And indeed, I have fallen behind on my blog, just like last summer, when I went weeks without blogging anything and having to rearrange the way I was listening to music. You can tell when you've taken a break: Inside of new songs going through your mind, you revert back to the oldies. You are either busy, going outside and making things happen, or too tired to do anything but lounge around. A few days ago, we finally turned on the air conditioner for the first time this summer. As I sit here on a Tuesday afternoon, it's only 72 degrees outside, but it's very humid---as the saying goes, "it's not the heat, it's the humidity".
Since my last blog, which miraculously was done in the three day window between my Roscoe camping trip and a trip that Barb and I took up to Maine, I've gone to two wakes, including one of a childhood friend at the young age of 60, found 60 geocaches, put up a new canopy on the deck, took a few day trips, and, when it got too muggy outside, just chilled in the house with the air conditioning on, watching Netflix.
So, where does that leave this blog? Well, what I decided to do was to combine two week's worth: May 31 and June 7; my blog dated June 14 will follow soon and hopefully will make up for the problems I had last summer. I am still not working (unlike last year when I stayed late meeting deadlines), so you'd think there'd be more time to do this. The problem is, much of the new music that has come out the last few weeks as been uninspired, or has taken a few listens to appreciate. But in a sense, it's a relief because if you look at my top ten below, you will see a lot of great tunes jockeying for position. All those songs could be at the top during a slow period, but now we have a logjam. But, many of those songs I had added were at least a year, maybe older. To that I say that good music doesn't have a time period on it.
Having said all that, the summer isn't a bad one so far (and when I say "summer", I mean the period from Memorial Day to Labor Day...of course, summer doesn't officially start until June 21st, but still)... There have been big festivals down in Seaside Heights and up in Hunter, NY, I had just gotten word that in September there will be one in my old stomping grounds in Union County in New Jersey, and of course music playing in your local pub or shore place. In a few weeks will be the fifth anniversary of seeing local talent Rachel Allyn play, I play to do a blog on that. Then in August, no doubt in part to Ms. Allyn, the fifth anniversary of starting this blog. So there are some good times, and good music ahead; I will recall summers of the past growing up, and many other tidbits to offer, so hang tight and listen to the music.
THINKING NUMBER ONE: Ed Sheeran takes the top spot on the SNS 100 this go round with "Thinking Out Loud", which exceeds the #2 peak it had on Billboard's Hot 100 a couple months back. To be honest, I figured Alabama Shakes' "Gimme All Your Love" would be on top for quite awhile, but to be honest, it wracked my brain a little too much, and perhaps the "staying factor" wasn't as great that I thought it would be. There is such a thing as burn-out, even on great music (which The Shakes do perform). The Sheeran tune is calming and sentimental, and grows on you. As there are other great tunes close behind, it will be interesting to see what happens in the next few weeks. Of course, I need to listen to them a little more. Sheeran's tune took 15 weeks to reach the top; other "late bloomers" moving up include George Ezra's "Budapest" (17 weeks, #30 to #18), and Walk the Moon's "Shut Up and Dance" (12 weeks, #42 to #30), which was a #1 alt-rock hit but now is in the top 10 on the pop chart. Incidentally, it is now the band's highest position on SNS; "Tightrope" from their previous, self-titled album, reached #39 in late 2012; "Anna Sun" reached #73 earlier that year.
BETTER THAN IDOL: Well, another season of American Idol is over, and I have no idea who won, but whoever it was, I hope they enjoyed it because that's probably the last time anyone will ever hear of them. That's in contrast to the show's prime, when not only the winner went places, but even those who finished in the top 10 could make some noise in their career. Such as the case with Allison Ireheta, who came in fourth place in season 8 of the reality talent show. She was my favorite to win that year, mainly because of her rock-ish stance (she was only seventeen years of age that season); adding some new flavor to the proceedings. I was glad that she got a recording contract. And although she put out an album, Just Like You, and her single "Friday I'll Be Over U", reached my year-end top 10 for 2009, the album was a disappointment. It didn't sell well, and that and other songs on the album were too poppish...in other words, the powers that be, stripped her rock sensibilities and made her like all of the other disposable pop stars out there. She was dropped from her contract and disappeared.
