My Take on the Grammy's (SNS week of 2/8/2015)

SO BOYS AND GIRLS  what should be talk about this week?    Oh let's see, there was my ski weekend which was full of music.   Oh, wait, there was a certain awards show on Sunday night that was pretty encompassing....and controversial!     Even before the whole Beck/Kanye flap it was worth watching and listening.   And many of my friends on Facebook, as with the Super Bowl, had many things to say regarding these performances.     So here is my take on what happened on Sunday night, in approximately the order they happened.    I won't so much touch upon the actual performances as much as my analysis and take on the artists involved.

The 2015 Grammy Awards show, (hosted again by rapper/actor LL Cool J) put together as such to probably demonstrate not just how all genres can come together, but also how all eras can come together as well, led off with performance by heavy metal legends AC/DC who performed "Highway To Hell".   Many of my classic rock fans love this Aussie band, and they play much of their stuff today.    Later I will talk about my ski weekend but friends of mine had this band on a lot.    To be honest, I am not a big fan of this band but I did like them during their commercial peak in the early 1980's.    New Wave for the most part was shunned by radio, and only soft rock seemed to score with stations in this era, such as Air Supply, Christopher Cross and a few others.  On the other hand, album-oriented rock stations jumped all over this band.    So I did like their music during the "Dirty Deeds...", "Back in Black" and "For Those About to Rock...." era.    And it's further proof that rock still needs a place to stay.   Unfortunately, the younger music fans tweeted "why there are catering to the oldsters?".   My reply to them is that there should be more of this music today and that "their" music is rudderless.

They went right to the first award of the night, Best New Artist.    There have been some very prophetic winners who had gone on to greater successes (some of whom performed tonight), and of course some clunkers (Starland Vocal Band, anyone?   Or perhaps Milli Vanilli?).  They've seemed to get it right these days, and Sam Smith was this year's winner.  He beat out Iggy Azelea, Bastille, Brandy Clark (who?) and Haim.   Haim, of course is my favorite and would have been nice to win, but Smith was undeniable.     I have discussed Smith in recent blogs; however I am mixed about him.    I agree he has a soulful voice, not unlike Joe Cocker but I wonder, if down the road will he be irritating as, say, Michael Bolton (he's not at that stage yet).   Still, I have two of his songs on my list this week, so he's doing something right.

Performing next was another new pop artist I've just begin to follow, Ariana Grande.   The Florida born songstress who has had a lot of hits since breaking in 2012 but who I just discovered ("Love Me Harder", her hit from last year is climbing my chart), performed "Just A Little Bit of Your Heart".   I am taking to her soulfulness and I do like her.    I do have to wonder, however, what would separate her from other recent pop female singers such as Natashia Bedingfield, Ellie Goulding, Sara Bareilles, just to name three.  Jessie J, who performed with Grande on the hit "Bang Bang" (along with Nicki Minaj), was up next, singing with the 1966 Best New Artist, Tom Jones.  Yes, the Welsh crooner who, despite his Vegas image has tried very hard to be contemporary.   You need to give Jones kudos for being up there.   His voice is still strong.    Again, it's nice to get old-timers in on things, even though they hardly ever make the recaps from the Hollywood entertainment press.  The song was the old Righteous Brothers/Hall& Oates classic, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling".   I wonder if Jessie appreciated what a fine piece of music that is.

The next award was the Pop Vocal Performance which went to Pharrell Williams' "Happy".  That seemed like a no-brainer; the song was catchy and much talked about in the first half of 2014; the song even made my year end top 10.  He performed an interesting version of it later on in the show.  He did have competition, including Sam Smith's "Stay With Me", John Legend's "All of Me" and especially Taylor Swift's equally catchy "Shake It Off". 

Miranda Lambert performed next, "Little Red Wagon", with the obligatory shot of her husband Blake Shelton in the audience.    Let me just say here, that, yes I have not added any country tunes for quite some time.   It is largely because there was a backlog of songs, mostly alternative, arising from my fall hiatus.    When I "catch up", I will add country again...keep your cowboy hat on!

The Lifetime Achievement award went to the Bee Gees with lone surviving member Barry Gibb accepting.  He also performed with Pentatonix , be-bunking the theory that the vocal group disappears after the holiday season.

Smith picked up another award, this for Pop Vocal Album getting the nod over the latest efforts by Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry (who looked cool in that bluish-purple hair), Coldplay and Smith's contemporary Ed Sheeran.

