YEAR END LISTS: Before we move ahead, let's take one more look back at the music from last year. As you can read elsewhere in my blog, I published my Top 100 list of 2013, and I'm sure others have put together some kind of list or another. My friend Brian Sniatkowski again has posted his 25 favorite albums, and radio station WEQX again ran their Top 100 of 102./7 (their FM frequency) on New Year's Eve.
Looking at Brian's album list first, which you can look at here. Before I get into this, I have to hand it to Brian, that in this day and age of downloads and short attention spans, he can still listen to entire albums. I have to admit that I really don't have the much time to write this blog, much less listen to a whole bunch of albums, so give him credit. I continue to rely on his "song of the week" for some ideas for new music, some of the bands in the last couple of years introduced by him were The Veils, Foxygen, Django Django as well as the return of The Pixies. Still, his list contained bands I never heard of, as well as releases from those I have, but not aware of the new product.
He has Luscious Jackson's, 'Magic Hour at #24, a band I got into back in 1996 with "Naked Eye" which was in my top 10 that year. I had completely forgot about them when they came out with this one. I'll have to check it out for sure. MIA has been a favorite of mine as well; I played a couple tracks from 2010 effort Maya, including the SNS top 20 "Born Free", plus "People in Planes", her top 10 hit from 2008's Kala. Apparently she released an album in 2013, Matangi and had several singles from it. Guess I can't keep track of everything! Glad to see Wild Belle's Isles in there at #14, this and Fitz & the Tantrums' More Than Just a Dream (which didn't make his list) would be my albums of 2013. The sibling duo has had two #1's on SNS thus far (including this week's "Back Slider". That album came out around March, but it took so long for "Keep You" to ascend my list that I lost track of this set.
The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You, by Neko Case, Brian puts at #11. Her previous effort Cyclone, in 2009 was a big hit, and I was taken to task for not including any of her tracks on that year's list; I made up for it in 2010 when "Maneater" made my top 10. Her effort this year seemed to go unnoticed; even by Sniatkowksi as I didn't see any songs from this as his song of the week; "Man" reached #69 on my year-end list. Daft Punk's out of left-field hit Random Access Memories, at #6, produced the big hit, "Get Lucky", #2 on the Hot 100 and SNS, and #37 on m year-end Top 100. Brian is quick to point out that there are other good songs on this album, but to be honest, the only other track I heard, "Doin' It Right", was awful. Foxygen's We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors for Peace and Magic was another winner with me, producing the #5 of the year single in "San Francisco" as well as the Dylan-esque "No Destruction" (#84).
Brian's #4 album, Atlas Genius' When It Was Now produced my #70 year-end song "If So". The National and Arcade Fire, at #3 and #2, respectively had a good look from me, and had some good songs, but not enough to make my list, although Arcade Fire's title track, "Reflektor" was well-liked by some of my friends, and I gave it an effort. Brian's top album, Mug Museum by Cate Le Bon was a very good choice; her song "Are You With Me Now" is currently in my top 20 and had it not been released late in the year, the song would have made my list. Again some good music from Sniatkowski, and looking forward to more new music in 2014.
WEQX is a commercial alternative-rock station that has been around since the 1980's, but I discovered it in 1992 at our ski house that me and friends did up in Mt. Snow, Vermont (the station is based on Manchester). Many years, I'm here on New Year's Eve when the station counts down their 102.7 songs of the year, the most recent you can view here:
Wild Belle's "Keep You" was at the bottom of the list, but it's better than not being there at all. My #1 song, "Out of My League" came in at #6 on the 'EQX list; Lorde's "Royals", their #2 is the highest song that made my list (Bastille is currently on my SNS 100 chart). , it was the highest entry that made my list. Most of the songs (of which, their weekly playlist is considered for inclusion on my list) have received play by me. Some of them made the list in spite of being release late in the year, thus not given a chance to enter my considerations.
SO WHAT'S NEXT: So that brings us to 2014. As you know, 2013 was a rather rough one for me, including trying to keep this blog up to date. In the past, I tried to offer reviews of certain new songs, as well as places they will be playing. Although I will still do that occasionally, I plan to place more emphasis on my music experiences and talk about the artists in general. I'm not sure how much longer I can keep this up in its current form, as it takes hours to complete, but less having any time to appreciably listen to new music. But, looking from the cream of 2013, there's still some good stuff out there.
