Mika graces top for second week

The top four UK singles remains relatively untouched this week. Mika settles nicely into a second week at number one with his download only single “Grace Kelly” followed by Just Jack who stalls at number two for a second week with his track about burn out talent show chart toppers a la American Idol.

Jumping a massive eight places to land at number three is the club banger “Exceeder” by Mason while Jo Jo spends a second week at number four with “Too little too Late”. It may be a week off but if Mason continues to sell by the bucket loads for another seven days they may just dance atop the chart a week from now.

Fall Out Boy land in at number six with their new smash “This ain't a scene it’s an arms race”. Predicted to be the top selling single of the whole year, Fall Out Boy can already claim their biggest charting single with this one. Expect to see it rise even higher next week.

Two more singles land inside the top ten. At number seven are the Klaxons with “Golden Skans” and right behind them are My Chemical Romance who plough over 30 spots to land at number eight with “Famous Last words”. Seems this once obscure American band can claim alternative status no longer, at least not in the UK, this being their second single from their latest album to top ten.

Elsewhere on the chart it’s a rather bland mash of the old and the ordinary. Surprisingly two of the biggest charters of last year limp into the top 75 with brand new hits. Justin Timberlake makes a poor debut with his third single “What goes around comes around”. Meanwhile his previous hits are still going strong with “My Love” at number 39 and his number one hit from last summer “Sexyback” swinging at number 71. Sitting one row below Justin at number 60 is Beyonce with her new track “Listen” while “Irreplaceable” remains unshakable at number 25.

Will these latest singles by two of the biggest hit makers have what it takes to overcome the top three next week or will it be a third week in a row for Mika and both new artists following him in the top three slots?

Album review : The Good, the Bad and the Queen

Fresh off the heels of a massive album with his other side group, Gorillaz, Blur lead vocalist Damon Albarn delivers his latest mega group project. The Good, the Bad and the Queen is more organic than the last Gorillaz album but that is not to say this is a lesser quality album. Nor is it an album that is easy to categorize. Hats off to Albarn for releasing such a great album in the dead of January when music is at best forgotten by spring thaw. It would be a shame for that to happen to this album.

Lead track “History Song” sounds like it could have been scraped off a Blur album circa 1997 with heavy strings and laden piano yet with a sound that has evolved over the last ten years. The thumping bass throughout the entire album has Danger Mouse written all over it and “80s Song” could have been ripped from the Mulholland Drive Soundtrack. In fact the whole album has a sort of soundtrack feel to it, like it could have easily accompanied a David Lynch epic.

First single “Herculean” sits tightly halfway though but its brilliance seems to be buried when listened to as an integral part of the album. Second single “Kingdom of doom” paints a darker image of modern life with lyrics “Drink all day / ‘cause the country’s at war” and strange scratches overlapping pounding piano. While this record will in no way shape radio’s idea of what makes a great record, it is a hopeful sign, a glimpse of more brilliance to come from Damon and co. even if that brilliance is somewhat darker than one may think.

Second download only song tops UK chart

The UK has a brand new number one single making history this week. Mika takes the top spot with his song “Grace Kelly” in its second week on the chart. It has been three weeks now since the UK charts has allowed songs to chart without a physical single in the shops and Mika’a assent to the thrown makes it only the second time that a download only song has hit the top.

Just Jack moves up to take the number two spot while View jumps 11 to 3 with ‘Same Jeans’.
The highest debut this week was at number 11 with Mason charting with ‘Exceeder’ a huge club track this summer finally getting the chart success it deserves. An alternative version exists with leading vocals by Princess Superstar, but in my humble opinion, they do nothing but add a tired rap to a thumbing dance track. It’s a given that this track is a little darker and heavier than the usual three minutes of pop fluff normally landing this close to the top ten, but times are changing fast on the chart landscape.

Good, the Bad and the Queen romp in at number 20 with their second hit ‘Kingdom of Doom’. What is essentially Damon Albarn’s side project from Gorillaz, which is his side project from Blur has been gaining a lot of momentum since it released its first single ‘Herculean’ at the end of last year. The full album comes out this week and should prove to be one of the breakout albums of this year.

