This week, I watched the a capella group Pentatonix perform at this year's Rockefeller Center tree lighting, which was televised, as always by NBC. Over the last couple of years, this five-piece group has recorded and performed many seasonal classic as well as new songs. I didn't think anything much of that, until the announcers said they were featured on the NBC reality talent show "The Sing Off". I had no idea. And to be honest, I've all but stopped following those kinds of programs, with the notable exception of "The Voice".
The millennium thus far has been all about reality shows, from "Survivor" and "Amazing Race" onward to "The Apprentice" "The Bachelor" and "Dancing With the Stars", just to name a few. In 2002 then, it seems a natural to have a music competition show along the lines of the others, where one contestant or team was voted out and went home, until there was one winner. I figured that was a great idea when it came to music. "The search for a superstar" was the tag-line of that initial American Idol season. It was an excellent idea. Too many times in music history has a performer been very successful, only to create a backlash. Taylor Swift is but the most recent example; despite her success, they are many that do not like her, if only because she is popular (which when you think about it, doesn't really make sense). Since the winner of these is determined by the voting public, those who don't like the winner's music can only blame themselves.
Well, it's 2014 now and although Idol has produced many superstars like Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood as well as runner-up singers like Chris Daughtry, Adam Lambert and Kellie Pickler. Season 11 produced a winner in Philip Phillips , and his song "Home" made the top 10 three times, and still gets airplay on Triple-A stations.
But what have these shows done lately? The last two "Idol" winners haven't made any impact. As for the other shows like "The Sing Off", "America's Got Talent", and now, "The Voice", who has broken through as a superstar? Don't get me wrong, I love "The Voice". But it's mainly because of the interaction between the coaches, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton in particular. They are very likeable, as were Cee Lo Green, and Christina Aguliera from the first few seasons. Pharrell Williams and Gwen Stefani also brought their talents to the current season. As of this week, they are down to the top 5, and of course all of the shows fans will be pulling for their favorite. It will be a couple of more shows before they announce the winner. I had my own favorites from the last couple of seasons but they fell short.
But, what if they won? What next? Do radio stations jump on their "coronation record" and put them in regular rotation? Or, will they be forgotten in a couple of weeks or months. It is nothing against the contestants, in fact many are talented and you want to root for them. But in this age of the Internet, YouTube and other social media, there is a glut of sources to try and make it big. One can only hope. My advice to all of you who watched these shows, be entertained, cheer the winner, and then move on. And if, perhaps down the road, they do become famous, apparently like Pentatonix has, you can say you were a fan from the beginning.
HOLIDAY SEASONED: As we are now past Thanksgiving, all the holiday songs are coming out of the woodwork. If you are my friend on Facebook, you will know that I am already counting down my top 100 favorites of seasons past. One band that has come out with a holiday entry year after year is The Killers. Although noted in the pop world for their 2003 top 10 hit "Mr. Brightside"; since 2006 the Las Vegas outfit has put out a Christmas single to benefit the (RED) foundation which was started by U2's Bono to help fight rampant HIV and AIDS in Africa. In my blog area, I discovered this annual ritual back in 2011 when "The Cowboys Christmas Ball" reached #25. The following year, "I Feel It In My Bones" hit the top spot for three weeks, and has made my holiday countdown this year. Their 2013 entry "Christmas In LA" reached #48.
For 2014, the band, with help from late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, came up with "Joel the Lump of Coal", and I have to say it's very imaginative. The band appeared on his show recent, and there was a piece as to what to come up with this year. As you know, songs this time of year have personified reindeer, snowmen, and other parts of the season. Coal, of course, is given to naughty boys and girls and this is a tale of one such lump. More interesting than last year's entry, this could make an impact on the 2014 season. But will it stand up to "Rudolph" or "Frosty"? That of course remains to be seen. "Joel" debuts at #69 and heads some new holiday entries, such as Ariana Grande's "Santa Tell Me" and the umpteenth version of "Baby It's Cold Outside" this one featuring Idina Menzel and Michael Buble.
AROUND THE CHARTS: This is the fourth blog since my revival, and it's good to see some new songs fast approaching the top twenty as those which were around since the summer have fallen off sharply. Aside from the Christmas songs, and the new Foo Fighters' "Something From Nothing", the current alternative #1 song which debuts here at #65 (more on that later), just about all of the entities are follow-ups to songs that I loved; some played by radio and others being those I seek out The results are mixed, for sure. Best of the lot is "Cigarette Daydreams", the third single from Cage the Elephant's third effort Melophobia. Once again, this song has a pop/rock feel to it, every emotional, similar to the albums first two singles. It's doing well on the alternative charts as well. Another winner.
