Back by popular demand, here’s the latest segment of ‘what the kids are listening to.’ Two weeks of Billboard’s Hot 100, and another chance to decide if the current state if pop music signals the decline of Western civilization.
Holding strong at #1 is Ed Sheeran’s smash hit ‘Shape Of You.’ This is the song’s eighth week in the top spot, and seventh in a row. It’s also Sheeran’s first ever #1 hit, after landing four other songs in the top ten.
‘Clean Money’ is an outtake from Elvis Costello’s album Armed Forces. It was later reworked with portions of its lyrics ending up in the song ‘Love For Tender,’ the lead-off track of his next album, Get Happy!!.
In this form, the song was at one point the opening track of Armed Forces, as Costello explains in the voluminous liner notes of the deluxe edition.
The Random iTunes Dairy has been reading the blog again. How else can we explain today’s “random” selection from The Shins’ album Port of Morrow just two days after I sang its praises?
This is the title track and the album’s final song, and it has a much more ethereal quality than the rest of the record. James Mercer sings in a falsetto reminiscent of Radiohead’s Thom Yorke.
I never expected to like Lana Del Rey as much as I do. I originally thought of her as little more than a curiosity, a pretty face focused on style over substance who flamed out hilariously on Saturday Night Live.
But high critical praise for her 2014 album Ultraviolence prompted me to buy it, and I was blown away by the lush instrumentation, sneakily passionate vocals and nuanced lyrics. I promptly bought her earlier releases and found them equally compelling.
A few years ago I counted down my favorite albums of the decade so far and The Shins’ Port of Morrow took the #1 spot. I’ll have to revisit that exercise as the end of the 00’s gets closer, and when I do, I’m confident that album will remain at or near the top.
Five years after Port of Morrow‘s release, The Shins have finally released a new album, Heartworms. Will it give its predecessor some competition on that list?
Meet Me In Montauk 