She did vow, however, that she'd resurface, and a couple years later, announced she formed a new band called Halo Circus. In 2013, we started receiving notices that they would release a new album out. But instead, a single, "Gone" was released, along with a few other tracks. Another single was released in 2014, a cover of Duran Duran's "Do You Believe in Shame?". and this year it was announced that the group would be re-recording their planned debut.
A few weeks ago, it dawned on me that I never heard anything from them, so I investigated this. All the news during the past two years I caught up on. I listened to "Gone" and was blown away. No more manufactured pop star for Allison. I love this song; comparisons should be made to Florence Welsh and perhaps even Brittney Howard. This is what she should have done on her solo album. Eclectic rock, blues, soul, that's what this song is about. It thus debuts this week on the SNS 100 at #80. Glad to see Allison taking the reins of her career. "Idol" will be gone after next season; let's hope people will appreciate Halo Circus and that can stick around long afterwards.
Next is Jamie XX who is a London-based producer, with "Loud Places". This real name is Jamie Smith, and actually is a member of the band The XX (who had a few songs on my SNS 100, mostly notably "Crystalized" which reached my #14 in 2010). Jamie as mentioned is a producer, much like Zedd, Mark Ronson and Calvin Harris; the guest vocalist is Romy. The song is similar to Harris' work, except a bit more slower and thicker..still very soulful. Definitely a song to check out.
Other debuts include Circa Waves, a British-indie band from Liverpool, with "T-Shirt Weather"; Young Buffalo, indie rockers from Oxford, Mississippi, with "No Idea" and another by the Zac Brown Band, a collaboration with Chris Cornell of Soundgarden, "Heavy Is the Head" at #100.
Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100
May 31 and June 7,
2015
| This Week | Last Week | ARTIST-Title | Weeks on List |
| 1 | 3 | NUMBER ONE:
"Thinking Out
Loud"
Album: x
|
15 |
| 2 | 1 | Alabama Shakes - Gimme All Your Love | 8 |
| 3 | 4 | Calvin Harris f. Ellie Goulding - Outside | 7 |
| 4 | 5 | The Decemberists - Calvary Captain | 10 |
| 5 | 6 | Florence + the Machine - Ship to Wreck | 6 |
| 6 | 2 | Omnia Hegazy - Dust | 13 |
| 7 | 7 | St. Paul and the Broken Bones - Like a Mighty River | 7 |
| 8 | 13 | Grace Potter - Alive Tonight | 4 |
| 9 | 9 | Mumford & Sons - Believe | 9 |
| 10 | 8 | My Morning Jacket - Big Decisions | 9 |
| 11 | 12 | Elle King - Ex's and Oh's | 5 |
| 12 | 11 | MS MR - Painted | 5 |
| 13 | 10 | Tennis - I'm Callin' | 11 |
| 14 | 14 | Mark Ronson f. Kevin Parker - Daffodils | 11 |
| 15 | 20 | Awolnation - Hollow Moon | 10 |
| 16 | 22 | TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK:
"Think It's
Gonna Happen Again"
Album: At Best, Cuckloid
|
12 |
| 17 | 17 | Launderettes - Red River | 18 |
| 18 | 30 | George Ezra - Budapest | 17 |
| 19 | 23 | Zella Day - Hypnotic | 13 |
| 20 | 29 | Meg Myers - Sorry | 8 |
Tremors:
| 101 | 106 | Alternate Routes - Nobody Else |
| 102 | 108 | Foo Fighters - Congregation |
| 103 | 107 | Surfer Blood - I Can't Explain |
| 104 | ---- | Wild Party - Outright |
| 105 | 109 | Glass Animals - Hazey |
| 106 | ---- | Fidler - 40 oz on Repeat |
|
|
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.