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  • Chart Chat 5/25/08: Duffy, Keith Sweat & More!!


    Y’all know what it is…here are this week’s Top 20 Singles & Albums, courtesy of the folks at Billboard.

    Top 20 Singles:

    1) “Lollipop” Lil’ Wayne feat. Static Major
    2) “Bleeding Love” Leona Lewis
    3) “Take a Bow” Rihanna
    4) “Love in This Club” Usher feat. Young Jeezy
    5) “No Air” Jordin Sparks & Chris Brown
    6) “Sexy Can I” Ray J. feat. Yung Berg
    7) “4 Minutes” Madonna feat. Justin Timberlake
    8) “Pocketful of Sunshine” Natasha Bedingfield
    9) “Touch My Body” Mariah Carey
    10) “Damaged” Danity Kane
    11) “Love Song” Sara Bareilles
    12) “Leavin’” Jesse McCartney
    13) “Bust it Baby Pt. II” Plies feat. Ne-Yo
    14) “What You Got” Colby O’ Donis feat. Akon
    15) “Say” John Mayer
    16) “Low” Flo-Rida feat. T-Pain
    17) “With You” Chris Brown
    18) “Love in This Club Part II” Usher feat. Beyonce & Lil’ Wayne
    19) “Bye Bye” Mariah Carey
    20) “Forever” Chris Brown

    Top 20 Albums:

    1) “Narrow Stairs” Death Cab for Cutie
    2) “Nothing But the Best” Frank Sinatra
    3) “We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things” Jason Mraz
    4) “Rockferry” Duffy
    5) “Spirit” Leona Lewis
    6) “E=MC2” Mariah Carey
    7) “Home Before Dark” Neil Diamond
    8) “Hard Candy” Madonna
    9) “35 Biggest Hits” Toby Keith
    10) “Just Me” Keith Sweat
    11) “Taylor Swift” Taylor Swift
    12) “Division” 10 Years
    13) “Now That’s What I Call Music 27” Various Artists
    14) “Greatest Hits: Every Mile a Memory” Dierks Bentley
    15) “Gavin DeGraw” Gavin DeGraw
    16) “Awake Live” Josh Groban
    17) “Lyfe Change” Lyfe Jennings
    18) “On My Way Here” Clay Aiken
    19) “Juno” Soundtrack
    20) “Sleep Through the Static” Jack Johnson

    *So…um…who the hell is 10 Years? Not that I profess to be the beginning and ending of all things music, but it’s a bit rare for me to have never once heard of an artist in the Top 20. Oh,well.

    *A nice cluster of newbies in the Top 4, including a well-deserved bow at the top from Death Cab for Cutie.I’d imagine the biggest surprise would be from British soul singer Duffy at #4. Her single “Mercy” also rockets up the chart, landing in the Top 30 this week.

    …and is it me, or does this song sound suspiciously like…

    *As tipped off last week, Usher cruises into the Top 20 with his “Love in This Club” remix, which features the beyond-ubiquitous Lil’ Wayne as well as only slightly less ubiquitous Beyonce. Personally, I think it’s time for *both* of them to take a vacation.

    *Clay Aiken, I think it’s time to say bye-bye to your career, eh?

    *Keith Sweat is in the Top 10 of the album charts for the first time in almost a decade (and hits the #1 spot on the R&B albums chart for the sixth time). Proof that begging will *never* go out of style!

    Let’s take it back!!!

  • "Pork & Beans": Has Weezer Made The Best Video of 2008 (So Far)?


    Say what you want about Weezer, they have made some awesome videos over the years. From “Buddy Holly” (the “Happy Days” video) to “Keep Fishin’” (the Muppets video) to “We Are All On Drugs” (with the word “love” happily suited for the word “drugs” although the word “drugs” seems to be mouthed), Rivers Cuomo and his boys have probably been the most consistent video artists of the past decade or so. However, for the first video from their new self-titled album (the third self-titled album of their career), they might have outdone themselves.

    Snarkily winking at internet celebrity, they’ve grabbed the “Chocolate Rain” dude, Chris Crocker (the “leave Britney alone!” guy), the numbskulled beauty pageant contestant, and…well, I’ll let you guys check it out for yourselves…

  • "Universal Mind Control": Uncommon Common


    Less than a year after his Gold-selling, Grammy-winning “Finding Forever” album, Chicago MC Common is back with a new single and a new sound.

    “Universal Mind Control” is very obviously a Neptunes production, and finds Common and Pharrell Williams on the club tip, a sound quite atypical from the normally righteous and soulful Common.

    That said, it’s not a bad look. While it’s not at the level of, say…anything from 2005’s “Be” (his best album to date and a modern classic), it’s better than most of the songs from “Forever”, which was essentially a low-grade Xerox copy of “Be” and found the normally dexterous emcee writing and reciting some of the worst lyrics of his career. With most artists, I’d call this a shameless grab for a hit, but Common and The Neptunes have worked together several times before (when Common was significantly less well-known), and…well, you’ve gotta love any song that pays lovable homage to “Planet Rock”, right?