Those are the perks of the modern age. Aside from that, you can subscribe to a streaming service and it can tailor a playlist (or have your own "station") with the songs that you like. Wow. Digital sales were slightly higher in 2014 than in the previous year, while physical CD sales continued to drop as people would rather go streaming. But here's the eye catcher:
Vinyl sales are the highest they've been since they kept records in 1991. What?
I wondered about that recently and in a recent visit to see my sister in law down in Charlotte, my niece, Bailey who is a huge music fan, had an old fashioned record player and was playing albums.
So why, in this age of short attention spans, convenience and space savers are people going back to records? After all they hiss and pop, skip, the players take up too much space in the home, and heck you can't play them in your car and it's too bulky to bring to a party (although back in the day you had those portable models, but still?). And heck, in the era of "mix tapes", "burned CDs" and "customized playlists" how do you listen to 45 minutes of just one artist. Isn't it time consuming? And when exactly was the last really good album put out, beginning to end?
I need to say once and for all, that I've been, except for a time in the 1970's, to be a "singles" guy. I bought a bunch of albums during college days, but I had a good collection of 45's as well. So I guess there's too issues going on but somehow they're all related.
The "single", or "45 rpm" record was the meat and potatoes of the music and rock industry roughly from the mid 1950's to the mid 1960's. You hear a song on the radio, and fans would rush off to their local record store to buy it. One song (OK maybe the flip side was good, too), then you could stack a few on your record player and you'd have your "playlist" of sorts. Pretty cool, wouldn't you say?
Then along came the Vietnam War, and folk and protest songs, and the hippies and counterculture, and suddenly music wasn't as happy-go-lucky and free-spirited as it once was. Songwriters needed more than three minutes per song to relay their thoughts and expressions. And they actually needed several songs to complete their thoughts. Entire albums. So by 1967, especially when Sgt. Pepper came out, albums became popular, free-form radio stations on the little-utilized FM stations that you wouldn't hear on top 40 stations; sometimes they'd play entire albums. Long-playing records became the standard for music for the next 20 to 30 years. Oh, yeah there were eight-track tapes and cassettes as well.
So, what happened since? How did we get back to single recordings? Well, cassettes became the medium of choice thanks to Walkmans. MTV played music videos of songs, not albums (although they would display the name of the album at the start and finish). "Cass-singles" became popular (personally, nothing could replace the 45 rpm record), to me, a single song on cassette was a waste of the medium. But part of it was two-fold. Where releasing two songs from an album was standard in the early seventies, by the mid eighties, record labels were releasing five, six, and even seven songs from an album (Thriller and Born in the USA are two examples). Sure, they sold a lot of albums, but they were the exceptions. Usually, beyond the two or three good songs were mostly uninspired filler. By the 1990's, all except one or two songs in an album would fit that mold.
But the record companies got crafty in the 1990's. Many big hits were just sent to radio stations and weren't available commercially for sale. In other words, you had to by an entire album for almost twenty dollars just to get one song that you could get for a buck or two at one time. "Don't Speak" by No Doubt was a huge hit in late 1996 but you couldn't find it on the Billboard Hot 100. And let's be honest. With the exception of Jagged Little Pill by Alanis Morrisette, and some of the grunge bands, can you name a classic album of the nineties? No Dark Side of the Moon, Rumours, Frampton Comes Alive, Hotel California or Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.
And then came the death knell for albums (not to mention the way the record companies did business): Napster. And other peer-to-peer services. Not only could someone "share" their music online via digital MP3 conversion, but you could make your own CDs for free. Album choices were available by the song and not the entire album as a whole. The recording industry managed to shut down most of those P2P sites, but the damage had already been done. Online sites like Amazon.com and iTunes were now making songs available. CDs were still popular if you wanted full albums, but by now people mostly were downloading individual songs, most of them for a dollar, echoing the 45 days of the sixties.
And except for new albums by classic rock acts and new pop sensations, people didn't bother buying new albums (Taylor Swift's huge, recent 1989 set being one of the few exceptions). It's become a singles-oriented world once again, for better or for worse.
So, why the increase in vinyl sales? For all its shortcomings, digital music, especially CD's really didn't deliver on the flawless sound it once promised. Dirt, scratches come on your speakers like a DJ remixing a song unintentionally. Perhaps, analog wasn't that bad after all. You can digitize a song all you want but some critical sounds can drop out or get lost in the translation. And if you can take care of a record, you can't match the sound quality.
