Matt Levine's Top 50/Alternative Rock World Mailing List #99
Matt Levine
Matt Levine's Top 50/Alternative Rock World Mailing List #99
New Releases
1 week at #1/Summercamp-Drawer
Power Track (fka Greatest Gainer)/Smashing Pumpkins-The End is the
Beginning is the End (48-21)
Flashmaker (fka Hot Shot Debut)/Live-Turn My Head (44)
Last Week's Reccomendation/Man Ray-Moisture
This Week's Reccomendation/Jeremy Toback-California Phase (Rise and
Shine)
#1 Album/Supergrass-In it For the Money
Reviews:
Toad the Wet Sprocket-Coil
Foo Fighters-The Colour and the Shape
Pond-Rock Collection
Supergrass-In It For the Money
Blake Morgan-Anger's Candy
Song Lyrics of the Week/Dave Matthews Band-Tripping Billies
Send comments, inquiries, subscription requests, unsubscription requests
(please don't send me a message that says "Get me off this f****** list"),
etc. to fla...@ix.netcom.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Visit the website of Alternative Player, Buffalo, NY's local music mag, at
http://www.altrockworld.com/altplayer.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
New Releases This Week
Paul McCartney-Flaming Pie
Material Issue-Telecommando Americano
Michael Penn-Resigned
My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult-A Crime For All Seasons
Reef-Glow
Auntie Christ-Life Could Be a Dream
A House-No More Apologies
Snot-Get Some
Release dates are always subject to change, so there is a chance that these
albums did not come out today (5/27/97)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----MATT LEVINE'S TOP 50 #99-----
Matt Levine's Top 50 For the Week Ending 5/31/97
TW LW 2W WO Artist-Title Peak
-------------------------------1 week at #1-----------------------------1 2
3 7 *Summercamp-Drawer 1
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 3 6 13 *Blur-Song 2 2
3 5 5 15 *Tonic-If You Could Only See 3
4 7 8 10 *Depeche Mode-It's No Good 4
5 1 1 13 Third Eye Blind-Semi-Charmed Life 1
6 4 4 19 The Verve Pipe-The Freshmen 1
7 8 9 9 *Matchbox 20-Push 7
8 6 2 17 Offspring-Gone Away 1
9 11 10 7 *Foo Fighters-Monkey Wrench 9
10 10 11 8 *Live-Freaks 10
11 13 16 17 *Squirrel Nut Zippers-Hell 11
12 9 7 16 Smashing Pumpkins-Eye 4
13 16 20 14 *Reel Big Fish-Sell Out 13
14 12 14 7 Toad the Wet Sprocket-Come Down 12
15 18 21 8 *naked-Mann's Chinese 15
16 17 26 7 Cool For August-Don't Wanna Be Here 16
17 25 30 4 *Dave Matthews Band-Tripping Billies 17
18 14 12 14 U2-Staring at the Sun 1
19 15 13 9 Meredith Brooks-Bitch 11
20 23 24 9 *Sneaker Pimps-6 Underground 20
--------------------------------Power Track-----------------------------
21 48 -- 3 *Smashing Pumpkins-The End is the Beginning is the End 21
------------------------------------------------------------------------
22 20 19 19 Beck-The New Pollution 8
23 24 22 6 *Counting Crows-Daylight Fading 22
24 30 41 4 *that dog.-Never Say Never 24
25 28 34 8 *Wallflowers-The Difference 25
26 19 17 12 Matthew Sweet-Where You Get Love 10
27 27 31 9 *Cowboy Mouth-Jenny Says 27
28 21 15 18 White Town-Your Woman 1
29 43 45 4 *Supergrass-Cheapskate 29
30 22 18 14 Orbit-Medicine (Baby Come Back) 16
31 32 47 4 *Paul McCartney-The World Tonight 31
32 45 49 3 *Monaco-What Do You Want From Me? 32
33 26 23 14 Mighty Mighty Bosstones-The Impression That I Get 7
34 35 35 4 *Sublime-Wrong Way 34
35 42 46 4 *MxPx-Chick Magnet 35
36 37 40 5 *Luscious Jackson-Under Your Skin 36
37 31 27 26 Sublime-Santeria 4
38 34 32 8 Jamiroquai-Virtual Insanity 28
39 29 25 11 INXS-Elegantly Wasted 14
40 36 36 6 Chemical Brothers-Block Rockin' Beats 35
41 38 42 4 Shawn Colvin-Sunny Came Home 38
42 49 50 3 *Cunninghams-Bottle Rockets 42
43 33 29 13 Ben Folds Five-Battle of Who Could Care Less 18
-------------------------------Flashmaker-------------------------------
44 NEW-->1 *Live-Turn My Head 44
------------------------------------------------------------------------
45 40 44 5 Abra Moore-Four Leaf Clover 40
46 41 37 7 Indigo Girls-Shame On You 36
47 NEW-->1 *Mansun-Wide Open Space 47
48 NEW-->1 *Faith No More-Last Cup of Sorrow 48
49 NEW-->1 *Space-Neighbourhood 49
50 RE--->2 *Cake-Frank Sinatra 50
OFF
-- 39 28 11 Silver Jet-Plastiqa 22
-- 44 38 10 Paula Cole-Where Have All The Cowboys Gone? 24
-- 46 33 8 Stir-Stale 24
-- 47 39 4 Seven Mary Three-Rockcrown 39
-- 50 -- 1 Third Eye Blind-Graduate 50
Bubbling Under
TW LW WO Artist-Title
1 3 2 Pennywise-What If I
2 2 3 Offspring-The Meaning of Life
3 7 8 The Verve Pipe-Villains
4 4 4 Third Eye Blind-Losing a Whole Year
5 5 5 Folk Implosion-Insinuation
6 6 4 Social Distortion-Don't Drag Me Down
7 -- 1 Lightning Seeds-You Showed Me
8 13 4 Save Ferris-The World is New
9 -- 1 Echo and the Bunnymen-I Want To...
