No one’s going to tell you when enough’s enough – enough is enough

Posted in Artist to Watch, Dance, Europe, Music, Pop, Top 40, United Kingdom with tags , on May 21, 2013 by Conrad Schwellnus

Passion Pit has been on my radar for a couple of years, following the success of a track of theirs called “Sleepyhead” a couple of years ago and more recently with the lead single from their latest album – “Take a Walk”. What I’d like to share with you today is the latest single from Gossamer, an amazing song called “Cry Like a Ghost”. The track is being serviced as the 5th single from the project and I hope it’ll be sent to radio sometime soon. It is definitely a favourite of mine from the new album and after spinning it a couple of times during a few workouts it’s permanently stuck in my head. I hope you’ll enjoy it just as much!

If you haven’t heard about these guys before, also make sure you check out “Carried Away” – both the original (with a music video featuring Sophia Bush) and the Tiesto remix of the song. I wish they had sampled stations with the remix as I’m sure it would have picked up considerably more than the original (even though it is starting to get quite a bit of airplay at long last!). I still have a lot of love for both versions though! If you like what you hear, pick up you copy of Gossamer and request these guys on your favorite radio station too.

What do you think about “Cry Like a Ghost”?

Send through your opinion via Twitter @conradwashere.

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Oh, we can do anything we want – live it up, so live it up

Posted in Artist to Watch, Commercial, Dance, Music, Pop, To Look Out For, Top 40, United States with tags , , , on May 21, 2013 by Conrad Schwellnus

Jennifer Lopez is planning on releasing her 8th studio album this year! The international popstar has enlisted rapper Pitbull and producer RedOne for the first single from the project – a song called “Live It Up”. The track follows along the lines of “Starships” and other RedOne productions and I have to admit I wasn’t sold on first listen. A couple of spins later and finding out that 81 radio stations added it to rotation in America during its week of release and we have a bit of a different story. I’ve got a feeling that this one will do very well in the club scene though I don’t think it’ll quite match the success of “On The Floor” back in 2011.

“Live It Up” debuted on Billboard at #73 last week and I’m going to be keeping a close eye on it in the next couple of weeks. There is no doubt in my mind that it’ll be a Top 10 hit eventually and I look forward to tracking its progress. Be sure to support Jennifer and the guys if you like what you hear by requesting the song on your local radio station or purchasing your copy of the single via iTunes if it is available in your territory.

What do you think about “Live It Up”?

Drop me a tweet @conradwashere.

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Lately I’ve been losing sleep, dreaming about the things that we could be – said no more counting dollars, we’ll be counting stars

Posted in Artist to Watch, Commercial, Music, Pop, To Look Out For, Top 40, United Kingdom, United States with tags , on May 20, 2013 by Conrad Schwellnus

It’s no secret that I am a big fan of Ryan Tedder both as frontman of OneRepublic and as producer for so many great artists around the world! The man has done wonders for international radio and I am in awe of his writing an production abilities. The guys from Colorado recently released a new album titled Native which produced moderately successful singles “Feel Again” & “If I Lose Myself” but I am a bigger fan of the third single from the project – a song I’d like to share with you today called “Counting Stars”. While no official video has been released as of yet, I’ve decided to post a recent live performance of the song to give you a feel for it and hopefully you’ll be excited to hear the studio version either on the album or on your local radio station sometime soon.

“Counting Stars” is one of my favorite tracks lyrically from Native and I have a feeling it has the potential to be a Top 20 hit in the United States with the correct promotion. It has slowly started getting adds in the UK and other European countries but no official word yet on when it’ll go to the Top 40 format in the US. I am going to make sure that it gets extensive airplay on our local radio station here in Stellenbosch in South Africa when it gets sampled because I believe in this song and I hope you do too! The video for the single is going to be filmed in Louisiana and there is no premiere date yet but keep checking back to this post for updates.

If you like what you hear, be sure to pick up your copy of Native and let me know what you think of other big songs on the album, like “Preacher”, “I Lived” and “Au Revoir”.

What do you think about “Counting Stars”?

Let me know in the comment section or tweet me @conradwashere.

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Do you think about me when you’re all alone, the things we used to do, we used to be – I could be the one to make you feel that way, I could be the one to set you free

Posted in Commercial, Dance, Music, Pop, Top 40, United States with tags , on May 20, 2013 by Conrad Schwellnus

It’s not very often that I am ridiculously late on a song but I love this one way too much and I’ve learnt to swallow my pride as well in recent months, so I wanted to share Avicii & Nicky Romero “I Could Be The One” with you today! I have been spinning this one on repeat on my iPod for the past couple of weeks largely thanks to my sister introducing me to the music video on what was a particularly long week at the office. If you haven’t seen it yet and you’re having a bit of a bad day, join the 43 million others who have clicked ‘play’ on the video above and make sure you watch all the way to the end. To call this one of the best music videos to come out of the last year wouldn’t be a stretch and I think it’s the perfect one for you if you’re feeling a little overwhelmed in your life or just at work. It reminded me to take a breather every now and then and I’ve started planning my next holiday already because of the main character in the story!

This one has done particularly well in Australia and on the US club charts, and it has received extensive airplay locally here in South Africa. It stands a really good chance of hitting #1 here in Stellenbosch on our local radio station this week and it is definitely one that has gotten quite a following in our local community. There is not much else I’d like to say about the track except that I absolutely love it and hope you do (will) too! Be sure to support Avicii & Nicky by requesting this song on your local station and buy your copy of it on iTunes if you like what you hear.

