I have this problem with music, or at least I think it’s a problem. I can become so overwhelmed by, so infatuated with, a particular song that it completely dominates my musical mind. The same is true for new artists, or at least new albums. When I find something I like, it tends to get played over and over (and over and over…) in my personal playlists. This wasn’t so much of a problem before I became Music Director, but now, it makes it hard for me to move on to something else that I must review. Listening to music is something I love to do, but I don’t love everything that comes through the office; only a small percentage of the albums make that cut. So I find myself at a sort of impasse when I find something I love: as much as I want to, I can’t just keep listening to it, because I have other things I need to listen to. This is the problem that this week’s number one has given me. Damn you, Spoon, but in the nicest way possible.

Other notes:
Vampire Weekend stayed pretty still, just moving up one place to #15.  I actually checked in on Contra on the Billboard Top 200, and I am happy(?) to report that they fell from #1! They’re still in the top 10 at #6, but as I said before, I don’t care what they do on the Billboard charts, because, as Scroobius Pip has said, “Thou shalt not stop liking a band just because they’ve become popular.” I mean, I’m certainly not going to look down on my darling, darling Spoon just because they debuted at #4.

In non-Billboard debuts, The Bears of Blue River came in at #24 in their first week with us. The Killer Bee Scare gave me one of the sweetest bouts of reminiscence that I’ve had in some time thanks to the first track, “Crayola”. I hope to see this do pretty well.

Animal Collective did as I expected, stickin’ it to the man at #2. And I’m putting it that way for a reason. Without naming names or getting bitter (because, really, I’m not), The Man made us take a tune from Campfire Songs out of the New Music Rotation, because it starts so quietly and builds so slowly that it sounds like nothing is playing at all. So, because of this blatant (again, not bitter) hamstringing of the album, you might not see it up so high again next week and going forward.

Final shouts to JEFF the Brotherhood (rockin’!), Blockhead (awesome!), Kitty Daisy and Lewis (goodbye!), Owen Pallett (also awesome!) and Blakroc (also goodbye!).

You’re born, you take crap. You get out in the world, you take more crap. You climb a little higher, you take less crap. Till one day you’re up in the rarefied atmosphere and you’ve forgotten what crap even looks like. Welcome to the chart, son.