I plan, starting in a few weeks, to focus on certain artist and genre themes. For example, I will emphasize indie and alternative acts one week; visit new products by past favorites on another; "local" artists, or those recommended by friends how haven't hit it big yet (i.e. Rachel Allyn, Omnia and Leila Hegazy, Bad Attitude, Paul Czekaj, Taylor Centers, etc). Another week will feature some country music, and finally, some songs scaling the pop chart. Of course, if an artists releases a great new song when it's not that genre's week, I'll still add it to the list. We'll see how it goes, and take it from there.
CURRENT: Briefly, the bands that top my 2013 year end list, are in the top 3 as the new year starts: Wild Belle's "Backslider" continues at #1, with Fitz & the Tantrums "The Walker" holding at #3. Moving from #7 to #2 is "Kangaroo Court" by Capital Cities; that band is also at #5 with "Safe and Sound" which just missed last year's Top 100 list. Bad Attitude's "Merry Christmas Anyway" drops from #2 to #6, it's still one of three holiday offerings still in the top 20.
Paul Czekaj, whose Christmas song "Christmas Is Forever" sits at #12, has the top debut, a new song which is a tribute to The King, who would have turned 79 on January 8. "Elvis In Heaven" debuts at #69, and the apparently-versatile local artist does a good characterization of him in this one. Phantogram also debuts, they're a band from Saratoga Springs, NY, and from their 2013 Voices, comes "Fall In Love". Finally, I usually stay away from classic rock artists, for the most part anway, but Bruce Springsteen is back with a new album, High Hopes, which is a collection of covers, past songs that he's done, reimagined. It's getting some good buzz with my friends, and so I'm adding the song here, at #85.
Scenes 'n' Soundwaves 100
January 12, 2014
This Week
|
Last Week
|
ARTIST-Title
|
Weeks on List
|
1
|
1
|
NUMBER ONE:
WILD BELLE
"Backslider"
Album: Isles
(3 Weeks at #1)
|
9
|
2
|
7
|
Capital Cities - Kangaroo Court
|
4
|
3
|
3
|
Fitz and the Tantrums - The Walker
|
9
|
4
|
6
|
Shannon Marsyada Trio - What You Do To Me
|
8
|
5
|
8
|
Capital Cities - Safe and Sound
|
21
|
6
|
2
|
Bad Attitude - Merry Christmas Anyway
|
4
|
7
|
5
|
Field Mouse - How Do You Know
|
21
|
8
|
4
|
Lorde - Royals
|
19
|
9
|
10
|
San Cisco - Fred Astaire
|
12
|
10
|
13
|
Haim - Forever
|
8
|
11
|
16
|
Caveman - Shut You Down
|
6
|
12
|
9
|
Paul Czekaj - Christmas Is Forever
|
5
|
13
|
12
|
Cate Le Bon - Are You With Me Now
|
8
|
14
|
17
|
Tired Pony - All Things All At Once
|
7
|
15
|
18
|
Young the Giant - It's About Time
|
6
|
16
|
15
|
Cold War Kids - Lost That Easy
|
12
|
17
|
27
|
TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK:
ZEDD featuring Foxes
"Clarity"
Album: Clarity
|
16
|
18
|
11
|
Kelly Clarkson - Underneath The Tree
|
6
|
19
|
14
|
Fitz and the Tantrums - Keeping Our Eyes Out
|
18
|
20
|
19
|
Terraplane Sun - Get Me Golden
|
22
|
21
|
33
|
Man Man - Pyramids
|
6
|
22
|
23
|
Taylor Centers - Alibi
|
14
|
23
|
20
|
Florence + the Machine - Spectrum (Say My Name)
|
19
|
24
|
29
|
King Tuff - Sun Medallion
|
10
|
25
|
32
|
Ylvis - The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)
|
7
|
26
|
28
|
Golden Void - Rise to the Out of Reach
|
20
|
27
|
41
|
Eminem f. Rihanna - The Monster
|
4
|
28
|
24
|
Cage the Elephant - Come A Little Closer
