Rolling UK Pop/Chart/"Few people would dispute that Elbow have given us the album of the year" Thread 2009

So, Saint Etienne high in the midweeks? Hmm?

Well, Top 30, so it looks like another case of straight in at 26 and straight out again.

They pulled out the stops: 3 formats, each limited to 1500, signed I don't know how many, and distributed via orders off their website linked to an affiliated (i.e. chart counting) company.

Also, downloads.

Chart hyping is so 2004.

Sad about the evaporation of interest in Franz because their new album is very good indeed.

someone tell me about the dub mixes please.
are they proper dubbed up (a la mad professor/on-u for example), or just instrumentals ?

no, they're proper dubbed up dubs and certainly as good as if not better than the album proper.

damn .. going to regret not getting it then aren't i?
i did think that the dub version would be a lot more up my street ..

Well, HMV Online seem to have the box, still.

£45 though!

I mean, I'm sure all those 7" singles look very nice, and the DVD is worth one eplay, maybe two. But, let's call CD1 at £8, and CD2 (the dubz) as £8 also (being generous), that's an extra £29 for a bunch of 7" singles that'll never get played, a DVD and a nice box.

This is what Downloading is supposed to be for. And is it? No.

Downstairs in the singles:

The Fray get dunked to 42 after one week in the top 40; "YOO-LUH-SEEES" falls 20 to 26; Tommy Reilly drops from 14 to 60. Kyla's "Do You Mind" drops from 48 to 55, and its continued marooning on Radio 1's 1-Upfront list suggests its chips are basically had. Akon's "Beautiful" gets to experience "Ruby" Syndrome, i.e. first single off album hangs about for so long that it basically eclipses all subsequent singles off album, and is at 56 from last week's 52.

But on their way up:

TI in "possibly getting two hits off this album" shocker, with "Dead & Gone" creeping up to 47 from last week's 58; "Theme from Barclaycard Fraud" re-enters at 52; a 28-place leap puts Miley's "Fly On The Wall" at 54, but also suggests that that might be its peak; The Killers' "Spaceman" goes up a much more sensible 19 places, to 57 - more of a stealthy crawl there, methinks. Katy Perry's "Thinking of You" holds 62 for a second week, lurking in an unexploded-bomb-tastic kind of a way; The View's "Shock Horror" debuts at 64. What with their last single doing the wrong side of fuck-all, don't bet on it bothering the 40. A super-uber-massive leap puts New Take That Single at 72, one ahead of, er, "I'll Be Missing You". At 75 is something called "Don't Stop The Rock" by someone calling themselves Freestyle. Dunno what that is. Then lolcharts:

76) SWAY FT AKON - SILVER & GOLD
77) SAM SPARRO - BLACK & GOLD

Presumably this is not quite so lol if you're Sway. 50 place climb for him, tho, and 13 up for Sparro. That fairly awesome ad for Mad Men Series Two results in "Paint It Black" making a fairly welcome return at 82 (from last week's 106) and there's also substantial climbings for Kardinal Offishall ft. Keri Hilson (84), "Sweet About Me" (87) and "Don't Stop Believin'" (89). Other low-end lurkers of interest - "I'm So Paid" at 83, Muse's cover of "Feeling Good" at 97 (up from 100).

Oh, I was meaning to add:

That "Let it rock" track was bugging me, then I recalled what track I was thinking of: "Are Everything" Buzzcocks...

Muse's cover of "Feeling Good" at 97 (up from 100).

those TV syncs really do make some tracks work that little bit better dont they
- this is being used on the Film4 one at the moment isn't it.

'dead and gone' is going to be massive, and deservedly so. what a song. even hearing it 9383029484003494 times on the video shoot last week couldn't make me sick of it.

was awaiting paleface & kyla's 'do you mind' becoming the first crossover uk funky hit but it seems to have peaked at 48...i have no idea why chart success isn't happening for the big funky anthems, even bassline eked a couple of top 3 hits out.

holding back a Summer holiday clubbing anthem's full release for over 6 months = disappointing chart position

altho Kid Cudi/Crookers may argue otherwise

h two o and platnum would also argue otherwise

i don't think i heard that until just before it actually came out tho

i heard it in like may 07. and you wouldn't have heard paleface & kyla before it came out if the funky thread hadn't flagged it up.

that is true. i blame industrial fragmentation + general indifference.

also can't be arsedness of today's kids to spend money on stuff rather than just downloading it wch means charts/release schedules remain dominated by geriatric cocque rocque to satisfy demands of ppl who still buy cds, viz. fifty yr old blokes.

