CMJ ISSUE 1377 Week 4 Recap

Hello, I am very excited as it seems that loads of you are coming back each week. The number of reporters has increased by at least 20 each week so far this year, however we are significantly behind last years pace. This week we had 251 reporters at this time last year we had 284. Last year seemed to stay on par with the year before but it is striking to have such a drop off so far. Hopefully it is only temporary.

This week was a bit of a surprise as I thought Sleater-Kinney would take over the number one spot rather easily. Panda Bear was able to hold on though despite having less reporters. So next week should be easy for them to take the spot. The question then becomes who takes it next.   There is currently a 40 station gap between #2 and #3. The #3 through #5 records though all have about the same amount.  Viet Cong, The Decemberists and Ty Segall.

 The one to watch for though might be this weeks #1 add Bjork.  I was surprised to see though that Bjork, despite her current popularity has not hit #1 in quite some time. 2011 Biophilia was able to snag most added but was eventually blocked by numerous records. 2007 Volta peaked at #2. You have to go all the way back to 2004 with Medúlla     It should be fun to see what happens with Bjork/ Sleater-Kinney/ Decembrists. There is of course a chance all could get to #1 but like the surprise of Bjork this past week there are sure to be other things on the way we might not even know about.

Lastly I wanted get your opinions on combining records. We do this at Pirate, so I am by no means trying to single anyone out. This week though I noticed that one of the Ty Segall records disappeared from the chart. Last week there were 2 in the top 20 and this week just the one in the top 5. So I started wondering at what point does combining the records not make sense?  For example currently we have the new Dr. Dog live album at college radio. If we were to have a new Dr. Dog full record come out at what point does it not make sense to combine the 2. 1 month? 2 months?   We also recently worked the Mike Doughty record and as a precursor sent out the live album. We had the 2 combined as to maximize the impact of one record. There is no doubt that is what is being done with Ty Segall.  The reason it caught my attention is because there were 2 on there last week and then only one this week. Last week it made sense to me that there were 2 as they are on different labels.   I just wanted to get your opinions on this.  I asked CMJ about it and they said they take each situation as it comes up.  Is that enough? Or should there be a uniform rule?

I am very interested in hearing your thoughts on this! Lets talk on twitter

CMJ Issue 1376 Week 3 Recap

Every year the MLK weekend tends to mark the return of a lot of stations back from winter break.  So far the charts have gone like I would of thought they would. Tv on the Radio ended the year at #1 and started the year at #1. Last years last #1 most added Parquet Courts then took that top spot last week and last weeks #1 most added Panda Bear took it this week. Each happened with little or no competition.

This weeks #1 most added though was pretty exciting. Sleater-Kinney DESTROYED It. 76% of all stations added the record.  Only 52 stations did not add the record! That is just insane. On top of that they show up on the top 200 at #15. I had thought Panda Bear was liked but this is on another level.
I thought Panda Bear might have a shot at staying at #1 for a while but now you could see Sleater-Kinney jumping up there next week.

Elsewhere on the chart Viet Cong is trying to make its way to #1 jumping all the way up to #4 from the add week last week. How many times does Jagjaguwar get the shaft though.. so many times they make these nice runs and then end up getting jumped by a bigger record or one with more firepower but you have to respect they do it all in house.  Top five is pretty fantastic, I would of course put everything I had into keeping Sleater-Kinney out of #1.  Ty Segall, with his 12th new record of 2015 already comes in at #6 and normally I would think they had a shot at #1 but I am hearing a bit of Ty fatigue out there, and it is just an EP.

But in the end I think Sleater-Kinney makes that jump from 15 to #1 next week. But just for the sake of making this next week more exciting we can pretend that Viet Cong, Panda Bear, Ty Segal all have a shot at it as well.

One of the more interesting things now might be what happens with the new Bjork record? The news of it coming out early happened late in the day yesterday, too late to make an impact on this weeks chart but I am sure a bunch of stations start playing the record regardless if anyone is working it next week. What is your station going to do?

Oh I almost forgot that the Decemberists went for adds this week, they had over 100 adds, coming in at 112 but when you go up against a juggernaut like Sleater-Kinney you will largely be a footnote. Anyone think they have a shot at #1? I suppose i could see them waiting it out if nothing else big comes for a while but I think the chances are pretty small.

Lets continue talking on twitter! 

RIP WVOF Music Director Jana Novak

I just came across the news that Jana Novak has passed away. Very sad news. WVOF has had a long line of great MD's and Jana was no exception. She will be missed.

You can read the Obit here http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/ctpost/obituary.aspx?n=jana-novak&pid=173804005&fhid=7402

CMJ ISSUE 1375 WEEK 2 RECAP

The slow road back to normalcy. Both the ADDS and Chart reporters peaked their heads above 200 this week. It was actually a unique week in that there were more people reporting ADDs than reporting to the top 200. This happens when stations are just getting up and running and only do ADDS as a way to get the year started. 

This weeks ADDS were dominated by Panda Bear. With Viet Cong and Ty Segall the only ones remotely close.. and those were not even that close. Panda Bear is on a easy start of the year track to #1 but I have the feeling it would get there any time of year. Ty Segall is an interesting one though. I have seen in the past that when artists put out a lot of records the stations start to pay attention a little bit less on each one. Will be interesting to see what happens there. 

As for the Charts we have our first new #1 of the year with Parquet Courts squeezing their way in.  It was pretty close with TV on the Radio most of the week. But as I mentioned I am going to guess this will be a short lived #1 as Panda Bear is already at #7 having been set up by an EP at the end of last year.   

You have to be impressed with the run of Ariel Pink coming in at #3 with only the label pushing it. But we have seen that consistently with 4AD as well as with Jagjaguwar. They seem to be the only labels to do it on their own on a regular basis. 

With Panda Bear being as much of a lock as one can be at college radio the question for me turns to what will be next and more interestingly what will be left out?  Coming up very soon there is the new Decemberists record as well as the new Sleater-Kinney. Both should come up around the same time. Do both have enough to snag #1?  Will either be big enough to knock out Panda Bear? 

The beginning of the year is a fun time. Should be a blast to watch play out. 

Check me out on the twitter and we can continue the conversation www.twitter.com/theanimalarrg

CMJ RECAP WEEK 1 CMJ ISSUE 1374

Welcome back everyone! I hope your break was GREAT I went to Georgia, Paso Robles, Sea Ranch and San Francisco! You can see all the things here on Instagram. 

For those that did not see I was asked some questions for CMJ and you can check that out here http://www.cmj.com/column/on-air/qa-douglas-blake-pirate-promotions/


I really am not going to spend a lot of time on the charts this week. I consider the first week a warm up week. How can you consider it anything else... as one person put it... how can my record not be not there with 5 reporters yet record x is on there with only one.

As expected Tv on the Radio held on to the #1 spot and the #1 add had 60 adds.

It tends to ramp up each week so we might see some action next week with Parquet Courts charging up and Panda Bear already making a threat ( I think that is just with the EP so thats pretty impressive)

Instead lets spend some time looking at whats coming up this year.

Pitchfork

Consequence of Sound 

Stereogum

So what are you looking forward to.

For me I would say

Sleater-Kinney
PJ Harvey
Kanye West
The Breeders ( hopefully)
Modest Mouse
Built to Spill

Lets talk about everything on twitter.