For weeks now I’ve been predicting the resurgence of former hits in the top 75 and finally this week two golden oldies return to the charts. ‘Eye of the Tiger’ by Survivor roars in at number 51 on the back of the new Rocky movie publicity and two slots down Jackson 5 bring ‘I want you back’, back to the countdown.

Is this a sign of things to come and will the singles chart reflect a healthy dose of old and new tracks? It is likely. Things like this are hard to predict but with songs getting tons of publicity in commercials and movie trailers, basically any song can now chart, for one week at least. Last week’s flavour of the week, Koopa, who charted despite not even holding a record deal are nowhere to be seen on this week’s chart. It’s still anyone’s guess as to where all this will go.

Unsigned artist ploughs into UK Top 40

In the second chart week of 2007 an unsigned artist claims a Top 40 hit. Koopa jumps in at number 31 with "Blag, Steal & Borrow". Though not a major label signed band, Koopa has been around for a while and owe much of this success to radio and commercial play.

This feat would have been impossible just two weeks ago, but with the changes to the new rules, all songs, as long as they sell enough copies at monitored download sites, can claim their spot on the official UK Chart. While last week's chart didn't do much to distinguish the old chart rules from the new, this week history has been re written and it may just be what it takes to bring the shake major labels off their high horses.

This is the third year in a row that the traditional single has been challenged. Last year narls Barkley scored big with “Crazy” tipping the scales on downloads alone and a year before it Crazy Frog leaped to number one with a remake of “Axel F” after beginning its life as a ring tone.

Elsewhere on the chart it was a slow week, Leona Lewis remained at the top with her rendition of “A moment like this” and Eric Prydz locked down another seven days at number two with “proper Education”

Two new artists had big first weeks. “Grace Kelly” by Mika danced in at number three while Just Jack had “Starz in their eyes” one row below. Otherwise the top ten was basically unchanged. It is interesting though that Jo Jo continues to move up with “Too little too late”. The physical release of her new UK single ships this week. Will it be too late to bring this tune higher than its current peak at number six?

An interesting debut at number 12. Freemasons featuring Siedah Garrett bows in with “Rain down love”. In case you’re wondering this is the same Siedah Garrett who scored a number one with Michael Jackson in 1987 with the tearfully Bad ballad “I just can’t stop loving you”. With Michael in the studio making the comeback record to prove all comeback records and Siedah hanging around the top 20, could a reunion song be just around the corner...

At 54 is the fabulous DJ Shadow, ever the innovator and master of new sounds with often less than stellar results. This week the man is back with what deserves to be his biggest hit ever. “This time (I’m gonna try it my way)” takes a page from Moby’s book of how to deliver a fine vintage vocal on a new track, but the Shadow ups his ante and delivers a strong performance that by all rights will ascend into the top ten. Oh and if you know who the vocalist is, give the Shadow a call he’s saving royalties for you.

Apple introduces iPhone

Apple Computer Inc. Chief Executive Steve Jobs had a great day on Tuesday (January 9, 2007). His company’s music site, iTunes has racked up its 2 billionth download and now leads the digital sales market ahead of long time online music retail leader Amazon.com.

At 5 million songs everyday or 58 songs every second it shows no sign of slowing down and only reinforces the idea that downloadable digital music is here to stay.

At Tuesday's annual Macworld Conference and Expo in San Francisco he also unveiled the highly anticipated iPhone – a fully functional touch screen phone with integrated iTunes – like an iPod you can talk through.

But Jobs is not stopping there. He also gave the world a glimpse of how he sees television in the future. The Apple TV is a box that will allow users to send video data from
their computer to their television screen. These little boxes promise big and should change the way television is watched in 2007.

If everything goes as Jobs plans consumers will download their favorite movies and television shows from iTunes and stream them on their Apple TV, iPod or iPhone.
Who said the digital revolution was over?