A legend was trotted out for the next number "Only One".   There were two performers, and I guess it depends on your point of view, who the legend is.   Kanye West sang this, accompanied by Sir Paul McCartney on guitar.  To West's fans (and Kanye himself), he was the hero.    To the others, of course, it was the legendary Beatle who provided guitar accompaniment.   To be honest, I think it's the first time I've heard Kanye sing.   Not too bad but not the best either.     But, more drama was yet to come.

Interestingly enough, best Rock Album was next.  OK, more my speed (another category, Best Alternative Music Album, wasn't televised but that was won for female rocker St. Vincent's self titled debut.  Nice choice).     We had Beck, winning out over classic rockers U2, Tom Petty and relative newcomer Ryan Adams, and my fave The Black Keys.   Of course I hoped the Keys would win, but I think Beck was a good choice too.   Side note:  I wonder if Petty was in the audience in case he won this.  More on that one later.    And it was nice to see Beck up there; the man has come a long way since his nineties heyday.

Beyoncé was next winning the award for "Drunk In Love" which featured husband Jay Z.   I could be wrong, but I didn't see Jay Z up there accepting with her.   Then again I didn't see Kanye, either.   I guess you gotta pick your moments.   Madonna, in her matador outfit, previewed her new single "Living For Love".

Ed Sheeran was next, performing "Thinking Out Loud".  I have added a couple of Sheeran songs, as he has garnered some alt-rock play initially but he is mainly a pop sensation.   And if the guitarist playing next to him looked familiar, yes, it was John Mayer.   I am thinking that Sheeran and Sam Smith are the 2010's version of Mayer and Jack Johnson...probably.    Apparently Mayer and Sheeran are good friends, and I did happen to see Mayer guest-hosting the Late Late Show and interviewing Sheeran.    But...Sheeran and Taylor Swift are good friends.   Swift and Mayer once dated.   But no, nothing happened, even reportedly backstage.  Oh well. 

Then, finally what I came to see.  Jeff Lynne's ELO (which is essentially Lynne plus some backing musicians), performing their 1976 hit "Evil Woman".   ELO was one of my favorite 1970's band, and had to pleasure to see them in 1981 at the Meadowlands.   Sheehan sang along, too.   It then led into "Mr. Blue Sky".   Sir Paul McCartney was seen grooving along to "Evil Woman"...until he noticed the camera was on him...then he sat down!    Great moment, as ELO was inspired by latter-day Beatles.   One word on ELO.    It's great to see Lynne perform, but it would be nice if other original or classic members of the band were up there as well.     Of course, neither the band, nor Paul's "sing-along" could get any respect from the post-Grammy talk.   I'm getting too old.

The Voice coaches Adam Levine and Gwen Stefani duetted next with "My Heart is Open", and then Lambert, wife of another "Voice" coach, then won best Country Album Platinum.    

Hozier, who has been in my SNS top 20 since last summer with his huge hit "Take Me To Church" (#2 on my SNS, as well as Billboard's Alternative and Hot 100, and STILL #1 on the Rock chart for 18 weeks and counting, performed his hit, but his singing partner Annie Lennox (half of the 1984 Best New Artist Eurythmics) stole the show.   Lennox followed that with her renditions of the bluesy rock standard, "I Put a Spell On You".

Variety continued when things got serious.  A piece on domestic violence, a speech from President Obama morphed into Katy Perry's heartfelt performance of "By the Grace of God".    That in turn was followed by the cool duet of legendary crooner Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, doing "Cheek to Cheek".    To be honest, I like Lady Gaga when she's not dressed up as anyone but herself.   Her popularity has slackened off a bit in the last couple of years, and perhaps the public may have been tired of it all.  She is a beautiful woman, and when without her props, she can still be dynamite.  Nice performance from those two.   Another country performance followed, this one from Eric Church, Dwight Yoakam, and Brandy Clark (oh, she's a country performer...I didn't know!).

It started getting interesting.    Kanye and Sir Paul were back onstage, this time as featured vocalists on Rihanna's new single "FourFive Seconds".    I love Rihanna and of course Sir Paul and it to me as a decent performance.    People praised both vocalists, to me Rihanna far outshined West.   And of course, Paul's guitar playing.     The song was worthy of being added in the next few weeks on my blog but in the meantime, it has reached the top 10 of Billboard, no doubt because of Rihanna.  Still, it's Sir Paul's first top ten hit since 1986.  So what if the former Beatle is coat tailing on two current stars' backs?...McCartney deserves much, much better and if this is his way of getting back into the public eye (not that he'd ever left, of course), it's another feather in his cap.

