Suzie McNeil Has Unleashed a White Hot Single, “Tough Love”

Canadian supergirl Suzie McNeil has released a brand new single which we feel has the potential to be a huge hit.  Yes, folks, it’s that good!

“Tough Love” is the third single from Suzie’s forthcoming album, Dear Love; it follows hits “Drama Queen” and “Merry Go Round“.

Suzie is from an area of Canada known as the Golden Horseshoe which surrounds the western shores of Lake Ontario.  It contains half of the population of Ontario and one-fifth the population of Canada, making it the most populous region of the country.

McNeil is known for being a contestant on music reality show Rock Star: INXS.  She went on to work as a backup singer for Pink on her tour and recorded a duet with Clay Aiken on his cover of Foreigner’s “I Want to Know What Love Is”.  Suzie released her first solo album in 2007 and two more thereafter.  Her song “Supergirl” was a Top 30 hit and made the year-end Top 100 of the year 2009 on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100.

If the word spreads about “Tough Love” and it gains momentum, it could very well become the runaway hit of the summer.  We certainly hope it does.

Listen to “Tough Love” HERE.

If you like it, the iTunes link is HERE.

Don’t forget to call or message your favourite local radio station and request it.

Check out Suzie McNeil’s Official Website. 

 

Video of the Week: Elise Estrada Covers “Payphone”

JUNO-nominated Canadian recording artist Elise Estrada is currently in-between projects and fell in love with the song ”Payphone” which is the #1 single in Canada this week according to the Billboard Canadian Hot 100.  The song is from U.S. band Maroon 5.  Elise recorded a video of her cover which completely blows the original version out of the water, showing Adam Levine how to sing it properly.  Elise is without a doubt one of the most gifted vocalists in the country.

 

Asian Heritage Month: Montreal’s JoSH Promotes Multiculturalism in Pakistan

What are you doing to celebrate Asian Heritage Month? The Government of Canada declared May as Asian Heritage Month in Canada a few years back. According to Statistics Canada, over 12% of Canadians are of Asian descent. To honour this special month, the Canadian Music Blog is pleased to present the following.

Montreal’s JoSH is a bhangra duo comprised of south Asian Canadians “Rup” (Rup Magon) and “Q” (Qurram Hussain).  Rup is Sikh, born and raised in Montreal, while Q is a naturalized Canadian from Pakistan.  They are signed to Universal Music and have released some 4 albums since debuting in the new millennium.  They are perhaps more famous outside of Canada than within it, as bhangra music is less known here than it is in the United Kingdom, India, and Pakistan.  The duo’s award-winning second album, Kabhi, remained in the MTV Top 20 charts for half a year in 2004-2005.  JoSH has sold some 2 million records worldwide.

Nelly Furtado has done some work with them in releasing some bhangra remixes of her songs “Maneater”, “Powerless”, and “Promiscuous”.  JoSH’s song “Nasha Pyar Da” from their album Mausam won a Best Bhangra Song award and the album’s “Mahi Ve” reached #1 on the BBC Asian charts in Britain.

This spring, the Canadian High Commission in Pakistan organized an event to promote and discuss pluralism in both Canada and Pakistan. JoSH performed on stage in Karachi attracting a number of youth leaders from various universities and Canadian expatriates and Pakistanis of various ethnic and religious backgrounds.

Andrew NG, Head of Communications for the Canadian High Commission spoke at the event and said:

“Canada has very strong people-to-people links with Pakistan. There are an estimated 300,000 Canadians of Pakistani origin, a number of whom I grew up with in Toronto. Much like Pakistan, Canada has evolved layers of policies to accommodate our diversity, such as federalism, bilingualism, multiculturalism and aboriginal self-government. Extremists believe that by targeting different communities they can provoke chaos and social disintegration in Pakistan but I must say, Pakistan is stronger than that, and today is an example of it. The fact that two Canadian artists can find such adoration in Pakistan speaks volumes about this nation’s acceptance level and love for music.”

Below is JoSH’s latest music video, for “Pyar Ho Gaya”, from their recent album Beyond Kismat. The video was shot in Mumbai, India.

JoSH Official Website

You can watch a video about the unity in diversity event HERE.

 

Stratford, Ontario’s Justin Bieber Set to Release BELIEVE

On the eve of Victoria Day, the United States held its annual Billboard Music Awards gala which honours the most popular music in that country.  A number of Canadians were nominated with a lone star winning:  Justin Bieber.  Here at home, the Stratford, Ontario youth recently became the 5th home-grown artist to top the Canadian Billboard Hot 100 since its launch in 2007.  “Boyfriend” was a number one single and was released in lieu of Bieber’s upcoming 3rd studio album, Believe.  His first two LPs–My World 2.0 and Under the Mistletoe–were triple-platinum sellers.

