Wednesday, April 29, 2015

CMJ ISSUE 1390 WEEK 17 RECAP

Courtney Barnett, the ruler of college radio this spring. I never saw it coming. Sure when she got one week I was like, well done guys! But for 3 solid weeks now she has dominated. Again this reminds me so much of last year.

lets take a quick look.

CMJ ISSUE 1338--ADDS

TWTAArtistRecordingLabel
1181CLOUD NOTHINGSHere And Nowhere ElseCarpark-Mom And Pop
2164MAC DEMARCOSalad DaysCaptured Tracks
3100HOLD STEADYTeeth DreamsRazor and Tie-Washington Square

Cloud Nothings Dominated ADDS.  There was every reason to believe that they would march to #1 rather easily 

That same week though Mac Demarco had a solid debut 

70--701MAC DEMARCOSalad DaysCaptured Tracks
whereas Cloud Nothings had been on the charts for a few weeks already 

87148124873CLOUD NOTHINGSHere And Nowhere ElseCarpark-Mom And Pop

The very next week they SHOT up the charts Issue 1339

470-42MAC DEMARCOSalad DaysCaptured Tracks
58714854CLOUD NOTHINGSHere And Nowhere ElseCarpark-Mom And Pop

This was the beginning of the end for Cloud Nothings, they could never recover 

Issue 1340

147013MAC DEMARCOSalad DaysCaptured Tracks
21117REAL ESTATEAtlasDomino
32327WAR ON DRUGS Lost In The DreamSecretly Canadian
458745CLOUD NOTHINGSHere And Nowhere ElseCarpark-Mom And Pop

Then began Mac Demarcos dominance Issue 1341


1414MAC DEMARCOSalad DaysCaptured Tracks
24526CLOUD NOTHINGSHere And Nowhere ElseCarpark-Mom And Pop

Issue 1342

11115MAC DEMARCOSalad DaysCaptured Tracks
22427CLOUD NOTHINGSHere And Nowhere ElseCarpark-Mom And Pop
34329WAR ON DRUGS Lost In The DreamSecretly Canadian
476043WYE OAKShriekMerge

Issue 1343

11116MAC DEMARCOSalad DaysCaptured Tracks
22228CLOUD NOTHINGSHere And Nowhere ElseCarpark-Mom And Pop
34734WYE OAKShriekMerge
464-42THEE OH SEESDropCastleface

and finally issue 1344

13415WYE OAKShriekMerge
21117MAC DEMARCOSalad DaysCaptured Tracks
32229CLOUD NOTHINGSHere And Nowhere ElseCarpark-Mom And Pop

It was really never truly over until they got jumped by a newer record. 

Currently there is no record that looks like it is about to jump in though and ruin Modest Mouses chances for good.  The question then is when is it really over for Modest Mouse? when do you give up? For me It would be either when something new jumps in and passes me.  There is no incentive not to stop. In a vacuum, that is. We are leaving out a key component and that is the other records I might be working. I can't speak to that but we can look back at the time this happened to me. 

Two years ago when we were working the Tegan and Sara record. 

We went #1, the last 3 Tegan and Sara records had gone number one so we obviously thought we had a good shot. 

1136TEGAN AND SARAHeartthrobWarner Brothers
2132LOCAL NATIVESHummingbirdFrenchkiss
3119UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRAIIJagjaguwar
Scoring #1 most added we thought we had the best shot. 

At the time Toro Y Moi was #1 but it was so early in the year that stations were throwing the new stuff pretty fast and they would climb up the charts really fast. 

That week we even debuted at #49

49--491TEGAN AND SARAHeartthrobWarner Brothers
sadly for us Local Natives had also debuted...the week before ... 

29117-292LOCAL NATIVESHummingbirdFrenchkis

ISSUE 1283

11214TORO Y MOIAnything In ReturnCarpark
22115YO LA TENGOFadeMatador
33534FOXYGENWe Are The 21st Century Ambassadors Of Peace And MagicJagjaguwar
42911743LOCAL NATIVESHummingbirdFrenchkiss
54335RA RA RIOTBeta LoveBarsuk
6258263UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRAIIJagjaguwar
7713573DUCKTAILSThe Flower LaneDomino
81016283FIDLARFIDLARMom And Pop
949-92TEGAN AND SARAHeartthrobWarner Brothers
Not the best start really we thought.  But Tegan and Sara was a big priority for both ourselves and AAM so we thought we still had a very good chance to make up that difference. 

ISSUE 1284

11115TORO Y MOIAnything In ReturnCarpark
23325FOXYGENWe Are The 21st Century Ambassadors Of Peace And MagicJagjaguwar
342934LOCAL NATIVESHummingbirdFrenchkiss
42216YO LA TENGOFadeMatador
57754DUCKTAILSThe Flower LaneDomino
662564UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRAIIJagjaguwar
794973TEGAN AND SARAHeartthrobWarner Brothers

Closer, but as you can see, Local Natives also stalled as did UMO. So we felt really good still about our chances. 

ISSUE 1285

13415LOCAL NATIVESHummingbirdFrenchkiss
22326FOXYGENWe Are The 21st Century Ambassadors Of Peace And MagicJagjaguwar
31116TORO Y MOIAnything In ReturnCarpark
46645UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRAIIJagjaguwar
54217YO LA TENGOFadeMatador
67964TEGAN AND SARAHeartthrobWarner Brothers

This is most likely when we should of started to think we might not have a shot. But nothing newer had gotten ahead of us so we figured jumping the older records would be pretty easy over the next few weeks.  The biggest issue was that the record was a pop record and very different from anything they had done. Also Local Natives fit into the College radio box for more stations. 

ISSUE 1286

11316LOCAL NATIVESHummingbirdFrenchkiss
22227FOXYGENWe Are The 21st Century Ambassadors Of Peace And MagicJagjaguwar
34636UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRAIIJagjaguwar
46745TEGAN AND SARAHeartthrobWarner Brothers
5198953NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDSPush The Sky AwayBad Seed
Ok top 5.... oh damn.. Nick Cave... and coming in fast... the window is getting smaller... but thankfully Tegan and Sara remained a priority for both parties working the record. 

ISSUE 1287

11117LOCAL NATIVESHummingbirdFrenchkiss
23427UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRAIIJagjaguwar
351934NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDSPush The Sky AwayBad Seed
44646TEGAN AND SARAHeartthrobWarner Brothers
And sure enough... we got jumped the next week. This should of ended our dreams of #1 but at the time we still thought we were close enough to have a shot. The problem you get when you are in week 6 or 7 of a project is any gains you get on some stations are negated by a mass exodus of stations jumping onto the next new thing. 

ISSUE 1288

So we never gave up... 

TWLW2WPKWKSArtistRecordingLabel
13515NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDSPush The Sky AwayBad Seed
24427TEGAN AND SARAHeartthrobWarner Brothers
32328UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRAIIJagjaguwar
41118LOCAL NATIVESHummingbirdFrenchkiss
5917253YOUTH LAGOONWondrous BughouseFat Possum

We salvaged a #2 but the goal was #1 so at the time we were all disappointed. 

Looking back on it now I remember being very close to all those other records and having it come down to just a handful of stations.  The very next week Youth Lagoon took #1 and then our chances went out the window.  

So the key really is that you always have a chance at #1 if you are in the top 5 as long as no one new jumps you. I would say in general that is a good rule.  I am sure there are exceptions to that and perhaps I will try and find them one day. 


Lets take a quick look at this weeks charts then! As I mentioned Courtney continues to block both Modest Mouse and Sufjan Stevens. The key though is no one new has jumped into the conversation. 
So If I were working either Modest Mouse or Sufjan Stevens I would keep on trying for #1 until I got jumped. Also If i were working Courtney Barnett I would keep on trying to keep her #1, as long as I had no other record climbing up the charts. 

So who are the contenders to ruin it for Modest Mouse and Sufjan Stevens? 


61044WAXAHATCHEEIvy TrippMerge
55954TORO Y MOIWhat For?Carpark
Both of these records seem to be in prime position to take it. I am a bit surprised at Toro Y Moi not doing as well considering, as we saw above, the dominance at #1 last time around. 

8914383MOUNTAIN GOATSBeat The ChampMerge
With that debut last week I thought it would be Mountain Goats but they seem to have stalled this week. If they can jump above those other 2 though they have a shot. 

and also 

12--121MIKAL CRONINMCIIIMerge
Do you see the potential problem I see?  So much Merge! Good problem to have, they were also smart and have different companies on each of the records. So while they are competing with themselves they gave themselves a chance by spreading out who is working the records.  Although, you could make the argument that having one person work all of them lets that company have more control over the overall process, as you see with Sub Pop.  I wonder what works better? 

So all of those have a shot but I think this weeks ADDS pose the biggest risk to all of those records 

1158ALABAMA SHAKESSound And ColorATO
2143BEST COASTCalifornia NightsHarvest

Just look where they debuted as well 

34--341ALABAMA SHAKESSound And ColorATO


125--1251BEST COASTCalifornia NightsHarvest


I guess you guys like Alabama Shakes. I thought they were too big for college radio but what do I know. 


A lot of you are leaving for the summer or forever so thank you for being Music directors, most of you that is. 

No birthdays I saw this week but If there are any just let me know and I will update. 

Lets talk on twitter or leave a comment here! 













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