Sunday, May 08, 2005

Single File: w/c 8/5/05

We eventually have a new number one, Akon's Lonely. The rise and rise of Akon has been little documented and has seemingly happened under the radar for much of the way but he's back at number one in the album charts as well having, uncommonly for any album now, never mind a lite-rap effort, taken its time climbing the top 75. And all with that technical innovation, sped-up voices. Did Pinky & Perky die for this?

Better than Ja Rule, though.

Eminem just being soppy enters at 4 while there's a row of four entrants starting Weezer wetter than ever at 9 - a big hand for Peter Frampton! The fact nobody outside R&B really understands what crunk is supposed to be hasn't stopped its producer du jour Lil Jon at 10, the Killers' real big stadium singalong chorus single comes out right at the end of the campaign but still makes 11 and Faith Evans Who Doesn't Just Want To Be Known As The Widow Of Notorious BIG is at 12. It's pleasing to see Maximo Park's second top 20 single, Graffiti at 15 - little radio play, Geordie accented vocals, what press they do get seemingly about Paul Smith's parting. Who knew Warp would end up like this in the days of LFO and Tricky Disco?

The Chemical Brothers are in at 18, Kele Okereke going top 20 for the second consecutive week at which Banquet falls right out of the 40. Gorillaz, properly released tomorrow, crawl to 20 - what a Pepsi Chart-like chart graph that will have - beating Freefaller, the band for girls who think Rooster are too hard. Like The Noise Next Door, can you see anyone professing undying love to Freefaller alone? One of them was in Point Break! Dogs are this week's Raucous But Unschooled London Band at 29, Idlewild drift unnoticed to 32, the Duke Spirit suffer from 'actually, now you can see her face Liela's not all that great looking' syndrome and peak at 33, A - christ! Is it 2000? - are at 35, El Presidente are the first New Scissor Sisters (they say: "He has no passport, no fingerprints and no record of a birth certificate exists in any known country and yet he has been on the FBI's Most Wanted list for close to a decade now. Counter-terrorism officers have described him as the most dangerous musician in the world and the lyrics to his music have been banned in forty-seven countries, including Lithuania and Mexico." Our survey says: used to be in Gun) at 37 and Lucie Silvas, after two top ten singles and nearly an album following suit, actually does some promotion for her new single and accordingly makes, um, 38. A word too for Art Brut, breaking their own record for Fierce Panda's biggest hit at 41. They'll never make Top Of The Pops like that.

No comments: