Indie pop’s it girl Kimbra may be on the road to State-side fame but she’s giving away some free ‘Two Way Street’ action for her home crowd first. [Editor's note: terrible pun, please don't quit your day job.]
‘Two Way Street’ – produced by Francois Tetaz, the man behind Gotye’s records – has been announced as the fourth single from Kimbra‘s flawless album Vows. In true Kimbra style, this single is once again on a whole different wave length from its predecessors, showcasing a different side to the budding artiste’s music.
‘Two Way Street’ is definitely one of the more subtle highlights on the album. Fans of her diverse-sounding singles ‘Settle Down’, ‘Cameo Lover’ and ‘Good Intent’ would appreciate the more graceful and cinematic air this song brings to the mix.
While her smash with Gotye - ’Somebody That I Used To Know’ – start making waves in the US and UK charts, those looking ahead can enjoy a sensible follow up in ‘Two Way Street’, complete with two free killer remixes.
Listen to ‘Two Way Streeet (PatrickReza Dubstep Remix):
Listen to ‘Two Way Street (Beni Remix):
Read my interview with Kimbra where she talks about working with Gotye on that surprise hit and producer Francois Tetaz, who helped her achieve the lush, cinematic sound on tracks like ‘Two Way Street’.
Darren Hayes has the biggest selling new Aussie album here this week with Secret Codes & Battleships debuting at #10 on our ARIA charts. This is the ex-Savage Gardener’s first Top 10 placement since 2004′s The Tension & The Spark. Darren‘s current Aussie single ‘Bloodstained Heart’ also finally cracks our ARIA Top 100 this week at #80, after two months of languishing on the digital shelves. The man is set to kick off his three-date Australian Secret Tour this Wednesday in Melbourne and I absolutely can’t wait to be there, finally seeing my idol live and in the flesh. Over in the UK, Darren‘s Secret Codes & Battleships debuts at #29 this week, despite a promising placement of #11 in the mid-weeks.
Watch Darren Hayes performing ‘Bloodstained Heart’ on Sunrise last week:
Coldplay effortlessly topped the Australian and UK charts this week with Mylo Xyloto. The album was instantly certified gold sales in Australia (for shipments of over 35,000 copies – whatever that means) while over in the UK, Mylo Xyloto managed to pull 208,000 copies in its first week. This means that Coldplay now has the second biggest opening week sales of 2011 – only marginally trumped by Lady Gaga‘s Born This Way, which debuted with 215,639 copies. Mylo Xyloto is expected to also debut at #1 in the US later this week, scaling sales north of 450,000 copies. The album’s currently #1 on every iTunes store in the world – except Denmark, they just don’t get it.
Meanwhile over at the singles bar, Coldplay‘s current hit ’Paradise’ leaps to a new peak of #18 on the Australian ARIA chart and ‘Every Tear Drop Is A Waterfall’ re-enters at #32. Over in the UK, ‘Paradise’ belatedly debuts at #14. Even though it’s been released since mid-September, it wasn’t eligible to chart because the song was sold as a free download when you pre-ordered the album. The next Coldplay single – ‘Princess of China’ (featuring Rihanna) – debuts at #33 in the UK this week, making this RiRi‘s 27th UK Top 40 single all up.
Listen to Coldplay‘s ‘Paradise (Electrolightz Remix)’:
Kelly Clarkson‘s Stronger is the second biggest new album in Australia this week, debuting at #3. This is now Clarko’s fourth consecutive Top 5 album in this country, the only one to never chart as favourably was her debut album Thankful (which only made #33). Over in the UK, Kelly Clarkson‘s Stronger enters at #5 and later this week, we can expect for it to debut well in the US Top 10.
Washington‘s Insomnia EP debuts at #24 in Australia this week. A pretty unsurprising entrance, given the minimal promo and airplay for her stunning new single ‘Holy Moses’. Insomnia, the collection of eight new tracks, is meant to appease her Aussies while the Brisbane-born singer sets off to do an international release of her massive I Believe You Liar album. The international version of I Believe You Liar (featuring ‘Holy Moses’) will arrive in the UK on 7 November.
Watch Washington‘s defining ‘Holy Moses’ video, if you haven’t already:
Ricki-Lee‘s wig-snatching ‘Raining Diamonds’ rises to #55 in its second week. I think what’s obviously missing now is some well-placed television promo for the girl. She’s already started doing the odd live performances here and there for ‘Raining Diamonds’ – the word is well and truly out by now. In fact, if you’re not doing anything this Friday night, come join me at the GH Hotel to watch the ex-Young Diva perform this song with full force eleganza.
Havana Brown‘s ‘Get It’ rises to #57 this week on our ARIA charts, demonstrating surprising staying power beyond the realms of my comprehension. I suppose we can expect for it to go back into the Top 50 next week after this Tuesday’s X Factor performance? Hovana will be sharing the elimination episode line up with fellow Aussie popstars Jessica Mauboy and Stan Walker, who will both warble their new single ‘Galaxy’.
Altiyan Childs‘ new single ‘Ordinary Man’ drops to #61 after only two weeks in our ARIA Top 100. Is there no returning this man to the Top 50? Elsewhere, other Aussies on the way out include Shannon Noll‘s ‘Switch Me On’ (#59) and 360‘s ‘Killer’ (#91), while all of the following fall out of the ARIA Top 100 altogether: Elen Levon‘Naughty’, Vanessa Amorosi‘Amazing’, Short Stack ‘Bang Bang Sexy’, Stan Walker‘Loud’ and Israel Cruz ‘Party Up’.
The Wanted‘s ‘Lightning’ impressively debuts at #99 in Australia this week sans any promo or rapid radio addition. All I know is, they’ve now got a captive audience of teenage girls and the EP was plastered all over the iTunes home page. You do the math. Over in the UK, ‘Lightning’ drops from #2 to #9.
Check out The Wanted‘s ‘Lightning (Chuckie Remix)’:
Professor Green scores his first ever UK #1 smash this week with ‘Read All About It’ (featuring Emeli Sandé). The song managed opening week sales of 153,000 copies – just one per cent shy of One Direction‘s ‘What Makes You Beautiful’, which is currently the UK’s fastest-selling single of 2011. This is singer/songwriter Emeli Sandé‘s fourth UK chart appearance (third as a featured artist). The divine Ms Sandé will release her second solo single ‘Daddy’ (featuring Naughty Boy) in the UK on 21 November and her long-awaited album Our Version of Events will drop on 30 January.
Lana Del Rey‘s flawless ‘Video Games’ sinks from #9 to #15 in the UK this week. Amidst all the excitement surrounding her recent signing to Interscope Records, it would seem that her debut album and next single ‘Born To Die’ is now etched for an early 2012 release. Could she be the Adele of 2012? Or will she end up as a basic success like Rumer or Clare Maguire? ‘Video Games’ is in the iTunes Top 10 in three different countries right now.
Watch Lana Del Rey performing ‘Video Games’ live at The Premises:
Matt Cardle‘s ‘Run For Your Life’ continues its rapid exit from the charts, plummeting from #23 to #52 in its third week. Meanwhile, his album Letters slips from #2 to #6. You can see why his label is anxious to rush out another single before the year’s end, right? ‘Starlight’ is scheduled to drop in the UK on 5 December.
Florence + The Machine‘s ‘Shake It Out’ sinks to #57 after just four weeks on the UK charts. The flame-haired diva is expected to launch her third Ceremonials single – ‘No Light No Light’ – on 16 January in the UK. Fingers crossed for a favourable album chart entry on Monday.
Adele‘s back to ruling both the US singles and albums chart with ‘Someone Like You’ retaining the top spot and album 21 returning to #1. In the last week, Adele managed to sell 106,000 copies of 21 in America – pushing its total sales to 4.1 million. Most definitely the biggest album of the year now. Next in line is Lady Gaga‘s Born This Way, managing 1.9 million sales to date. That’s quite a gap there.
The British warbler will release her next single – ‘Rumour Has It’ – on 21 November in the UK. The song has already impacted Aussie radios to coincide with her first live CD/DVD set - Adele: Live at The Royal Albert Hall - which will arrive here on 25 November and 28 November in the UK.
Watch Adele performing ‘Rumour Has It’ – fuck, I love her banter:
Rihanna could actually lynch the US #1 spot from Adele this coming week. ‘We Found Love’ is currently the most downloaded song in America, racking up 231,000 digital sales in its fifth week. On the overall US Billboard Hot 100, ‘We Found Love’ has ascended to a new peak of #2 – the only thing realistically preventing it from toppling Adele‘s ‘Someone Like You’ is radio airplay. Here is where the gap widens between these two hits. ‘Someone Like You’ is the second most played song on American radios while ‘We Found Love’ is placed at #11 on the airplay charts. ‘We Found Love’ is currently the #1 iTunes single in 11 different countries including US, UK, France and Canada.
Justin Bieber‘s ‘Mistletoe’ is the biggest new single in the US, debuting at #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 with 164,000 first week downloads. The teen pop sensation is set to film the music video for ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ with Mariah Carey this week in New York City. This’ll be Mimi‘s first music video appearance since she had her gorgeous twins.