Smith was back, this time with R&B veteran Mary J. Blige singing his "Stay With Me" smash.    Juanes, a musician from Colombia followed with "Juntos".  Then it was time for some fireworks, and I don't mean Katy Perry's song.

Legend Prince was the presenter for the next award, a major one, Album of the Year.  Sam Smith, no surprise given his other nominations and wins this year was one of the front runners.  Beyoncé, another industry favorite, Ed Sheeran another with a huge year, Pharrell Willaims who had a monster hit...oh, and Beck.   Let's just say that all but one probably had a fighting chance.   No way the alt-rock veteran could trump the other pop sensations right?

But the winner was Beck for Morning Phase, of which "Blue Moon" reached the top 20 on my blog last year.   All I could say is "Yeah!".   Quality over quantity.     Rock is still relevant.   So Beck reaches the stage to accept, and who else is there?   Kanye West.   The same guy who interrupted Taylor Swift's acceptance at the 2009 VMA's.   This time he got up there and turned around and headed back into the audience, but it spoke volumes, the underlying reason is that he thought Beyoncé should have won..   Beck was good natured, inviting him back up there, but perhaps West, who got the support of his joke, which the press ignored Beck (what else is new there), didn't come back up.     Beck gave his speech and got his award, and that was it.....at least for now.

Sia's "Chandelier" was performed next.  I've seen her perform previously on "Ellen", definitely eclectic in nature.  She has been around for awhile I believe. 

Song of the Year award was next.  And yes, that went to Sam Smith.  What was interesting is that this is a songwriter award and he had writing credits with James Napier, and William Phillips.   As I mentioned last week, both Petty's and Lynne's name were added to the credits due to Petty's "I Won't Back Down" song having similaries to "Stay With Me".    I know Lynne was there tonight and Petty had a nomination.   And no THEY didn't rush the stage.  Kanye, that's how you do it!

Beck showed his performing prowess when he teamed up with Coldplay's Chris Martin, and then it was time for Record of the Year, which is for the best single of the year gone by.  Good pop competition here with Sia's "Chandelier", Swift's "Shake it Off", Azalea's "Fancy" and Meghan Trainor's addictive "All About That Bass" but you guessed it: Sam Smith got that too.  Four wins.  And so it goes.

GETTING TO THE MEAT OF THE ISSUE:   I started this blog on Thursday afternoon after thinking and formulating it since Sunday night, and it is now Friday morning after the Grammy's.   A lot has happened, even on Thursday.    After many thought Kanye's action of getting up on stage was a joke, West, in a post show interview took several digs at Beck, who beat out Kanye's buddy Beyoncé for Album of the Year.   He indicated that Beck should have given his award to Beyoncé, and should "respect artistry".

Look, I am not an avid listener of Kanye's genre, and only have a mild interest in Beyoncé.   I liked some of their songs and to be honest, I have not heard her latest album.    Artists like this, as well as other "divas" and singers are more "entertainers" than true musicians.    Although I have lost track of Beck in recent years (many people only remember him for his 90's work on albums like Mellow Gold and Odelay, but he has consistently put out good albums since), his work is ever-evolving and maturing.   More importantly, while "entertainers" rely on outside producers, other songwriters and backing musicians, focusing more on the singing and dancing choreography on stage, artists like Beck concent on songwriting (he wrote all the songs on Morning Phase for example) and playing his own instruments (at least twelve on this album).     He is a hard worker; artists like Beyoncé, have others do the work for them behind the scenes.   

Beck handled the diss with class and thought Beyoncé was going to win, and even praised Kanye.   This is the difference between alternative rockers and other genres, they handle it with class.  Perhaps this is one of the reason why modern-day rockers never get the press as there is little sensationalism involved.  Even more, all the "entertainment" shows which already favor Kanye as well as his wife Kim's family, the Kardashians are more "gossip-friendly", as opposed to Beck, who has been off the radar for the last ten years (in spite of top ten showings on his five most recent albums).

The next day, Shirley Manson of the awesome band Garbage (a great band, I still don't know why they couldn't keep up their popularity into the 2000's, but that's a story for another time), defended Beck and, unlike him,  attacked Kanye, saying that is was him that "disrespected artistry".  She then added: "You make yourself look small and petty and spoiled.  In attempting to reduce the importance of one great talent over another, you make a mockery of all musicians and music from every genre, including your own.  Grow up and stop throwing your toys around.  You are making yourself look like a complete twat."   Even R&B singer John Legend, a friend of Wests said, while defending what appeared to be Kanye's actions at the show (that is was a comic gesture playing up his faux pas in the Taylor Swift situation in '09) but then criticized his post-show comments against Beck:   "I disagree with those comments. Beck is indeed a true artist's artist. He's a multi instrumentalist, a creative and unique singer-songwriter whose music I have bought and enjoyed over the years."   Glad to see that there is some sense to the world.  I do like Legend's work, by the way.

