The Chart Show: Courtney Barnett, Punch Brothers inducted into Hall of Fame
by Mark Wheat
April 16, 2015
Freaks are back at the top! For the third week out of seven Alabama Shakes hit #1. Our friends at NPR are the ones using the term 'freaks', but in a good way; "As they grow toward a greatness that does away with others' assumptions, these proud freaks stay grounded. That's what's going to make the Alabama Shakes last." Read the rest of the review and listen to the entire new album, Sound & Color, which comes out next week.
Submit your Chart Show ballot this week for a chance to win tickets to Death Cab for Cutie at Northrop on Saturday, May 2 plus passes to an exclusive sound check party before the show!
Courtney Barnett is inducted to the Chart Show Hall of Fame for the second time, almost a year exactly after her debut "Avant Gardener" was. Wonder if she'll do a special version of that song when she hits our garden in June?!
The Punch Brothers are inducted, too – for the first time! As I prepare to go across the pond next week for the London Beat trip, they've announced some big shows in the UK. In August they'll play at the Royal Festival Hall in London and the Cambridge Folk Festival, the oldest and biggest festival of its kind in a town very close to where I'm from originally.
Mumford and Sons returned to American TV last weekend on Saturday Night Live and this week it was announced that they'll be one of the musical guests gracing the famous Ed Sullivan Theater stage as The Late Show with David Letterman enters its final six weeks.
Florence and the Machine returned to the big stage at Coachella over the weekend and if you're planning to go see them this summer, be prepared to strip! According to the NME, Flo has added a routine to her finale which encourages the audience to take off an item of clothing. Plan accordingly!
Passion Pit are back after a week's hiatus. Their new album Kindred comes out next week and, as is becoming the norm, you can stream it in full a week in advance of its release.
Sufjan Stevens is a brand new entry this week, just before his Northrop show next Wednesday. As Record Store Day happens this weekend, it's appropriate that he's selling a 7" single at shows that is not on his new Carrie and Lowell album.
Tame Impala are the highest new entry at #9 with the first song released from their forthcoming Currents album which is sure to be a big hit here! They started their summer off at Coachella and you can see the whole set archived here.
Of Monsters and Men, who broke out of Iceland three years ago with a stunning debut that went to sell over a million copies, finished their new album in Los Angeles with producer Rich Costey who's worked with Sigur Ros, Muse and Franz Ferdinand. They start their summer tour with a string of sold out shows starting in May in Toronto, then they're playing a ton of festivals but none near Minnesota. Yet.