still sits at #3 this week.

A little further down in the ranks are some other songs gaining quickly. All are of the electro hop feel that continues to dominate the pop chart. B.o.B. who has already scored two Top 10’s this year with “Nothin’ On You” and “Airplanes” is up from 15-11 with “Magic” featuring Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo. Bruno Mars who was featured on “Nothin’ On You” is up from 20-16 with “Just The Way You Are”. Flo Rida is the latest to jump on to one of David Guetta’s grooves as he moves from 24-18 with “Club Can’t Handle Me”. And Ke$ha is looking for her fourth Top 10 hit with “Take It Off” which leaps from 27-20.

15-year old singer-songwriter Trey Songz has the week’s highest debut with his third career hit, “Bottoms Up” featuring Nicki Minaj at #22. Country superstar Blake Shelton scores his fifth pop hit this week at #37 with “All About Tonight”. His biggest hit was his first, “Austin”, which reached #18 in 2001. And Chris Brown is back in the Top 40 this week with “Deuces” featuring Tyga & Kevin McCall at #39. It is the 21-year old’s tenth Top 40 hit song.

For more, visit my website at www.songerstudio.com

Sunday, August 15, 2010

New Picks of the Week August 15, 2010

It may not have been a great year for the Edmonton Oilers in the NHL, but it has been a good year for pop/dance trio Audio Playground. The group which formed just a little over a year ago is having its first breakthrough success with “Shadows”. The song has a great groove and a fun club feel. After a little digging I actually found that this group had their first success in their homeland, Canada, with a remake of the British group Erasure’s “A Little Respect”. Erasure was one of the biggest synth-pop acts of the 1980s and are considered to be one of the forerunners in the current dance movement that dominates the club scene today. Not a bad way for Audio Playground to get started. Check out both songs!


Okay, so here is a problem that I have. I love dance music, positive lyrics and teach middle school. This leads to liking a lot of the Disney music that has come out over the last five years. So is it so wrong for a middle aged husband and father to like this stuff? In some ways, I think it’s better than liking hard rock or the inappropriate hip hop that some of my friends listen to. Anyway, check out Demi Lovato’s “Me, Myself And Time”. Great message for students I work with as well as any of us who get down and need a kick in the butt. And of course it’s a great dance tune. So keep ‘em coming Demi.


What?!?!? A ballad by a mainstream artist. Not one of those half-ballads that have a dance beat with the artist talking or grunting because they lack the ability to sing in tune. This is a true ballad like we would hear all the time (if not way too much) through the last 30 years of the 20th century. Katy Perry’s “Not Like The Movies” is not the greatest ballad written in the history of popular music, but it consists of interesting lyrics and a strong vocal performance. And to make it even more impressive, Katy who is looking for her third #1 hit wrote this song as well. I guess there is hope for the pop music world!

Top 40 Chart Highlights:


It’s going to be pretty difficult for Eminem to top his biggest hit of all time. Back in 2002, the 37-year old Kansas City native went to #1 the first week of October with “Lose Yourself” and nearly held down the top spot the remainder of that calendar year. His run ended at 12 weeks. He is one third of the way there with his current single. This week he makes it four weeks at #1 with “Love The Way You Lie” featuring Rihanna.

Two songs are on Eminem’s trail though. 28-year old British newcomer Taio Cruz has already proved he can hit #1 here in the states. He nailed down the top spot earlier this year with “Break Your Heart”. This week he is up from 3-2 with “Dynamite”. And making the highest debut of the year is “Mine” by Taylor Swift” at #3 on the pop chart. The high entry already has it in the rarified air of Taylor’s biggest two hits to date: “Love Story” and “You Belong With Me” both from last year.

Taylor Swift is not the only country superstar invading the pop chart with a high debut this week. 42-year old superstar Kenny Chesney bows at #18 with “The Boys Of Fall”. It is Kenny’s highest placement ever on the pop chart topping his #22 peak in 2002 with “The Good Stuff”.