Obviously, you're not going to transport a bulky player around but perhaps it works fine at home. I don't think vinyl will ever make a full comeback...we've gone too high tech in this society for that to happen, but perhaps it's a nice alternative to being on the go and listening to a playlist of 30 songs by 30 different artists. Perhaps full-album listening is a good thing. So maybe dust off those old albums you have stored in your basement, find a good used stereo on eBay and sit and relax.
As I mentioned above, I am more of a "singles" guy rather than an albums one. Probably from the 1980's onward, I made some mix tapes every month from current songs out there. I did buy a lot of cassette albums in the 80's and then I joined a CD club in the 90's but by then to me it was a waste as there were only a good song or two out on any one CD. So, personally I welcomed the MP3 age. Some of my friends still listen to and review albums, even alternative ones. Brian Sniatkowski has his songs of the week that he posts on Facebook, but at year's end he focuses on his 25 favorite albums of a particular year (we are still awaiting his 2014 list).
As for me you've noticed that I rarely review albums, unless it's by one of my "local, up-and-coming artists". I have limited time to sit and listen to all songs on one album when, in my opinion, there is a lot of good artists out there to choose from. I will, however, continue to reference artists' albums on my highlighted songs on my SNS chart as well as reviews of new singles and album tracks that I feature. I invite those to start with those highlighted songs as a begin point and perhaps explore from there
Regardless of whether it's digital and vinyl.
MEANWHILE ON THE CHART: Fitz & the Tantrums rack up a second week at the top of SNS, but it's a close race now with St. Paul & the Broken Bones at #2 and Foster the People, gunning for their third #1 from their recent album, at #3. Taylor Swift racks up her first SNS top 10 as her recent hit "Shake It Off" advances from #13 to #9. The song, which was number one last fall, had a resurgence when a video of a cop lip syncing it in his police car, went viral. I expect to add her second single, "Blank Space", also a recent number one, shortly. She has just released her third single, "Style". Who knows when I'll get to that one!
Meanwhile, I add eight new songs this week. No really immediate stand-outs; however the top debut goes to Calvin Harris' follow-up to his top 3 SNS "Summer". This one is called "Blame" and he goes back to featuring other vocalists, this one being John Newman, an English singer who has had success over there. Again, it's his usual formula of vocals followed by an instrument break. But he always seems to come off as infectious. Despite the guest vocals, it's all Harris. I don't know what he does but I always seem to love it. The song was actually released in June, however, I was enjoying "Summer" at that time so it had to wait its turn. It topped the chart in the UK and reached #19 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early fall. It enters my chart at #67.
Two proven pop records get added this week, but by British male singers. Coming in at #85, Mark Ronson has had the #1 song on Billboard the past few weeks with "Uptown Funk", which features Bruno Mars. As the title suggests, this is an interesting seventies throwback to the disco/funk era popularized by bands like Kool & the Gang not to mention the early old school hip-hop of the early 80's such as Grandmaster Flash. It's an interesting song to say the least if only for the nostalgia aspect. Many friends of mine have posted this song already. While I would prefer to see a new sound on the charts, stuff like this, is, at least a departure from the mindless pop that has pretty much dominated the scene over the last ten or so years. When I first heard the artist's name, I thought he could have been related to Mick Ronson, the British guitarist of glam-era David Bowie and Ian Hunter fame, but there is no relation. He does have some prior music connections, though: He was a childhood friend of Sean Lennon and his step-father was Mick Jones of Foreigner. He also dated and was briefly engaged to actress Rashida Jones, the daughter of legendary producer Quincy Jones.
Sam Smith's "I'm Not the Only One" enters at #90. He has been on my chart before, with "Stay With Me" which peaked at #60 but was a huge hit on the pop charts peaking at #2. He does, however get alternative and Triple-A airplay as well. He was in the news this week for the wrong reasons as his prior hit allegedly sounded a lot like Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down", and has a result, he had to add both Petty and co-writer Jeff Lynne to the writing credits of "Stay With Me". This one, in the national top 5 and also on the alternative charts, has a soulful, easy-going but rhythmic beat to it. This one sounds a lot like something although I can't really pin-point it. And if I can't do that, then it must be a good song and it essentially it. More balladic and complete with strings, it, like the Ronson song above shows that at least the top 10 is a bit diversified.