Beyoncé‘s ‘Countdown’ rises to #77 on the US Billboard Hot 100 while the urban single ‘Party’ (featuring André 3000) fares better at #75. Meanwhile over in the UK, ‘Countdown’ flies to #39, making this the megastar’s 21st UK Top 40 smash (not counting the ones with Destiny’s Child).
Beysus‘ brand new live DVD package - Live in Roseland: Elements of 4 - lands in Australia on 2 December. Just in time for Christmas. On top of the live tour show, there’ll also be a bonus disc containing seven music videos – including one of the deluxe edition album track, ‘Dance For You’. Santa better come correct for me this year.
Listen to Beyoncé‘s ‘Countdown (Jochen Simms Club Remix)’:
Kelly Rowland‘s ‘Down For Whatever’ drops in Australia and some European nations today, complete with a slew of A-grade remixes. At the moment, this new release is not publicised anywhere on our iTunes store. I’ve checked the pop, dance/electronic and even R&B sections – tumbleweeds. Even Estelle‘s got a single on display but not Kelendria. ‘Down For Whatever’ is currently in the iTunes Top 10 R&B/Soul songs chart in Denmark and Norway.
It’ll be interesting to see if ‘Down For Whatever’ fares any better than her last solo single (‘Commander’) and whether people are any more motivated to buy her album. The international edition of Here I Am – which should technically contain more pop/dance inflected material – is set to drop on 2 December in Australia. Over in the UK, Kelendria will release ‘Down For Whatever’ on 21 November and the album will drop the following week. Seriously gagging to see how big they’ll make her X Factor performance. Trust me, you don’t wanna settle for less than what Cheryl Cole has delivered in the last two years.
Listen to Kelendria‘s ‘Down For Whatever (Max Sanna & Steve Pitron Club Mix):
Jennifer Lopez‘s ‘Papi’ finally ascends to #1 on the US Billboard Dance/Club Play charts, making this her sixth consecutive solo single to do so. Basically, every song since 2007′s ‘Do It Well’ has been a dance chart topper – yes, even ‘Louboutins’. Meanwhile, ex-Pussycat DollJessica Sutta‘s ‘Show Me’ rises to #2 on the US Billboard Dance/Club Play charts. Nicole who? The Scherzingernator‘s ‘Dont’ Hold Your Breath’ pulls up to the bumper at #3.
Wynter Gordon‘s amazing ‘Buy My Love’ finally debuts at #45 on the US Billboard Dance/Club charts! I am extremely overjoyed for my gurl. Let’s hope this moves up to the Top 3 in the way that ‘Dirty Talk’ and ‘Til Death’ did. Wynter opened for The Wanted‘s New York city shows recently, so let’s hope this association strikes a chord with pop music lovers who are yet to discover With The Music I Die. ‘Buy My Love’ and the album will drop in the UK on 7 November, five months after it was first launched in Australia.
David Guetta has the #1 iTunes dance song in 16 different countries right now – 13 of them belong to ‘Without You’ (featuring Usher) and three to ‘Titanium’ (featuring Sia).
Gotye and Kimbra‘s ‘Somebody That I Used To Know’ is currently the #1 single on Netherlands and Belgium iTunes. It feels like some European countries are more receptive to his stuff than others. Back in Australia, Gotye‘s next single ‘I Feel Better’ becomes the third most added new song to local radios.
Ricki-Lee‘s life-changing comeback single ‘Raining Diamonds’ is undoubtedly the most important new entry on our ARIA charts this week. While some of you might throw a stink face at the song’s #62 debut, y’all need to keep in mind that this is purely off one week’s work. Seriously, before last Monday, nobody even knew Ricki-Lee had a record deal and was planning a comeback. That information was well classified and the world wasn’t prepared for the sudden rapture of ‘Raining Diamonds’.
The fact that ‘Raining Diamonds’ managed to crack the ARIA Top 100 with no prior wind up or hype – just building on the few interviews, press write ups, and growing social media support during the week – is halleloo enough for me. It can only move up now. I believe word of mouth is gonna play a big part in relaunching Ricki-Lee - I mean, how many of y’all first heard the single via Feed Limmy and my Facebook? ‘Raining Diamonds’ is the most added new song to Australian radios this week.
Justin Bieber‘s ‘Mistletoe’ is the highest selling new single in Australia this week, debuting at #20. This is the Canadian pop sire’s fifth Top 20 single here and it’s the first taste of his forthcoming Christmas album Under The Mistletoe, which will feature a duet with Mariah Carey on her iconic Yuletide track ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’. You Beliebers better have your coin purses ready when the album arrives in Australia this Friday. Boyz II Men - who incidentally appears on Justin‘s Christmas record – will also drop their new album, Twenty, on the same day.
Check out Justin Bieber‘s ‘Mistletoe’ music video, directed by Roman White - the man behind clips for Taylor Swift,Cody Simpson and Lady Antebellum:
Beyoncé has once again been denied entry into the ARIA Top 20 this week with ‘Love On Top’ clipped at #22. Meanwhile over in the UK, the album’s third official single ‘Countdown’ shoots up to #44 and debuts at #85 on the American Billboard Hot 100. The ‘Countdown’ remixes also made a hot shot debut at #35 on the US Bilboard Dance/Club charts. I sense that this is going to be a good era for our Lord Beysus.
Katy Perry‘s ‘The One That Got Away’ is making a run for it, leaping to a new peak of #34 in Australia this week. Over in the UK, the single moves up to #22. As y’all know Kitty’s had a record-breaking five consecutive US #1 singles from this Teenage Dream album and right now ‘The One That Got Away’ is perched at #94 on the US Billboard Hot 100 – a whole continent away from reaching the top spot. Could she pull off six in a row? Let’s see what kinda gimmicks and fuckery she’s got in store for this single campaign.
Nicole Scherzinger is on course for another solo hit in Australia. ‘Wet’ has moved up 10 places to a new peak of #39 on our ARIA charts. With three Top 40 hits now under her belt, shouldn’t Nicole‘s Killer Love album be moving back up the charts? Alas, it is floundering at #83 this week. Something about this shit don’t smell right. I wonder if Australia will cop the Killer Love (Deluxe Edition) that’s coming out in the UK next month?
Nicole is launching a brand new single – ‘Try With Me’ on 31 October in the UK – to coincide with the European deluxe repackage. Check out the absolutely A-grade music video, which was shot in Mexico’s gorgeous Xilitla rainforest:
Coldplay‘s ‘Paradise’ returns to the Australian Top 50 this week at #36, thanks to the arrival of the band’s long-awaited album Mylo Xyloto - which dropped in stores on Friday. It’s gonna one wig-snatching chart battle as Coldplay, Kelly Clarkson, Washington and – don’t snigger - Darren Hayes race for the top spot with their respective new albums.
iTunes has currently got the entire Coldplay back catalogue on sale as well, so don’t be surprised to see a few of their titles returning to the Top 100 next week. Mylo Xyloto is currently #1 on iTunes, Kelly Clarkson‘s Stronger (Deluxe Edition) is riding at #8, while Darren Hayes‘ fantastic Secret Codes & Battleships is holding on at #30.
Shannon Noll‘s A Million Suns album debuts at #8 in Australia, making it the second best-selling new album this week. Only after Cold Chisel‘s unbeatable Best of package, which entered at #2. There really is no shame for Nolly there. However, looking at his own personal track record. It’s not so rosy. All three of Shannon’s previous albums have managed to go Top 3 in Australia and yield at least one Top 10 single. I’m not holding my breath for A Million Suns to go Top 3 or for its lead single ‘Switch Me On’ to turn around and make a run for the Top 10.
Sneaky Sound System‘s From Here to Anywhere isn’t headed anywhere I want it to. The Aussie dance/pop duo’s fine album drops from #11 to #27 in its second week. Meanwhile, bad news for their flawless single ‘Big’ – the track sinks from #58 to #73 on our ARIA Top 100. Guess I jinxed them with last week’s well wishes, huh?
Lady Gaga‘s ‘You and I’ has officially left our ARIA Top 50 free of any Gaga songs for the first time in months. All year, even. The rollicking ballad sinks from #46 to #53. Look, there could still be life in the bottom half of the ARIA Top 100 – I mean, ‘Poker Face’ spent a whopping 106 weeks in our Top 100 and I know a lot of it wasn’t reigning in the upper end. Gaga’s label is understandably getting on with the album’s fifth single ‘Marry The Night’, which is the second most added new song to Aussie radios this week. Over in America, ‘You and I’ is now reigning as #1 dance/club song in the country.
Altiyan Childs finally shows up on the ARIA Top 100 with his new single ‘Ordinary Man’ – thanks to last week’s X Factor performance. The song made its debut at #55 this week despite having been out for a month now. Clearly nobody knew this shit was even happening because I don’t see no promo and I don’t hear no radio airplay for ‘Ordinary Man’. This song is actually quite acceptable, y’guys. You recognise the familiar, crisp Ryan Tedder beats but somehow Altiyan makes it his own.