As for the other follow-ups, I need to mention two of them: "California Love", SomeKindaWonderful's follow-up to their SNS #1 "Reverse" is a rather haunting entry. Unlike that song, this has a mysterious rock/hop-hop feel to it, but with repeated listening it becomes a bit catchy. While on the first listening it may disappoint, especially if you listened to "Reverse" many, many times, subsequent listens it starts to affect you, and you start to love it. Then there's Foster the People's third single from Supermodel "Are You What You Want to Me". The song follows two SNS #1's from that album. This is the same situation as the SomeKindaWonderful song. Listening it to the first time was hardly inspiring. Second time was a different situation. The sound is different from their other stuff as it maintains a shuffling exotic-like beat to it. The chorus harmonies are top-notch. Unfortunately, radio has cooled off to the LA trio after a hot start to this album. The band has six consecutive top 20 songs; this one will make it seven. Good stuff.
EVERYTHING OLD.... I've mentioned that the current #1 song, 'Take It As It Comes" by Vivian Girls is a track from 2011. Many of the other songs on my countdown are at least a year old, as a lot of those are third or fourth singles from their current albums. As I've mentioned before, if I discover a track or two from a few years back, it's new to me. Well, it seems radio has gotten into the act as well. "R U Mine", the latest single from the Arctic Monkeys, sits at #11 Alternative this week as radio is actively playing it; it's the third single from their early 2013 album "AM". Well, when I sampled the track for download, I thought this sounded quiet familiar. I was right. This was actually the lead single release back in late February 2012! It had an eleven week run on my blog chart in the spring of 2012, peaking at #54. The two subsequent singles made my top 30 and thus this one has the chance to as well.
FIGHTING FOO: Although it's nice to discover new alternative bands, as I have for the past four plus years, it's always great to hear from an old friend. Very few established bands from the 1990's and 2000's seem to be relevant, and aside from the current one by Weezer, there doesn't seem to be any bands that we've come to know and love. That's why is was rewarding to get a new Foo Fighters song and album. Sonic Highways, the eighth album by Dave Grohl and company, was released three weeks ago, and the first single "Something From Nothing" is #1 on the alternative chart, and is the second highest debut on SNS, at #65. Somewhat a bit slower and more jamming than on previous releases, it's still some great, much-needed rock the way it used to be with the guitars taking center stage. The band which had a #1 blog hit with "Rope" from their previous set, has delivered the goods and is a reminder why rock has been a dominant genre up until a few years ago. Nicely done.
Scenes n' Soundwaves 100
November 30, 2014
.
This Week
|
Last Week
|
ARTIST-Title
|
Weeks on List
|
1
|
1
|
NUMBER ONE:
VIVIAN GIRLS
"Take It As It Comes"
Album: Share the Joy
(2 weeks at #1)
|
13
|
2
|
5
|
Foxygen - How Can You Really?
|
4
|
3
|
2
|
Hozier - Take Me To Church
|
15
|
4
|
3
|
Fitz and the Tantrums - 6AM
|
13
|
5
|
6
|
The Big Takeover - Children of the Rhythm
|
7
|
6
|
7
|
Fitz and the Tantrums - Fools Gold
|
4
|
7
|
4
|
SomeKindaWonderful - Reverse
|
19
|
8
|
8
|
The Black Keys - Turn Blue
|
5
|
9
|
12
|
Meghan Trainor - All About that Bass
|
4
|
10
|
13
|
White Fence - Like That
|
5
|
11
|
14
|
Strand of Oaks - Goshen '97
|
9
|
12
|
9
|
Brick + Mortar - Locked In A Cage
|
32
|
13
|
17
|
The Fresh & Onlys - Animal of One
|
11
|
14
|
15
|
Jessica Lea Mayfield - I Wanna Love You
|
11
|
15
|
22
|
TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK:
ALABAMA SHAKES
"Heartbreaker"
Album: Boys and Girls
|
5
|
16
|
10
|
Foster the People - Best Friend
|
17
|
17
|
23
|
The Gaslight Anthem - Get Hurt
|
7
|
18
|
11
|
Avi Buffalo - So What
|
13
|
19
|
16
|
The Hounds of Winter - Amy's World
|
23
|
20
|
25
|
Sam Roberts Band - Shapesifters
|
9
|
.