Snow Patrol crash their car at number nine

The 2007 chart year officially began in the UK on Sunday and with it a batch of returning songs. As previously noted, the Official UK chart changed its rules allowing any song, regardless if it was a preconceived single or album track, new or a golden oldie, to chart as long as the sales sufficed.

Returning to the top ten in style is a song that has been around for nearly all of 2006; none other than “Chasing Cars” by the Snow Patrol. If there was a success story of 2006, Snow Patrol were definitely it. After nurturing Indy status on a couple of well received but undersold records, Snow Patrol broke the mainstream in 2004 with the haunting track “Run”.

This spring they returned with a new album and a new single but “You’re all I have”, though mildly successful, hardly managed to confirm their status as a force to be reckoned with. All that changed when monster track “Chasing Cars” was released this summer, driving into the top ten on both sides of the Atlantic. But for all its success, it was deleted early this fall when third single “Set the fire to the third bar” was released. But now with old rules no longer in play, the top ten welcomes “Chasing Cars” back at number nine.

Besides that the Top Ten remained less volatile than previously expected. Eric Prydz vs Floyd danced into the number 2 slot with “Proper Education” a song that heavily samples Pink Floyd mainstay “Another brick in the wall (part II)”. A great dance record filled with enough bells and whistles to keep it fresh but not overbearing and remains true to the original. By far a better single than Prydz’s previous number one from September of 2004 “Call on me” which sampled non other than Steve Winwood in a loop that was enough to drive even the most hardcore fan from the floor screaming. And screaming is what hardcore Pink Floyd fans must be doing these days what with the campy remake of “Comfortably Numb” by the Scissor Sisters and now the dance remake of ‘the wall’.

U2 popped into the Top Ten at number 4 with “Window in the sky”, the second of two token new tracks to push their otherwise bland Christmas cash cow greatest hits collection.

But outside the Top Ten things started to heat up. Two former summer number ones crashed back into the chart thanks to the new rules, “Maneater” by Nelly Furtado and “Crazy” by Gnarles Barkley both still selling enough to keep them in the top 40. Automatic returned with ‘Monster’ at 33.

The biggest surprise this week, however, was the lack of older tunes returning into the chart. The picture may have been a little different had the rules been in effect just after Christmas when thousands of people were filling up their new iPods. But as it is the only golden oldie returning for a second run is “Mad World” by Gary Jules in at 58, possibly because of its use in the Xbox commercials. Regardless, it was a Christmas number one in 2003 and is therefore the oldest track returning to the charts since the new rules have come into effect.

The chances that it remains the only golden oldie are slim as rumour has it the entire Beatles catalogue is set to debut on popular download sites this year leading to the possibility that the band that won’t go away could break even their own records and become the first band to fill the entire top ten with their songs. That remains to be seen. For now it has been an exciting week of change and it can only get better from here.

The Crazy UK Charts

My last post, originally written in February 2006, hinted on the terrible year in music that was 2005. That post begged the question “Are the charts still relevant?”. Ironically the month after I wrote this article, the Official UK charts changed their format allowing downloads to chart a full week before the release of the physical single in shops.

Then along came a little record called “Crazy” by none other than Gnarls Barkley and history was made. Crazy became the very first single to debut at number one in the UK on downloads alone. It smashed all records and glimpsed at what was to come.

It was only a matter of time that the powers that be decided to acknowledge what music lovers have known for a long time, that downloads were here to stay. And so it was announced in late 2006 that as of the first week in January 2007 the Official UK chart would rank songs based on sales alone, whether downloads or physical product in the shops.

What does all this mean? It’s simple really. Literally any song that sells enough in one week is eligible to chart. That means that a predetermined single or an album cut can potentially hit number one in any given week.

The UK chart then went one step further and deleted the 52 week rule as well. In essence a single used to be ineligible to chart if it had a shelf life longer than one year. Now starting this week any song, no matter how recently released or how old can chart.

The chart dated Sunday January 7, 2007 will reflect what music fans in the UK are truly listening to and buying. With an already volatile chart, the UK embarks on what could become the craziest chart ever. Will Billboard follow suit?