What do you think about “I Could Be The One”?

Let me know by leaving a comment or dropping me a tweet @conradwashere.

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But you stood by my side, night after night, light up the night – you loved me back to life

Posted in Artist to Watch, Commercial, Europe, Music, Pop, To Look Out For, United States with tags , , , , , , on May 19, 2013 by Conrad Schwellnus

In 2006 Australian singer Sia caught my attention in a big way when she released the best ballad to have ever been recorded in my opinion, titled “Breathe Me”. It was not long after this that she announced that she was done with music and I was disappointed that she hadn’t received the international attention she deserved. Skip to almost seven years later and she didn’t quite give up on her musical passion as anticipated, though she did start focusing a bit more on the writing side of things. I’ve really enjoyed hearing her vocals on radio hits “Titanium” (David Guetta) and “Wild Ones” (Flo Rida) but I give her top credits for writing and giving back-up vocals to one of the biggest songs of the last year - Rihanna‘s “Diamonds”. 

While it has been a while since she’s put out a single by herself, I am excited to hear that she might be working on some material for a new solo era. A track of hers that I want to share with you today is a demo that (rumour has it) was passed up on by a couple of big pop names in the industry, though I’m not quite sure why. “Loved Me Back To Life” is a song I stumbled across this past week and I have been hooked on the melody in the chorus since first listen. As with “Diamonds”, the song finds a perfect combination between emotional vocal and a solid beat. This has worked time and time again on an international level and in my own songwriting I have changed my approach as a result of following her writing style closely for the last year.

I draw quite a few comparisons to this song and “Acid Rain” (Alexis Jordan) and I do hope that it will end up somewhere with an artist that will be able to do something special with it. My first thought was that it should go straight to Def Jam (Rihanna) but I also don’t know if it’s quite the right fit for her. Maybe I’m just too infatuated with Sia’s vocal on this one that I would like for her to put it out by herself. I guess only time will tell!

Keep an eye out for Sia in the coming months as word is she’s been in studio with No Doubt and Katy Perry so I imagine there will be a lot of her going round on international radio as we head into the latter stages of 2013.

What do you think about “Loved Me Back To Life”?

Let me know in the comments section or tweet me @conradwashere.

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Through the fire, through the flames, ya hey – you won’t even say your name, ya hey

Posted in Artist to Watch, Commercial, Europe, Indie, Music, To Look Out For, Top 40, United Kingdom, United States with tags , , on May 19, 2013 by Conrad Schwellnus

I have a new musical obsession in the form of Vampire Weekend! I’ve always kept an eye on the New York based band but never as much as the last couple of months and I’ve been dying to post about them for you guys. Their latest album, Modern Vampires of the City was released just this week coupled with singles “Diane Young” and the song I want to share with you today, which is called “Ya Hey”. I’ve been listening to it on repeat not only for it’s quirky wordplay but because the chorus is just so bizarre and addictive. The whole feel of the song reminds me quite a bit of Passion Pit‘s “Take a Walk” and also “Midnight City” by M83 (potentially a mixture of these two tracks). I am definitely a fan of this sound and I am looking forward to getting my hands on a copy of their new album.

Critical reviews of the album have been strong already, so it seems the wait from 2010′s Contra will have been a worthwhile one to fans around the world. I’ve read that the guys are taking a couple of experimental risks with this project and from following PDE you’ll know that I’m a fan of bands taking that approach for the sake of progressing with the times and keeping relevant. Hopefully the album will debut strongly on Billboard this coming week and I’m looking forward to seeing how the guys promote “Ya Hey” going forward. The live performances could prove quite interesting. Keep an ear out for this project and make sure you support the era by buying your copy of their new album.

What do you think about “Ya Hey”?

Let me know in the comments section or drop me a tweet @conradwashere.

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Singing Radiohead at the top our lungs, with the boombox blaring as we’re falling in love – got a bottle of whatever but it’s getting us drunk, singing here’s to never growing up

Posted in Artist to Watch, Commercial, Music, Pop, To Look Out For, United States with tags , , , , on May 19, 2013 by Conrad Schwellnus

And she’s back! Avril Lavigne is prepping for the release of her fifth studio album later this year and what I have to share with you today is the lead single from the project – a song called “Here’s To Never Growing Up”. Co-written by Lavigne, David Hodges and Lavigne’s husband-to-be Chad Kroeger, “Here’s To Never Growing Up” is Avril at her radio pop best. Reviews have been positive all-round even though similarities have been made to previous smash singles “Raise Your Glass”, “Cheers” & “We R Who We R”. When I first heard a snippet of the song I immediately thought to Rihanna‘s “Cheers”, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Currently the song is at #30 on the Billboard Hot 100 and it is one to watch in the next month considering the music video was just released, and it has raked up over 10 000 000 hits already. The video depicts an Avril Lavigne looking similar to her “Sk8er Boi” days and it’s amazing to think that she doesn’t really look any older than the teenager we were introduced to on “Complicated”. I’m definitely a fan of this song and I hope you are too, so be sure to get your copy of it via iTunes if you like what you hear and support Avril by requesting the song on your local radio station.

What do you think about “Here’s To Never Growing Up?”

Let me know by leaving a comment or tweeting @conradwashere.

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