|
20
|
29
|
43
|
Broken Bells - Holding On For Life
|
5
|
30
|
21
|
Those Darlins - Optimist
|
12
|
31
|
30
|
Avicii - Wake Me Up
|
16
|
32
|
26
|
Man Man - Head On
|
21
|
33
|
31
|
The Satelliters - Where Do We Go
|
16
|
34
|
37
|
Eagulls - Nerve Endings
|
10
|
35
|
25
|
Paul Czekaj - Wheels On Fire
|
8
|
36
|
34
|
Emiliana Torrini -Speed of Dark
|
10
|
37
|
36
|
Wild Belle - Keep You
|
42
|
38
|
44
|
The Joy Formidable - Silent Treatment
|
9
|
39
|
38
|
Phosphorescent - Ride On/Right On
|
10
|
40
|
22
|
Straight No Chaser - Nutcracker
|
6
|
41
|
45
|
Of Montreal - Fugitive Air
|
9
|
42
|
46
|
Cut Copy - We Are Explorers
|
6
|
43
|
39
|
Portugal. The Man - Purple Yellow Red & Blue
|
26
|
44
|
52
|
Portugal. the Man - Modern Jesus
|
5
|
45
|
50
|
Valerie June - You Can't Be Told
|
7
|
46
|
51
|
New Politics - Tonight You're Perfect
|
5
|
47
|
55
|
Lorde - Team
|
5
|
48
|
54
|
The Fray - Love Don't Die
|
7
|
49
|
56
|
Miley Cyrus - Wrecking Ball
|
5
|
50
|
65
|
MOVER OF THE WEEK:
KATY PERRY
"Unconditionally"
Album: Prism
|
5
|
51
|
64
|
Passenger - Let Her Go
|
23
|
52
|
35
|
Lady Gaga - Applause
|
18
|
53
|
62
|
Dum Dum Girls - Lost Boys and Girls Club
|
3
|
54
|
49
|
Fitz and the Tantrums - Out of My League
|
45
|
55
|
58
|
Alt J - Tesselate
|
6
|
56
|
42
|
The Veils - Another Night on Earth
|
18
|
57
|
47
|
Emeli Sande - My Kind of Love
|
14
|
58
|
60
|
OneRepublic - Counting Stars
|
21
|
59
|
61
|
Kings of Leon - Temple
|
5
|
60
|
69
|
Arctic Monkeys - Do I Wanna Know
|
4
|
61
|
53
|
Jagwar Ma - Come Save Me
|
8
|
62
|
57
|
Twin Forks - Cross My Mind
|
7
|
63
|
77
|
Eli Young Band - Drunk Last Night
|
3
|
64
|
68
|
Of Monsters and Men - Dirty Paws
|
4
|
65
|
67
|
Imagine Dragons - Demons
|
15
|
66
|
40
|
All Tme Low - Fool's Holiday
|
5
|
67
|
80
|
Those Darlins - In the Wilderness
|
2
|
68
|
76
|
Jack Johnson - Radiate
|
4
|
69
|
---- |
TOP DEBUT:
PAUL CZEKAJ
"Elvis In Heaven"
(Single Only)
|
1
|
70
|
63
|
Smith Westerns - Varsity
|
14
|
71
|
66
|
Hands - The Game is Changing Us
|
16
|
72
|
70
|
Bastille - Pompeii
|
10
|
73
|
78
|
Goo Goo Dolls - Come to Me
|
6
|
74
|
71
|
Arcade Fire - Reflektor
|
16
|
75
|
90
|
Sara Bareilles - Brave
|
29
|
76
|
59
|
Phillip Phillips - Where We Came From
|
14
|
77
|
86
|
Boy and Bear - Southern Sun
|
2
|
78
|
84
|
Lucius - Turn It Around
|
3
|
79
|
72
|
The Colourist - Little Games
|
8
|
80
|
85
|
Pixies - Indie Cindy
|
2
|
81
|
92
|
St. Lucia - Elevate
|
2
|
82
|
---- |
Phantogram - Fall in Love
|
1
|
83
|
89
|
Colbie Caillat - Hold On
|
2
|
84
|
96
|
Franz Ferdinand - Bullet
|
2
|
85
|
---- |
Bruce Springsteen - High Hopes
|
1
|
86
|
---- |
Wild Club - Thunder Clatter
|
1
|
87
|
48
|
The Killers - Christmas in L.A.
|
4
|
88
|
82
|
The So So Glos - Lost Weekend
|
6
|
89
|
91
|
Mind Spiders - The Steady
|
3
|
90
|
74
|
Matthew Koma - One Night
|
20
|
91
|
---- |
Arcade Fire - Afterlife
|
1
|
92
|
---- |
Hellogoodbye - Everything Is Debatable
|
1
|
93
|
75
|
Foals - My Number
|
25
|
94
|
73
|
Pentatonix - Little Drummer Boy
|
3
|
95
|
88
|
James Blunt - Bonfire Heart
|
5
|
96
|
98
|
The Arborne Toxic Event - Hell and Back
|
2
|
97
|
---- |
Christina Perri - Human
|
1
|
98
|
-----
|
Darius Rucker - Radio
|
1
|
99
|
---- |
Hunter Hunted - Keep Together
|
1
|
100
|
95
|
Maroon 5 - Lucky Strike
|
2
|
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