CMJ ISSUE 1281 RECAP

Thank you for all the feedback from last weeks post and for all of the questions. I will try to tackle them all over the next few weeks.   One great question i received was  "has there ever been a record that has been #1 most added AND #1 on the top 200 in the same week." While CMJ's records only go back online as far as 2008, I have detailed records back to 2005.  Since 2005 there has not been a record that has both been #1 most added and debuted on the top 200 at #1 ( or been #1 for that matter).  I also used Google Docs to look up issues and was able to get as far back as 1997 and even since there have been no such records.   Will it happen? I doubt it only because no record will ever be that popular with EVERYONE. We will look more into this in a few weeks but even the strongest #1 records have only around 60-65% of the stations. You would need a band/ record that was universally loved and that simply does not exist at this point.   Before we go any further be sure to participate in the poll to the right!

Now ... To the charts!

This week we see our first repeat #1 with YO LA TENGO not only holding on to the top spot but getting stronger! Last week Yo La Tengo had 45% of the stations and this week moves up to 52% of the stations.   But things are getting really tight up at the top.  Toro Y Moi is at #2 with 54% of the stations and Ra Ra Riot is at #3 with 52% as well.  So the first time I see something like this I ask COME ON how can Toro Y Moi be stuck at #2 when more people are playing it! ?   Well it is simple, CHART POSITION MATTERS!!!!  Without counting I can tell you right now Yo La Tengo has bigger stations and higher numbers and thats why they are holding on to #1.  You would be shocked at how much chart position and station size matters.  A few years ago the Flaming lips got to #1 with only 41% of the stations on the record. The #2 record that had been #1 for 2 previous weeks, Monsters of Folk, had over 54% of the stations!  I was amazed at the time, and am always surprised when it happens, and it happens a lot.

Back to the charts...  So you would think it would be a three team race for next week but Foxygen made a huge move from 61 up to 5 and Christopher Owens and Nightlands bum-rush the top 10.  But really for the next few weeks its going to be a battle between Yo La Tengo and Toro Y Moi. I think Toro Y Moi gets it next week but would not be shocked to see Yo La Tengo hold on for another week if only because of all the huge AAA stations playing it.

The top debut of the week is Free Energy coming in at #14. Not too bad but you have to wonder if that awful Pitchfork review really hurt them.  The last one hot off a best new music peaked out at #9 and were loved by pretty much everyone. Typically when a band peaks in the top 10 the next record will see them get to the top 5 and then progress to #1 within the next few records.  Thats the way it worked for Black Keys.  The First record was a top 15( #11 I think )  record the second one went top 5  then every record since has gone #1.

How much does Pitchfork effect a record though, thats something we will take a look at every few weeks.  But lets look at this weeks top 10 and their corresponding pitchfork #.

TW	LW	2W	PK	WKS	Artist	Recording	Label
1		8.1pfork			YO LA TENGO	Fade	Matador
2		7.9pfork			TORO Y MOI	Anything In Return	Carpark
3		5.2pfork			RA RA RIOT	Beta Love	Barsuk
4		8.0pfork			CRYSTAL CASTLES	III	Universal
5		8.4pfork			FOXYGEN	We Are The 21st Century Ambassadors Of Peace And Magic	Jagjaguwar
6		no review			GROWLERS	Hung At Heart	Everloving
7		8.0pfork			PARQUET COURTS	Light Up Gold	What's Your Rupture
8		6.5pfork			CHRISTOPHER OWENS	Lysandre	Fat Possum
9		7.7pfork			NIGHTLANDS	Oak Island	Secretly Canadian
10		no review			MOTHER MOTHER	The Sticks	Last Gang

So we can see that of those 10 records only 2 of them failed to get a 7 or higher.  We can't take much away from this as its only the first look but at the numbers in this way but If i had to guess I would say that its going to be around 70% getting 7's in the top 10.  We will for sure revisit in the next few weeks.

This week's biggest jump goes to Bad Religion with a HUGE 149 point jump up the charts to #38
The biggest drop goes to Sic Alps with a big 100 point swing down to #166.
We had 38 debuts this week up from last weeks 33.
16 self released records up from last weeks 14.
Only 2 records ran in place this week:
Ra Ra Riot 3-3
Bleeding Rainbow 16-16


Lastly lets look at adds! We had our first TIE in a very long time. With Fidlar and Ducktails both getting %44 percent of all stations to add the records.  We still have yet to have a #1 most added record take the #1 spot on the charts but I have a feeling it will happen sooner rather than later.

That about does it for this week. Please follow me at @theanimalarrg on twitter and hit me up with any questions you may have!

R.E.M

So for this weeks band list I go to one of my all time favorites R.E.M

From worst to best here is the R.E.M discography 

AROUND THE SUN

RECKONING

COLLAPSE INTO NOW 

REVEAL

FABLES OF THE RECONSTRUCTION 

ACCELERATE

DEAD LETTER OFFICE 

OUT OF TIME 

MONSTER

MURMUR

UP

DOCUMENT 

GREEN

LIFES RICH PAGENT 

NEW ADVENTURES IN HI-FI 

AUTOMATIC FOR THE PEOPLE 

Let me know your thoughts!  It is difficult with such a large catalogue but i feel really passionate about the top 3 and the bottom 3. 

the middle for sure i could be swayed in other directions. You can check out Stereogum and their list here 

CMJ Issue 1280 Recap.