Midweeks:

1 Lily
2 GaGa
3 Alesha
4 Eminem - paying the price for having boring 50 Cent on board an otherwise excellent record
5 Tinchy
6 Morrison & Furtado
7 Cudi
8 Beyonce
9 Rudolf
10 Merryweather

New entries for Morrissey at 18, Prodigy at 25 and St Et at a rather disappointing (for them) 26.

In the albums, Lily straight in at the top and the Fray in at number three.

I dunno, first top thirty hit for StEt since May 1998!

Big news in the Radio 1 playlist side of things: this is the year that Taylor Swift gets to happen in the UK. Or at least that's the theory - "Love Story" parachutes onto the C-List anyhow. It's joined by Scouting For Girls, The Script, and Wayyyyysis, along with Flo Rida's reimagining of "You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)" and The Saturdays' version of "Just Can't Get Enough", BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY IT IS JOINED BY:

New Royksopp single! Whey!

Also on the 1-Upfront side of things we can find Dan Black, Bon Iver, In Case Of Fire, YouMeAtSix and The Noisettes. ILM Trax Poll 2008 superstars Friendly Fires have wound their way onto the B-List, meaning they get to rub shoulders with Gary Go, while Kelly Clarkson, Chase & Status ft. Kano and The Prodigy all get to take up space on the A-List.

Friendly Fires were such a disappointment on the NME tour this week. Hell, even White Lies out-performed them.

The bar raised to Olympian heights there...

'Jump In The Pool' is the new single? good it's the best thing on the album

never mind, that came out in September (man what a shit video too).

They should just outsource everything to Aeroplane and Au Revoir Simone from now on...

Chase & Status ft. Kano

I really like this, even if its a bit LOL Big Beat Grime. The drums seem to suit Kano's flow.

Meanwhile the Royksopp one is so similar to Eple it's difficult to take seriously.

I take back what I said upthread about the Franz 'dub' CD, apparently it's available as a 2CD version of "Tonight", for about a pound more in HMV.

So, fair play.

Still Lily over Lady, with "Breathe Slow" causing a mild upset by sneaking up to number three. Our highest new entry is, er, The Prodigy - "Omen" slots in at number eight. According to Radio 1, their label is Takemetothehospital. Which is possibly news to the people at Cooking Vinyl. "T-Shirt" hits the top 10 for the first time, at number 10.

A five-place slump drops Merriweather to 13, and "Sex On Fire" celebrates TWENTY-THREE SODDING WEEKS on the chart by climbing back into the top 20 at number 19. I'm fairly certain that, of those 23 weeks, only two have been spent outside the top 20. Men'al.

Morrissey's "Y'All Bitches 09" is new at 21. N-Dubz climb 15 to 25, and there's a not-completely-explicable ten-place rebound for "Up" at 27. TI & Timberlake debut at 30, M.I.A.'s kid enters this world to a re-entry for "Paper Planes" at 33, "You Found Me" returns at 37 and The Second Single Off The Killers Are A Very Important Band Indeed debuts at 40. No room at the inn for St Etienne in the end.

Lillah also goes straight to the summit of the albums, in a chart that is perhaps a wee bit distorted by the Valentine's market. UB40 and Luther Vandross go rocketing up to 3 and 4 respectively, which leaves one wondering precisely what kind of person would find Ali Campbell's voice in any way romantic. The Best Bette also enjoys a revival, climbing 26 places to number 6 (just behind James Morrison - man, Britain must be having some seriously joyless sex these days), with The Fray's second album debuting at 8. Seasick Steve climbs from 33 to 24, The View slump from 4 to 27, Slumdog Millionaire's OST enters at 30, and The Airborne Toxic Event make it all the way to number 35.

No Valentine's rebound for Kanye, oddly enough.

