Jun 1, 2023
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April Singles
Doja Cat becomes the first female rapper to debut atop my monthly Most Played Singles! “Say So” starts at #1 with 20 streams accumulated last month, a fairly slow month for streaming as I transitioned from listening to music a lot when I travelling to listening to music at home during COVID-19 quarantine. The smooth Janet-vibes of “Say So” remain a pleasure on each stream!
Dua Lipa’s 6th Top 10 “Don’t Start Now” rebounds back to its peak 31-2 with 19 streams accumulate last month, a 111% boost compared to the month before last.
“Came For The Low” by ZHU & partywithray descends 1-3 with 16 combined streams & off-line plays, -48%.
“Rabbit Hole” by CamelPhat rises 6-4 to a new peak despite a slight 18% loss in playcount with 14 streams.
“Keep On Holding” by Gabriel & Dresden featuring Jan Burton slips 4-5 with 14 streams, -26%.
Tycho’s second #1 “Skate” featuring Saint Sinner slips 5-6 with 12 streams, -33%.
“Not The News” by Thom Yorke rebounds 13-7 to a new peak with 11 streams & off-line plays, -8%, after a #9 debut last December.
Beck earns his 6th Top 10 as “Uneventful Days” lifts 14-8 with 11 streams, -8%, just like “Not The News.”
“Violence” by Grimez featuring i_o debuts at #9 with 11 streams.
“Nicky Buckingham” debuts at #10 with 10 streams & becomes the 14th Top 10 for Brooklyn’s indie synthpop duo Holy Ghost!
April Albums blog/commentary coming soon
BEST ALBUMS OF 2019
In 2019 there were countless articles about how the album is dying or is hanging on for its life. “People only like songs and not albums”, “downloading and streaming have made albums obsolete”, yada yada yada! I know I sound like a dinosaur, but I don’t care – I still love albums. In 2019 I bought records and CDs and when I did listen to music online I listened to full albums on Spotify and YouTube. It was actually a strong year for albums too. The top-selling album of 2019 was When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? By Billie Eillish, but here are my Top Albums of the year!
Honorable Mentions:
Jimmie Vaughan Baby, Please Come Home
Ringo Starr What’s My Name?
Holy Ghost! Work
15. The Raconteurs Help Us Stranger
14. L7 Scatter the Rats
13. Shonen Knife Sweet Candy Power
12. Chris Shiflett Hard Lessons
11. Neil Young and Crazy Horse Colorado
10. The Pixies Beyond the Eyrie
This is a solid album that is a slow burn that gets better with each listen.
9. The Claypool Lennon Delirium South of Reality
What began as a side project is evolving in wild exciting ways!
8. The Dandy Warhols Why You So Crazy
If hanging in there for 25 years can make this band do their best album in 19 years, then I can’t wait to see what they do next.
7. Leonard Cohen Thanks for the Dance
This didn’t feel like a posthumous album. It felt more like a follow up to You Want it Darker. Leonard Cohen has always been a storyteller worth listening to and these songs are pretty epic.
6. Thom Yorke ANIMA
Yorke’s solo work is highly underrated and this one is among his best non-Radiohead work!
5. Beck Hyperspace
A Beck album is always a party, but with the help of Pharrell Williams it was like the House Party to end the decade!
4. Lana Del Rey Norman F***ing Rockwell
LDR has put out some amazing albums (notably 2014’s Ultraviolence) but this was her stepping up to the plate and showing what she is capable of as a musician!
3. Bruce Springsteen Western Stars
The Boss’s newest album is both retro and timeless at the same time. There definitely is a 70s AM-radio influence, but it really feels like the soundtrack to a western or road movie that never was.
2. Wilco Ode to Joy
Not going to lie - this is a serious return to form for Wilco. There’s a ton of influences here, notably Neil Young and George Harrison, but its undeniably Wilco. Their best album since Yankee Hotel Foxtrot!
1. Karen O and Danger Mouse Lux Prima
We are so lucky to be living in the Karen O Era right now! Whether she is leading the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, doing movie soundtracks or this collaboration with Danger Mouse, she has brought her one-of-a-kind style to countless genres on one album (sometimes countless genres on one song even) that was time capsule worthy!
HOLY GHOST! : HEAVEN KNOWS WHAT
HOLY GHOST! - ESCAPE FROM LOS ANGELES
Music by Holy Ghost!
Directed by Holy Ghost! & Harry McNally
Director of Photography - Harry McNally
Additional Photography by Chris Thomas
Holy Ghost! - Escape From Los Angeles - from Work, due out June 21