Music, Cruising Style (Sound-Raves week of 5/16/2011)

As many of you who look at my Facebook page know by now, my wife and I have recently returned from a cruise on Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas, to the lonely island of Bermuda.    For the most part, it was a great time like the other cruises we've done, albeit hampered somewhat by rain which killed our beach time, or the fierce storm which haunted us on the way home.   But that's life.

Another part of life, of course is music, and of course, it played a major part of our vacation.   But the question is what kind of music?   It is not uncommon for a song to remind one of an event they partaked in; in fact, I have experienced decades of music that's associated with an event, vacation, getaway weekend, or specially the years of my summer beach houses and winter ski houses.

In recent years, however, that has changed, as much of the music heard were classic "party music", "classic rock" or any combination thereof.   Yes, you do hear current music, especially the current hip hop and pop songs (Usher, Pitbull, Lada Gaga, Katy Perry, etc).    Well, on this cruise we heard all of the above, plus what you'd expect when one headed down to the islands:  Calypso.  Reggae.   Throw in disco and you basically have it all.   Except alternative rock.

Yeah, folks, my favorite current genre wasn't too represented during the five days we were away, so my SoundRaves 100 doesn't really reflect what I heard--except for what was in my head.  In fact, I didn't even get to use my iPod:  The first few days of the trip, I couldn't find it; I figured I forgot to pack it.   But by the time I did manage to locate it, it was the final day at sea, and when I took it out on the deck to listen to it, my wife Barbara was so cold (if was very windy and chilly as we were heading through a big storm with rocky seas as we headed back home), we canned that idea...back in the suitcase it went.

So, what DID we listen to during those five days?   Well, start with the essentials: Calypso music performed by a combo named Riddin Wave.  On day 2, our first full day at sea, they rocked the decks several times during that sunny day (although, as Barb pointed out, they seemed to take longer breaks than times they were playing, and the piped in reggae music during those breaks was OK...hadn't heard Inner Circle's "Sweat (La la long) in ages, although I could have done without "Who Let the Dogs Out")...this is what it's all about.    When they weren't giving us those sounds, there was DJ Stimulus giving us current dance and hip hop sounds.   And yes, current stuff like "Firework", "DJ Got Us Falling in Love", "I Like It" and the rest.    Arcade Fire?   not so much.

Down on the lower decks, we had a cool piano player named James Barr, who played some classics ("Piano Man", of course, but you also gotta hear his rendition of "Weird" Al Yankovic's "The Saga Begins"...anyone remember The Phantom Menace?).  Tropical Jam provided us with some great Latin jams, a guitarist, Pedro Dela Llano with some original tunes.    Some great lounge standards were performed at Dizzy's lounge (named after trumpet great Gillespie) by the Viva Band.

Then there's the karoke (featuring some gems like "I Got You Babe") was well as "finish that lyric" game shows, with the songs being those classics you now so well.    Tuesday night was "70's disco night", with the Promenade Deck turned into a long dance floor; prior to that was a trivia contest, where I, along with Barb, and two new friends Rhonda and Sonya, got 19 of 20 right to win.    But the Raveonettes or the Strokes?   Nowhere to be found.      There was a Johnny Rockets on the ship, and during several intervals, the waiters would 'do a little dance' to "Stayin' Alive", "YMCA" and other disco classics.  Finally, one the nightly shows was a tribute to popular music, with segments dedicated to Elvis, The Beatles, Motown, disco, Michael Jackson (and his siblings including Janet), and others.

In fact, the only thing Alternative was a My Chemical Romance song heard on the radio in one of the Bermuda shops; Lady Gaga's "Judas" stuck in my head the most (and that song was somewhat of a 'stiff' as far as Gaga songs go).    Still, I love the music of the past so much, and what I heard on the cruise was no different.


