Twostepcub's New Music Roundup 10/1/22...
Hey folks, I've been doing my "song of the day" look back posts for ten years now, and my weekly "hits" top-100 chart on Friday for even longer. But I just don't listen to that in my everyday life, and I love to immerse myself in a much wider range of music, which admittedly has become much easier in the age of streaming. I used to just "buy" mp3's of the top-40 adult pop, top-30 country, and a smackling of other genres that make up the twostepcubchart, but now I can listen to much more and decide if I want to further explore and support that artist.
I know in the age where mainstream radio has taken a dip in popularity (especially with the new generation), and many of my friends and family complain how "there isn't any good music anymore". That's not entirely true, but it's easy to come to that conclusion based on what the radio conglomerates shovel off for our consumption, and what Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, and Tidal decide to payola promote. Over the pandemic each week I've been listening to a weekly playlist I make for all the songs that make the various radio (pop, rock, R&B, country, and dance) and sometime sales (dance since the club play list is no more), along with the newest in the United Kingdom. I also include the debuting albums on the charts in the US and Britain.
So to start to make this an at least managable endeavor, instead of the weekend SOTD posts, I'm going to feature my picks for the songs hitting the charts each week, and then tomorrow the albums. By all means this won't be everything out there, but it's a good jumping point. I'm not a professional musician, and I can't claim to be an "expert" on what it lasting art, but I'm human, and I feel like bringing out the positive out there would be very helpful for those who don't scour the charts or listen to all the new releases. I'm not going to put what I think is "subpar", it's better to promote the "good", but I will feature the one track each week I can't hit with. As with radio, there will be debuting songs on some charts that cross over and are months old already, but that's the joy of discovering in your genre. I'll include where they are coming in when possible.
And away we goooooo....
"Evergreen" - Omar Apollo
from the album Ivory (2022)
#62 on the Billboard Hot 100...
I'm excited that the first song that in this series is such a stunner. Omar Apollo, an openly gay Mexican-American singer/songwriter, released two EP's (extended play singles) independently before being signed to Warner Brothers. Omar's debut full-length, Ivory, came out in April of this year, but a stint on NPR's Tiny Desk Concert gave "Evergreen" a huge boost. An adult soul track that comes across as if Miguel was remaking a doo-wop song, the single uses echo in heaping amounts to give haunting gravitas to Apollo's yearning for a love that went unrequited. We've all been there. And with Stephen Sanchez's more neo-rockabilly ballad "Until I Found You" in the same vein, radio should find a place for this.
(Click below to see the rest of the post)
"Hell Yeah" - Little Big Town
from the album Mr. Sun (2022)
#91 on the Billboard Hot 100...
Country music vocal powerhouses Little Big Town are back with their tenth studio album Mr. Sun, and this track is the lead single, already at #37 on the Country Airplay chart. I have to admit it's not their best, with the more-than-annoying whistle and clap track start, but they are so damn professional that they can sell a lot more than their counterparts can. When the groove comes in and the swaying cadence that powers the pun of the title, it's just a nice warm wash of harmony, and sometimes that's all it takes.
"Love In The Way" - Bleu featuring Nicki Minaj
from the single (2022)
#93 on the Billboard Hot 100...
Jeremy Biddle, who has been recording under the moniker Yung Bleu, drops the "Yung" for his new single. Nicki Minaj has been a hot mess for quite a while, but her precise and understated rap fits the mood of this song nicely.
"Dark Red" - Steve Lacy
from the EP Steve Lacy's Demo (2017)
#95 on the Billboard Hot 100...
Alternative R&B artist Steve Lacy, who is now enjoying his position as the "next big thing" with his pop smash "Bad Habit", sees his fans discovering his older work, like this track from his 5-year-old EP. The member of the group The Internet, an adjacent to the hip-hop collective Odd Future, fills the niche of indie guitars and soulful singing, and this is a nice extra jam from him.
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"One Of Those Days" - Ozzy Osbourne featuring Eric Clapton
from the album Patient Number 9 (2022)
#39 on the Rock & Alternative Airplay chart...
Septuagenarian goth legend Ozzy Osbourne's second single from his Patient Number 9 album is a tighter affair than the title track lead, and sports a good use of guitar legend/science idiot Clapton. Harkening back to his melodic early-80s crunch, it's funny to see Ozzy make Eric play on a track where he talks about not believing in Jesus.
"Tonight" - Phoenix featuring Ezra Koenig
from the Alpha Zulu (2022)
#44 on the Rock & Alternative Airplay chart...
French indie-rocker Phoenix team up with the frontman for the Vampire Weekend, Ezra Keonig, for this pulsing road-trip-ready song that brings me back to 1983. The guitar is almost Marr-like at times, while the bass propels you to the harmonic bridge. Quite nice.
"Bad Habit" - Steve Lacy
from the album Gemini Rights (2022)
#49 on the Rock & Alternative Airplay chart...
And this is what I'm talking about with older songs showing up here as they "cross over" to different radio formats. In this case, it's Steve Lacy's #2 pop hit as it makes the rock radio main list. Taking the template set by 24kGoldn's hit "Mood", which really was more of a fragment than a proper song, Lacy expands the sonic combination of indie guitars and soulful vocals into a full suite with different sections. When the bridge brings a breezy interlude, it screams "this is something you need to listen to". Out of everything, you probably may have heard this, but if you haven't, do ASAP. It's biscuits and it's gravy.
"San Quentin" - Nickelback
from the album Get Rollin' (2022)
#50 on the Rock & Alternative Airplay chart..
The most derided band of the moment this side of Maroon 5 right now, the Canadian bro-rockers are back, and definitely not in an understated way. And dammit if this isn't a guilty pleasure, with the guitars chugging along a dirty groove as Chad Kroeger's delivery of "San Quentin" is freaking glorious. I'm not ashamed. Let the cargo shorts fly.
