Tuesday, May 26, 2015

A Festival of a Different Kind (SNS week of 5/24/2015)

Last weekend was Woodstock.   Well, let me clarify that.   Saturday was Woodstock, coming to you from Hagerstown MD.    Many of my friends went and had a blast.  Oh, I forgot one small detail.  It was actually called GEO-Woodstock, as in GEO-caching.

Now, I'm not sure if there were any bands playing at this day-long festival, a "mega" event of sorts in which cachers all over congregate here and trade travel bugs, geo-coins, find new caches, make new friends and just have a good time.    It is a big passion of mine, for sure and for a second I was actually going to go there.   

But this blog is not about geocaching (although the thought has crossed my mind to actually start one, but I have enough problems getting this music one out every week), but music.   And thus, we had our own "Woodstock".

And no, this one didn't have a lineup of bands...at least "live" ones, but it was a retreat of sorts.  It didn't rain one drip, thus another comparison gone.    It had 18 of my friends, and not half a million strong.   But it was a great time, one that I have done for twenty-one years, give or take a year or two. 

Yes, it was the annual camping trip, and although I could also start a blog about favorite beers, it's all about the music baby.    Many of us shared our tunes some old, some new, some played to death, some old but never heard.   And that's the splendor of it all.

Our "Woodstock" was actually another place in New York State's Catskill Mountains, Roscoe, which to be honest, is just a few exits on Route 17 from White Lake, where that legendary festival in 1969 took place, and was much closer than the actual town.    And some of us set up camp on the Thursday before Memorial Day.  Five of us the first day.    And it was yours truly who played the deejay, as in years past.    I had my "Roscoe Mix", which consisted of classic rock gems, a few pop oldies from the 60's and 70's, some from the eighties, and many recent ones featured in past blogs, as well as stuff on my current list.    It lasted eight hours and was well received.   It served as the backdrop for that first night of camping.

As others trickle in on Friday and Saturday, others shared their music.    My friend John Corso is a big Neil Young and Red Hot Chili Peppers fan, and many of his playlist revolved around those too artists, as well as other faves such as the who.     Another friend, Eddy Fhi, is a big Beatles fan but otherwise he and his friends are entrenched in classic rock stuff like "Free Bird", "Stairway To Heaven", plus some 80's metal and late 90's Nu Metal and rap rock.

And finally there's my friend Alan Corso.   I guess you could consider him the "main act"; the rest of us were simply warm-ups.   Alan has it all, much of it from the punk and new wave era from the late 1970's and early 1980's, but he featured many recent songs as well.    It was at his playlists from his house bonfires and Jets tailgates that I had come up with some ideas of my own.    "Take It As It Comes" by Vivian Girls, "Heart of Steel" by Yast, and "Red River" by The Launderettes, all top 20 hits in recent months on my blog, were played over the weekend.   He even played a song by the duo Tennis that I had never heard of; it's glad to see that I am not the only one who "does research" when it comes to finding some cool new music.    Django Django's "Shuggie" and Foxygen's "San Francisco", two songs featured in my blog a few years back, also got airplay over the weekend.

As for new stuff?   The only one came from friend Anthony Josephs, who was anxious to try out his new Bluetooth-powered speaker synched to his smartphone.   The song was Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth's "See You Again", which also happens to be the current Billboard #1 song for six weeks now.  It enters my SNS 100 at #61 to become the top debut.   Will it be another "Uptown Funk"?  That remains to be seen, but its presence during the weekend helps launch it a bit.

Someday I do hope to go to a Woodstock-like festival (there's big festivals up at Hunter Mountain and down in Seaside Heights the first weekend in June, but alas, I do not plan on going), but for now, listening to everyone's musical tastes in a campsite in the wilderness while having a good time works for me.

LOGJAM:  "Gimme All Your Love" by Alabama Shakes, which I played twice during the weekend, maintains its wide lead at #1 for its fourth week, well ahead of the #2 song "Dust" by Omnia Hegazy.  But right behind is the sentimental "Thinking Out Loud" by Ed Sheeran; that song keeps advancing up my chart for various reasons.    But the top 13 is very competitive with the big movers being Elle King and Grace Potter.   One song going though my head was "Cavalry Captain" by The Decemberists, which forces itself back up to #5.   It pushes Florence + the Machine's "Ship to Wreck" down from #4 to #6 in spite of gaining.

New this week, aside from Wiz Khalifa, is "Life Underwater" by Flagship, a  duo from Charlotte, North Carolina.  It's a nice, uptempo guitar-driven alt-rock number.  Lead singer Drake Margolnick's sound reminds me of Bono from U2 while his guitar work riff reminds me of Bush's comeback song "Afterlife" but the song in general if a much fuller sound to it.     A nice one to check up on in the coming weeks.


Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100

May 24, 2015




This Week Last Week ARTIST-Title Weeks on List
1 1 NUMBER ONE:


"Gimme All Your Love"
Album: Sound & Vision
(4 weeks at #1)
7
2 2 Omnia Hegazy - Dust 12
3 3 Ed Sheeran - Thinking Out Loud 14
4 5 Calvin Harris f. Ellie Goulding - Outside 6
5 6 The Decemberists - Calvary Captain 9
6 4 Florence + the Machine - Ship to Wreck 5
7 8 St. Paul and the Broken Bones - Like a Mighty River 6
8 9 My Morning Jacket - Big Decisions 8
9 10 Mumford & Sons - Believe 8
10 7 Tennis - I'm Callin' 10
11 15 MS MR - Painted 4
12 27 TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK:

"Ex's and Oh's"
Album: Love Stuff
4
13 26 MOVER OF THE WEEK:

"Alive Tonight"
Album: Midnight
3
14 19 Mark Ronson f. Kevin Parker - Daffodils 10
15 11 Alabama Shakes - Don't Wanna Fight 15
16 12 Kongos - I Want to Know 11
17 17 Launderettes - Red River 17
18 18 The Big Takeover - Dolphins 14
19 14 The Black Keys- Weight of Love 16
20 23 Awolnation - Hollow Moon 9

21 13 Jungle - Busy Earnin' 12
22 24 Avi Buffalo - Think It's Gonna Happen Again 11
23 25 Zella Day - Hypnotic 12
24 21 Alice Russell - Breakdown 13
25 22 Tame Impala - Let It Happen 9
26 43 The Drums - I Can't Pretend 14
27 16 Phoebe Ryan - Mine 16
28 20 Catfish & the Bottlemen - Kathleen 19
29 32 Meg Myers - Sorry 7
30 33 George Ezra - Budapest 16
31 34 Locksley - Let It Ride 11
32 35 Meghan Trainor - Dear Future Husband 6
33 36 Real Estate - Talking Backwards 9
34 31 Fitz and the Tantrums - Fools Gold 27
35 42 Courtney Barnett - Pedestrian At Best 11
36 38 Fitz and the Tantrums - 6AM 36
37 28 Florence + the Machine - What Kind of Man 15
38 56 The Vaccines - Dream Lover 3
39 44 Cheerleader - The Sunshine of Your Youth 7
40 30 The Raveonettes - Killer in the Streets 20
41 57 Incubus - Absolution Calling 4
42 51 Walk the Moon - Shut Up & Dance 11
43 48 Jessica Lea Mayfield - Standing In the Sun 8
44 50 Houndmouth - Sedona 11
45 55 Kid Rock - First Kiss 9
46 40 Belle and Sebastian - The Party Line 16
47 29 Corinne Bailey Rae - Bluebird 14
48 37 Hozier - Angel of Small  Death and the Codiene Scene 15
49 58 Saint Motel - My Type 6
50 39 Mark Ronson f. Bruno Mars - Uptown Funk 18
51 41 Future Islands - Seasons (Waiting On You) 17
52 46 Modest Mouse - Lampshades on Fire 16
53 45 Maroon 5 - Sugar 13
54 65 Twenty One Pilots - Tear In My Head 4
55 49 Best Coast - California Nights 10
56 63 Cold War Kids - First 5
57 68 Ting Tings - Wrong Club 4
58 61 Of Monsters and Men - Crystals 6
59 52 Ellie Goulding - Love Me Like You Do 15
60 47 Django Django - First Light 13
61 108 TOP DEBUT:

"See You Again"
Album: Furious 7 (Soundtrack)
1
62 54 Ariana Grande - Love Me Harder 19
63 95 Coin - Run 2
64 67 Life In Film - Get Closer 8
65 74 Matthew E. White - Rock and Roll Is Cold 4
66 53 Sir Sly - You Haunt Me 16
67 70 Zac Brown Band - Homegrown 4
68 84 Fall Out Boy - Uma Thurman 2
69 77 Interpol - Everything Is Wrong 4
70 81 Zedd f Selena Gomez - I Want You To Know 2
71 73 Elel - 40 Watt 8
72 71 In the Valley Below - Peaches 10
73 86 Kjband - Our Art 2
74 59 Alvvays - Archie Marry Me 19
75 60 Lana Del Rey - Shades of Cool 24
76 76 Rival Sons - Open My Eyes 8
77 75 Genevieve - Colors 5
78 62 Taylor Centers - Wild 16
79 69 Foster the People - Are You What You Want To Be 24
80 83 Sam Smith - Lay Me Down 3
81 66 Kjband - Man of Few Words 18
82 85 Linus Young - Fun In the Sun 9
83 64 White Arrows - We Can't Ever Die 18
84 98 Lord Huron - Fool For Love 2
85   Flagship - Life Underwater 1
86 72 Carly Rae Jepsen - I Really Like You 7
87 79 Imagine Dragons - Shots 5
88 89 Offspring - Coming For You 8
89 90 Lifehouse - Hurricane 3
90 94 Kat Edmundson - Lucky 3
91 104 The Kooks - Forgive and Forget 1
92 82 St. Paul and the Broken Bones - Call Me 26
93 93 Passion Pit - Lifted Up 3
94 78 Calvin Harris f. John Newman - Blame 18
95   Vinyl Theater - Breaking Up My Buns 1
96 102 Train - Bulletproof Picasso 1
97 80 Matt & Kim - Get It 12
98 92 Robert LeLong - Long Way Down 7
99 99 Broncho - Class Historian 3
100 100 Belle and Sebastian - Nobody's Empire 4

Tremors:

101 101 Night Riots - Contagious
102 103 The Adventures - Heavenly
103 107 A Silent Film - Tomorrow
104   Turbo Fruits - The Way I Want You
105   X Ambassadors - Renegades
106 105 Alternate Routes - Nobody Else
107 106 Surfer Blood - I Can't Explain
108   Foo Fighters - Congregation
109 110 Glass Animals - Hazey




 

Songs with the greatest increase in favorite points over the prior week.

    Songs with 25 or more plays on my iPod.
       Songs with 50 or more plays on my iPod.