"A five-place slump drops Merriweather to 13"

^^^for a minute there I was suddenly confused, and well, happy to see Animal Collective doing amazing. Damn you British public.

No room at the inn for St Etienne in the end.

boo shux

Number 56 in the end, four places behind MCR's version of "Desolation Row". Not much else of note in the 40-75 range, except that, for the second week running, "Black & Gold" has had a sizeable rebound, this week climbing 17 to number 60. Oh, and "Fly On The Wall" just might be hitting the top 40 after all, bouncing up 10 to 44 this week.

it's weird - though heartening - to see that 'spotlight' is still hanging around at no 53 - 22 weeks on the chart without ever reaching the top 10.

It's still getting very heavily rinsed on Tumf and 4Music, at least based on the snatches I caught of both channels last week - from what I can recall, it's still in Hit40UK too, so I'm guessing its life on commercial radio has still got a fair while to go.

Plus she was fairly bloody belting at the Superbowl.

Mids:

1 Lily - I take back everything I've previously said about her; great single and great album
2 GaGa - her PSB cameo was one of the few watchable things in last night's wretched Brits ceremony
3 Prodigy - surprised this has done so well and I'm not sure their new album is a Stunning Return To Form but not too bad
4 Alesha
5 Shontelle - both examples of slow burning "real" hits just as we used to have in the old days when it were all fields and Swinging Blue Jeans, The, around here
6 Eminem - put the blame on Fiddy, Mame, put the blame on Fiddy...
7 Beyonce
8 Tinchy
9 Morrison & Furtado
10 U2 - I wish they'd covered "Kick Your Boots Off" by Sisters instead (ask your dad); sounds like low-budget "Vertigo" crossed with "Subterranean Homesick Blues" and I haven't made my mind up about it yet

Miley C up to 14

In the albums Morrissey gets a hugely predictable number one with his dreary new album and the awful Empire of the Sun get hyped in at 7

awful Empire of the Sun get hyped in at 7

!

bless

Oldest trick in the book - rebrand a failing line (Sleepy Jackson), dress it up in new colours, call in a lot of PR/meejah favours and bingo! A "hot" "new" act!

I assumed U2 would be a lot higher. No wonder they were desperate to open the Brits.

1 Lily - I take back everything I've previously said about her; great single and great album

i know right! when i first heard it i was like, hmm not as bad as she usually is, but i still can't get with her voice - but that packing plastic/fucking fantastic couplet really caught my ear, and the way she delivers it is so razor sharp. and then last week i had to admit that the whole song is pretty great. i have the album but haven't dared listen to all of it yet though, some of the lyrics i've seen quoted look sort of retarded :/

I agree that a lot of the album lyrics look rather cringeworthy when you read them but the way she delivers them - comparatively relaxed, somewhat apologetic but still quietly very defiant - was a pleasant surprise. In the end her voice is definitely a love-it-or-hate-it thing but I think it works much better than it did on the first album. Given Greg Kurstin's involvement I suspect I'll have to hear the new Bird and the Bee album as well because I liked the first (?) one a lot.

I agree that a lot of the album lyrics look rather cringeworthy when you read them

Most pop/rock/whatever lyrics to thread

There's been an ongoing argument in our office as to whether those lyrics are brilliant or terrible (in particular the bit about being a weapon of massive consumption). I'm in the terrible camp.

Stevie T gave Lily's album one star in Uncut and he was previously a casual fan iirc

Ah yes, you can always rely on Uncut.

I find it quite difficult to take her lyrics seriously as well seeing as she was recently bigging up Boris for abolishing the congestion charge in West London.

Um, that palstic/fantastic rhyme is awful and obvious. Has British lyricism really sunk so low that THAT stands out?

The sun sets on the British Empire

i agree it's shit. always find her swearing really ineffective and somewhat trite - altho if she sounded more like TBATB's 'Fucking Boyfriend' then sweet xp

it's the way she delivers it rather than the line itself - for just a second it seems like that cockney street urchin façade slips and she intones it like a proper public school girl. it's funny cuz she means it to be ironic but it's actually true. i mean, obv the entire song would be better performed by paris hilton, but one takes what one can in the endlessly bleak british pop desert innit.