I am amazed by the amount of electro hop on the pop chart right now. Just look at the biggest movers in the Top 40 this week. Bruno Mars has the biggest moving song on the survey with “Just The Way You Are” which rockets from 36-20. B.o.B. is up from 22-15 with “Magic” featuring Rivers Cuomo. And Flo Rida jumps from 33-24 with “Club Can’t Handle Me” featuring David Guetta. Those are the three biggest jumps in the Top 40 this week.

There are some other hot debuts this week. Ke$ha has watched her first three releases go Top 10 including the #1 smash “TiK ToK”. This week her fourth Top 40 single, “Take It Off” debuts at #27. And, it’s been two and a half years since Linkin Park cracked the Top 40 with “Shadow Of The Day”. They are back at #35 with “The Catalyst”.

Come visit my website at www.songerstudio.com

Sunday, August 8, 2010

New Picks of the Week August 8, 2010

It truly is a passion of mine to find new music out there that is worth while. Every now and then I am very proud of what I’ve stumbled upon. “Don’t Unplug Me” by All Caps is one of those. The duo consisting of youngsters Kristina Horner and Luke Conard have only been together for a year. Based out of Los Angeles, they combine techno and pop with a sound that isn’t all that original. But the lyrics of this tune are very clever. “Don’t unplug me or just shut me down. Please just love me with your steel heart. I’d reboot you if you looked at me with those cold eyes one more time.” Or better yet: “I remember when our software was compatible.” And it’s not very often that I notice a song based on its lyrics before its music, or in this case, in despite of the music. Yet, I recommend giving it a listen.


Speaking of getting one of the first scoops on new music, it was a little over a year ago that I was very impressed with this young artist from right here in Minnesota, Adam Young, a.k.a. Owl City. Now of course, he is a national sensation with his #1 smash “Fireflies”. What is not extremely well known is that he is a Christian and often makes references to his faith in his music. “Tidal Wave” is definitely a song that calls for God’s glory and salvation. He sings “Lift your arms, only Heaven knows where the danger grows and it’s safe to say there’s a bright light up ahead and help is on the way.” Looks like Mr. Young has another hit on his hands.


Pop-punk has died a slow death this past year, but there are plenty of bands that continue to have fun jumping and singing to their power happy beats. “I Don’t Wanna Dance” by Florida rock quintet Hey Monday definitely fits the mold. It’s a fun dance rock tune led by the simple yet powerful lyrical singing of 20-year old Cassadee Pope (who by the way got her start in her middle school jazz band...I like that!). And this is not my first pick by this band. You might remember “How You Love Me Now” from last fall which made my cut.

Chart Highlights:
It’s been a pretty sweet chart run so far for 37-year old rap superstar Eminem. His latest hit, “Love The Way You Lie” featuring Rihanna spent its first three weeks in the Top 100 at #2. Now it spends its third straight week at #1. The song it displaced from #1 was “California Gurls” by Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg which had a six week run at #1. It now spends its third week at #2. So these two megahits have been throwing a 1-2 punch at us now for six consecutive weeks.

And wouldn’t it be something if the 25-year old California girl returned the favor knocking Eminem back out of the top spot. It could happen with “California Gurls” or her brand new hit, “Teenage Dream” which rockets from 20-7 this week making it easily the biggest mover in the Top 40 this week.

Last week “Teenage Dream” was the highest debuting song in the Top 40 when it came in at #20. The highest debut comes in at the #20 position again this week. This time it is Atlanta country duo Sugarland that bows with “Stuck Like Glue”. It is already their second biggest hit to “All I Want To Do” which reached #18 in 2008.

Also debuting this week in the Top 40 is past Pick of the Week “Club Can’t Handle Me” by Flo Rida featuring David Guetta at #33. It is Flo Rida’s fourth Top 40 career hit. Another Pick of the Week from just last week, Bruno Mars’ “Just The Way You Are” debuts at #36. And Cali Swag District’s “Teach Me How To Dougie” is in at #37.

For more, visit my website www.songerstudio.com.