Back to Where We Belong (Music Review week of 12/12/2011)

It gets later and later, doesn't it?  Yes, it's Sunday, and several days after this stuff is valid for, but that's OK.   Better late than never.    This is the pentultimate blog, as there will be one more this week.  And of course, my year end Top 100 of the year.


BACK TO #1:  If you would have told me about six months ago that R.E.M. would have my #1 song, you would have been crazy.   But, "We All Go Back To Where We Belong", humming thru my head the last week and a half as I've gone thru a lot of stress from various sources, rises to the top; a few months after Michael Stipe and crew announced it had called it quits.    None of the songs from their previous album, unlike some friends of mine and the critics, really did anything for me, but this one is so melancholy and so much sounding like a swan song, and it caught my ears.  Thus, it takes the top spot in spite of heavy competition from the top 3.  

"Lights" by Ellie Goulding and last week's #1 "Lonely Boy" by the Black Keys, each get displaced despite the latter holding the top spots on Billboard's Alternative and Triple-A radio charts.   These two are very strong, and the competition between the three should get interesting in the  next few weeks, especially since there isn't much competition coming up.   Red Hot Chili Peppers' latest and Phantogram's "Don't Move", do make moves, but the Impact award is for "Don't Stop" by Foster the People which only inches up from 21 to 20.   Still, that song becomes FTP's fourth to make my top 20 this year.

The Mover of the Week is The Killers' "The Cowboys Christmas Ball", second to Grace Potter's "Naughty Naughty" among holiday offerings, but an unexpected second place belongs to The Kooks' former #2 "Junk of the Heart" which jumps back up from #38 to #25 due to a close friend posting the song on their wall (and lyrics in their status).

Two high debuts from local heavyweights (and Facebook friends) dominate the new music this week, but there's also some newbies to watch.   Debuting at an impressive #46 is the new Rachel Allyn single "Ain't No Fun".    Unlike her last couple entries this one is basically an uptempo hoedown.  The song features seasoned Nashville legend Brent Mason, who recently won a Grammy award for his contribution on Brad Paisley's mostly instrumental album Play.  For a background on how this song came about, check out Rachel's blog:  http://rachelallyn.wordpress.com/

Also new is Omnia's follow-up to his #1 "What's Become of Us", entitled "Change This Place".  Also from her EP Jailbird, the song (and the accompanying video) is about the revolutions in several northern African and Arab countries that occurred this year, including Egypt (Omnia is of part-Egyptian heritage).  A nice thought-provoker with of course, the singer/songwriter's exotic rhythms.   It enters at #71.    Just behind is the fifth Lady Gaga single from Born This Way, entitied "Marry the Night", which may be her best single to date from that album.    Two of the previous four singles, "Judas" and "The Edge of Glory" made my top 20 earlier this year.

Two standout debuts from two female songstresses who hail from New York City:  Lana Del Rey and Sharon Van Etten, with "Video Games" and "Serpents", both catchy and worthy of attention.     Del Rey, born Elizabeth Grant, will have her second album Born to Die is due early next year.   Kurt Cobain and Bruce Springsteen are among her musical influences, and she refers to herself as the "gangsta Nancy Sinatra"  hmmm.     Van Etten, who lives in Brooklyn but originally from New Jersey will have Tramp, her third effort, out in 2012.  She played the Beacon Theater this week, and will return to the area in February.

Scenes n' Soundwaves 100 for Week of December 12, 2011:

This Week	Last Week	ARTIST-Title	Weeks on List
1	3	R.E.M. "We All Go Back To Where We Belong" Album: Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage	6
2	1	The Black Keys - Lonely Boy	7
3	2	Ellie Goulding - Lights	11
4	4	Mayer Hawthorne - The Walk	10
5	7	Real Estate - It's Real	9
6	8	Sleeper Agent- That's My Baby	10
7	10	Red Hot Chili Peppers - Monarchy and Roses	7
8	5	Sarah Jean - Hometown	13
9	6	Omnia - What's Become of Us?	12
10	14	Phantogram - Don't Move	8
11	11	Dum Dum Girls - Coming Down	12
12	9	Florence + the Machine - Shake It Out	9
13	13	Death Cab For Cutie - Stay Young Go Dancing	19
14	17	Graffiti6 - Free	7
15	16	Blitzen Trapper - Love the Way You Walk Away	12
16	12	Adele - I'll Be Waiting	14
17	19	Fleet Foxes - Lorelai	6
18	15	Two Door Cinema Club - Undercover Martyn	8
19	18	Carolina Liar - Drown	15
20	21	TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK:   FOSTER THE PEOPLE "Don't Stop (Color on the Walls)" Album: Torches	7