10 -- 1 Pulsars-Tunnel Song
11 9 4 Abraxas Pool-Going Home
12 11 3 Jeremy Toback-California Phase
13 8 12 Pavement-Shady Lane
14 12 4 Bis-This is Fake D.I.Y.
15 -- 1 Nixons-Baton Rouge
Albums
TW LW Artist-Album
1 1 Supergrass-In if For the Money
2 3 Cool For August-Grand World
3 2 Trunk Federation-The Infamous Hamburger Transfer
4 4 Pennywise-Full Circle
5 7 Blake Morgan-Anger's Candy
6 9 Pond-Rock Collection
7 5 Shootyz Groove-Hipnosis
8 -- Pollen-Peach Tree
9 10 (The London) Suede-Coming Up
10 8 Our Lady Peace-Clumsy
Matt's Commentary
"Drawer," the first single from Summercamp's major label debut, _Pure
Juice_, reaches the #1 position in its seventh week on the chart. I predict
that "Drawer" will stay at the top for at least 5 weeks and will probably be
the biggest hit of the year. The song is receiving quite a bit of airplay
and it also ranks as the #1 song in opinion points.
Blur's "Song 2" continues to rise the chart and reaches its current peak in
its 13th week on the chart. It climbs one position to #2 on this week's
chart. Hot on Blur's tail is Tonic with "If You Could Only See." This week
is probably the peak week for Tonic with this song because KROQ is not
playing it very much as of now and airplay on KTYD and the other stations
that I listen to will probably decline. It jumps 2 spots from #5 to #3 on
this week's chart.
"It's No Good" by Depeche Mode also reaches its probable peak this week.
The song makes a small gain, but since "Semi-Charmed Life" by Third Eye
Blind, "The Freshmen" by The Verve Pipe, and "Gone Away" by the Offspring
all made large point declines this week, Depeche Mode's small point gain
propelled it to the #4 position.
Other point gainers in the top ten are Matchbox20's "Push" (which KROQ still
hasn't placed on its playlist and moves up one position from #8 to #7), the
Foo Fighters' "Monkey Wrench" (which moves up from #11 to #9), and Live's
"Freaks" (which remains at #10).
The new Smashing Pumpkins single from the Batman and Robin soundtrack, "The
End is the Beginning is the End," is quickly growing on me (and on radio)
and moves up from the lower regions of the chart (at #48) and almost makes
the top 20 on this week's chart (just one position away, at #21). This huge
gain makes "The End..." by the Smashing Pumpkins this week's Power Track (my
new name for the Greatest Gainer). The second greatest gainer on the chart
is "Cheapskate" by Supergrass (which moves up from #43 to #28). Other large
gainers on the chart are Monaco's "What Do You Want From Me" (moves up from
#45 to #32) and Dave Matthews Band's "Tripping Billies" (#25 to #17).
This week's Flashmaker (the new name for the Hot Shot Debut) is Live's
super-power-ballad, "Turn My Head." This song has been lingering on the
bubbling under chart since February and finally debuts because of an
exorbitant amount of airplay on KROQ. You can call me crazy, but I am not
in love with this song, unlike everybody else. I like it, but I just find
it to be a somewhat lame excuse for a "Lightning Crashes." It debuts at #44
The second highest debut (at #47) on the chart is the first single to hit my
chart is from Mansun, a popular band in their native Britain, with "Wide
Open Space." At #48, Faith No More debuts with their first MLT50 single
(MLT50 has only been around for a bit less than two years), "Last Cup of
Sorrow." The song has an extremely dynamic and effective chorus, but the
verse is a little weak. The band is trying to do another "Epic" with this
one, and hasn't really succeeded. The song does have some redeeming
qualities and is also receiving airplay on KROQ. Space debuts with their
second single off of _Spiders, "Neighbourhood," at #49 and Cake re-enters
with their third single off of _Fashion Nugget_, "Frank Sinatra."
The new names of the Greatest Gainer and Hot Shot Debut are from Billboard's
old "Album Rock Tracks" charts. I think that these are a little more
creative than "Greatest Gainer" and "Hot Shot Debut." Also, since these
names are not in effect any longer, I don't think that I will ever be forced
by Billboard to change these names.