Sound-Raves:   It probably wasn't any surprise, given her rapid rise, but Adele scores her second #1 here with "Someone Like You".  The song, purported to be her second single from 21 advances to the top, and Brit songstress joins Rachel Allyn as the only two acts with a pair of #1's.    Her previous single, "Rolling In the Deep", still a national chart-topper, continues at #4, her 21st consecutive week in the Top 10.   "Rumour Has It", an album cut that's charted on the Triple-A radio format, jumps to #6, giving her three songs in the top six.    Her album remains at the top nationally as well.

This week is also notable in that there were several debuts on the SoundRaves 100 chart, 12 in all, which probably is the most ever.   Nine of these are by artists who have been there before, and two of those are by the band Fleet Foxes, who, like Adele, also have 3 songs on the chart now.   Helplessness Blues, the Portland OR band's latest, debuted at #4, the third highest entry of the week on the Billboard 200, behind only the new Beastie Boys, and the "NOW 38" hits compilation, and ahead of Jennifer Lopez's latest.    Very impressive.

I really thought Kate Voegele would have the top debut, with new single "Heart In Chains", from her just recently released set, Gravity Happens.  The singer/actress (she has a recurring role in the One Tree Hill series) reached my year-end top 10 in 2009 with "99 Times".    There are also new songs (although from already released albums) from established (for me, anyway) acts like The Strokes, Florence + the Machine (who also relinquishes the top spot this week), Cold War Kids, Peter Bjorn & John, and the fifth single from Arcade Fire.

But the star of the week is a Swedish singer named Lykke Li, who I had never heard before...until a few days ago when it was Brian Sniatkowski's Song of the Week, and also debuted on the Triple A chart and on WEQX's playlist.   Wounded Rhythms is her second album; her music is in the electropop vein with indie rock strains.   Definitely a song to watch.

Elsewhere, Michael Franti & Spearhead crack the top 25 for the 3rd time with "I'll Be Waiting"; however they have yet to enter the top 20.   Lady Gaga's "Judas", the second single from the diva's set "Born This Way" jumps to #53, as stated above it was the only new song that stuck in my brain on my cruise.  But apparently it's not enough for her fans.....it appeared to flame out after its Hot 100 debut at #10 (it's dropped below even the title track), and her new single "The Edge of Glory" entered at #3.  A good chance for me to be defiant and stick with the prior one.



The SoundRaves Top 100 for the week of May 16, 2011

TW	LW	ARTIST-Title	WOC
1	3	ADELE "Someone Like You" Album: 21	4
2	1	Florence + the Machine - Dog Days are Over	11
3	2	The Raveonettes - Recharge and Revolt	7
4	4	Adele - Rolling In the Deep	23
5	13	MOVER OF THE WEEK:     DANGER MOUSE & DANIELE LUPPI featuring JACK WHITE "Two Against One" Album: Rome	6
6	11	Adele - Rumour Has It	4
7	10	The Wombats - Tokyo (Vampires & Wolves)	5
8	8	The Vaccines - Post Break-up Sex	10
9	6	Rachel Allyn - Gettin' By	18
10	7	Mt. Desolation - Bitter Pill	14
11	14	Death Cab for Cutie - You are A Tourist	6
12	5	Leila - Hush Little Baby	13
13	15	Dom - Living In America	6
14	12	Lucinda Williams - Buttercup	13
15	18	The Cars - Sad Song	8
16	17	TV On the Radio - Will Do	9
17	21	The Drums - The New World	4
18	31	TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK:     CAGE THE ELEPHANT "Around My Head" Album: Thank You, Happy Birthday	3
19	9	Foo Fighters - Rope	11
20	16	Foster the People - Pumped Up Kicks	17