Then I hear on Thursday evening that Beck's website and Wikipedia page were hacked, with comments calling him "Grammy stealer", and wrote "WTF is a Beck".   To be honest, those actions saddened me more than anything Kanye could say.  And in spite of an alt-rock album getting unexpected praise, it seems that the scarcity of rock artists at the top of the charts isn't an accident.   Young fans prefer glitz and showmanship over artistry and hard work.    It's sad that not only they don't know who Beck is but even worse they don't know who Paul McCartney is.   Only a member of the greatest rock band ever.    Both are musicians who write music, play instruments and arrange their own work.    And combine with the tweets dissing even AC/DC, I wonder if this work ethic is lost on the millennials.   That would be like a painter who has visions but lets other people actually do the drawing.   Is this right?

Forget Beck, or Kanye.    Young music fans are the ones who need to respect artistry, not shell their money into Beyoncé, Justin Bieber or even One Direction, the latest in a slew of boy bands who obviously don't know what a musical instrumental is.

I for one, in this blog, will continue to support artists like Beck, and recognize their hard work into constructing projects that is solely theirs.    I will go back to his album and add one of the subsequent singles after "Blue Moon".  That track reached #19 on my blog last year and #74 on my Top 100 of 2014.   Brian Sniatkowski placed Morning Phase at #7 on his year-end top 25 albums, describing it as
"A well written album that show’s Beck’s folky side.  Many critics have declared it a bookend to his Sea Change album , because it is similarly filled with quiet, introspective songs".  As for Rihanna's "FourFive Seconds", I had planned on adding that song, but because of Kanye's involvement I will wait a while.   I like Rihanna though; nine of her songs have made my blog chart and of course I love Sir Paul.    As Meat Loaf once sang, "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad".

Long live Beck, long live Alternative Rock, long live Rock 'n' Roll.


WEEKEND:  Last week, I went on a four-day trip up to ski country in Vermont to the town of Wilmington.   Did some skiing at Stratton Mountain, and a two-hour guided snowmobile tour in the southern Green Mountains of the state.  Nine of us went and had a good time.  It was gratifying to go, especially since I wasn't able to go last year.    In the three years prior to that, music played a big part of that trip and it does again this time around.    However, new music wasn't as much in the forefront as in prior years.  My friend Anthony Josephs, always a fan of rock, had checked out some new music over the past few years, but this year, he kept it more to the classic side.    He had on the Siriux XM channel for nineties alternative, the "Nu metal" and "Rap Rock" era.   Not current, but still a fun throwback to the decade when a bunch of us rented a ski house in that area.     When was the last time I heard Godsmack, Rage Against the Machine and Limp Bizkit?   Not my favorites in the alt-rock field, but far from my worse either.

Still, I did manage to find, along with my SNS 100 iPod playlist,  new songs to associate with the trip, either listening to Sirius XM's Alt-nation channel, or WEQX.  And on Saturday night, several of us were in a local pub in Wilmington, and we played a lot of songs on the jukebox.  Mostly Nu-metal, I did slip in some oldies, classic rock and the new Black Keys song, which I also heard on the two radio channels mentioned above.

DEBUTING:  I had planned on waiting a few weeks on the new Black Keys single, "Weight of Love", the fourth from Turn Blue, after  "Gotta Get Away" runs its course.  The song moves to #15 this week as I am starting to like this a bit.  But after hearing "Weight of Love" a few times over the weekend, I had to add it now.   This is the reason why I love this Akron duo, they can change styles a bit while still staying in the rock arena.   This one has a bit of a surreal feeling to it, very bluesy sometimes, occasionally Pink Floyd-ish...it respects rock's past while being very current.   Vermont was the perfect place to hear this track.    It debuts at #49, and with the title track still on my list, three songs of theirs reign on the SNS 100.    This should rise rapidly up my list in future weeks

Next in line is "The Party Line" by Belle & Sebastian, a Glasgow, Scotland band who have been around since the mid-nineties.  They have made some minor noise on this side of the Atlantic in the past but there seems to be a big buzz on their latest album, Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance.. It has gotten airplay, and Sniatkowski made it his "Song of the Week" a few weeks back.  I can understand the reason:  it's very upbeat and rhythmic.   It brings about a great feeling to it.   I am not familiar with their previous work, but perhaps their time is due.  It's infectious, for sure.    Completely different from the Keys song above, I wouldn't be surprised if the two of these songs battle for the top in a few weeks.  It enters at #55.