Watch the making of Altiyan‘s ‘Ordinary Man’ video, directed by Peter Ireland – who has done clips for Aussie indie pop sensations Brendan Maclean and Scott Spark:
Stereophonics‘ one-time UK #1 hit ‘Dakota’ re-appears on our ARIA charts this week at #57 – thanks to local X Factor warbler Andrew Wishart’s rather capable cover. Back in its heyday, ‘Dakota’ managed to scale up to #22 on our ARIA charts and it remains as the only hit Stereophonics has ever had in this country. The Cranberries‘ ‘Zombie’ also reappears thanks for contestant Christina Parie’s performance. The 90s classic is now at #69.
Rihanna‘s ‘We Found Love’ stays on top of the UK charts for its third consecutive week, fighting off fierce new singles from The Wanted, Kelly Clarkson, Lana Del Rey and Sean Paul/Alexis Jordan. RiRi has to date racked up six UK #1 singles but ‘We Found Love’ is already her second longest reigning chart topper. The longest UK #1 she’s had is, of course, ‘Umbrella’ (10 weeks). Truth be told, ‘We Found Love’ probably wouldn’t have stayed at #1 for its third week if it weren’t for the flawless video arriving on Thursday and inspiring a sales surge after the midweeks. ’We Found Love’ ended up selling 92,700 copies in its third week on top.
Over in the US, ‘We Found Love’ has now reached a new peak of #6 on the US Billboard Hot 100 – selling 174,000 downloads in its fourth week. Rihallah – as the dear Adem With An E affectionately calls her – will release her sixth album Talk That Talk on 18 November in Australia and 21 November in the UK and US. Peep the Talk That Talk standard and deluxe edition tracklisting.
The Wanted has the biggest selling new single in the UK this week with ‘Lightning’ striking at #2. The single scored opening week sales of 71,500 copies. The lads’ brilliant previous hit ‘Glad You Came’ managed to debut at #1 with first-week sales of 117,200 copies back in July. Mind the gap, y’all.
‘Glad You Came’ also debuted on the US Billboard Dance/Club charts at #49 last week, making this the boyband’s second appearance on the American dance charts. The Wanted will release their sophomore album Battleground on 7 November in the UK. The project’s next single looks set to be ‘Warzone’, tentatively put down for a 9 January release date in the UK.
Watch The Wanted perform their current smash ‘Lightning’ at the iTunes Festival:
Kelly Clarkson‘s ‘Mr Know It All’ debuts at #6 in the UK this week, selling 47,910 copies. This is actually the first time Kelly has had a single in the UK Top 30 since ‘My Life Would Suck Without You’ went #1 in 2009. Over in the States, ‘Mr Know It All’ rises to #24 and is starting to really rake in the dividends. The single picked up an eight percent sales increase last week, selling 52,000 copies. All up, after six weeks in stores – ‘Mr Know It All’ has sold 328,000 copies in America. The song is definitely the biggest American Idol-related single on the charts.
Lana Del Rey‘s much-hyped debut single ‘Video Games’ makes a smashing entrance at #9 in the UK, selling 40,541 copies in its opening week. The song – despite having no radio support whatsoever – has already moved up to #86 in its second week in Australia. Yes, visibly slaying smears like Natalie Bassingthwaighte‘s ‘All We Have’ – which, despite being the fifth most added song to Aussie radios last week, still failed to crack the ARIA Top 100.
Marina & The Diamonds‘ ‘Radioactive’ is sinking fast. After just three weeks, the Welsh warbler’s dance/pop effort is now positioned at a lowly #74 in the UK. This is clearly not the look for the girl but then again, even if she puts on a shiny Stargate track – it doesn’t always mean that Marina Diamandis will automatically become a certified hitmaker. There’s a bit more to the puzzle than that.
Noel Gallagher‘s debut solo album Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds enters straight at #1 in the UK this week. The former Oasis singer managed to sell 55,000 copies of his album in its first two days, already more than twice as many as Matt Cardle‘s competing new album Letters. By the end of the charting week, Noel had clocked up 120,000 sales (outselling Matt by some 40%). Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds debuts at #16 in Australia.
Matt Cardle‘s Letters debuts at #2 in the UK, selling a total of 70,896 first-week copies. The album’s lead single ‘Run For Your Life’ couldn’t make its escape from the Top 20 any quicker! The Gary Barlow-penned ballad sinks from #6 to #23 this week, selling 15,507 copies in its second week.
Shall we have a quick comparison of recent UK X Factor winners’ debut album first week sales? Right. Leona Lewis‘ Spirit opened with 376,000 copies (#1), Leon Jackson‘s Right Now did a meagre 37,000 copies (#4), Alexandra Burke‘s Overcome earned 132,000 copies (#1) and Joe McElderry‘s Wide Awake opened with 39,000 copies (#3). Therefore, Matt Cardle technically isn’t doing too bad for a male X Factor winner.
Matt‘s series runner-up Rebecca Ferguson is gearing to release her own debut single ‘Nothing’s Real But Love’. Watch Becca do a charming acoustic performance of the track here:
Pixie Lott will launch her sophomore album Young Foolish Happy and its second single ‘What Do You Take Me For?’ next week but the third single has already appeared on the UK release schedule. ‘Kiss The Stars’ – a track co-written by Pixie and Phil Thornalley – is slated for a 30 January arrival. That sounds sensible, don’t it?
Kelly Rowland has pushed back the release of her new European single ‘Down For Whatever’. This week’s UK release schedule saw the saucy dance track moved from a proposed 31 October drop date to 21 November – meaning it’ll hit stores just a week before the “international version” of Here I Am. The project’s current US single ‘Lay It On Me’ might be getting a UK release after all. It has been put down for a tentative 6 February due date. Whatever, Kelendria. Just make this shit happen.
Gotye‘s ‘Somebody That I Used To Know’ may be the biggest selling Aussie single of 2011 but the track’s not scheduled to be launched in UK until February next year. According to the UK release schedule, the smash single will follow from ‘Easy Way Out’ – another stunning track from Gotye‘s new Making Mirrors album. The Brits are expected to cop ‘Easy Way Out’ on 28 November while all of us here in Australia will get the uplifting ‘I Feel Better’.
Watch the wicked animated music video for Gotye‘s ‘Easy Way Out’:
Evanescence earns their second US #1 album with Evanescence debuting right on top with 127,000 first-week sales. It’s quite a stark contrast from their last chart topper – 2006′s The Open Door – which scored opening week sales of 447,000 copies. Times are changing and these guys are only just finding their place back in the game. Go easy on them.
Lauren Alaina – this year’s American Idol runner-up – sees her debut album Wildflowers enter at #5 on the US Billboard Hot 200, selling 39,000 copies. Meanwhile last year’s American Idol runner-up, Crystal Bowersox, has been dropped by her label Jive/RCA merely 10 months after they launched her debut album Farmer’s Daughter. It’s quite a contrasting tale of two recent Idol winner/runner ups. I hope Scotty McCreery and Lauren both find a way to keep turning out sales because both their predecessors Lee DeWyze and Crystal have now been dropped after underwhelming chart performances.
Britney Spears‘ ‘Criminal’ debuts at #92 on the US Billboard Hot 100. No pressure but all three previous Femme Fatale singles have gone Top 10 in America, do you think this will continue Brit‘s clean run? For the first time ever, the pop diva has an album that has actually produced more than two US Top 10 hits. Go figure.
Anjulie‘s feisty ‘Brand New Bitch’ finally impacts the American dance/club charts, debuting at #36. The Canadian singer who was often compared to early Nelly Furtado and Corinne Bailey Rae has given her image and sound a drastic shake up. It’s away with the cafeteria pop with hip hop beats and in with fluorescent dance/pop.
Check out the video for ‘Brand New Bitch’ – indeed she is:
LMFAO has the biggest selling single in Australia this week with the charming and timeless jam ‘Sexy and I Know It’. The American dance duo managed to dethrone Kelly Clarkson after her one-week reign on top with ‘Mr Know It All’. This is LMFAO’s second #1 hit here following the massive ‘Party Rock Anthem’. Fun fact: ‘Party Rock Anthem’ is the second longest running #1 single Australia has had in this century – reigning for 10 whole weeks. The longest staying #1 single we’ve had since 2000 is still Eminem‘s ‘Lose Control’, clocking 12 weeks. That’s the one to beat.
Beyoncé‘s ‘Love On Top’ rises to a new peak of #21 in Australia this week. We remain as the only territory to have picked up this track and run with it. Over in the US, ‘Love On Top’ makes its way back up to #82 on the US Billboard R&B/ Hip Hop charts. Other Bey singles to be making waves right now include ‘Party’ (featuring André 3000) – cracking the US Billboard Hot 100 at #93 and seeing this success naturally reflected on the R&B/Hip Hop charts, where it rose to #9 – and ‘Countdown’, her third official single, rising to #66 on the American R&B charts. Over in the UK, ‘Countdown’ leaps from #171 to #77.
