In The Number Ones, I’m reviewing every single #1 single in the history of the Billboard Hot 100, starting with the chart’s beginning, in 1958, and working my way up into the present. Don’t call it a comeback. The word “comeback” is simply insufficient to describe what was happening with Britney Spears in 2008. Britney’s […]
The Baseball Project – “Journeyman”
Supergroup the Baseball Project — comprising former R.E.M. members Peter Buck and Mike Mills, Steve Wynn (the Dream Syndicate), Scott McCaughey (the Minus 5 and Young Fresh Fellows), and Linda Pitmon (Filthy Friends, Alejandro Escovedo) — have announced their fourth studio album, Grand Salami Time!. Due out June 30 via Omnivore Recordings, Grand Salami Time! […]
Stream Fred Again.. & Brian Eno’s New Album Secret Life
Everything’s coming up Fred Again.. The DJ and producer born Frederick Gibson was already establishing himself as a mainstay of UK pop and rap in the 2010s, but in the 2020s he’s risen to the level of marquee artist, in part thanks to his own Actual Life album series. This year Fred’s been frequently aligned […]
Billboard Introduces “Fan Packs,” Re-Allowing Controversial Bundles On Album Chart
In July 2020, Billboard changed its chart rules to eliminate merch and album bundling when calculating its 200 and Hot 100 chart scores. As a reminder, “bundling” is the practice of selling merchandise along with a download of an album (usually for free) with the intention of boosting sales. Today, Billboard introduced the idea of […]
David Letterman Raves About The National: “I Wish I Could Be Matt Berninger”
In a new video posted to his YouTube page, former late-night host David Letterman is sharing his thoughts about the 2023 Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame class with longtime colleagues Barbara Gaines and Mary Barclay. While he reacts against Warren Zevon getting snubbed (“I’m disappointed but not angry”), he positively gushes over the National, […]
Oneohtrix Point Never Scored An Episode Of Disney+’s Star Wars: Visions
Today, Disney+ debuted the second season of the animated anthology series Star Wars: Visions for what has turned into a day to celebrate the franchise. (May the fourth be with you and whatnot…) One of the episodes this season, “The Pit,” was scored by Oneohtrix Point Never’s Daniel Lopatin. The episode in question was directed […]
Ed Sheeran Wins Marvin Gaye Copyright Trial
Ed Sheeran won. In a verdict handed down today in a New York courtroom, a jury found that Sheeran, the UK singer-songwriter, did not copy Marvin Gaye’s 1973 hit “Let’s Get It On” with his own 2014 smash “Thinking Out Loud,” the Associated Press reports. The heirs of songwriter Ed Townsend, who cowrote “Let’s Get […]
Grian Chatten – “Fairlies”
Last week, Fontaines D.C. leader Grian Chatten released his debut solo single, “The Score,” and he’s already announced an album to follow, which is called Chaos For The Fly and will be out at the end of June. Chatten recorded the album with his main band’s long-time producer Dan Carey. “I just thought: I want […]
Think Tank Turns 20
The end of a century had come and gone. Or, as another British band once put it, a new decade was fully upon us. Britpop, the era Blur had helped define, was thoroughly in the rearview. Its principal acts were fracturing or wandering. By the early ’00s, Pulp had returned with a final post-script, We […]
Billy Corgan Reviews Yeat
Billy Corgan has thoughts about Yeat. Deep thoughts. As part of his promo run for the Smashing Pumpkins’ new triple-LP rock opera ATUM — which, after a schedule change, is finally out in full this Friday — Corgan sat down for a chat with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe. Part of the interview involved Corgan listening […]