After that, another newbie from one of my favorite bands over the last ten years or so, Modest Mouse.  It's been quite awhile between releases their last one came out in 2007: We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank reached #1 on Billboard.  "Dashboard" from that album and "Float On" from the one before that, Good News for People Who Love Bad News from 2004.   This one, "Lampshades on Fire", at #69 is from their forthcoming Strangers to Ourselves, due in March.   It's what you'd expect from the Issaquah, Washington (where a friend of mine, Dave Sun lives, incidentally), band: Loads of fun, nothing more, nothing less.   A worthy contender.  The song is already high on alt-rock charts and is currently #1 on Sirius XM's Alt-nation top 18.

RECOMMENDED BY FRIENDS:   Last week I mentioned a few artists that were recommended by friends, and am happy to say that two of them entered my chart this week:  Taylor Centers' "Wild" and Phoebe Ryan's "Mine".  

Both are pop-oriented artists; still trying to make an impact (which to be honest, is easier from that field than is alt-rock).    Centers reached #23 a while back with "Alibi" but made no national chart impact.  "Wild" is pop with a rock edge it has an attitude with it.   Given the current pop scene, I can see this one making getting some buzz if the timing is right.   Let's hope this Charlotte, NC singer/songwriter does just that.   Nicely done.

As for Ryan, she has a bit of a head start.    She made the Hollywood Round on Season 8 of American Idol after auditioning here in North Jersey; at the time she was known as "Holiday".   Another artist in the pop field, this artist seems to be getting some buzz.   Recommended by my friend Merrill Kenny Butler, who has known the artist since she was a baby, she had made a dent in the business recently as the featured vocalist on the dance music trio Tritonal's 2013 single "Now or Never".  What is interesting is that band has also worked with Matthew Koma, known by another friend of mine, Meg Hunsicker (who graduated with Merrill the same year from Roselle Park!).  Koma, who has two SNS top ten's and has had success on the dance chart and with pop crossover Zedd, also has yet to breakthrough as a lead artist.   

Let's hope that Centers, Ryan or Koma can break through soon!


Also debuting this week are LA indie-pop outfit Sir Sly, with the title track from their debut, "You Haunt Me", Taylor Swift's follow-up to "Shake It Off", the already-was-#1-pop "Blank Space", and George Ezra, a singer-songwriter from Britain, with "Budapest", and yet another from Alt-J, "Every Other Freckle", the third single from This is All Yours, a "tremor" at #101..


FINALLY:   All of the Christmas songs have left the chart for a few weeks now--except one.  That would be "Gales of December" by New Jersey outfit The Wizards of Winter, which actually enters the top 20 this week.   I decided to keep this Tom Corea-produced prog-rock gem since, to me anyway, it's not a holiday record, but one that goes beyond it.

Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100

February 8, 2015

This Week	Last Week	ARTIST-Title	Weeks on List
1	1	NUMBER ONE: ST.PAUL AND THE BROKEN BONES "Call Me" Album: Half the City (2 weeks at #1)	11
2	2	Foster the People - Are You What You Want To Be	9
3	3	Fitz and the Tantrums - Fools Gold	12
4	5	Cage the Elephant - Cigarette Daydreams	9
5	10	Lucius - Hey, Doreen	7
6	7	Taylor Swift - Shake It Off	10
7	4	Hozier - Take Me To Church●	23
8	6	Meghan Trainor - All About that Bass	12
9	15	The Raveonettes - Killer in the Streets	5
10	12	SomeKindaWonderful - California Love	9
11	14	Cold War Kids - All This Could Be Yours	8
12	11	Yast - Heart of Steel	10
13	8	The Fresh & Onlys - Animal of One	19
14	9	Foxygen - How Can You Really?	12
15	17	The Black Keys - Gotta Get Away	8
16	20	Arctic Monkeys - R U Mine	20
17	22	TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK: THE WIZARDS OF WINTER "Gales of December" Album: The Wizards of Winter	7
18	16	The Big Takeover - Children of the Rhythm●	15
19	19	Vivian Girls - Take It As It Comes●	21
20	21	Foo Fighters - Something From Nothing	9

