Thursday, July 02, 2009
Checking in with the Charts
Had to check how the charts sorted out this week....
Triple A:
1. Dave Matthews Band - Funny The Way It Is
2. Kings of Leon - Use Somebody
3. Coldplay - Life in Technicolor II
4. Wilco - You Never Know
5. Green Day - 21 Guns
6. Mat Kearney - Closer To Love
7. Gomez - Airstream Driver
8. Eric Hutchinson - OK It’s Alright With Me
9. Snow Patrol – Crack the Shutters
10. U2 – Magnificent
Not much change here. Looks like U2 will exit the top 10 before Snow Patrol does.
Alt rock:
1. Linkin Park - New Divide
2. Silversun Pickups - Panic Switch
3. Cage the Elephant – No Rest For the Wicked
4. Kings of Leon - Use Somebody
5. Anberlin - Feel Good Drag
6. Green Day - 21 Guns
7. Franz Ferdinand - No You Girls
8. Shinedown - The Sound of Madness
9. Green Day - Know Your Enemy
10. Manchester Orchestra – I’ve Got Friends
Congrats to Manchester Orchestra who cracked the top 10 for the first time. The rest of the top 10 is the same usual suspects.
From the rest of the chart –
11. Taking Back Sunday - Sink Into Me
Lots of lukewarm reaction to this. Been hovering outside of the top 10 for awhile.
16. Kings of Leon - Notion
Give this one a few more weeks and it will be in the top 10.
24. Metric - Help Me I’m Alive
33 more spins this week.
31. Airborne Toxic Event - Wishing Well
Up a spot with 36 more spins.
36. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Zero
Still heading down on the charts. Waiting for “Heads Will Roll” to break onto the charts before I stop tracking this one.
PDX and Beyond
Okay, I left off at the Tacoma to PDX adventure so we’ll start from there. I took the train from Tacoma from Portland. It wasn’t that expensive to upgrade to business class so I did. Leather seats, no riff raff. All good until we had to get off the train in Vancouver, WA (just on the other side of the bridge to Portland) and take a bus to Portland proper. Groan. But it all worked out. I called Avis and they came to pick me up at Union Station. Got my rental car (a Ford Escape hybrid) and then drove to Yamhill OR, which is outside of Portland in the Willamette Valley - also known as wine country. One of my good friends has been living out there on a huge farm, so I spent a couple of days away from it all....
This is the house I stayed in. It was huge and very comfy to hang in.
This is the neighbor’s barn - one of the oldest and largest barns in Oregon.
This is June, the goat. She got her head stuck when she was waiting for us to let her and her brother Jack out to roam around.
We drove to the town of McMinnville to check things out and ended up at the Hotel Oregon on the patio bar. This property is a McMenamin bar/hotel - if you’ve ever been to Portland you should know that name - this family has been buying properties in the greater PDX area and converting them into interesting restaurant/bar/music venues.
Today I drove back into PDX proper. Staying at a rad hotel near Chinatown. We went to Powell’s where I proceeded to buy 4 new books (gah!) And then we headed to Chinatown where we had really tasty chow fun, roast duck and bbq pork.
We hit a few bars that were practically across the street from the hotel and then hit my favorite late night eats in Portland - Voodoo Doughnut. Behold the Capt. Crunch and Maple Bacon bar:
More aventures to follow. Tomorrow I am hitting the Portland Art Museum and I hope to go to a few more bars and get some street food before all is said and done and I return to SD on Friday.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Butterfly Boucher at the Doug Fir
I made it to PDX (more on that adventure later) - was able to head out to the legendary Doug Fir last night to catch Butterfly Boucher. Set list first:
Butterfly Boucher
Doug Fir Lounge
Portland OR
6/29/09
For The Love of Love
Gun For A Tongue
I Can’t Make Me
I Found Out
Scary Fragile
Just One Tear
To Feel Love
Another White Dash
So the Doug Fir. A great venue that really fits the NW vibe. The space is downstairs - the bar/lounge area is very rustic - the walls are like a log cabin. The sound was great so it was a very enjoyable show. Once again, Butterfly played acoustic with just her electronic band. Got a shorter version of the set I saw in San Diego, but no complaints as Butterfly was her gracious and hilarious self. She really conveys the emotion of her songs live - whether they are slower more personal songs ("Scary Fragile") or the more rocking material ("Another White Dash"). Good times - very glad I got a bonus show in on this short tour. After her set, a good crowd of people stood in line to talk to her and buy cds. It’s great to see artists really take the time to talk to their fans - makes you really want to support them.
