The Chart Show: Alabama Shakes at #1, Black Keys set Hall of Fame record
by Mark Wheat
April 30, 2015
Alabama Shakes are back at the top for the fourth separate week, poised to be inducted to the Chart Show Hall of Fame. Can they hold on to the top for just one more week? Our friends at NPR published a review of Sound & Color which they say messes with the signature sound of Alabama Shakes' debut.
Submit your Chart Show ballot this week for a chance to win tickets to Milky Chance's sold out show at Mill City Nights on Friday, May 15!
Paste just posted a nice profile of Hippo Campus. The locals, perched at #2, give big props to our local scene in the interview. Jake Luppen references the band's recent network television debut on Conan as an example. "There were a lot of tweets from local acts we've looked up to congratulating us and supporting us like from Jeremy Messersmith, Trampled, and Low. And Atmosphere actually tweeted about us, which is pretty amazing." He continues, "It's a great scene and super supportive. Everybody's got each other's backs and you don't find that in a lot of places."
If you, like me, have ever wondered if Marcus Mumford regrets the name of his band, a new interview in NME reveals that he does! The banjo player also hates the instrument now and even dropped "Little Lion Man" from their set! Mumford and Sons are back on the Chart this week at #6 a week after dropping off entirely. Maybe this self-hate thing is winning them new fans!?
The Black Keys are inducted to the Chart Show Hall of Fame for the record-setting 10th time! And Death Cab for Cutie, who'll be playing a sold out show at Northrop on Saturday night, are inducted for the second time. Frontman Ben Gibbard recorded two acoustic versions of their hit at #7 this week and "Passenger Seat."
Jack White will be inducted, too, if he hangs on for another week. Leah Garaas—our digital producer who compiles the Chart Show feature every week—went to her hometown of Fargo last weekend to see his fifth and final acoustic show. "It was certainly an experience," explains Leah in her review.
Father John Misty is back as the sole new entry at #15. He played at the famous Stubb's in Austin, TX last weekend and this review points out what happens with the laugh track on "Bored in the USA": it gets filled in by the audience, much to Father John Misty's own amusement!
When we were planning the London Beat trip we wanted to see Laura Marling open her U.K. tour in London, but the two shows sold out immediately! In a great Guardian review of her gig near my hometown of Cambridge, Marling tells a story of playing a special song for her father at the London shows because his Neil Young and Joni Mitchell albums inspired her early career.
The Tallest Man On Earth holds on to the #19 spot this week. You can get a First Listen of his fourth album Dark Bird Is Home where his voice "is recorded raw and seemingly almost inside the microphone. The effect is one of feeling a brain on fire while setting its sights on itself, and the byproduct is a yen for moments of serene relief as a result."