Mac DeMarco wins the battle of the 7.9somethings
The week in ADM
Michael Palmer reflects on the week's notable album action in the ADM chart
This was the week that The War On Drugs packed up
their things and continued on their way, presumably declaring
victory and patting each other on the back. After a conclusive
couple of weeks of brazen-faced chart topping, now we've got a
fight on our hands. An almighty scrap at the top of our Current
Chart as several different albums claw at each other, desperate to
have the little "ADM Chart Topper" banner on their page
activated.
Yesterday, EMA sat top with a 7.9something,
every-so-slightly ahead of Mac DeMarco's
7.9something-less. Today though, each album received a new review.
Pop Matters think that EMA is worthy of an 8.0, saying "it
simultaneously aims for your head, your ears and occasionally your
heart and at times even hits all three." They seem to suggest that
your ears are somehow disconnected from your head in some way, but
we'll leave that there. Time is tight. That's unimportant as Mac
DeMarco saw the 8 and raised it with an 8.5 from Under The Radar.
That slim margin was enough to flip the top of the chart, with Mac
DeMarco's 7.9 now meaning much more than EMA's 7.9.
But there's plenty more 7.9s around, don't worry about that.
Simone Felice and Cloud Nothings
also have that score and could make an attempt to claim they have
also topped our chart by virtue of a tie. They would be wrong,
though. That's not how we do things over here. As MeMarco showed
though, just one more high score could be enough to make the
difference up there.
Our highest rated new entry this week comes from Damon
Albarn. A solo album from the creative force behind
Gorillaz who was in some other thing before that.
Some Britpop band. Like, a 90s thing. I want to say Kula Shaker. Is
it Kula Shaker? Right, the former Kula Shaker frontman's latest
work is a more introspective work, one our critics all reckon is
worth a collective 7.8. Mostly 8s, with a few 7s balanced out the
few 9s. FasterLouder don't quite agree though, offering up a
5.
Now, though, it's time to talk about Embrace.
It's Embrace who's first album in eight years, their sixth, takes
this week's ADM Wooden Spoon. It's not without it's fans. Clash
award it 8, calling it "a record by a band that has fallen in love
with making music again". Drowned In Sound and The Line Of Best Fit
are also fans, and both agree that it's worth a 7. Unfortunately
for the band from Brighouse, Mojo, God Is In The TV and The
Guardian all dish out 4s. "A schizophrenic stab at modernity" say
Mojo. Still, not to worry boys! At least you love your own music,
right? That's all that matters?
Elsewhere: Death rather terrifyingly get a
6.6, Fear Of Men impress with a 7.8,
Kelis and Future both chart with
a 7.5, SZA manages a 6.4 and
Heterotic follow up their debut's 7.2 with a
disappointing 5.9.