This Probably Won’t End Well – All That Remains – Is this a new thing? Songs that start like full blown ballads before finding their feet and becoming what they are? Anyway, the album ain’t great but this is a terrific slice of angst-emo-coredom – B+
Short Movie – Laura Marling – I don’t see how a band helps, it doesn’t really flesh out the sound in any meaningful way at all… it is about the song, and the song is better than I first gave it credit (“they know that I love you, they’ll never know why” -quite) – A-
Thunder are a really good mainstream UK style hard rock band, been around over 20 years, and are in a league with the best out there. They’re opening for ZZ Top in London and that sounds like a concert to be missed under no circumstances. Meanwhile, my buddy Johnny McElhone’s (I knew him when he managed Ramona) band Texas is back on the charts.
Give young Eddie something, he sure has staying power, Is this eight months in the charts now? Plus he has a coupla more where that comes from, “”Even My Dad Does Sometimes” is patiently awaiting its close up. Meanwhile, I don’t see the charm on the Ellie track. Sounds awful lame to these ears. Her photography is another question…
What Liam does here, is take an anthem and give the singing a detacment, he sings it out but he doesnt give himself, the result is a godlike distance from the childhood memory. The title is great as well -it is not just our neighborhood or our kids, it is the way we do it – A+
Family (Blended) – Chance The Rapper – This is the Vic Mensa remix, and it is so good, “It still warms my heart to hear my Grandma pray” is one thing, “My sister says she likes my rap because it sounds good” is one thing, “I’m gonna stay in the land where my fam-o stays” something else again. Chance and Vic are like no one outthere. Big time hip hop guys doing it differently – A
Mountain Of Love (Live) – From New Year’s Eve 1975 and look at this: he was 26 years old at the same and the King of every move in the rock and roll yearbook, this Johnny Rivers cover is proof, a blast of joy and fresh air which ignotes with a call for the Big Man – Terrific – A
Definitely Drake’s week, but that Lord Huron may well be a case of lightning striking, because it is just a terrific little rockabilly track that begins and ends like a sweet ambient call. A masterful song. Otherwise both Kate and Letts choices were a little random, both albums have a lot of great songs.
Burning For No One – The Cribs – Yorkshire boys playing typical UK rock, and have been for a coupla decades and they do what they do quite well, the lick is sturdy and yet ot clingy and the verbal hook is sticky and quite smart – B+
A pretty good top ten though it takes so log for things to shake up on the charts that “Style” feels like a seismatic chage. “Style” is also ot “Blank Space” -it seems tot ake seriously what “Blank Space” funned at: all heavy glances and playing patty fingers in the Holy Water?
Sam and Beck got huge bumps from the Grammys but otherwise no big time action, right? More interesting, Drake in at # 1, for what amounts to a mix tape, nearly going gold , only digital, IN THREE DAYS. And with that, Drake gets a serious claim to Kanye (or Jay Z for that matter) crown.
Ex’s & Ohs – Elle King – A rockabilly groover with a very smart line of patter that manages to live up to its, “Always gonna come, but they never wanna leave” Elle claims as she takes stock og her love life and finds it quite succesful – B+
When I saw this guy open for Kanye iw as less than impressed whatever, and I guess it is weird calling a song this in your face subtle, but at least subtleties of rhyme, of tempo, is lost on stage. On this extremely vicious hit back at blacks who didn’t like him questioning Fergusson, Lamar makes his point and then some: emancipation of a real nigga, he claims at the end. I buy it – A
ot the greatest charts you’ll ever see but you can’t have everything, what it lacks in bang zoom it makes up with the Weeknd inching its way up the charts with the best 50 Shades track. Otherwise, the UK is reading more like the US charts every day, the only oddity here is Ella.
I am seeing #10, Gregory Porter, in a couple of weeks at the the Harlem Arts Salon at Harlem just as the supple grammy award winning jazz baritone reaches the height of his career with the most streamed jazz album of all times, 2013’s Liquid Spirit. The big man will be on the same bill as another big man, Tomas Doncker, who you might well claim is to the blues what Porter is to jazz.