LAST WEEK'S RECCOMENDATION
Man Ray-Moisture
This explosive band from Washington state has really set themselves apart
with their first single "Moisture" off their debut album, "Casual
Thinking." This straight ahead rock track features the best guitar hooks
around. The chorus is a catchy melodic bass line that is a refreshing part
of this excellent song.
-jess redmon
THIS WEEK'S RECCOMENDATION
Jeremy Toback-California Phase (Rise and Shine)
This melodic track from Jeremy Toback's full-length solo debut encompasses
all of Toback's talents. This well written AAA-leaning tune should do well
on all rock formats and will intrigue punk-enjoying listeners as well as the
average alternative listener. The chorus and bridge are dynamic and will
leave the listener with a good inexplicable feeling inside.
-matt levine
Reviews
Toad the Wet Sprocket/Coil/B-
Toad the Wet Sprocket bring back their smooth Santa Barbara sound on their
latest, "Coil" The sound is still the same with crafty melodic riffs and
Glen Phillips haunting vocals. One of the better tracks is "Come Down," an
up tempo, catchy rock tune. In this fifth studio album, they've stuck with
their same solid sound and haven't really grown much past that. Some songs
like "Whatever I Fear" and "Dam Would Break" are enjoyable, but the album
seems tired and ultimately uninspiring. Toad the Wet Sprocket has always
been brilliant at times, but here those moment are rare and not worth
searching for.
-j.r.
Foo Fighters/The Colour and the Shape/A
Dave Grohl's Foo Fighters return with their sophomore effort, "The Colour
and the Shape." They've built upon their gritty rock sound and now have a
very eclectic, sometimes Nirvana feel. The first single, "Monkey Wrench," is
an explosive rock track that mixes elements of Kurt Cobain with Gary Hoey.
The Foo Fighters often delve into a lighter side during this album with
songs like "Up in Arms" and "Walking After You." The Foo Fighters show off
their range with grinding rock tracks one moment and than very light ballads
the next. This latest offering from the Foo Fighters is solid throughout and
as good as the debut album.
-j.r.
Pond/Rock Collection/A
The major label debut from the Portland, Oregon band, Pond is a nicely
knitted collection of rock tracks, hence the title, _Rock Collection_. The
loud guitar-pop stylings of Pond draw similarities to fellow Pacific
Northwesterners, the Posies. None of the songs on _Rock Collection_ are in
any way elaborate, but the three-chord (with a little bit of Sonic Youth
like noise) power-pop gems on this album are brilliant and provide the
listener with a fun listening experience.
-m.l.
Supergrass/In It For the Money/A-
Supergrass has not slumped with their sophomore effort, _In It For the
Money_ (Supergrass is obviously being sarcastic here). The 60s glam rock on
Supergrass' debut album, _I Should Coco_, has now been enhanced and shows
that Supergrass' talent has been growing. Songs like the first single,
"Cheapskate," and "G-Song" are glam rock gems and are reminiscent of Cheap
Trick circa. "I Want You to Want Me." _In it For the Money_ contains
contagious tunes, but it just sounds way too familiar and it is not very
innovative. Supergrass adds to what bands like the Who have done, but they
do not add enough organs (and other unused instruments in Rock music) to
make this album more special than any other album coming out of Britain
today.
-m.l.
Blake Morgan/Anger's Candy/B
The first rock release on superproducer Phil Ramone's (and Music
Boulevard's) new label, N2K, is from Blake Morgan, a New York middle-of-the
road singer-songwriter. His debut contains a few great songs, including the
first single, "Least Likely Place" and "Why Don't You See," and the rest of
the songs are satisfying to the ears. Unfortunately, most of the songs are
somewhat boring and don't offer a new musical adventure. Morgan's songs are
extremely well crafted, but the music does not break into new frontiers. In
order for the music of any folk-singer-songwriter to stand out for the rest
of the pack, they need to be extremely creative and find a new and
innovative way of conveying whatever they want to let out in their music.
-m.l.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SONG LYRICS OF THE WEEK
Dave Matthews Band-Tripping Billies (Copyright 1993/1996 Colden Grey, Ltd.
(ASCAP))
we were above
you standing underneath us
we were not yet lovers
dragons were smoked
bumblebees were stinging us
i was soon to be crazy
eat, drink and be merry
for tomorrow we die
'cause we're tripping billies
we're wearing nothing
nothing but out shadows
shadows falling down on the beach sand
remembering once,
out on the beaches we wore
pineapple grass bracelets
so why would you care
to get out of this place
you and me and all our freinds
such a happy human race
'cause we're tripping billies
we are all sitting
legs crossed round a fire
my yellow flame she dances
tequila drinking oh our
minds will wonder
to wonderous places
so why would you care
to get out of this place
you and me and all our friends
such a happy human race
eat, drink and be merry
for tomorrow we die
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Visit matt levine's top 50 at http://www.altrockworld.com/top50
Visit alternative rock world at http://www.altrockworld.com
"When civilization falls in its grave
Technology throws on the dirt"
-Husker Du