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"Run Away To Mars" - TALK
from the single (2021)
#30 on the Alternative Airplay chart...
#34 on the Triple-A Rock chart...
TALK, a Canadian singer/songwriter, makes his mainstream debut with this dreamy sing-along excursion to the heavens that originally came out in the summer of 2021. His androgynous body-positive exterior cloaks a fatalistic take on Bowie's "Spaceman" concept.
"I'm In Love With You" - the 1975 from the album Being Funny In A Foreign Language (2022) #33 on the Alternative Airplay chart...
One of my favorite current band, British indie-rocker the 1975, are back with the second taste of their upcoming fifth album. A wall of pop sound goodness around a simple love song premise, and as usual Matty Healy and the crew know how to deliver a compelling music video, even making mimes cool.
"Holiday" - Turnstile
from the album Glow On (2021)
#37 on the Alternative Airplay chart...
If you want to get your screamo on, take on this song from the same album that brought us the band's breakthrough hit "Mystery". The Rage Against The Machine influence is there in droves, without the political undertones.
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"Tongo Barra" - Vieux Farka Toure & Khruangbin
from the album Ali (2022)
#39 on the Triple-A Rock chart...
Ali Farka Toure was a legend in world music until the guitarist from the West African country of Mali died in 2006. His son Vieux teams up with the Texan rock band Khruangbin to remake his dad's best, including this stunner of circular rhythms and guitar noodling.
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"Her" - Megan Thee Stallion
from the album Traumazine (2022)
#43 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart...
Rapper and Grammy new artist winner brings out another of this week's guilty pleasure, a saucy track tailored clearly for the drag queen lipsync circuit.
"Sweet Release" - Kevin Ross
from the album Drive 2 (2021)
#47 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart...
Soul singer Ross dips his toes in the "bedroom R&B" vibe dominated right now by women like SZA and Ella Mai with this smooth as silk jam that uses his upper register to best effect.
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"Lucky" - AverySunshine
from the album Four Songs and a Bootleg (2022)
#26 on the Adult R&B chart...
Singer/pianist Denise White, aka AverySunshine, returns after a five-year break with this delicious adult soul nugget. Her singing and playing shine equally in this love jam.
"Who I Am" - Wyn Starks
from the album Black Is Golden (2021)
#29 on the Adult R&B chart...
Starks was on the last season of America's Got Talent, singing this track that he wrote and originally released in 2020. He didn't make it past the qualifiers, but it's probably better that this dramatic pep talk has been embraced by radio instead, first at adult pop format then here. Wyn's tenor is flawless, and the message of the song about discovering yourself may have been before, but he'll make you forget that.
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"I Can't Love You Anymore" - Maren Morris
from the album Humble Quest (2022)
#57 on the Country Airplay chart...
NPR's Tiny Desk Concert also found a home for this stripped-down second single from Morris' third big-league release. Maren's clear as a bell voice gets just the right inflection to this traditional country love ballad with a twist.
"Excuses" - Kolby Cooper
from the album Boy From Anderson County To The Moon (2022)
#59 on the Country Airplay chart...
Newcomer Cooper doesn't fit the cookie-cutter homoerotic glut in Nashville right now, but as proven by Luke Combs and Chris Stapleton, that doesn't shut up a chance of success. This break-up ballad in the Aldean vein is done much better, and his voice is definitely better that Aldean's nasal drone. A timeless bit of country rock complete with a guitar solo.
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"Take Me Back" - Lewis Thompson & David Guetta
from the single (2022)
#40 on the Dance Airplay chart...
A short but sweet slice of neo-house from Thompson, one half of the duo Just Kiddin', and French EDM legend Guetta, who admittedly may be glutting the market right now.
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"Take Me High" - Kx5
from the single (2022)
#38 on the Dance/Electronic Songs chart...
The second collaboration between DJ's Kaskade and deadmau5 does take me high, and back to the early 2000s trance scene, without seeming dated. Nice driving jam.
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"Bad To Me" - Wizkid
from the single (2022)
#98 on the British Singles chart..
Nigerian Afrobeats artist Wizkid, who had a massive worldwide hit with "Essence", returns with a new song, and its smooth lite-jazz through a percussive filter is a winner.
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"DNA" - Craig David & Galantis
from the album 22 (2022)
#30 on the British Airplay chart...
David, who brought us "Fill Me In" and "7 Days" at the turn of the millennium, is still going strong over two decades later with this neo-house stomper with Swedish duo Galantis. Pure pop goodness.
"There'd Better Be A Mirrorball" - Arctic Monkeys
from the album The Car (2022)
#31 on the British Airplay chart...
British garage band vets deliver the surprise of the week with this orchestral tinged track that wouldn't sound out of place alongside Yola (a fave of mine).
"Ku Lo Sa" - Oxlade
from the single (2022)
#36 on the British Airplay chart..
This is definitely the week for high tenors, and Nigerian singer Oxlade is no exception, using G-funk jazz guitar touches on his breakthough top-40 UK hit.
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This week's dud:
"Beguiled" by Smashing Pumpkins
from the album Atum: A Rock Opera In Three Acts (2022-2023)
#35 on the Rock & Alternative Airplay chart
#40 on the Alternative Airplay chart...
I really wanted to like this. Billy Corgan, back in all his androgynous splendor with an upcoming sprawling three-disc opus in the works. But the freak of the anti-vax/anti-mask cult had to make this, his anti-science anthem, as the lead up. Dude, they don't accept you. You're just a tool. In more ways than one.
Well that does it for this week's picks of songs. I'll be back tomorrow with samples of my picks for new albums of the week. Thanks for reading, and I hope I brought something new to your ears.
Cheers
2sc
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