Bitches N Marijuana – Chris Brown – Tyga and Schoolboy Q join Chris for a sound much closer to rap than dance, a somewhat bland and self-evident track, though hand it to Q,he has the best moment on the track – B
Upstairs By The Chinese Lamp – Esperanza Spalding, Wayne Shorter – Billy Childs – I have to see Billy Childs live. Is he playing somewhere? This is just completely excellent, sweet and powerful jazz. This has the cultural cachet Americana just can’t get right. Wayne Shorter is God, simply the best – A
A great week for songs and albums, the ew ones by Rhiannon, Martin, and Rumer are all excellent, and the current album by segments includes two goodies from Madonna, “Joan Of Arc” and (ot here) “Hold On”. Back to Rhiano, I do wish T-Bone wasn’t representing (again) but what the heck, at least she is a siger who deserves the overblown classicisism Burnett keeps on bringing it.
Joan Of Arc – Madonna – A melodic highlight of her new album, a heartbreak song with a weak metaphor (“I’m not Joan of Arc, not yet) which doesn’t seem to quite make sense after all but yet the bridge is so catchy the song should hit big any way – A-
I have nothing against J.D., indeed I’d claim quite the opposite, I think it is sweet to have a real good rockabilly guy on the scene and I like this song, love the lick, but the song title? It didn’t work for the Cars and it doesn’t work here. The competition is too heavy- B
How about Bob Dylan’s 28th top ten album., eh? How about that. Costello on the new Dylan: “I think it’s really, truthfully, one of the greatest records he’s ever made. It’s so soulful. He’s obviously lived with those songs in his heart for a long time, and he sings them that way
The story is McCartney’s return to the top ten for the first time (as a solo artist, remember “Free As A Bird”) in a mind bending 29 years. Proof that hard work is its own reward, or at least if you insist on remainig contemporary at whatever the cost huess what will happen? You’ll remain consistent. McCartney is the antithesis of his fan base, he absolutely insists upon being part of the contemporary conversation. All those folks who didn’t know who McCartney was, the entire rap demographic give or take, sure does now.
Servilla – War Against Women – This is too hard rock for my tastes, if these guys were faster and less gothic in their mannerism they might be major and they might be major anyway… just not with me – B-
Up – Olly Murs, Demi Lovato – I’ve bee waiting for this to hit the US since last year, a terrific pop song –the sorta good guy track, one of the boys that Olly does so well. A catchy sorta English folk rock anthem dance track. Nice – A
How Can I Ease the Pain (Slow Jam) – Lisa Fischer – This should have broken the Stones back up singer, shoulda broken her through to a real stardom, the Kleer singer comes into her own and then leaves – A
Man, that Ellie Goulding song is crappy. I can’t remember the last time an album has inspired so many astoundingly terrible songs and is Ellie’s the very worst? You know it may well be. This list makes me sleepy just reading it.
before we get to Dylan’s EIGHTH # 1 album in the UK (about 20% of all the albums he has ever released), let’s scratch our heads in amazement at the return of a guitarist who performed quite well with Dylan himself, Mark Knopfler. Brothers In Arms has two 80s masterpieces an nothing else much.
Nearing its 30th Anniversary (May 15th), Mark seems to have ironically enough written his epitaph on this hugely successful and really pretty excellent classic rock gussied up as new wave song for guitar slingers everywhere – A
The Dylan album is a very good but he also got lucky, this is one of the weakest weeks you’ll find not surrounding Christmas. The Girlpool single is a revelation. If you haven’t heard the new AWOLNATION single, you only have yourself to blame.
I am so tired of saying Bruno Mars is overrated but he is so damn overrated. I wouldn’t say that if Little Richard or James Brown never existed but they do (one does, the other did) exist and so dumbass bruno feels like watered down spineless mimickry. Nothing personal, mind.
Congrats to Tay for her 10th non consecutive week at the top though her actual amount of units sold is pretty bad, 71K. It shows yet again the sorry state of the pop world though it was a weak week (this week, February 2nd is even worse). Also, note Trainor got downgraded by me, there is just too much B+ stuff here. The EP was much better. PS: what happened to D’Angelo? That didn’t last long though the SNL “Really Love” might pop him back in
Sure I love that Meghan is in at # 1 and all is right on earth, good will to all doo wop songs but while I’ve only heard a coupla tracks off the Madchester stalwarts, still reeling from the death of their drummer a coupla years ago, this is as good as Brit rock gets and while I doubt it will do much Stateside, it sure should.”Come Home Baby” is knockout.
They have a nice line of patter on Karen Harding: the Whitney Houston of House, and while that might well be oversell, this is a goodie, the beats thump and Karen has a powerful and beautiful voice. This should break US, no reason not to , except for its purity as form, which might not matter, right?