21
|
37
|
St. Paul and the Broken Bones - Call Me
|
3
|
22
|
26
|
Phantogram - Black Out Days
|
7
|
23
|
27
|
Train - Angel In Blue Jeans
|
7
|
24
|
36
|
Interpol - All the Rage Back Home
|
3
|
25
|
35
|
The Satelliters - I Said Yeah Yeah Yeah
|
5
|
26
|
32
|
Dum Dum Girls - Rimbaud Eyes
|
9
|
27
|
53
|
Ty Segall - Tall Man Skinny Lady
|
2
|
28
|
60
|
MOVER OF THE WEEK:
YAST
"Heart of Steel"
Album: Yast
|
2
|
29
|
18
|
Tacocat - Bridge to Hawaii
|
15
|
30
|
19
|
Maroon 5 - Maps
|
13
|
31
|
28
|
Damien Jurado - Silver Timothy
|
23
|
32
|
30
|
The Orwells - Who Needs You
|
17
|
33
|
20
|
Terraplane Sun - You Never Know
|
21
|
34
|
24
|
MS MR - Think of You
|
23
|
35
|
21
|
Rachel Allyn - Restless Times Call for Reckless Measures
|
13
|
36
|
34
|
The Kooks - Around Town
|
9
|
37
|
40
|
Grouplove - I'm With You
|
5
|
38
|
33
|
Afghan Whigs - Algiers
|
25
|
39
|
39
|
Lorde - Glory and Gore
|
15
|
40
|
63
|
Taylor Swift - Shake It Off
|
2
|
41
|
29
|
Vampire Weekend - Step
|
13
|
42
|
42
|
Meg Myers - Desire
|
11
|
43
|
43
|
The Drums - Magic Mountain
|
5
|
44
|
38
|
The Black Keys - Fever
|
23
|
45
|
44
|
The Eeries - Cool Kid
|
5
|
46
|
58
|
The Decemberists - Make You Better
|
3
|
47
|
46
|
Jenny Lewis - Just One of the Guys
|
11
|
48
|
47
|
MS MR - No Trace
|
5
|
49
|
51
|
Alt J - Left Hand Free
|
4
|
50
|
50
|
Weezer - Back to the Shack
|
4
|
51
|
68
|
Colony House - Silhouettes
|
3
|
52
|
56
|
Jungle - Time
|
11
|
53
|
31
|
Calvin Harris - Summer
|
17
|
54
|
48
|
Royal Bangs - Better Run
|
9
|
55
|
70
|
You+Me - You and Me
|
2
|
56
|
49
|
The Shins - So Now What
|
9
|
57
|
41
|
Broken Bells - No Matter What You're Told
|
23
|
58
|
57
|
Better Than Ezra - Crazy Lady
|
7
|
59
|
----
|
TOP DEBUT:
CAGE THE ELEPHANT
"Cigarette Daydreams"
Album: Melophobia
|
1
|
60
|
61
|
Idina Menzel - Let It Go
|
19
|
61
|
73
|
A Day to Remember - End of Me
|
2
|
62
|
65
|
Milky Chance - Stolen Dance
|
11
|
63
|
62
|
Horse Thief - Devil
|
9
|
64
|
66
|
Kings of Leon - Family Tree
|
3
|
65
|
----
|
Foo Fighters - Something From Nothing
|
1
|
66
|
45
|
Nico & Vinz - Am I Wrong
|
17
|
67
|
67
|
Kongos - Come With Me Now
|
32
|
68
|
81
|
Valerie June - You Can't Be Told
|
20
|
69
|
----
|
The Killers - Joel the Lump of Coal
|
1
|
70
|
69
|
The Griswolds - Beware the Dog
|
5
|
71
|
83
|
Pentatonix - Mary Did You Know
|
2
|
72
|
----
|
SomeKindaWonderful - California Love
|
1
|
73
|
59
|
Weird Al Yankovic - Word Crimes
|
7
|
74
|
----
|
Lana Del Rey - Shades of Coal
|
1
|
75
|
76
|
Bastille - Flaws
|
4
|
76
|
77
|
J. Roddy Walston and the Business - Marigold
|
3
|
77
|
----
|
Lykke Li - I Never Learn
|
1
|
78
|
RE
ENTRY
|
Arctic Monkeys - R U Mine
|
12
|
79
|
----
|
Foster the People - Are You What You Want To Me
|
1
|
80
|
----
|
Anna Calvi - Suddenly
|
1
|
81
|
80
|
Benjaman Booker - Valent Shiver
|
4
|
82
|
87
|
American Authors - Believer
|
2
|
83
|
----
|
Idina Menzel (duet with Michale Buble) - Baby It's Cold Outside
|
1
|
84
|
88
|
Knox Hamilton - Work It Out
|
2
|
85
|
54
|
Lily Allen - Hard Out Here
|
19
|
86
|
93
|
OneRepublic - Love Runs Out
|
2
|
87
|
----
|
Ariana Grande - Santa Tell Me
|
1
|
88
|
----
|
Broken Bells - After the Disco
|
1
|
89
|
55
|
Mac DeMarco - Chamber of Reflection
|
21
|
90
|
86
|
Bear Hands - Agorn
|
4
|
91
|
92
|
My Brightest Diamond - Pressure
|
3
|
92
|
52
|
Ray LaMontagna - Supernova
|
15
|
93
|
95
|
Digitalism f. Youngblood Hawke - Wolves
|
3
|
94
|
96
|
Coldplay - A Sky Full of Stars
|
2
|
95
|
----
|
Airborne Toxic Event - Wrong
|
1
|
96
|
97
|
Joywave - Tongues
|
2
|
97
|
78
|
Lucius - Turn It Around
|
38
|
98
|
64
|
Jack White - Lazeretto
|
21
|
99
|
79
|
Linkin Park - Until It's Gone
|
7
|
100
|
91
|
Broods - Bridges
|
11
|
.
.
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