Okay - that’s all I can muster to write at this point. Off to more adventures in the Pac NW.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Sea-Tac Adventures
I have spent the last two days in the Seattle-Tacoma area being very touristy. The weather here has been very similiar to good SD weather, which has been nice. Arrived yesterday and went straight to downtown Tacoma to check out the Glass Bridge and the Museum of Glass. The Glass Bridge is absolutely amazing. There’s the two blue columns of glass and the Venetian Glass ceiling and then a case of glass sculptures. Really cool. Apparently it is amazing at night - I will have to check that out some other time. Got some great photos in any case:
(Union Station and the Glass Bridge from the Museum of Glass)
(detail of Venetian Glass Ceiling on the Glass Bridge)
(Glass sculpture outside of the Museum of Glass overlooking Tacoma Harbor)
(Heading back towards Union Station on the Glass Bridge)
(Museum of Glass)
Today we went to the Seattle Art Museum. The exhibitions were excellent. They have a really cool Andrew Wyeth exhibition. The permanent collection also had some stunners.
I might expand on this later but a sudden wave of tiredness has descended upon me. I am taking the train to PDX in the morning, so I shall continue this narrative later this week.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Slow Week for New Tunes
Slow week which is good because I am on vacation being a tourist and not gonna worry too much about the rawk.
In stores 6/30:
cd releases
Wilco Wilco (The Album)
Impacting on radio:
(alt rock)
Anberlin - Breaking
Chevelle - Jars
(triple a)
Collective Soul - Staring Down
Noisettes - Never Forget You
U2 - I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
This Week’s Radio Charts
Nothing too terribly exciting here but I did check the charts so I might as well write a post.
Triple A:
1. Dave Matthews Band - Funny The Way It Is
2. Kings of Leon - Use Somebody
3. Coldplay - Life in Technicolor II
4. Wilco - You Never Know
5. Green Day - 21 Guns
6. U2 – Magnificent
7. Gomez - Airstream Driver
8.James Morrison - Nothing Ever Hurt Like You
9. Mat Kearney - Closer To Love
10. Snow Patrol – Crack the Shutters
No change at the top 3 spots. Wilco up a couple. Will next week be the week Snow Patrol falls out of the top 10?
Alt rock:
1. Linkin Park - New Divide
2. Silversun Pickups - Panic Switch
3. Cage the Elephant – No Rest For the Wicked
4. Kings of Leon - Use Somebody
5. Anberlin - Feel Good Drag
6. Green Day - Know Your Enemy
7. Green Day - 21 Guns
8. Franz Ferdinand - No You Girls
9. Incubus - Black Heart Inertia
10. Seether – Careless Whisper
No change in the top 4 spots. Green Day with two in the top 10.
From the rest of the chart –
12. Taking Back Sunday - Sink Into Me
Still hanging in there outside the top 10.
14. Manchester Orchestra – I’ve Got Friends
Great momentum for these guys. They will be touring with SSPU and Cage the Elephant in August (no SD date and they won’t be at Street Scene because they are headed to Europe. Our loss.)
18. Kings of Leon - Notion
The third single from breaks the top 20.
26. Metric - Help Me I’m Alive
72 more spins this week.
30. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Zero
Still heading down on the charts. Seems like “Heads Will Roll” is getting some airplay now so I don’t see this coming back up the charts.
32. Airborne Toxic Event - Wishing Well
No change in chart position.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Release Spotlight: Regina Spektor
Artist:Regina Spektor
Album:Far
Recommended if you like: quirky piano pop
From the press kit:
“An artist known for an acute sense of detail both in music and words, Spektor continues to showcase her amazing ability to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary.”
Standout Tracks: “Human of the Year","Dance Anthem of the 80’s”
Worth a second listen?:
Sire brought in the big guns to produce this album - Mike Elizondo, Jeff Lynne, Jacknife Lee and David Kahne all share credits for producing. The result is album that sounds very polished but with Spektor’s trademark quirky style. Triple a radio will embrace the poppier side of the album - notably “Laughing With” and “Eeet” (can’t wait to see Amanda Palmer’s fan video of it - the things you learn on twitter). I liked the quirkier songs - especially “Dance Anthem of the 80’s” which features Spektor’s beatbox skills. A great listen all around.
More info: myspace/official
Listen:
“Laughing With” (mov)
“Folding Chair” (mov)
Email me if you want to see pics!
