Spoon rise to the top of the Chart
April 27, 2017
Spoon's rise to the top is perfectly timed this week, as they were heavily influenced by Prince while making this new Hot Thoughts album. Last month the NME asked leader Britt Daniels.
Prince has clearly been such a huge influence throughout Spoon's career, so what did you find yourself doing when he passed away?
"I listened to a lot of the same music but I also went out and found someone who was selling 160 CDR's on eBay all linked to Prince music. Some of it was live but a big portion of it was actual studio recordings from all kinds of eras but especially my favourite era the early 80's. That was quite a thing, getting in my car, driving from my apartment to the studio and putting in a CD that had a brilliant Prince song from 1981 that I had never heard before. That was crazy to me and I'm sure it was inspiring."
Daniel also shared his thoughts about Prince with us back at South by Southwest:
The xx are inducted this week for the sixth time, pushing them up to #10 on our All Time Chart Hall of Fame. They are playing a sold out show at The Palace on Friday, coming off what sounds like a triumphant appearance at Coachella at the weekend.
Benjamin Booker is the highest upward mover this week to #9 and we're excited to be having him play Rock The Garden this year. If there are any tickets still available they will go on sale to the public on Friday.
Hippo Campus are back with the third song from landmark to chart, the highest new entry at #10. They'll be playing some big festivals this summer, Bonnaroo, SummerFest and Lollapalooza, but you can catch them in the more intimate setting of the Majestic Theater in Madison on May 18th.
The New Pornographers are also back with the second song from Whiteout Conditions to chart. In town last week to play First Ave they stopped by to do a stripped down set with Jill and Brian.
Glass Animals return at #16, they were also at Coachella and impressed me while watching the excellent streaming of the gig with their energy, despite lead singer Dave Bayley's leg cast and a giant pineapple shaped mirrored structure center stage that played neat reflections onto the video screen backdrop.
Brother Ali's new album will be out on May 5th and he'll do a session for us on the evening shift that day. He's also excited to return for this year's Soundset at The State Fairgrounds May 28th.
The Magnetic Fields are holding everyone else up at #20, can they hang on for two more weeks?! While in town last weekend to play two shows at The Fitz, leader Stephin Merritt was kind enough to subject himself to a live interview with me and a lively Q&A at McNally Smith as part of the MMC's Music Summit.