Now I the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by Fall Out Boy, who have at least two more WHOMPING SMASH HIT SONGS awaiting for you are “Centuries.” It is amazing how big they are gonna get.
That’s a turbo charged top three pop album, indeed the top Five is very good indeed. In a reversal of 2014, 2015 is one of the best January’s in living memory. It is like everyone I s saying, hey we don’t buy your dog deads of January (no, froze days…). Which works for me, fine. A good month so far.
I swear, at first glance I thought they’d misposted last weeks charts by mistake but no, the Avicii, which I quite like, is a new track from an old album. Otherwise, everything is where it was only you are there for your sins
One More – Ne-Yo And T.I. – This is better than average by both of them, Ne-Yo ha his usual buttery voice but the song is a beauty and T.I, underplays it nicely (it is obviously Ne-Yo’s song), the lyric sucks but it’s a goodie – B+
It isn’t Joni’s fault this became a huge fucking cliche, it is everybody else’s faults. Including “moody quirky” Alva, and Jenny Lewis back up I’m ready for my close up Mr. DeMille Natalie Prass. Sure, a cliche and a half. Still, the voices are pretty amazing – B+
If “We Can Be Together” sounded like a good trip (man, that Grace Slick can sing, how did you lose her cool?) it wasn’t, it was based on Black Panther’s war cry, “Up against the, motherfucker”) and from there it blows blues hot (try a terrific “Wooden Ships” and folk cool. Add on top two of the best songs, the title track and “Somebody To Love” and you have a career peak.
Belly Of The Beast – Joey Bada$$ and Chronixx – Talk about strange bedfellows, Chronixx is old school Rastafarian and Bada$$ is a 20 year old new rap wunderkind, this track meets in the New York meets Kingstown world of extreme poverty and is a brilliant one of the best songs of the year deals – A
The Viet Cong goes on for 11 minutes and deserves to, Ryan is a revelation to me though possibly not to anyone else , and I am obsessed with the Ninjas and Sleater Kinney. I would say a better start to 2015 than to 2014.
The only newbie is “Sugar” and the reason is simple, because the video is a masterpiece and it pushed it all the way into the charts by brute force. It is really a pity the same thing won’t happen for Sleater-Kinney as they find a city to live in.
I said Taylor was making a mistake when she brushed Meghan off with a text at Jingle Ball, I said Z-100 were making a mistake when they only gave her four minutes, I said Title was the best album of the week, last Jan 13th, I said the major rock critics (in lockstep: again) were being thickies when they dismissed it as mediocre. And I said it would be at # 1 this week. And I was right.
Irresistible – Fall Out Boy – These guys are on a mission from god to find every possible hook they can and stick it into every crevice in a song. They do it here and it is a lot less than irresistible, risible more like – C
Wait for Life – Emilie Hayne, Lana Del Rey – Gorgeous song, a slow burning ballad that seems to shimmer in your ear and Lana really has a haunting voice: it’s like she is constantly in a mood over something or the other and here she has a song to suit it well – A-
Stop – Shinobi Ninja – A D.A. masterpiece is like a gangsta fantasy, all aggression and spit out agro working. I am listening to a lot of my old friends right now in anticipation of interviewing them later this week. The last time I interviewed them was FIVE YEARS AGO! – A
Hot off an excellent set at Webster Hall Saturday night, this song is better live but let’s stop beating em up for that and admit it is one of the most original love songs? Self immolations? The Glen Campbell reference just adds to the overwhelming confusion as the drifter becomes a pyromaniac – A
Another hit off Smith’s debut album, so good because it is one of the best of a great bunch and I can’t wait for the new Olly to get released here, it is much better than the other picker Upper. But it is hard to write about these songs again. Really, will seem be hit refresh, how many times can we discuss starbucks lovers? Let’s move on till August…
As a rule of thumb the UK charts are much more volatile than the US charts, though when it comes to albums both arrive and leave with great speed. But this chart hasn’t changed much in six week. everything is where it has been: Ed, Tay, Ezra at the top forever, and down below Olly and below him 1D and Ella. A strangely boring list.
This thing has legs, it will go on and on and though, like Robert Christgau, “I don’t like its affected offhandedness”, it is the standard that standards adhere to the 1960s – 1970s heyday of rock and roll. Brought low by disco of course, and buried by rap and its bride Hop Hop, a couple of years later but here it shines through, piano and strings intact – A+