Believe will contain a dozen tracks in addition to “Boyfriend” and will continue his preference of having guest rappers featured in some of them.  Confirmed are Ludacris, Big Sean, Nicki Minaj, and fellow Canadian Drake.  Co-writing with Bieber and producing are Sweden’s Max Martin (who has worked with Avril Lavigne), Mike Posner, Rodney Jerkins (who has written U.S. chart toppers for Brandy & Monica, Jennifer Lopez, and Destiny’s Child), Savan Kotecha (Indian American who wrote chart toppers for Carrie Underwood and One Direction), and Canada’s own The Messengers (Toronto production duo consisting of Nasri Atweh and Adam Messenger).

A deluxe version of the new album will be available (4 bonus tracks plus an expanded booklet) in three special packages.  In addition to the deluxe CD, the “Silver Bundle” ($30) will include a T-shirt and poster; the “Gold Bundle” ($50) will include those three items plus a Believe bracelet and sneaker pin; and the “Limited Edition Platinum Package” ($120) will include the previous five items plus a Believe clinch bag and autographed photo.  A portion of the proceeds for the sneaker pin will go to the Believe Charity Drive.

The album is set for release on June 19th.

More information can be found at Justin Bieber’s Official Website

 

Hey Bombshell: Canada’s Answer to One Direction

One Direction, The Backstreet Boys, Westlife, The Wanted, NSYNC, Boyzone… these popular boy bands have one thing in common—they are not Canadian.  The boy band arrangement has seldom come into fruition in the Great White North because most boys are out playing hockey I suppose.  But in oil, engineering, and ranch based Calgary, four lads decided to give it a go attracting the attention of producer/hit-maker Adam Hurstfield of XOXO Entertainment in Vancouver.  Adam invited the boys to the coast and signed them.  A series of promotional activities followed involving the assistance of label mates Elise and Emmalyn Estrada.

They settled on Hey Bombshell as their name and a concept and began writing and recording some slick pop tunes.  Hoping to appeal with their youthful good looks and ear-dazzling harmonies, they are breaking out with their brand new track “The Single Life” which has been picked up by radio stations; a music video has finished production and has been launched today.  Although keeping their music radio friendly and in line with the standard boy band sound, the quartet is working on developing their own unique style.

Hey Bombshell consists of Myles Bombshell, Colton Bombshell, Dennis Bombshell, and Jay Bombshell. Their male fans are known as “Bombers” and female fans as “Bombshells”.

Check out Hey Bombshell’s Official Website.
You can watch “The Single Life” music video HERE.
Download “The Single Life” on iTunes HERE.

 

JUNO-Nominated Alberta Brothers High Valley Releasing New Album

High Valley is a country band of three brothers—Brad, Bryan, and Curtis Rempel. They are from a small town in northwestern Alberta called La Crete with a population of just under 2,500. In 2007, they released an independent album called Broken Borders, following up with their successful self-titled album under record label Open Road (Universal) in 2010. The album was nominated for a JUNO this year (Country Album of the Year). Encouraged by their recognition, High Valley will be releasing a brand new album next month called Love Is a Long Road. The lead single, which has just debuted on the Canadian Billboard Hot 100, is “Have I Told You I Love You Lately”. We have embedded the music video below which has been out since February.  Beautiful song.

 

Canadian Billboard Hot 100, 18 May 2012

This week’s Canadian Billboard Hot 100 chart reflects a growing trend in the country of supporting our own artists. For the first time in a long time, 29/100 singles are by Canadians, including 10 of the Top 30 songs in the country. Five songs by Canuck artists have debuted on the chart this week, two of them in the Top 30. Justin Bieber leads the pack with his Mothers’ Day inspired single “Turn to You” (#22). Close behind is DJ Deadmau5′s “The Veldt” at #24, his highest charting single to date. The other three newbies are Dallas Smith’s “If It Gets You Where You Wanna Go”, High Valley’s “Have I Told You I Love You Lately”, and “Emergency” by Edmonton’s Audio Playground. The greatest gainer on the chart this week was Nelly Furtado’s “Big Hoops” which jumped 19 positions from #62 to #43. Dragonette’s “Let It Go” and Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Curiosity” have entered the Top 30 (#29 and #30 respectively).

