Finding the Rhythm

With everything going on in my life and career lately, I’ve not been doing a great job of keeping my dance chart up-to-date, nor saying anything about it when I do. But here’s a late new year’s resolution to do better on this front, especially since some people have been telling me they’ve missed it. 

So yesterday, I did update my chart, so here are a few words about that.

At the top position is French producer Junior Caldera. I don’t think I ever heard his name until a couple of months ago, and now I see it plastered on all manner of songs and remix projects. The track is Sleeping Satellite, a song originally by British singer/songwriter (and pretty much one-hit wonder) Tanita Tikaram and her debut 1988 album, and which was already covered under the shortened title Satellite by OceanLab in 2004. Caldera’s take is incredibly solid, and I’ve been getting requests to hear it. I can’t get enough of it myself.

Producer John Kano may have the world’s worst MySpace page, but he’s applied his talents to the #2 song, I’m Done With the Pain, featuring the incredible vocals of Sarah Mattea. I love the funky groove of the song, and the thoughtful, well-written lyrics really make it work.

At #3 is Girls Aloud, the UK girl band, with their track The Loving Kind. I actually prefer the original pop version of the song, and that version sounds reminiscent of Bananarama and countless other girl groups over the years, with tasty harmonies and a very commercial sound. But I’ve been spinning the dance remixes (of course) to good reception. Another song where I like the lyrics, and you just want to sing along while you’re letting loose on the dance floor.

Some other notables include:

• My friend Carol Hahn has a new track out, I Can Stop the Rain, which I blogged about recently. People seem to enjoy this track and its solid range of remixes; it comes-in at #5.
• The latest track from my friends at CAPP Records is at #6, from Andrew Spencer (Zombie) and Lazard (Your Heart Keeps Burning), titled Here Without You. I loved this one the first time I heard it, but then, the young German Spencer been turning-out some really fab tracks in his home country, most of which have found their way to the U.S. via CAPP.
• The #9 spot is held by a song I continue to really enjoy, Trona’s Jaded Love. While technically a cover of the 80’s track Tainted Love from Soft Cell, I think of it more as a reinterpretation, which probably accounts for the change in title. The lyrics and melody are the same as Tainted Love, but the entire approach to the song is quite different, and quite refreshing. I drone-on (a lot) about remakes, but this radical a departure from the original can be very interesting, and it is in this case.

Lots more I could talk about, but I’ll save some for next time.    You can see the whole chart on my web site.