Welcome to my first ever CMJ recap!  When I first started in college radio CMJ magazine gave me a wealth of information. They broke down what the #1 record was across the country but they also broke it down for you and told you who was #1 in the South, East, North and West.  There were tons of reviews and opinions and I looked forward to it each week. Somewhere along the line all of that stopped.

So I feel like you all in radio are cheated. While I do not have the formulas to tell you what the #1 record would be in each region or state I can look at the numbers that are there and provide some insight on what they mean.  And thats what I want to do. Each week I will look at the CMJ charts and give you my take on whats going on. My hope is to provide you with a greater knowledge of the CMJ charts, what the information means to me might be different to you but I will always try and back up what I am saying with #'s.  CMJ provides a forum for us that we all pay for, and I think they would frown upon me giving out too much information so I will give what I think is ok and adjust if needed.

So lets get to it. I hope you enjoy.

This week saw a new #1 record in Yo La Tengo's --FADE  It marks the 3rd new #1 record of the year following Bat for Lashes and Crystal Castles.    This week there were 248 stations that reported to CMJ and Yo La Tengo was on 45% (.451) of the charts.  When we compare that to the last 2 weeks, Crystal Castles last week  had 45% (.456) and Bat For lashes had 48%.

It's interesting to see the percentage go down the more reporters and records there are. The more of a choice there is the harder it is to get to #1. So while the percentage is not as good it does not mean Yo La Tengo's #1 is less impressive. If anything it is more impressive given the increase in competition.

CMJ's chart goes to 200 and it's important to note that in any given week there are another 200+ records all trying to get on the charts. But it has always interested me as to what it takes to get on the charts.  So lets look at this weeks #200 record ELIN RUTH.  Where we saw Yo La Tengo on 45% of all the charts we saw Elin Ruth on .04% of the charts!  But there were 2 more records that had LESS than that and were yet higher on the chart! Both State Radio and Kid Koala tied with .02%!!!

One thing I like that CMJ continues to provide is the biggest Jump and the highest debut.
This week the honors go to Ben Harper and Charlie Musselwhite with an impressive 134 jump! The best debut of the week goes to Growlers coming in at #7! But what about the largest DROP! This week that honor goes to Sufjan Stevens with a huge 111 spot drop! ( It should be noted he did peak at #8 and has been on the chart for 7 weeks)
 Speaking of debuts and drops this week there was an impressive 33 new records on the chart!

There were also 14 Self released records

One thing that always puzzled me about the CMJ charts is how a record can in the same spot. There are so many things going on, new records, promotion companies, records moving up and records moving down it takes a LOT of luck to stay in the same place.   This week there were 4 records that ran in place.  Babies, Melodys Echo Chamber, IO Echo, and Spyrals. Only IO ECHO lost stations.  Babies lead the way with a 11 station jump.  But when you are up in the top 10 you sometimes need more than just 10 stations to get a jump.

Lastly lets look at the ADDS chart. There are always less stations that report adds than charts. Some weeks it can be a ten station difference and other weeks it is a 30 station difference but it is always less. Mostly because the majority of stations do not understand adds. ADDS should provide a window to what will be happening on the chart in the future. Depending on the week the #1 most added record could be a future top 5 record or a future top 100 record. So it will be fun to watch this year and see what happens with all the #1 most added records. So far this year we have seen Mother Mother, Ra Ra Riot and Toro Y Moi take the #1 most added spot. Thus far none of those records have taken #1 but it is way too early to tell if that will happen. Ra Ra Riot is already up to #3 and Toro Y Moi debuted at #15.

This time of year there is a lot of volatility with so many new records being released, everyone coming back wanting to play new records. Everyone tired of playing what they were playing in November so that means a lot of big jumps and shifts.

I think that does it for the first recap. Some things I will be looking at this year is how promotion companies effect the charts and adds and also how and if pitchfork reviews effect chart position. If you have any suggestions or comments please let me know.

BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE

I hope you are all out and enjoying the joy and wonder that is MLK day. I mean we have been working 

non stop for about 14 days we DESERVE a break! So for my MLK day  I might be around 

but a more likely story is that I am not around but that I will be around on Tuesday. 

It would be a MLK miracle!!! 

This week I thought we could tackle Broken Social Scene 

as always its worst to first 

BEE HIVES

SOMETHING FOR ALL OF US 

FEEL GOOD LOST

BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE 

SPIRIT IF .. 

YOU FORGOT IT IN PEOPLE

FORGIVENESS ROCK RECORD 

BUILT TO SPILL

It is time for our first rundown of worst to best album of the year. 

In Honor of my friend Gerard's birthday today we are going to tackle Built to Spill. I find this one pretty difficult with a few legit contenders for best record

as well as no clear cut worst record. So here we go from Worst to Best: 

BUILT TO SPILL 

ULTIMATE ALTERNATIVE WAVERS 

THERE IS NO ENEMY 

YOU IN REVERSE 

THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH LOVE 

ANCIENT MELODIES OF THE FUTURE 

PERFECT FROM NOW ON 

KEEP IT LIKE A SECRET 

However if Gerard were to do this I know Perfect from Now on would be first but he does not work in music thats why he would be wrong.