LEGEND:

RK = Rank.
OR = Provincial origin of the artist.
PS = Position on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100.
CG = Change from last week’s Billboard position.
WC = Weeks on the chart.
PP = Peak position.
Foreign artist in blue.
Partially Canadian artist in purple.
RE = Re-entry.
Most impressive numbers in last 3 columns appear in red.

 

Universal Music Sweeps MMVA Video of the Year Nominations

The music video has become an essential component of the industry, a key to promoting the music, and helping us put faces to the hits we hear on the radio.  They used to be exhorbitantly expensive to make but with the advent of relatively inexpensive digital video cameras, any indie artist can shoot a half-decent music video and promote his/her/their work by uploading it onto the net.

MuchMusic has announced nominees for their annual video awards in their current 14 categories, 3 of which are determined by votes of the general public.  The five nominees for Video of the Year are all Universal Music artists:  Mission BC’s Carly Rae Jepsen (“Call Me Maybe”), Toronto rap group Down with Webster (“She’s Dope”), actor/rapper Drake (“Headlines”), Vancouver’s Hedley (“Invincible”), and James-Cameron-explored Marianas Trench (“Fallout”).

Nominees for International Video of the Year by a Canadian are Avril Lavigne (“Smile”), Drake (“Take Care”), Justin Bieber (“Boyfriend”), Nickelback (“When We Stand Together”), and Simple Plan (“Astronaut”).

You can find a complete list of nominees HERE.

No Francophone videos were nominated.

 

Laundering Body Work with Calgary’s Tegan and Sara

They are perhaps the coolest twins on the planet and grew up beneath the chinook cover of Calgary.  Tegan now lives on the west coast between Vancouver and Los Angeles and Sara in the east–Montreal and New York.  We all know that twins do not need to reside in close proximity in order to communicate because of their natural extrasensory proclivities.  Hitherto smokin’ the underground indie scene, the very cute Tegan and Sara have teamed up in the songwriting cavern with DJ Morgan Page to drive the subway up to the surface and break into the Top 40 thanks to their exciting house track “Body Work” (#32 this week).  Check out the video below.  The song is best enjoyed while doing laundry.

Tegan and Sara Official Website

“Body Work” on iTunes

 

Canadian Billboard Hot 100, 11 May 2012

There are two new songs by Canadian artists on Billboard’s Canadian Hot 100 this week, and they both entered the chart at very strong positions.  Debuting at #58 is the third single release from Karl Wolf’s forthcoming album, Finally Free, a track entitled “DJ Gonna Save Us”.  Given that the first two singles, “Ghetto Love” and “Mash It Up”, have done very well, Karl’s album is sure to be a hot commodity when it comes out in a few months.

Entering the chart at #63 is Metric’s brand new single off their upcoming album Synthetica, “Youth Without Youth”.  The industry has labelled this song as “rock” and it has the band’s strongest debut ever on the rock chart, landing at #19.  This is also the highest debut on that chart from a Canadian artist since Three Days Grace’s “Break” back in 2009.

Whether or not our plea last week had anything to do with it (unlikely), three singles have broken into the Top 40.  Dragonette’s delicious ”Let It Go” is at #37, Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Curiosity” #39, and Dru’s “She Can Ride” #40.  “Curiosity” was the greatest gainer, and Jepsen made the song available for download as an individual single last week; it sprung forward 14 positions and is Carly’s 4th Top 40 single to date.  Her 4x platinum “Call Me Maybe” is now the 4th biggest single south of the 49th parallel.  It looks like 4 is Carly’s lucky number.

LEGEND:

RK = Rank.
OR = Provincial origin of the artist.
PS = Position on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100.
CG = Change from last week’s Billboard position.
WC = Weeks on the chart.
PP = Peak position.
Foreign artist in blue.
Partially Canadian artist in purple.
RE = Re-entry.
Most impressive numbers in last 3 columns appear in red.

 

Carly Rae Jepsen Has Tied the Record

I suppose tying some ribbon around a recording of her song “Call Me Maybe” would work too. Before getting to what we mean by our title, we’ll first review the success to date of her international smash hit.

“Call Me Maybe” made it to #1 on the official Canadian singles chart (i.e. Billboard’s Canadian Hot 100) on February 3, 2012. Following its international release, it made it to #1 on the official charts of Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland. It debuted at #1 in the United Kingdom remaining on top for 4 straight weeks. It has also topped the iTunes chart in a number of countries including Luxembourg and Austria. Last week it entered the Top 5 in the United States. It made the Top 3 in France, Belgium, Denmark, The Netherlands, and Norway.

