Almost forgot to put this video up. This was a ton of fun, really did love making this - always nice to talk about music that's actually all sorts of awesome. So next up is Billboard BREAKDOWN, and then finally I might have time for this new Vince Staples... stay tuned!
Last year when I put together this list, I was debating its very relevance. I mean, would it give away what would turn out to be my top albums of the year overall, or would it find an audience at all? This year, the debate was different: I knew I had to do a midyear review for 2015 because there was so much quality that came out in the front half of the year that I'm honestly a little concerned I'm not going to get a chance to highlight it all. Between comebacks that delivered in spades, debuts that blew my mind, and records that seemed to have an abundance of creativity more than I would have ever expected, the first six months of 2015 have been overwhelming strong, to the point where keeping my list of albums to twelve was insanely difficult. It'll be incredible if the rest of the year keeps up this momentum, but for now, here is my top albums of 2015, thus far:
You know, for a week that was pretty lightweight all things considered, this review was absolute hell to make. Between so many reshoots and that damned video glitch... ugh, I'm just happy it's over. Next up, I think I'm about ready to talk about FFS or Kamelot before Kacey Musgraves comes through - stay tuned!
So here's the mixed blessing of a week like this one. You look at the charts, see that very little actually happened across the board with perhaps one of the smallest numbers of songs new or returning to the Hot 100, and it allows you to breathe a sigh of relief. Finally, something that's pretty light across the board. But then it's the creeping question of whether I'll be able to keep all of this interesting on a week where - gasp - there's little to actually complain about!
Man, this was a harder episode to get online than I thought it'd be. Doesn't help the majority of the songs were hot garbage, but you get those weeks. Next up, A$AP Rocky - stay tuned!
There's honestly more to this week - a shocking amount more, really, looking at the charts you'd think it was outright chaos - but really, so much of this story revolves around Taylor Swift and 'Bad Blood'. Yeah, Kendrick Lamar plays a pretty major part too, but his verse is peripheral, a part of the machine that gave a new #1 single, a precisely timed marketing push that sent the song surging up radio, sales, streaming, and YouTube to take the top spot. And keep in mind that Taylor's not on Spotify either - the growth of 'Bad Blood' is nothing short of a minor phenomenon, and it really does eclipse most of what happened beneath it - which is kind of a good thing, because of that kind of sucked.
Now that's the sort of surprise I want to see more of in music - man, what a great record. Next up... ugh, might as well get this Kelsea Ballerini record out of the way... or maybe this Shamir record... ugh, either way, I'll find something, stay tuned!
I get the feeling a lot of people missed the point of my twenty-one pilots review. Now granted, that review dropped in 2013 back when I was still getting my sea legs, and I'll freely admit that many of those early reviews were not the best things I've ever written. But still, considering how positive I was on their major label debut Vessel, the backlash I got did take me off-guard - but the more I think about it, the more I'm not entirely surprised. Because let's be honest here: twenty-one pilots is a weird, awkward sort of group, straddling the lines between electronica, indie pop rock, emo, and even rap, and their major label debut showed more of the stress marks of that fusion than the synthesis. But as much as I thought that Tyler Joseph could use a little more seasoning and they really were crying out for a bass guitar, I saw enough potential in the songwriting and melodic composition to give the band a lot of praise. And hell, I get why a band like this develops a cult following even if their mainstream debut didn't take off with the same force - they're too unique of a group not to! That said, going back to Vessel, I do feel I overrated it a bit as it's very much a product of its time and the overall awkwardness of the release can toe the line between charming and kind of grating. On the other hand, I've been anticipating their follow-up record Blurryface a fair bit, mostly because the lead-off singles have actually been pretty damn strong, really showing Tyler Joseph getting a lot stronger as a singer and with some welcome improvements in the songwriting. In other words, it looked like the genre fusion was coming together a lot more, so I definitely made sure to dig into it - what did we get?
Overall, it was a better week than expected. Shame most of hip-hop is in the shitter in the mainstream right now, but you can hope for the future. Next up, probably Chris Stapleton and finally - finally - Sufjan Stevens. Stay tuned!
So remember when I was lamenting last week that the expected chaos after the collapse after a long-running #1 didn't happen? Turns out I should have just waited one week, because we might have one of the busiest weeks on the Hot 100 I've seen in a long time. Massive gains, sizeable losses and dropouts, a slew of new and returning tracks, and even new entries to the Hot 100 that show that even if the #1 slot might be safe, everything beneath it sure as hell isn't. And in some cases, that instability might end up being a good thing.
I honest to God thought I couldn't get this done tonight. The filming was hell, I started late, and I was bleary-eyed and exhausted. Whew. Okay, next is Tyler, and then I have a slew of reviews I shouldn't have any problem knocking out... plus I've got a surprise planned for this weekend. Stay tuned!
Well, it finally happened. Fourteen weeks into its run, just a scant few weeks from breaking a record held for nearly twenty years, it was unseated by a dark horse soundtrack hit by a subpar rapper and a YouTuber that nobody could have seen coming. Yes, the rest of the week happened and gave me a fair amount to actually talk about, but in a rare occurence on this show, it actually looks like our Top Ten might be more interesting - because this week, 'Uptown Funk' by Mark Ronson & Bruno Mars lost the #1 slot.
Well, this was a great week - effectively repeating a lot of things I already said in the Kendrick review, but whatever. Okay, next up, got a whole slew of albums after I tackle this particularly difficult one. Stay tuned!
So you know how I said last week that I knew something awesome was coming this week? Well, here's a funny thing - when you start hearing press releases about certain artists beating streaming records off of critically acclaimed releases, you suddenly realize that Billboard includes streaming information in its calculations, and that means songs that would never otherwise land on the Hot 100 will suddenly notch hits. And sure, they might not stick around for long, but if they somehow land enough impressions or make enough of an impact with the audience... In any case, by now anyone who follows the music industry should know what I'm talking about: Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp A Butterfly, and by some miracle six songs from it landed on the Hot 100. And it seems like in response the Hot 100 went into a massive panic in response to so much great music injected into it, and all sorts of semi-explicable insanity happened this week.
Sometimes there are acts that just slip the net. They might be great bands deserving of a ton of critical acclaim and a lot of attention, but they come out in the wrong place at the wrong time and they just get missed or lost in the shuffle. It sucks, believe me, but it happens. Now granted, there is a reason I didn't cover the major label debut of Twenty One Pilots when it came out - my blog was inactive because work was consuming all of my time and my music reviewing was on the backburner. So in this slow period of releases (I'm getting to MIA and The Flower Kings very soon, don't worry), I figured this is the best time of any to check out their debut album Vessel. And I'll be honest and say I know very, very little about this band, outside of them being a synth-driven alternative rock/hip-hop duo out of Columbus, Ohio. And this album... well, it appears to be another one of these put together with new songs and old ones, which means we're probably not going to get a lot of album consistency and coherency, which is disappointing but kind of expected with major label debuts in this day and age. They're also signed to Fueled By Ramen, which is a good sign for me because they're one of the labels that have a fair standard of quality when looking at mainstream pop rock acts, like Panic! At The Disco, Fall Out Boy (although they aren't on the label anymore), Gym Class Heroes, Cobra Starship, fun., and Paramore. In fact, these guys were the opening act for Fall Out Boy this year, so they're probably pretty solid, right?
