The Chart Show: A bike? In this weather?
by Mark Wheat
January 31, 2019
The songs at the very top and bottom of our chart are strangely connected by...bicycles?! Doubly strange during a time when no one in Minnesota should be out riding in this wind chill! Dessa's in her second home of NYC this week, tomorrow night she does another of her talks on, "The Brain In Love: Love and loss, mind and body- a songwriter turns to neuroscience to try and fall out of love."
Hopefully it will be biking weather again when Pedro The Lion returns to play The Fine Line on May 21.
Highest upward mover this week, 16 places to #3 is Sharon Van Etten who will be playing our next MicroShow at The Warming House in South Minneapolis, Sunday February 17 at 10 a.m., the day after her First Avenue gig.
Up 14 places this week is one of the new singles from The Raconteurs. Jack White seems to be having fun being back with his band of old musical buddies, including songwriting collaborator Brendan Benson. The track has one of his signature whoops at the beginning and in the video he's clowning around with a Flying V guitar as though he's a 14 year old, aping the moves he's seen on MTV!
The Cactus Blossoms are also up an impressive six places, just coming off the back of a sold out month long Monday night residency at The Turf Club. You have another chance to catch them there next weekend.
Gary Clark Jr.'s next album drops March 1st and the title track is the only brand new entry on our chart at #9. He recently explained how he wrote the song for Rolling Stone, taking examples of racism from his childhood and today.
After a two week hiatus The Chemical Brothers are back at nineteen and after a three year wait we MIGHT get a chance to see them play live this year, although only a handful of US dates have been released. They keep adding big festival shows to their itinerary in Europe including The All Points East which also features the return of The Strokes in May.
Submit your Chart Show ballot this week for a chance to win The Current's Beirut giveaway at the Palace Theatre in St. Paul, MN on February 23, 2019!