CMJ RECAP ISSUE 1288

Spring break, SXSW, Midterms. So much relaxing hopefully. We missed last week with the festivities in Texas but what really did we miss? They Might Be Giants secured #1 most added and Local Natives Held strong at #1.   As I have mentioned before with all the breaks going round a lot of what happens on the chart is running in place, making it harder for movement on the charts.  Despite that there was no holding Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds back as they are the 6th #1 record of the year. They come in with our lowest percentage of the year at 48%.

It really comes down to timing with Nick Cave. For the last 5 or so weeks it has been Local Natives, Tegan and Sara, Foxygen and Unknown Mortal orchestra all going for the same spots at every station. Looking back you can see how close each week was only a few station between each record. Because of this each company pushing those records saw no need to lay off the pressure on pushing that record. But eventually stations start leaving the records and over the past few weeks the numbers of stations charting all of those records has fallen. They have fallen because the records are so old.  At the same time we have seen records from Fidlar, Ducktails, Foals and Frightened Rabbit all show promise the first week out but none of them became real challengers. Nick Cave did though. Why?

Well I have my theories and the best way to categorize it would be  --Perfect Timing-- or in this case "A fresh Start"    The first time I saw this was WAY back in 2002.  Bad Religion had been a mainstay at college radio in the 80's and 90's But slowly people stopped caring. They were on Atlantic putting out Major label records trying to write hits.  Then they got dropped and went BACK to Epitaph their home for, what fans would say, their best records.  So they go back to Epitaph and put out a record in 2002. All of a sudden people have something good to say about the band, some new angle to write about, there is a BUZZ about the band and they kill it at college radio. No one expected it but the record went straight to #1 and EASILY.  Then the next record only went top 7, the next after that top 15-20 and the last one barely cracked the top 50.  Not because the last record was any better or worse than that one in 2002 but because in 2002 they released the record at the perfect time.   It happened a few years ago with Tegan and Sara's, The Con, last year with Passion Pit.  There are many other examples and it is not to say that these were not good records it's just that the timing led perfectly to them being #1 despite the competition around them.

I say this about the Nick Cave record only because of his history. The last Nick Cave record to go #1 was 2003's Nocturama. His first for Anti. Each record after this did progressively worse. Not that people did not care. People love Nick Cave but people tend to take greatness for granted.  Until this new record. He starts his own label. The press writes more about this record. New people are introduced to him and Boom #1.

So what is next? Well Tegan and Sara, against all odds, are still moving up all the way to #2. Gaining stations. If not for the newness and excitement surrounding Nick Cave they could be #1. Do they have a shot at #1? Well my philosophy is that until a record goes down it can still go up ( when you are up that high) So until they go down I think they have a chance. However there are some fast risers I see in the upcoming weeks, some I have a lot more faith than I had in records like STRFKR ( stalled at #7 this week) or The Men ( a decent jump to #14) or Foals ( stall at #6 ) The next record with a window is Youth Lagoon with a nice move to #5 in its 3rd week or 2nd real week.  But the records that scare me right now went for adds this week. David Bowie, Low and this weeks #1 most added Devendra Banhart.  Both Bowie and Devendra debuted at 60 and 61 respectively. ( And were the #1 and #2 debuts of the week!! ) Lately #1 most added record have been debuting in the top 120-90 range. So the fact they are up that high makes me think people are tired of the records that are clogging the top of the charts. I think these should make HUGE moves next week. Top 10 should be expected for both but I would not be shocked with top 5 for both.  Low is an interesting one as I thought It would of done better but the last one did great and Sub Pop always does well so I am not ready to count them out even though they had a sub-par add week.

This week there were 23 debuts ( a really low number) we were around 30+ for the last 4-6 weeks so I am surprised to see such a drop off. Our biggest move comes from RHYE with a 154 point jump barely beating out Phosphorescent with a 151 spot jump.  Phosphorescent  are another one worth keeping an eye on. If I learned anything by watching Foxygen and Unknown Mortal Orchestra it's that you don't dismiss a Dead Oceans record right now.

I wanted to take a second to mention my highlights of the week, by far my favorite band was Widowspeak I thought they were fantastic. I could list all the bands I work with on my list but will keep it to one and that was Milk Carton Kids, they blew me away. I saw them in a church and it was PERFECT.

As always thank you for reading and if you have any questions please hit me up on Twitter via the link over to the right.