NO FALL OUT: It would be nice to see a band rocking out in the upper chart these days, but it's been ages. One band though has been having success in spite of it all. Fall Out Boy was the head of the mid 2000's "emo" movement and had success, along with the subsequent backlash again the band and the genre. But their last album was successful and are so again with their latest effort. "Centuries", from their just-released American Beauty/American Psycho album. The song hit #12 on the charts recently and the band seems to be carrying on the rock banner single-handedly when it comes to the pop crossovers. The song, which curiously starts off with a couple bars of Suzanne Vega's "Tom's Diner", (which is repeated later in the song by the band), is a chugging piece of hard rock. It's nice to see a guitar put back into a music song and have it accepted. I really had treaded lightly on their last album, 2013's Save Rock and Roll, primarily because of the prior backlash, but this is a good song. The Foo Fighters need some company on my charts, don't they?
Other debuts this week are from White Arrows at #74, with "We Can't Ever Die"; the band is a psychedelic pop band from LA; Deers, a recent Brian Snat SOTW find with "Bamboo" (#82) although I don't know too much about the band as of yet; Interpol's follow-up to the top 20 "All the Rage Back Home", with "My Desire" at #79; The Bots, an indie-rock band from LA with "All I Really Want", at #89; and finally, Kjband, a project of local North Jersey artist Ken Johnston, at #86 with "Man of Few Words". Johnston is an old friend of mine not seen in 14 years, and I plan to do a blog about his music in subsequent weeks.
Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100
January
25, 2015
| This Week | Last Week | ARTIST-Title | Weeks on List |
| 1 | 1 | NUMBER ONE:
FITZ AND THE TANTRUMS
"Fools Gold"
Album: More Than Just A Dream
(2 weeks at #1)
|
10 |
| 2 | 3 | St. Paul and the Broken Bones - Call Me | 9 |
| 3 | 5 | Foster the People - Are You What You Want To Be | 7 |
| 4 | 2 | Hozier - Take Me To Church● | 21 |
| 5 | 6 | Meghan Trainor - All About that Bass | 10 |
| 6 | 4 | Foxygen - How Can You Really? | 10 |
| 7 | 8 | Cage the Elephant - Cigarette Daydreams | 7 |
| 8 | 7 | The Fresh & Onlys - Animal of One | 17 |
| 9 | 13 | Taylor Swift - Shake It Off | 8 |
| 10 | 10 | Ty Segall - Tall Man Skinny Lady | 8 |
| 11 | 9 | White Fence - Like That | 11 |
| 12 | 14 | Yast - Heart of Steel | 8 |
| 13 | 15 | SomeKindaWonderful - California Love | 7 |
| 14 | 12 | The Big Takeover - Children of the Rhythm | 13 |
| 15 | 11 | Vivian Girls - Take It As It Comes● | 19 |
| 16 | 23 | TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK:
LUCIUS
"Hey Doreen"
Album: Wildewomen
|
5 |
| 17 | 21 | Cold War Kids - All This Could Be Yours | 6 |
| 18 | 17 | Fitz and the Tantrums - 6AM● | 19 |
| 19 | 22 | The Black Keys - Gotta Get Away | 6 |
| 20 | 20 | Foo Fighters - Something From Nothing | 7 |
| 21 | 33 | The Raveonettes - Killer in the Streets | 3 |
| 22 | 18 | Jessica Lea Mayfield - I Wanna Love You | 17 |
| 23 | 28 | Wizards of Winter - Gales of December | 5 |
| 24 | 31 | Arctic Monkeys - R U Mine | 18 |
| 25 | 19 | Alabama Shakes - Heartbreaker | 11 |
| 26 | 16 | The Black Keys - Turn Blue | 11 |
| 27 | 24 | The Gaslight Anthem - Get Hurt | 13 |
| 28 | 26 | SomeKindaWonderful - Reverse● | 25 |
| 29 | 34 | Colony House - Silhouettes | 9 |
| 30 | 35 | The Decemberists - Make You Better | 9 |