Ed Sheeran‘s ‘The A Team’ debuts at #32, becoming the highest charting new entry on our ARIA Top 50 this week. Elsewhere, major pick up from the following three singles who all managed to crack the Top 50 in their second week – Simple Plan ‘Can’t Keep My Hands Off You’ (#45), Katy Perry ‘The One That Got Away’ (#48) and Nicole Scherzinger‘Wet’ (#49).
Watch Katy Perry performing an acoustic run down of ‘The One That Got Away’ on X Factor:
Cody Simpson‘s ‘On My Mind’ enters at #51 in Australia this week. It must really irk his minders to not see this at least crack the Top 50 after all the promo and Skyping he’s had to endure in the last seven days. On the plus side, the blonde teen’s album Coast to Coast rises ten spots to #16. I suppose he is winning after all.
Speaking of winning Aussies, Vanessa Amorosi‘s ‘Amazing’ finally cracks the Top 100 at #83 this week – no doubt thanks to the X Factor performance last week. Meanwhile, other Australian pop new releases like Natalie Bassingthwaighte‘s ‘All We Have’ and Stan Walker‘s ‘Light It Up’ have yet to show up in the ARIA Top 100. Change might be coming Nat Bass’ way, though. ‘All We Have’ suddenly enjoys some radio pick up, becoming the fifth most added new song to our airwaves this week. Shannon Noll‘s ‘Switch Me On’ plummets to #71 this week. People probably stopped buying it because they knew the album was coming [Editor's note: in fact, A Million Suns as it is called came out on Friday].
Wynter Gordon‘s stunning ‘Buy My Love’ finally cracks the ARIA Top 100 at #77 after what has seemed like an eternity since the single was first issued to radios. I am not sure what’s inspiring the sudden pick up of late, but I’m sure glad it’s happening. It would be great to see this go Top 20 eventually just like its predecessors ‘Til Death’ (certified gold sales) and ‘Dirty Talk’ (last summer’s #1 which went on to be certified four times platinum sales). The album With The Music I Die shamefully remains well outside our Top 100.
Watch Wynter Gordon‘s ‘Buy My Love’ video:
360‘s debut album Falling & Flying tumbles to #10 in its second week. Meanwhile, over on the ARIA Top 100 – two of his tracks surface: ‘Boys Like You’ featuring Melbourne singer Gossling (#81) and his current single ‘Killer’ (#88).
Lana Del Rey‘s eagerly anticipated breakthrough single ‘Video Games’ debuts straight in at #98 this week. We all kinda saw this doing well ever since it started appearing on the iTunes charts based on pre-orders alone. ‘Video Games’ comes out in the UK this week, so check back next Monday to see where she lands on the British charts. LDR really is one of the best discoveries 2011 has brought to date. You can peruse reviews and pick up so many great descriptors of her style (eg. “gangster Nancy Sinatra“) but the package is probably best first experienced by watching the ‘Video Games’ video.
Here it is, in case you haven’t already been clued in on the Lana Del Rey movement:
Gotye‘s Making Mirrors remain as the biggest selling Australian album out there right now – sitting at #4 this week with a shiny new double platinum accreditation. The ‘Somebody That I Used To Know’ warbler has earned seven 2011 ARIA Awards nominations including Single of The Year, Best Male Artist and Highest Selling Single for the aforementioned track with Kimbra. Gotye has also been confirmed to perform at the award ceremony on 27 November. Looking on the UK release schedule, I was surprised to find ‘Easy Way Out’ etched in for a 28 November release. Dude, this song is like less than two minutes long.
Sneaky Sound System‘s From Here to Anywhere debuts at #11 in Australia this week – becoming the third biggest new entry here. Other debuts ahead of the Aussie duo include Chris Isaak‘s new one Beyond The Sun coming in at #3 and Evanescence‘s much-touted self-titled comeback at #5. Meanwhile, the Sneaky’s current smash single ’Big’ moves to a new peak of #58. It’s actually the second week in the row that the song has jumped ten places up the chart. At this rate, they should be well in the ARIA Top 50 by this time next week – right?
Bjork‘s Biophilia enters at a humble #48 this week in Australia and #21 in the UK – making this the lowest charting positions ever for her in both territories (I am, of course, only comparing this with her other studio albums – not greatest hits package, remix albums etc). Biophilia wound up with only 9,872 first week sales in the UK. I’ve come to expect a bit more from Bjork given all the publicity and attention she has garnered for this project’s multimedia elements. The experimental artiste definitely has more of a cult following, which usually means heavy first week sales, then you fall off the charts. If this is as good as it gets for the first week then we might be in trouble.
Watch the video for Bjork‘s newest single ‘Moon’:
Steps scores a comeback #1 album with their Ultimate Steps collection scorching up the UK charts this week, meaning the band can now proudly say they’ve had a #1 album in every one of the last three decades. But before we start toasting, Ultimate Steps pulled a humble 34,200 first week sales to go #1 – making it the second lowest selling #1 in the UK this year. Back in their hey day, Steps managed three million-selling albums – Step One (1.39 million, even though it never actually made #1), Steptacular (1.28 million) and Gold: The Greatest Hits (1.11 million). Could the Ultimate Steps collection gather enough momentum to reach those heights come their April reunion shows?
Evanescence‘s self-titled third album looked so certain to go #1 in the UK when the midweeks came in but by the week’s end, it finished the race at #4 with a total of 26,221 copies sold.
Adele is still canceling every other ho in the game here. The British soul siren is on course to become the first artist to score both biggest selling album and single in both the US and UK since The Beatles did it in 1964. Over in the US, ’Rolling In The Deep’ is still unmatched as the biggest selling single of the year so far. ’Someone Like You’ is hands down the biggest selling single of the year so far in the UK – clocking over 1.2 million copies. Y’know, at this rate, I don’t even think this year’s British X Factor winner has a chance of outdoing that come the finals in December. If you wanna compare, last year’s series winner Matt Cardle managed 810,000 copies to go #1.
Looking on the album charts, Adele has not only got the biggest selling album in UK this year with 21 (hitting 3.1 million sales), she’s also got the second biggest in its predecessor: 19. The third biggest selling album in the UK so far in 2011 is Bruno Mars‘ Doo-Wops & Hooligans. Rihanna‘s mega hit album Loud and Lady Gaga‘s Born This Way rank at fourth and fifth place respectively.
Watch Gaga getting caught up in a little ‘Bill Romance’ just for Bill Clinton’s Decade of Difference Concert:
Rihanna‘s ‘We Found Love’ surprisingly holds on to the #1 spot for its second consecutive week. This is basically the first time since July that we’ve had a single stay longer than a week at #1. The Brits are going hard for RiRi. ‘We Found Love’ registered at 20% sales increase in its second week, taking home over 106,553 sales. Meanwhile, Maroon 5 and Christina Aguilera‘s ‘Moves Like Jagger’ clocks its seventh week at #2. Apparently this is only the second single in history to have spent seven weeks at #2 (and never go #1). The last one was All-4-One‘s ‘I Swear’ back in 1994.
Gym Class Heroes and Adam Levine have the highest selling new single in the UK this week with ‘Stereo Hearts’ debuting at #3 with 68,287 first week sales. This is Gym Class Heroes‘ highest charting position there since their breakout single ‘Cupid’s Chokehold’ in 2006. That one also made #3.
X Factor winner Matt Cardle didn’t go stomping into #1 after all. His new single ‘Run For Your Life’ – which was written by Gary Barlow – debuted at #6, selling 39,633 copies to become the second biggest new release on the charts. Consider this, the previous year’s winner Joe McElderry also clocked #6 with his first original single ‘Ambitions’.
Watch Matt Cardle performing his next single ‘Starlight’ at an album showcase gig:
One Direction sees their hit single ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ drop to #10 in its fifth week. The X Factor formed boy band is primed to launch their second single ‘Got To Be You’ on 14 November in the UK, a week before their debut album Up All Night arrives. The album features a track titled ‘Tell Me A Lie’ which was reportedly co-written by Kelly Clarkson. There’s also a RedOne produced track called ‘Save You Tonight’.
This year’s UK X Factor finalists will release their charity single – a cover of ‘Wishing On A Star’ – on 21 November. These charity records have all gone #1 and traditionally sold quite generously as well. The very first one, a cover of Mariah Carey‘s ‘Hero’ recorded by the 2008 finalists, went double platinum in the UK.
Scotty McCreery – the latest American Idol winner – has made history in his own way, y’all. The 18-year old’s debut album Clear As Day enters at #1 on the US Billboard 200, making him the youngest man to have a debut album enter at #1. The last record holder was R&B singer Omarion who saw his first album O debut at #1 in 2005 when he was aged 20.
Amazingly enough, Scotty is also the first American Idol winner since 2003 to have a debut album enter at #1. Clear As Day sold a meek 197,000 copies to top the charts. The last Idol winner to have an album debut at #1 – Ruben Stannard – pulled off 417,000 first-week sales. Just saying.