21	19	Dark Sacrament - Realm of Unlight	6
22	39	Foster the People - Houdini	3
23	24	Telekinesis - Please Ask for Help	6
24	27	Michael Franti & Spearhead - I'll Be Waiting	8
25	35	Bell X1 - Velcro	4
26	38	Brother - Darling Buds of May	5
27	20	Peter Bjorn & John - Second Chance	15
28	28	Chk Chik Chick - Wannagain Wannagain	8
29	37	Ben Harper - Rock n' Roll is Free	6
30	25	Rihanna - S&M	8
31	30	Superhumanoids - Malta	8
32	23	Cold War Kids - Louder Than Ever	19
33	22	Ra Ra Riot - Too Dramatic	15
34	33	Helvetia - Arise Pt 1	11
35	47	Scars on 45 - Give Me Something	13
36	26	Company of Thieves - Death of Communications	8
37	29	Kings of Leon - Pyro	16
38	34	Devotchka - 100 Other Lovers	10
39	36	Colbie Cailat - I Do	14
40	52	Duran Duran - All You Need Is Now	6
41	56	Neon Trees - Your Surrender	4
42	41	The Band Perry - You Lie	10
43	48	Richard Ashcroft - Are You Ready	9
44	54	Redlight King - Old Man	5
45	42	Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues	15
46	59	Beastie Boys - Make Some Noise	5
47	32	Tamar Kaprelian - New Day	11
48	60	Augustana - Steal Your Heart	5
49	40	Jack Johnson - From the Clouds	14
50	50	Fitz and the Tantrums - Money Grabber	24
51	58	Alexander - Truth	7
52	65	The Sounds - Something to Die For	8
53	75	Lady Gaga - Judas	2
54	82	Plan B - She Said	2
55	43	Yuck - Get Away	13
56	46	Acrylics - Sparrow Song	12
57	66	Cake - Long Time	4
58	70	Drive-By Truckers - Everybody Needs Love	3
59	44	The Holidays - Moonlight Hours	17
60	74	Andrew Allen - Loving You Tonight	3
61	----	TOP DEBUT:     LYKKE LI "Get Some" Album: Wounded Rhymes	1
62	----	Kate Voegele - Heart In Chains	1
63	45	The Decemberists - This Is Why We Fight	16
64	57	My Chemical Romance - Bulletproof Heart	6
65	71	Middle Brother - Me Me Me	3
66	95	Train - Save Me San Francisco	2
67	72	The Kills - Satellite	9
68	----	Fleet Foxes - Battery Kinzie	1
69	51	Two Door Cinema Club - What You Know	15
70	----	Florence + the Machine - You Got the Love	1
71	64	He Is We - Happily Ever After	9
72	67	The Beets - Dead	7
73	----	Peter Bjorn & John - Dig A Little Deeper	1
74	----	Fleet Foxes - Grown Ocean	1
75	87	The Thermals - Not Like Any Other Feeling	2
76	89	Interpol - Try It On	2
77	----	Cold War Kids - Skip the Charades	1
78	----	The Raveonettes - Forget That You're Young	1
79	79	Incubus - Adolescents	4
80	49	Downtown Crossing - Seventy 4	13
81	53	Cee Lo Green - Fuck You (Forget You )	29
82	85	R.E.M.- Oh My Heart	3
83	88	Eddie Vedder - Longing to Belong	3
84	69	The Black Keys - Howlin' For You	20
85	----	The Strokes - Taken For A Fool	1
86	92	Zac Brown Band f Jimmy Buffet - Knee Deep	2
87	55	Downtown Crossing - Translation	16
88	78	The Decemberists - Down By the Water	28
89	63	Dropkick Murphys - Memorial Day	12
90	84	Marianas Trench - Good To You	15
91	----	Arcade Fire - Month of May	1
92	73	Manchester Orchestra - April Fool	5
93	----	Austra - Beat and the Pulse	1
94	61	Sleigh Bells - Rill Rill	13
95	68	The Airborne Toxic Event - Changing	16
96	----	Boxer Rebellion - The Runner	1
97	76	Jenny and Johnny - Big Wave	20
98	83	Anberlin - Closer	10
99	86	Katy Perry - Firework	26
100	62	Iron & Wine - Tree By the River	17