Cheer up chaps. You're sitting on the ADM throne
The week in ADM
Michael Palmer reflects on a change at the top of the ADM chart
Well well well. Well well well well well well well. Would you
look at that? Just a fortnight ago, the seats at the top of our
chart were occupied by Mac DeMarco and
EMA, both sitting pretty on 7.9s. Not now. A swarm
of new releases swoop in like killer bees and remove the measly
7.9s from power, stinging them like they're Macaulay Culkin in My
Girl. Wait, no. Sorry. I'm soooooo sorry. I didn't mean that. I
take it back. I know it came out in 1991, but it's still too soon.
Too soon for me anyway. What about if we say that, maybe, 2021 is
ok? 30 years? Is 30 years long enough to wait for jokes about
little Thomas getting killed by those awful bees? On second thought
maybe not.
OK. The Chart. Who's the new Chart Topper then? Wouldn't you know
it, it's only Swans! Their thirteenth album
elbowed the competition out the way and plonked itself right on our
throne with an 8.4. Three perfect 10 scores, and only one below an
8 (a 6 from The Guardian) not only places them top, but also gets
them a spot on the front page of the All Time Chart. The New York
post rock split up in 1997, only to reform in 2010. That makes them
- you guessed it - OBNM! Old Band New Music strikes again.
Below our new leaders sit three albums on 8.0s, Roddy
Frame had his brief moment in the sun before Swans flew in
and took it from him. His 8.0 being better than the other by virtue
of tiny little pieces of maths beneath the surface. A perfect 10
from The Arts Desk, and 8.5 from The Line Of Best Fit and four 8s
make an impressive haul of reviews. A few more of this standard and
he could begin to challenge Swans for the lead.
Just behind lies Fennesz, also on 8.0. A handful
of 9s and a 7.8 from Pitchfork (which is probably really also a 9)
a decent result, but you can't top our chart without a few 10s
under your belt young man. Come back with a few 10s and we'll see
what we can do.
Rounding up the 8.0 club is tUnE-YaRdS. A whole
heap of 8s, along with a fair share of 9s, balancing out the few
unfavourable reviews. "A perfect antidote for countless pop albums
that are too safe or predictable to leave a lasting impression" say
Sputnik. The Observer observed: "Garbus's voice is jostled too much
amid the hectic production to allow its personality to shine
through". Well, which is it then?
Nobody has split the opinion of our sources quite like
Lily Allen though. The Irish Times call her latest
album "supreme pop, pure and not by any means simple" in one of a
handful of 8 scores. Crack, however, call it "all profoundly
pointless" and dish out a 2.5.Two point five! That all amounts to
an overall score of 5.6. She has been spared the Wooden Spoon,
though, by the Minneapolis hip hop pair Atmosphere. The got a
couple of 7s from Exclaim and The 405, but 4s from Earbuddy and The
Irish Times dragged the overall rating down to a 5.4. That makes it
the second lowest score on the chart, only only one point above
lowly Kid Cudi.
Oh, and The Black Keys new album has a 7.5 so
far, by the way. So there's that.
Elsewhere: Little Dragon impress with a 7.6,
Gruff Rhys impresses even more with a 7.8,
Natalie Merchant's first album of original songs
in ages gets a 6.9, and Brian Eno & Karl
Hyde's collaboration gets a 6.3.