21	13	Ty Segall - Tall Man Skinny Lady	10
22	26	Mark Ronson f. Bruno Mars - Uptown Funk	3
23	24	Christina Perri - Burning Gold	5
24	23	Fitz and the Tantrums - 6AM●	21
25	18	White Fence - Like That	13
26	30	Foxygen - Cosmic Vibrations	4
27	25	Colony House - Silhouettes	11
28	28	The Decemberists - Make You Better	11
29	45	Calvin Harris f. John Newman - Blame	3
30	29	Lana Del Rey - Shades of Cool	9
31	36	Meghan Trainor - Lips are Movin'	4
32	42	Ariana Grande - Love Me Harder	4
33	31	The Orwells - The Righteous One	8
34	43	Alvvays - Archie Marry Me	4
35	34	Fremont - All That I Needed	5
36	46	Fall Out Boy - Centuries	3
37	27	Jessica Lea Mayfield - I Wanna Love You	19
38	60	White Arrows - We Can't Ever Die	3
39	38	A Day to Remember - End of Me	10
40	39	Lykke Li - I Never Learn	9
41	52	Waters - I Feel Everything	6
42	72	MOVER OF THE WEEK: THE KOOKS "Bad Habit" Album: Listen	2
43	41	Broken Bells - After the Disco	9
44	51	Catfish & the Bottlemen - Kathleen	4
45	33	SomeKindaWonderful - Reverse●	27
46	32	Alabama Shakes - Heartbreaker	13
47	48	Maroon 5 - Animals	8
48	57	Kendrick Lamarr - I	5
49	----	TOP DEBUT: THE BLACK KEYS "Weight of Love" Album: Turn Blue	1
50	59	Train - Cadillac, Cadillac	4
51	50	Valerie June - You Can't Be Told	28
52	40	Bush - The Only Way Out	7
53	63	TV on the Radio - Happy Idiot	4
54	35	The Gaslight Anthem  - Get Hurt	15
55	---	Belle and Sebastian - The Party Line	1
56	56	Junior Prom - Cheap Thrills	5
57	66	Interpol - My Desire	3
58	84	Future Islands - Seasons (Waiting On You)	2
59	54	Sam Roberts Band - Shapesifters	17
60	53	Lorde - Yellow Flicker Beat	7
61	67	Stater-Kinney - Bury Our Friends	6
62	79	Launderettes - Red River	2
63	37	The Black Keys - Turn Blue	13
64	76	Kjband - Man of Few Words	3
65	65	Imagine Dragons - I Bet My Life	7
66	49	Phantogram - Black Out Days	15
67	47	The Satelliters - I Said Yeah Yeah Yeah	13
68	44	Grouplove - I'm With You	13
69	---	Modest Mouse - Lampshades on Fire	1
70	68	Jungle - Time	19
71	55	Brick + Mortar - Locked In A Cage●	40
72	64	Train - Angel In Blue Jeans	15
73	70	Misterwives - Reflections	6
74	81	Brick + Mortar - Hollow Tune	2
75	---	Taylor Centers - Wild	1
76	73	Weezer - Back to the Shack	12
77	75	Banks - Beggin For Thread	5
78	74	New Politics - Everywhere I Go	5
79	---	Phoebe Ryan - Mine	1
80	77	Airborne Toxic Event - Wrong	9
81	78	Julian Casablancas & the Voidz - Where No Eagles Fly	5
82	80	Deers - Bamboo	3
83	69	Jack White - Would You Fight For My Love?	8
84	58	Interpol - All the Rage Back Home	11
85	85	Weezer - Da Vinci	2
86	88	Sam Smith - I'm Not the Only One	3
87	89	Shakey Graves - Dearly Departed	6
88	96	Yelawolf- Till It's Gone	3
89	---	Sir Sly - You Haunt Me	1
90	61	Strand of Oaks - Goshen '97	17
91	---	Taylor Swift - Blank Space	1
92	62	Idina Menzel - Let It Go	27
93	87	The Drums - Kiss Me Again	4
94	93	Grouplove - Borderlines & Aliens	2
95	91	Wild Cub - Colour	2
96	97	Sam Smith - Stay With Me	13
97	---	George Ezra - Budapest	1
98	71	Guster - Simple Machine	8
99	94	Andrew McMahon In the Wilderness - Cecilia & the Satellite	2
100	99	Royal Blood - Figure It Out	2

Tremors:

101

Alt-J - Every Other Freckle

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.