Gloria Estefan‘s comeback album Miss Little Havana made something of a death drop, y’all. After debuting at #28 – selling something like 17,000 first week copies – the Latin dance/pop album sank to #129 in its second week. I mean, damn. It’s almost enough to make a girl vow to never dance again. I love how the forums are crying murder now, blaming the album’s “Target exclusive” deal for the commercial floppage. Basically, if she had done a Walmart exclusive – which a lot of stars manage – instead of a Target one, things wouldn’t have looked this dismal. There are reportedly over 4,700 Walmart stores around the US and only 1,800 Target branches. There you go. Less Mami Gloria CDs to go around. Meanwhile, looking on the US dance/club charts, Gloria’s current single ‘Wepa’ tumbles from #1 to #7.
Watch Gloria going on The View to promote the new record and perform ‘Wepa’:
Taio Cruz‘s new single ‘Hangover’ (featuring Flo Rida) debuts at #62 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Meanwhile, further down, J.Lo‘s ‘Papi’ returns at #96 – possibly pushed by stronger club plays? The ‘Papi’ remixes move up to #3 on the US Billboard Dance/Club charts. Speaking of dance hits, Nervo‘s debut recording artist single ‘We’re All No One’ moves up to #31 on the US Billboard Dance/Club charts.
Monica‘s new single ‘Until It’s Gone’ makes a surprising leap in its second week to #55 on the US R&B/ Hip Hop charts. Its superb predecessor ‘Anything (To Find You)’ has done pretty well for a buzz single to reach #25 there. Old Mo’s seventh studio album New Life will drop on 29 November in the US.
Kelly Rowland‘s ‘Lay It On Me’ drops a few place back to #47 on the US Billboard R&B/Hip Hop. Wait a minute, shouldn’t it be moving up and not the other way? Here I Am [International Version] is slated for a UK release on 7 November, a week after the dance/pop single ‘Down For Whatever’ drops. Make what you will of this “international version”. She told That Grape Juice that it’ll be a revised tracklisting with more dance-oriented material but who knows, there hasn’t been any more information teased.
Gotye and Kimbra‘s ‘Somebody That I Used To Know’ is once again on the edge of chart-defining glory. As y’all know, I don’t usually care to report on serial #1 space invaders but when they clock a major milestone, it’s only polite to acknowledge and golf clap. ‘Somebody That I Used To Know’ is now the longest staying #1 ARIA single by an Aussie artist since Savage Garden‘s ‘Truly Madly Deeply’ in 1997. If it remains at #1 this time next week, it’d be an equal tie with ‘Truly Madly Deeply’ which reigned for eight consecutive weeks at #1. ‘Somebody That I Used To Know’ has also gone #1 in Netherlands and New Zealand. Gotye‘s Making Mirrors is perched at #3 on the ARIA albums chart this week while Kimbra‘s own Vows slides to #8. The Kiwi songbird’s third single ‘Good Intent’ becomes the eighth most added new song to Aussie radios this week.
Adele has now clocked over 10 million sales worldwide for her defining 21 album. That’s 10 million copies in the nine months it has been out – three million of those coming from the US alone where she has experienced unprecedented chart success this year. It is quite easily the best selling album in the UK,US and Australia this year with Lady Gaga‘s Born This Way being the next best contender. 21 hangs on to #1 in Australia this week, beating off five new entries in the Top 20 who all fell in line accordingly: The JezabelsPrisoners (#2), Lady AntebellumOwn The Night (#5), The FunkoarsThe Quickening (#11), OpethHeritage (#12) and Pearl Jam‘s Twenty soundtrack (#14). Over on the Aussie singles chart, Adelegend is turning tables on her three Top 20 hits. The newest one ‘Set Fire To The Rain’ leaps to #11 while past glories ‘Someone Like You’ and ‘Rolling In The Deep’ slide off to #12 and #14 respectively.
I know I normally embed performances or music videos in my Chart Feed but today I’m feeling like a little Adele cacklefest. Y’all don’t mind, right? It’s Monday. Treat yourself to this side-splitting compilation of her funnies:
Coldplay‘s ‘Paradise’ rises to #37 on our ARIA charts this week but y’all can expect for shit to pick up because it was the third most added new track to Aussie radios this week. Over in the US, ‘Paradise’ is the biggest new entry debuting at #16 on the Billboard Hot 100. The band’s much-hyped new album Mylo Xyloto arrives on 21 October in Australia – the same day as Darren Hayes‘ Secret Codes and Battleships, Kelly Clarkson‘s Stronger and Washington‘s I Believe You Liar/Insomnia repackage. It’ll be a hectic week for new releases, won’t it? Well, it depends on who you ask.
Darren Hayes‘ second Aussie single from this era – ‘Bloodstained Heart’ – is still a no show in the ARIA Top 100. I don’t see it slapped on the front of our iTunes store beside new releases from the aforementioned artists. Do people actually know it is out? ‘Bloodstained Heart’ is understandably not in our Aussie iTunes Top 200 and I am a little startled to see it overtaken by other new tracks like Demi Levato‘s ‘Fix A Heart’ and Emeli Sandé‘s ‘Heaven’. Well, if it’s any consolation, at least he’s still got a cracking loyal fan base.
Bryan Adams‘ new album Bare Bones enters at #38 this week after shocking the nation with his X Factor appearance last week. The general Twitter consensus was basically, a) “he hasn’t aged well” and b) “how good is ‘When You’re Gone’ – like, still?”
Jessie J‘s Who You Are album cops a surprise sales surge this week, possibly thanks to renewed interest via her current Top 10 single ‘Domino’ – which mind you, isn’t actually included on the album. We can also weigh in on the X Factor bump – remember Young Men’s Societyperformed her smash ‘Price Tag’ last Monday night? Meanwhile, if one is to forecast – ‘Who You Are’, her major tear jerker ballad, is set to impact UK markets on 7 November. It’ll serve as the album’s fifth overall single.
The Wanted‘s ‘Glad You Came’ breaks the Aussie Top 20, as I predicted last week. This is some well deserved success for the lads who came out on a promo trip two weeks ago, pretty much building mainstream awareness from scratch after a year of online buzz from the UK.
Check out the video for The Wanted‘s next single ‘Lightning’, which will arrive on British store fronts on 30 October:
David Guetta and Sia‘s ‘Titanium’ returns to our ARIA Top 5 this week after reigning as the most played song on Sydney radios last week. It’s funny how different Guetta tracks take precedence at different parts of the world. It seems like the US and UK crowds are losing their minds to the Usher collabo ‘Without You’ (which, mind you, is also a ARIA Top 10 smash here) but no one else seems to get ‘Titanium’ like we do. Sia is very much still an Aussie thing. Is she that much of an acquired taste? Nothing But The Beat clings to #4 position in Australia and #7 in the UK, but drops from #18 to #39 on the US Billboard Hot 200.
Vanessa Amorosi‘s ‘Amazing’ drops to #20 on the ARIA Australian singles chart. Well, we can expect for things to pick up after her AFL Grand Final warble this week, right? Meanwhile, ‘Amazing’ is nowhere to be found in the ARIA Top 100 and neither is another new smash ‘Big’ by Sneaky Sound System, which appeared at #15 on our ARIA Australian singles chart this week. At least the ‘Big’ remixes are tearing up the club charts. They just moved to a new peak of #4 there.
Altiyan Childs‘ new single ‘Ordinary Man’ – which was penned by Ryan Tedder – shows up at #159 on our Aussie iTunes chart. Was anyone actually notified of its release? This promo campaign really could be a whole lot better. Can I just say, I know the song’s sounding more contemporary than the old school rocker vibe he normally gives but I really dig it. ’Ordinary Man’ was despatched to Aussie radios last week alongside current Aussie X Factor judge Natalie Bassingthwaighte‘s new single ‘All We Have’ and Sophie Ellis-Bextor‘s ‘Starlight’ [Editor's note: !!! at the latter].
Take a look at Altiyan‘s video for ‘Ordinary Man’, which was directed by Peter Ireland who has admittedly done far more exquisite clips for Aussie artists like Brendan Maclean (‘Cold and Happy’) and Scott Spark (‘Fail Like You Mean It’):
Kelly Clarkson‘s ‘Mr Know It All’ isn’t exactly moving in the right direction. The lovely new piece slips to #28 here this week while over in the US, it registers a worrying drop from its #18 debut last week to #35. You’ve all seen the nice-ish screen grabs from the forthcoming music video, right? Let’s hope the whole thing surfaces soon enough.
Dev‘s ‘In The Dark’ ascends to #46 in Australia this week, making this her first solo appearance here. The single also rose to #16 over in the US, which is probably sufficient to help the girl shed her feature creature persona. You wanna have hits of your own, don’t you? Meanwhile, a similarly styled track – ‘Mr Saxobeat’ by Alexandra Stan - makes a belated leap to #19 in Australia this week, carving itself a new peak while over in the States, success is mirrored in a new position of #29 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
Side bar: call it premonition but I sense something wicked this way comes. If some Dev and Havana Brown collabo is to eventuate over the next 12 months, please remember you heard it here first. Dev‘s next appearance will be on Demi Levato‘s single ‘Who’s That Boy’.