21	22	Katy Perry - The One That Got Away	8
22	20	Florence + the Machine - What the Water Gave Me	17
23	25	The Big Troubles - She Smiles for Pictures	8
24	32	Grace Potter & the Nocturnals - Naughty, Naughty Children	4
25	38	The Kooks - Junk of the Heart	23
26	29	Adele - One and Only	4
27	24	Zac Brown Band - Keep Me In Mind	9
28	31	Warren Haynes - River's Gonna Rise	5
29	28	Scars on 45 - Heart on Fire	13
30	23	Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside - I Swear	17
31	30	Portugal. The Man - So American	6
32	27	Dawes - Time Spent in Los Angeles	11
33	39	Kathleen Edwards - Change the Sheets	7
34	50	The Knux - Razorblade	5
35	35	Kasabian - Days Are Forgotten	9
36	26	Paul Czekaj - My Home New Jersey	13
37	34	Beirut - Santa Fe	12
38	33	St. Vincent - Cruel	12
39	66	MOVER OF THE WEEK:     THE KILLERS "The Cowboys Christmas Ball" Album: (RED) Christmas	3
40	48	Martin Solvag & Dragonette - Hello	8
41	49	Joy Formidable - A Heavy Abacus	6
42	51	Blink-182 - Up All Night	8
43	54	Adele - Love Song	4
44	62	Grace Potter & the Nocturnals - Please Come Home For Christmas	4
45	65	Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Maniac	6
46	----	TOP DEBUT:      RACHEL ALLYN "Ain't No Fun" (Single only)	1
47	41	Fruit Bats - Tangle and Ray	11
48	58	Faith Hill - Come Home	5
49	59	Man Man - Knuckle Down	15
50	37	Foo Fighters - These Days	10
51	43	Sara Bareilles - Gonna Get Over You	10
52	52	Fitz and the Tantrums - Pickin' Up the Pieces	20
53	47	Best Coast - Our Deal	14
54	40	Cage the Elephant - Aberdeen	16
55	36	Coldplay - Paradise	14
56	46	Wilco - I Might	21
57	69	Michael Buble - All I Want For Christmas Is You	3
58	76	Atlas Sound - The Shakes	2
59	45	The Big Troubles - Bite Yr Tongue	18
60	64	Funeral Party - NYC Moves to the Sound of LA	10
61	42	Snow Patrol - Called Out In the Dark	14
62	71	Expensive Looks - Nothing More	3
63	44	The Vaccines - Wetsuit	9
64	53	Rachel Allyn - Lovely Lily	17
65	55	Anna Calvi - Blackout	18
66	90	Michael Buble - It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas	2
67	56	Bush - The Sound of Winter	19
68	73	Fun f. Jarelli Monee - We Are Young	3
69	78	Death Cab for Cutie - Home Is A Fire	2
70	57	Duran Duran - Leave A Light On	11
71	----	Omnia- Change This Place	1
72	61	The Fray - Heartbeat	8
73	72	First Aid Kit - Lion's Roar	6
74	93	Civil Wars - Tracks in the Snow	2
75	----	Lady Gaga - Marry the Night	1
76	60	Thom Sebastian & the Hounds of Winter - Not Broken	16
77	63	Daughtry - Crawling Back to You	11
78	96	Haley Reinhart & Casey Abrhams - Baby It's Cold Outside	2
79	70	Plan B- Love Goes Down	25
80	89	Mumford & Sons - Winter Winds	3
81	68	Ryan Adams - Lucky Now	9
82	77	Rachel Yamagata - Starlight	4
83	88	Deer Tick - Let's All Go To the Bar	3
84	67	WU LYF - Spitting Blood	9
85	84	Adele - Set Fire To the Rain	23
86	74	Ladytron - White Elephant	6
87	81	Avenged Sevenfold - Buried Alive	5
88	85	Rihanna - We Found Love	6
89	----	Lana Del Rey - Video Games	1
90	86	Awolnation - Not Your Fault	7
91	----	Grouplove - Tongue Tied	1
92	99	M83 - Midnight City	2
93	92	Bombay Bicycle Club - Shuffle	4
94	80	Best Coast - Something In The Way	26
95	----	Sharon Van Etten - Serpents	1
96	75	Washed Out - Eyes Be Closed	14
97	83	Bell X1 - 4 Minute Mile	15
98	----	Mastodon - Curl of the Burl	1
99	91	Michelle Branch - Loud Music	23
100	98	Big Pink - Stay Gold	2

TREMORS:

101. 311, Count Me In
102. Evanescence, My Heart Is Broken
103. Christine Perri, A Thousand Years
104. Nicki Minaj, Super Bass