| 31 | 45 | Christina Perri - Burning Gold | 3 |
| 32 | 27 | Phantogram - Black Out Days | 13 |
| 33 | 38 | Lana Del Rey - Shades of Cool | 7 |
| 34 | 29 | The Satelliters - I Said Yeah Yeah Yeah | 11 |
| 35 | 30 | Grouplove - I'm With You | 11 |
| 36 | 39 | The Orwells - The Righteous One | 6 |
| 37 | 25 | Interpol - All the Rage Back Home | 9 |
| 38 | 41 | Lykke Li - I Never Learn | 7 |
| 39 | 44 | Bush - The Only Way Out | 5 |
| 40 | 42 | A Day to Remember - End of Me | 8 |
| 41 | 36 | Brick + Mortar - Locked In A Cage● | 38 |
| 42 | 32 | Strand of Oaks - Goshen '97 | 15 |
| 43 | 53 | Fremont - All That I Needed | 3 |
| 44 | 64 | MOVER OF THE WEEK:
FOXYGEN
"Cosmic Vibrations"
Album: ...And Star Power
|
2 |
| 45 | 47 | Broken Bells - After the Disco | 7 |
| 46 | 37 | Train - Angel In Blue Jeans | 13 |
| 47 | 46 | Maroon 5 - Animals | 6 |
| 48 | 48 | Valerie June - You Can't Be Told | 26 |
| 49 | 61 | Meghan Trainor - Lips are Movin' | 2 |
| 50 | 51 | Lorde - Yellow Flicker Beat | 5 |
| 51 | 43 | Sam Roberts Band - Shapesifters | 15 |
| 52 | 56 | Waters - I Feel Everything | 4 |
| 53 | 49 | Idina Menzel - Let It Go | 25 |
| 54 | 57 | Junior Prom - Cheap Thrills | 3 |
| 55 | 40 | You+Me - You and Me | 8 |
| 56 | 77 | Ariana Grande - Love Me Harder | 2 |
| 57 | 74 | Alvvays - Archie Marry Me | 2 |
| 58 | 54 | Guster - Simple Machine | 6 |
| 59 | 63 | Kendrick Lamarr - I | 3 |
| 60 | 68 | Catfish & the Bottlemen - Kathleen | 2 |
| 61 | 55 | Imagine Dragons - I Bet My Life | 5 |
| 62 | 73 | Train - Cadillac, Cadillac | 2 |
| 63 | 50 | Jungle - Time | 17 |
| 64 | 62 | Jack White - Would You Fight For My Love? | 6 |
| 65 | 67 | Misterwives - Reflections | 4 |
| 66 | 79 | TV on the Radio - Happy Idiot | 2 |
| 67 | ---- | TOP DEBUT:
CALVIN HARRIS featuring JOHN NEWMAN
"Blame"
Album: Motion
|
1 |
| 68 | 69 | Weezer - Back to the Shack | 10 |
| 69 | 72 | New Politics - Everywhere I Go | 3 |
| 70 | 70 | Digitalism f. Youngblood Hawke - Wolves | 9 |
| 71 | 71 | Banks - Beggin For Thread | 3 |
| 72 | 75 | Airborne Toxic Event - Wrong | 7 |
| 73 | 76 | Julian Casablancas & the Voidz - Where No Eagles Fly | 3 |
| 74 | --- | White Arrows - We Can't Ever Die | 1 |
| 75 | 66 | Kongos - Come With Me Now | 38 |
| 76 | 82 | Stater-Kinney - Bury Our Friends | 4 |
| 77 | 59 | Anna Calvi - Suddenly | 7 |
| 78 | --- | Fall Out Boy - Centuries | 1 |
| 79 | --- | Interpol - My Desire | 1 |
| 80 | 60 | Dum Dum Girls - Rimbaud Eyes | 15 |
| 81 | 81 | Shakey Graves - Dearly Departed | 4 |
| 82 | --- | Deers - Bamboo | 1 |
| 83 | 65 | The Hounds of Winter - Amy's World● | 29 |
| 84 | 88 | The Drums - Kiss Me Again | 2 |
| 85 | --- | Mark Ronson f. Bruno Mars - Uptown Funk | 1 |
| 86 | --- | Kjband - Man of Few Words | 1 |
| 87 | 86 | Bleachers - Rollercoaster | 3 |
| 88 | 83 | Damien Jurado - Silver Timothy | 29 |
| 89 | --- | The Bots - All I Really Want | 1 |
| 90 | --- | Sam Smith - I'm Not the Only One | 1 |
| 91 | 58 | The Drums - Magic Mountain | 11 |
| 92 | 90 | Foster the People - Best Friend ● | 23 |
| 93 | 92 | Benjaman Booker - Valent Shiver | 9 |
| 94 | 52 | Kelly Clarkson - Wrapped in Red | 6 |
| 95 | --- | Yelawolf- Till It's Gone | 1 |
| 96 | 80 | The Eeries - Cool Kid | 11 |
| 97 | 85 | Meg Myers - Desire | 17 |
| 98 | 78 | Knox Hamilton - Work It Out | 8 |
| 99 | 91 | Milky Chance - Stolen Dance | 17 |
| 100 | 87 | Alt J - Left Hand Free | 10 |
|
|
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.
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