Check out Dev‘s stylish video for ‘In The Dark’ here:
Havana Brown‘s bilious new single ‘Get It’ sinks to #47 in its second week. The unimaginative club stomper is once again produced by More Mega and co-written by Cassie Davis, the team who delivered excellence in her breakthrough single ‘We Run The Night’. The video for ‘Get It’ is set to drop this week and with any luck, the DJ-ing memaw might win me over with her stunning video vixenry once again. If these glowing words of review have inspired you to find out more about Ms Havana, please don’t hesitate to check out this interview she did with my friends at auspOp.
Alexis Jordan returns to our Top 50 via Sean Paul‘s ‘Got 2 Luv U’ this week at #48, almost a month ahead of its UK release. The single also managed to debut at #99 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Look, I’m really not wild about this song in any way shape or form. I still don’t get how the world slept on her stunning last single ‘Hush Hush’ but as far as I’m concerned, we’re done with Ms Jordan’s album. Well, apparently it’s not up to me because the project’s yielding its fourth single ‘How You Like Me Now’ in the next month or so. There you go.
Wynter Gordon‘s flawless ‘Buy My Love’ is set to hit the UK on 24 October while the long-awaited With The Music I Die album arrives 7 November. Both single and album are nowhere to be found in our Aussie Top 100 at the moment which is extremely tragic. Just like Alexis, Ms Diana Gordon found solo success in Australia with her first two singles, went to notch a Top 50 charting collabo, but failed to see their ace third singles do better. I refuse to believe it’s the end of an era for With The Music I Die here but I feel like I might be only one left stanning.
Florence + The Machine‘s roof-raising new single ‘Shake It Out’ becomes the fourth most added new song to Aussie radios this week. By the looks of things, this should have no problem bettering the success of its predecessor ‘What The Water Gave Me’. The flame-haired warbler will launch her sophomore Ceremonials next month.
Y’all can listen to ‘Shake It Out’ here:
N Dubz‘s Dappy enters the UK charts at #1 this week with his debut solo single ‘No Regrets’. He’s been fast working on his solo album while the group’s on hiatus [Editor's note: his cousin and band mate Tulisa is a judge on X Factor, in case you've been living under a boulder the size of Ghana]. The spanking new entry is yet another week of scorn for Maroon 5 and Christina Aguilera‘s ‘Moves Like Jagger’, who’s still fighting hard at #2 just like they are here in Australia. Will they ever ascend to the top?
Jason DeRulo‘s cringeworthy ‘It Girl’ enters at #4 in the UK, ahead of his sophomore album’s arrival. Future History will come out in stages around the globe – first arriving in Australia last Friday, then it’ll hit US stores tomorrow, before finally coming to UK audiences on 10 October.
The Saturdays‘ ‘All Fired Up’ tumbles to #15 in the UK this week. Look, I didn’t actually expect for it to stick around the Top 20 for this long, given the band’s reputation as front-heavy sellers. The girls’ next move is said to be a track titled ‘Heart Takes Over’. Meanwhile, Sugababes4.0 seem to have given up on their ‘Freedom’ campaign, offering the single up for a free download. The tale of two British girl bands – watch this space.
Nicola Roberts‘ utterly irresistable new single ‘Lucky Day’ debuts at #40 on the UK charts, easily becoming the lowest charting solo Girls Aloud release since Nadine‘s ‘Sweetest High’ which by the way didn’t enter any Top 100 whatsoever. This embarrassing floppage really shouldn’t be happening. I see Team Ginge going hard on promo with various TV appearances but with virtually no radio support for ‘Lucky Day’, it’s no surprise that it charted where it did. Nicola’s Cinderella’s Eyes comes out in the UK today and despite being one of the best pop album’s I’ve heard all year, I’m really not holding my breath for a Top 20 entry. I don’t think my heart can handle charting this era any more. I’m just gonna excuse myself now and rock back ‘n’ forth in a corner listening to ‘Yo Yo’ on repeat.
Check out Nicola‘s G-A-Y performance of ‘Beat of My Drum’ last Saturday. It kicks in at the 1:30 mark or so.
UK X Factor has once again rejuvenated interest in some forgotten gems with their hit auditions. Damien Rice‘s ‘Cannonball’ bullets to #9 this week, Jennifer Hudson‘s Dreamgirls classic ‘Love You I Do’ charts for the first time at #80, while K-Ci and JoJo‘s 90′s anthem ‘All My Life’ returns at #89.
Kasabian‘s Velociraptor enters the UK charts at #1 this week, leading a string of notable new album entries – ie: Tony Bennett‘s Duets II (#5 – his much-hyped Amy Winehouse collabo ‘Body & Soul’ sits at #67 there and debuts at #97 in Australia this week), Christina Perri‘s completely forgettable Lovestrong (#9) and Tori Amos‘ rather orchestral Night of Hunters (#27).
Will Young‘s Echoes is still holding tight to the UK Top 10 as radio support for the album’s first smash ‘Jealousy’ still stays strong. Meanwhile, for those looking ahead, the project’s next single ‘Come On’ will arrive on 21 November. That gives us something to look forward to, right? I secretly want for Will to release ‘I Just Want A Lover’ as a sly club promo. Y’know, just as a little treat on the side while he satiates the adult contemporary crowd with stuff like ‘Come On’? Side bar: ‘Come On’ is a cover of a 2009 Kish Mauve single. The British electro pop duo’s last mainstream crossover was when Kylie covered their track ’2 Hearts’ some four years ago.
Melanie C appears to have picked the next single to set sail from The Sea [Editor's note: this album title is the pun-gift that keeps giving, innit?] ‘Weak’ has appeared on the UK release schedule with a drop date of 7 November. This whole era is floundering so bad and frankly, I feel that ‘Burn’ would’ve been the stronger choice of ballad. Why the ominous ‘Weak’?
Check out Old Sporty performing her current single ‘Think About It’ on Alan Tirchmarsh. So very plain.
The Wombats are set to release one of my favourite Modern Glitch tracks ’1996′ on 7 November in the UK, making it the sixth single launched from this era. What’s their motivation with multiple singles, really? The lead ‘Tokyo (Vampires & Wolves)’ managed to go #23 in the UK last year but all its successors haven’t done any better. ‘Jump Into The Fog’ made #35, ‘Anti D’ peaked at #42, ‘Techno Fan’ went #60 and the last one ‘Our Perfect Disease’ was launched last month to no effect.
Leona Lewis scores her very first US Billboard Dance/Club play #1 with ‘Collide’. Meanwhile over in the UK, she drops to #18 on the singles chart and nope, she’s nowhere to be found in our Aussie ARIA Top 100. Thanks for asking, though. I know if it had been adult contemporary slash Ryan Tedder-aided Leona track then Aussie radios would have no problem spinning it but LeLew doing Ibiza-fashioned dance? It’s a tough pitch. Even though our Top 40 is arguably more dance inclined than ever before, it’s a certain sleazy and frenetic kind of dance music that thrives – not the wholesome, euphoric vocal pop variety that ‘Collide’ or even Kylie‘s ‘Put Your Hands Up’ (another US #1 dance smash) is. Side bar: Avicii is set to drop his “version” of ‘Collide’ titled ‘Fade Into Darkness’ next week in the UK – perhaps that will conquer the dance charts over there?
Jennifer Lopez‘s brilliant ‘Papi’ ascends to #19 on the US Billboard Dance/Club play charts. With all hopes dashed for a full scale tour after she signed on for another season of American Idol, I really don’t know what the future holds for ‘Papi’. Let’s hope her delightful set at the iHeartRadio festival yesterday inspired some kind of sales action.
Take a look at her first ever live performance of ‘Papi’. The jury’s still out on whether she’s just getting better with singing live or if it’s merely a pre-recorded live vocals we’re hearing here:
Rihanna‘s ‘California King Bed’ drops to #9 on the US dance charts, expect for it to quickly phase out of the scene now that she’s flogging a new dance pop piece in ‘We Found Love’ (featuring Calvin Harris). Love it or loathe it – that Rihanna reign won’t let up, ho! Elsewhere on the dance charts: Luciana‘s ‘I’m Still Hot’ rises to #3 thanks to buzz from that new Betty White remix, Gloria Estefan‘s ‘Wepa’ moves up to #4, and former Pussycat Doll glamazon Jessica Sutta‘s ‘Show Me’ ascends to #14.
Lady Antebellum‘s Own The Night debuts straight in at #1 in the US this week, dislodging the almighty Adele with 347,000 first week sales. This is the biggest first week sales for a country record America has seen since Taylor Swift‘s Speak Now dropped last year.
Beyoncé‘s gonna have to do something fast – her shit’s sinking like dead weight. The platinum-selling new album 4 took a major drop from #9 to #20 on the US Billboard 200 while the dazzling track ’Love On Top’ is anything but, plummeting to #96 on the US Billboard Hot 100 after just three weeks. Looking on the US Hip Hop/ R&B charts – things aren’t nearly as dramatic: ‘Best Thing I Never Had’ clings to #4, ‘Party’ moves up to #33, ‘Countdown’ pretty much remains at #80 while ‘Love On Top’ charts at #86. Meanwhile across the Atlantic, ’Countdown’ and ‘Love On Top’ are both slated for UK release on 30 October.