So, what’s her secret to success? She spilled the beans on Twitter claiming that eating a certain food assists with writing hit songs. “Good chocolate is essential to music,” she said. Now, on to her tying the record.

In promotion of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, Nikki Yanofsky’s “I Believe” was a hot commodity. So hot, in fact, that it became the most downloaded single in Canadian history (by a Canadian artist), achieving a certification of quadruple platinum sales. Well, Nikki is no longer all by her lonesome on that one. She has been joined by her Canadian sister, as Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe” has been certified a quadruple platinum digital download in Canada.

 

Shawn Hook’s Debut EMI Album: Cosmonaut and the Girl

After a couple of independent records and hit single “Every Red Light”, South Slocan, BC’s Shawn Hook has released his debut major album, Cosmonaut and the Girl. Shawn wrote some 50 songs in Canuckstown and Kingstown after his deal with EMI in 2009 before settling on the tracks that would make it to the album. Last week he said that his album release ”kind of feels like I’m graduating from high school again”. The style of music the album embraces is similar to that of “Every Red Light”, dancey pop with an electronic flavour.

A few days ago, Shawn appeared on CTV Morning Live for an interview and acoustic performance of “So Close” from the album. You can watch the video from his website. Shawn is highly skilled at both piano and guitar and has a very strong voice. These days, male solo artists who perform mainstream rock and roll are very rare, so we wish nothing but the best for Shawn Hook. Cosmonaut and the Girl is available at all major record stores and digital download via iTunes.

 

Nelly Furtado is Hoopin’ The Spirit Indestructible

Canadians like to go where there’s good hockey being played. These days, that would be the home of the Kings. Over the past while, British Columbian supersun Nelly Furtado has been there working on her new studio album (her 5th) and shooting a music video for her new single “Big Hoops”. Up until recently, she simply referred to the album as “T.S.I.” but has now revealed that the title is The Spirit Indestructible. Nelly also unveiled the album cover, commenting in good humour that the reason for the washed out colour was to make it easier to autograph.

Victoria’s always chipper Furtadonator has some impressive stats attached to her name:

• 22 million albums and 18 million singles sold worldwide.
• Won 9 of 19 JUNO Nominations, including Single of the Year thrice.
• The only Canadian artist, through the 2000-09 decade, to win a BRIT award.
• One of few Canadian artists to win JUNO, BRIT (UK), and Grammy (US) awards.
• Star on the Walk of Fame (2010).
• All English albums certified multi-platinum in Canada.

Besides expert songwriting, Nelly Furtado’s success has been due in part to her keen ability to fuse different musical styles (be they foreign or domestic) together and her willingness to collaborate with a potpourri assortment of international musicians, a wisdom she perhaps learned from those summer days snackin’ on chouriço in the Buchart Gardens. She reveals some of the styles and collaborations on the album in an interview which you can see HERE.

A couple months ago, Nelly teamed up with fellow Canadian recording artist K’Naan in the Top 15 hit “Is Anybody Out There?” which made it to No. 1 in New Zealand. Her new solo single “Big Hoops (Bigger the Better)” does not appear to be a tribute to James Naismith. Her music video, embedded below, showcases the talents of First Nations hoop dancers from the U.S.

The Spirit Indestructible will be out internationally in mid to late June.

Nelly Furtado Official Website

 

Quebec City’s Jacynthe Has a New Dance Hit

Back in 1999, Jacynthe‘s cover of KC & The Sunshine Band’s “Give It Up” made it all the way up to #35 on the year-end CKOI chart.  After dabbling in some reality show acting and touring with Cirque du Soleil, the dance music princess now has a new hit called “Stereo”.  Her full name is Jacynthe Millette-Bilodeau and she is now based in Montreal.  We are pleased to present the official music video for “Stereo” embedded below.

 

Regina’s Bluesman Colin James Announces New Album

Regina’s leading bluesman Colin James has a brand new studio album coming out in early June. Being his 15th, he has simply titled it Fifteen. James has just released the lead single, “Stone Faith”, which you can listen to on YouTube and download from iTunes.

Colin James is a six-time JUNO winner (of 15 nominations) including Single of the Year in 1991 for “Just Came Back”. He has scored a pair of double-platinum albums. His new album contains songwriting collaborations with Ron Sexsmith, Gordie Johnson (Big Sugar), and Tom Wilson and a few covers. The winning production talents of Joe Hardy (ZZ Top, Steve Earle) are back onboard for Fifteen. Colin James is planning a fall cross-Canada tour to promote his new work.