video review: 'start here' by maddie & tae

Glad I finally got to this. Pretty solid album, pretty easy review - in other words, the best kind.

Next up, I'm thinking about Whitney Rose, keep with more country. Stay tuned!

album review: 'start here' by maddie & tae

You know, it's funny, I think that I've said more about the phenomenon that is Maddie & Tae than their actual music itself.

Then again, I don't think I'm alone in that fact. When 'Girl In A Country Song' smashed into the country scene in the second half of 2014, it was seen as the long-awaited backlash to the sputtering phenomenon of bro-country, and even though the girls themselves were rather coy about the issue, it certainly inspired some anger from the bro-country set. After all, according to them, who wouldn't want to be a girl in one of their country songs?

Now I was a lot more sceptical here, and that had to do with the people backing them, albeit circumspectly: Big Machine, run by Scott Borchetta and the label responsible for introducing the world to Taylor Swift. But with Taylor Swift leaving country for pop, Borchetta knew he had to fill the hole in the country market, so why not introduce a country duo who could replace her, also wrote all of their own songs, and had easy marketing as the tide was turning on the bro-country he helped push to market? Play both sides against the middle, and rake in the cash.

This had been my hypothesis about Maddie & Tae last December, when I made my Billboard BREAKDOWN Special Comment about their success in the context of 'God Made Girls', that piece of overproduced junk from RaeLynn that at the time was on the rise. And I had originally seen Maddie & Tae and RaeLynn as two sides of the same coin replacing Taylor Swift - one would be the confrontational group willing to pick the fight, the other would cater to the more demure, more conservative Christian demographic. But a few important things happened since then that changed the script: RaeLynn dropped off the face of the earth; Maddie & Tae released their second single 'Fly' which proved they could reach that softer market; and most interestingly, they started pushing back. They spoke out against the increasingly stiff nature of modern country production and reportedly fought for more of a neotraditional country sound on their debut album. So okay, you've got me interested, how does Start Here turn out?

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - august 1, 2015 (VIDEO)

So, that week was pretty lightweight. No complaints, especially considering the rest of things look a little crazy.

Next up... hmm, I'll decide in the morning, I've got a good three or four reviews nearly ready. Stay tuned!

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - august 1, 2015

So we've now settled into the doldrums of summer, the time of year where everything seems to slow down and nothing all that interesting happens on the charts. The Top 10 was mostly static, not many movers and shakers, and even our list of returning and new arrivals is smaller than ever...

billboard BREAKDOWN - special comment - 'god made girls' (VIDEO)

I wish I could say I had planned this extended digression... but really, it's more of me just covering my ass. Eh, we all make mistakes.

Okay, I've got a busy final week here. PRhyme, K Michelle, Ariel Pink, Charli XCX, and Nicki Minaj to finish out the year - stay tuned!

billboard BREAKDOWN - special comment - 'god made girls'

So if you watched the episode of Billboard BREAKDOWN that came out last night, the episode for the Hot 100 week of December 20th, 2014, you might have noticed a curious omission from my list, a song that leapt up twenty slots this week. A pop-flavoured country song from a relative unknown that is her first major hit outside of the reality show that initially put her in the spotlight. A song that has earned praise, but also some considerable controversy, especially given the current country music scene and especially the act now topping the radio.

Yeah, some of you knew this was coming. It's time to talk about 'God Made Girls'.