First we saw a US Top 10 singles chart without Katy Perry for the first time in over a year, now the album’s Top 20 is clear of the pyro-titty popstar too with Teenage Dream plunging from #12 to #38. Her California Dreams tour just wrapped its first North American leg last week and now she’s almost through with her first ever concert dates in South America. The second leg of her US tour will kick off in November with a new opening act - Ellie Goulding – after Jessie J recently pulled out due to prolonged foot injury.
Kelly Rowland needs to motivate record buyers a little harder while she’s on tour with Chris Brown. Her current album Here I Am continues to tumble two months after it was released in the States, landing at #85 this week. She’s not opening for the F.A.M.E. tour at every single North American show due to X Factor commitments but damn, you’d think things would pick up now with ‘Lay It On Me’ on the up and coming, right? The new urban single moves up to #47 on the US Hip Hop/R&B charts.
On the flipside, Kelendria shan’t be denied of British chart action for too long. Her first international Here I Am single, ‘Down For Whatever’, will hit UK stores on 30 October. Let’s pray to Her Holiness Michelle Williams for some Aussie radio success. Speaking of Kelendria and Tenitra, y’all need to check this shot of them former children of Destiny backstage at Kelly‘s show with Ms Jennifer Hudson.
Kimbra lands the biggest selling new album in Australia this week with Vows debuting at #5 on our ARIA charts. The Kiwi indie pop siren kicked off her album tour last Friday with a show at Melbourne’s iconic Forum theatre and is set to take the country by storm over the coming weeks. On the ARIA singles chart – she’s still co-reigning on top with Gotye‘s ‘Somebody That I Used To Know’, which managed to once again keep Maroon 5 and Christina Aguilera‘s ‘Moves Like Jagger’ from claiming the crown. Kimbra‘s own new single ‘Good Intent’ creeps in at #98 this week but who gives when you’re selling that many albums?
If y’all are loving hard on Kimbra‘s Vows, you should treat yourself to this A-grade interview I did with her [Editor's note: so modest] where she elaborated on the album’s art direction and creative processes.
Pete Murray‘s new album Blue Sky Blue debuts at #6 in Australia this week. The new single ‘Always A Winner’ [the title reeks of an Adam Reilly co-write that was rejected by Idol hopefuls circa 2005] may not be in Aussie radio’s overall Top 10 most played but it’s certainly getting love in Geelong where it’s the fourth most played track. Bless. Geelong also bumps a lot of Michael Paynter. Again – bless.
Nicole Scherzinger‘s Killer Love finally pops on our ARIA charts, entering at an underwhelming #28 this week. Is it because Universal Music Australia didn’t tell a soul that this album was finally hitting shelves? I know the situation confused a few queens because the album technically had been on sale via JB HiFi for months now, but now that it is officially out physically and digitally (with the 50 Cent remix of ‘Right There’) – there’s something chartworthy to report on. Said single exits our ARIA Top 20 this week while over in the UK, her sexy RedOne stomper ‘Wet’ sinks to #27.
Y’all know US X Factor is gonna premiere on 21 September – featuring Nicole’s fabulous self behind the judging panel alongside her idol Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell and L.A. Reid. Take a look at this dramatic extended preview here:
Sade‘s Ultimate Collection compilation re-enters our local chart at #35 this week, buoyed by excitement of their forthcoming Aussie tour in December. This will be the gang’s first trip to Australia in over 20 years, tickets are going on sale this Friday so expect for shit to be snapped up fast. Now just for comparison sake, here’s another tour/greatest hits package situation for you to chew on.
Roxette‘s Hits compilation enters our ARIA charts at #71 this week despite all this excitement about them finally touring Down Under for the first time in over 15 years. The ‘It Must Have Been Love’ pair recently added shows around the country for the month of February, so get with it. Speaking of flaming old duos getting down here – y’all can be Bananarama‘s back up dancers on stage when they play the Rewind 80′s Festival in Wollongong by simply entering this here JOY 94.9 competition. Trust the nation’s gay and lesbian radio station to be on board.
Jessie J‘s brand new single ‘Domino’ becomes the highest selling new single in Australia this week, debuting at #12. While stations all over the world continue to bump that, she’s still peddling the sinister ‘Who’s Laughing Now’ in the UK. The single dips to #21 this week. Check out her feisty performance on Red or Black?:
The girl’s ankle can now apparently tell when it’s going to rain, thanks to the foot injury she’s still nursing. Until X Factor peaks at its live show phase, Red or Black? really is the top-rating go-to show on UK telly if you got a single to flog. Leona Lewis premiered her first live performance of ‘Collide’ there last week and One Direction‘s also done a spot. We’ll address Leona’s little chart showdown further down the post so as they say in TV land – don’t go anywhere.
Adele‘s ‘Set Fire to The Rain’ bullets to #26 in Australia this week while the Moto Blanco remix re-enters our club charts at #25. Seriously, I wanna set fire to my scrotum every time I hear that housed up version. Why am I in such a foul mood over this? I mean, I should thank my lucky stars there weren’t any cheesy dance remixes commissioned for ‘Someone Like You’. Always try to look on the bright side, Limmy. Over in the States, ‘Someone Like You’ makes Billboard chart history for registering the biggest leap to #1 position ever on the Hot 100 (not including the obvious #1 debuts).
Dev‘s ‘In The Dark’ managed to debut at #64 here this week. For a more favourable outlook, it enters at #19 on our Australian dance charts and #20 on the US Billboard dance charts. Elsewhere, Israel Cruz‘s comeback single ‘Party Up’ sinks from #75 to #83 – perhaps a future as producer/record mogul will prove to be a more dignified option. The Potbelleez‘s ‘Midnight Midnight’ tumbles hard from its peak of #48 last week to #80. How embarrassment.
Sneaky Sound System‘s ‘Big’ remixes take a massive leap into the ARIA club charts Top 10 this week. The simple-yet-effective music video premiered sometime last week and it sees our Aussie dance duo hitting up Vegas. I started writing a blog post just for it but then I realised I only have approximately this much to say.
Let’s have Connie’s stunning sequined dress do all the talking for me:
Nicki Minaj and Rihanna‘s inspirational piece ‘Fly’ flutters in at #38 this week. I will allow you to roll your eyes discreetly re: pun. This really is one of my faves from the album and it’s just the kinda track you can bring home to meet mother, am I right? It highlights Nicki using rap for the powers of good and not evil. The latter is also perfectly acceptable if you’re down with tracks like ‘Did It On ‘Em’ and ‘Roman’s Revenge’. I secretly live for it when Mama Lim’s church prayer group aren’t watching. ‘Fly’ re-enters the US Billboard Hot 100 at #64.
Beyoncé‘s splendid ‘Love On Top’ cracks our ARIA charts at #40 this week thanks to the defining VMA’s performance and of course, swift radio additions. Somebody tell me what the fuck is going on with single number three campaign. I know ‘Party’ (featuring André 3000) is already clinking wine glasses with everyone on the US urban chart, so what about the rest of the world? Who’s gonna run this motha when ‘Best Thing I Never Had’ retires and the Queen Mother begins to seriously nurse her belleh? As much as I love ‘Countdown’ and ‘End of Time’ – and I see them waiting at the wings – I’m gonna have to let ‘Love On Top’ fly its course. How can you deny its excellence? The song managed to debut at #20 on the US Billboard chart on Thursday. This is evidently its time.
Watch part one of 4 Intimate Nights with Beyonce – Behind The Scenes. I am absolutely dying for the DVD:
Florence + The Machine is drowning a little with her new piece ‘What The Water Gave Me’. The song has yet to properly manifest itself on airwaves and on our charts, as it sinks to #43 this week. Meanwhile, past glories like ‘You’ve Got The Love’ and ‘Dog Days Are Over’ hit back at #51 and #60 respectively – the latter being the highest chart position recorded for ‘Dog Days Are Over’. I’mma chin stroke and say it might have something to do with X Factor Australia hopeful Tyla Bertolli‘s audition. If you’re following the series and are not already engaging with my wonderful corresponding blog posts – do you enjoy bashing puppies?
Speaking of the local X Factor touch, Usher‘s classic ‘U Got It Bad’ makes a comeback at #55 on this week’s ARIA singles chart and #16 over on the urban charts. Thanks again to another popular contestant – Josh Brookes – audition. Elsewhere, Tracy Chapman‘s ‘Talkin’ Bout A Revolution’ revisits at #66 after Zaachariaha Fielding‘s sublime performance. Meanwhile, X Factor judge Ronan Keating sees his compilation 10 Years of Hits leap from #81 to #66.
Wynter Gordon‘s ‘Buy My Love’ is nowhere to be seen, y’all. What the fuck is going on here? How can it be one of the Top 10 most added new songs to Aussie radio last week and not even see that reflected in an ARIA Top 100 entry? Gurl, it is not even in the iTunes Top 200. Now I’m pressed. HerAustralian X Factor appearance (for two nights) presented a perfect opportunity to drum up some publicity but as far as I know, she hasn’t had any promo lined up for the local single release.
I recognise that my gurl is busy doing shows around the States right now but couldn’t her local label Warner/Neon have done something? I mean, Darren Hayes also got the same amount of time on X Factor but his team managed to put the word out and cross promote the Aussie single ‘Bloodstained Heart’. More could’ve been done to support ‘Buy My Love’.
Pixie Lott has earned herself another #1 smash with ‘All About Tonight’ pulling over 88,000 first week sales. Something tells me the devil was behind this. In fact, call it premonition but before the charts came in I received a random text from my ex with nothing but ‘All About Tonight’ lyrics. The song, which has been earmarked for an American release at some point, is Pixie’s third UK chart topper – following her first two releases ‘Mama Do’ and ‘Boys and Girls’.
Check out her performance of ‘All About Tonight’ on Red or Black? where she criminally tries to be The Saturdays. The nerve!
The Saturdays take silver for this weeks epic chart showdown between Pixie, Leona Lewis and themselves. The girls’ ridiculously catchy new single ‘All Fired Up’ comes in at #3 in the UK, the second biggest new release of the week. The race was well documented on pop music forums – turning into something of a spectator sport, really – when the midweeks came in. ‘All Fired Up’ managed over 40,000 sales by last Wednesday and ended the week with over 70,000 copies. Easily their best first-week sales yet but y’all know The Saturdays have always been headfirst sellers – their manic fans pre-order everything and rush out with massive campaigns on the release day/week itself. The last monster first-week seller they had was the charity single ‘Just Can’t Get Enough’, pulling 65,000 copies.
Leona Lewis didn’t realistically have a chance against the former two female pop acts on this week’s chart. As much as I’m rooting for her Glassheart era, the diva is struggling to get adequate radio support for ‘Collide’ in the UK and honestly, if it weren’t for her legion of hardcore fans, the single wouldn’t even have come as far as #4 on this week’s charts.
Looking on the UK airplay charts – Pixie Lott‘s ‘All About Tonight’ edges up to #4, The Saturdays‘ ‘All Fired Up’ managed to climb to #18 but Leona/Avicii‘s ‘Collide’ is all the way down at #44. You see what I mean? ‘Collide’ becomes Leona’s seventh UK Top 5 smash – her biggest evidently being her #1 singles: ‘A Moment Like This’, ‘Bleeding Love’ and ‘Run’. Over on the US dance charts, ‘Collide’ ascends to a new peak of #6.
Melanie C‘s The Sea and accompanying single ‘Think About It’ was left choking in the dust this week with a debut of #45 and #95 respectively. Damn, #95 has to be her lowest chart effort yet, not far off from ‘This Time’ which floundered at #94. It’s no wonder the Spice memaw’s a little tentative about touring the UK with this album. I mean, she’s always gonna sell out random intimate shows here and there but I don’t think it’ll be anything as major as what we’d like.
The Sea was clinging to #35 at the midweeks but come Sunday, it finished outside the Top 40 with a total of 3,735 copies sold. The album washed in at #29 on the UK digital charts and #6 on the UK indie charts. ‘Think About It’ only managed to sell 2,630 copies.
Do yourselves a favour and look up her splendid G-A-Y set featuring acoustic and club-appropriate performances of her new material and classics. This is one of my faves of the night: ‘Burn’. Future single, anyone?
Will Young‘s Echoes slips under Joe McElderry‘s Classic this week, dropping to #5 while the latter moves up to #3. We really can’t compare the success of these two talent show pop stars, can we? Will’s ‘Jealousy’ picks up airplay to become the third most played song on UK radios this week but the single drops to #12. Meanwhile, Joe hasn’t got a single on the radios but like all covers album artists – think: Susan Boyle – he need not any to bring home bacon. Echoes managed over 24,890 copies this week while Classic picks up pace with over 29,700 sales.
Kelly Rowland is still surprising shoppers when they see her Here I Am album in stores, largely due to its under promotion over in the UK. How is it that Bey‘s barely there fetus can sell more records than a woman on prime time telly? The X Factor judge extraordinaire‘s album is nowhere in the UK Top 100 but across the Atlantic, it clings to #35 on the US Billboard Hot 200 and #8 on the R&B charts. Her latest single ‘Lay It On Me’ continues to pick up US rhythmic radio support and sees it fittingly slide up to #69 on the US Billboard R&B charts where ‘Motivation’ still holds tight to #2.
Kelendria is re-engaging the services of ‘Motivation’ director Sarah Chatfield for her next two videos: ‘Lay It On Me’ and ‘Down For Whatever’. Take a quick peek on the set of ‘Lay It On Me’ – Suzie the baby elephant is sadly not featured. The young pachyderm got to play with Kelly in another scene:
Cobra Starship‘s Night Shades debut at #50 in the US with a modest 9,000 first week sales. They’re faring a lot better in Australia and New Zealand where the lead single ‘You Make Me Feel’ reaches #6 and #1 respectively. Speaking of dance, Yoko Ono managed to smack Beyoncé well off the top of the US dance/club charts with ‘Talking To The Universe’ becoming her sixth consecutive #1 smash.
Here’s a lovely response from Yoko when Billboard asked about her connection to dance music and her recent slew of club chart toppers:
“Many of my songs were dance orientated from way back. That’s because I love dance! When I hear a dance number, just hearing the first eight bars, it immediately makes my bod start moving and dancing. That’s how I was from a long, long time ago. I can’t help it. But now that I am very involved with making dance tracks, I feel I finally came home!
One thing I didn’t know, and now I know: DJs are in incredible competition, musically. And they are the most musically creative and sensitive people in all the music charts. I am amazed how they are. Without their creativity, my songs could never have become #1. I have so much respect and love for the DJs on the dance chart, you just don’t know. One day, the dance charts will be the biggest chart in the music world. Because we all need to dance. This planet will be a fun planet when the judges in court will end the day with a dance!”
God I love her. Y’all noticed how I placed a Dolly Parton quote in last week’s post? I plan to keep planting these seeds of diva wisdom into my weekly Chart Feed because these memaws just have so much to offer. So much more than just their music.
Gloria Estefan‘s ‘Wepa’ continues to tear it up, moving to a new peak of #14 on the US dance/club charts – certified the “greatest gainer” of the week. The Latin pop mami’s comeback album Little Miss Havana will be released exclusively via Target in America on 27 September. I am slightly concerned to hear that she’s covered J.Lo‘s awful anthem ‘Let’s Get Loud’ for the deluxe edition. Speaking of old divas on the dance floor, Taylor Dayne‘s club comeback single ‘Floor On Fire’ bullets to #39 on the US dance charts. She has no business trying to sound like Cascada. In fact, no one does.
Jennifer Hudson has found herself a surprise dance smash in ‘No One Gonna Love You’. The single rises to #19 on the US dance/club charts, bettering what I thought would’ve been a stronger contender: ‘Night of Your Life’ (with David Guetta). It’s still early days for said track, given that the album just dropped two weeks ago. ‘No One Gonna Love You’ has had an enormous head start.
Elsewhere on the dance/club charts – Joe Jonas‘ fierce new piece ‘Love Slayer’ enters at #47, Taryn Manning‘s crunktastic comeback ‘Turn It Up’ breaks at #48 while Nicole Scherzinger‘s ‘Don’t Hold Your Breath’ bullets to #45.
After a year-long courtship with this Kiwi indie pop siren, isn’t it time we exchanged Vows?
This time last year the buzz about Kimbra and her quality breakthrough single ‘Settle Down’ sent the blogosphere and Australian music scene into a frenzy. You could literally feel light bulbs going off in the underground and hipster community when they saw the video or heard the slammingPenguin Prison remix. I remember clutching my pearls and thinking, ‘who is this chick with the quirky musical sensibilities of Nina Simone, Björk and Bertie Blackman - and why is she not already huge?’
Well, fast forward to present time and the 21-year old artiste is co-reigning on top of the ARIA charts with Gotye on one of the biggest selling Australian singles of the year: ‘Somebody That I Used To Know’. The sudden mainstream crossover couldn’t have come at a more opportune time as Kimbra herself was ready to unveal her debut album.
Vows is a breathtaking mix of experimental indie pop powered by an undercurrent of jazz influences, hip hop beats and a lush orchestral soundscape. The highlights will depend on your mood and preference for poetic indulgence but it’s safe to say she’s got her bases covered from sun-soaked Brunswick pop perfections in ‘Cameo Lover’ through to some bewitching moments like ‘Plain Gold Ring’.
Here Kimbra chats with me about the album, getting naked with Gotye and tentative plans to crack America next year. She walks me through Vows‘ extensive creative processes from experimenting in the studio with her asthma inhaler through to the album art direction and original illustrations created for each track. We also discuss her significant signing with Warner Bros. Music and how coming correct as a “package” helped her seal the deal.
