ARIA Singles top ten/Chart Review: 6th April. It's a week of Roses and Dua Lipa

So I cannot be the only who does acknowledge that while there has been a positive swing for the better in the standard of the music on the charts however I am seeing what's rising on the charts and what is coming next week and cringing, there's some absolute garbage on and coming to the charts, folks, brace yourselves.

However there are two big stories this week and they are both revolve around the top ten where we have a new number one, "Roses (Imanbeck Remix" by Saint JHN rode streaming traction and decent sales to take the number one spot for how long is anyone's guess given Drake dropped his new single last Friday and is currently doing well on streaming however "Roses" did push back ten week chart topper "Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd to number two, this song is still strong but those streaming numbers are starting to slip.

Then there's the other big story, Dua Lipa landing three songs in the top ten this week with the first of them being "Don't Start Now" which regained some momentum off the back of the release of "Future Nostalgia" to move up one place to number three, I don't expect this song to keep up that  momentum though

However it did push past "Intentions" by Justin Bieber and Quavo down one place to number four as Bieber is readying the next single from his album which turns out to be the say nothing album title track "Changes". See ya on my worst hits list of 2020, Bieber.

Speaking of worst hits of 2020, "Say So" by Doja Cat remains a thing in the top ten by staying at number five...ewww...

Up one place to number six this week is "Death Bed" by Powfu feat Beabadoobee, it's got streaming traction.

The highest new entry of the week and the second of Dua Lipa's three songs in the top ten is "Break My Heart" - a song that samples the melody of INXS smash hit "Need You Tonight", is in at number seven this week.

Up one place is :"Supalonely' by BENEE and Gus Dapperton to number eight. A song that I am not sure how to feel about it.

The biggest gainer this week is the last of the Dua Lipa songs on the chart this week, "Physical" which jumped ten places to number nine courtesy of the album dropping last week.

Finally "Dance Monkey" by Tones and I continues its tenuous hold on number ten this week.

Gains

So I have already mentioned "Physical" by Dua Lipa breaking into the top ten at number nine. Outside of the top ten, Endor's "Pump It Up" jumped six places to break into the top twenty at number twenty, this has some streaming traction right now.

It's good news for The Rubens as "Live In Life" jumped from 27 to 21 this week. (That song has grown on me a fair bit in recent weeks)

Finally "Bad Guy" by Billie Eilish continues to hang around jumping six places to 29 while the pretty awful "City of Angels" by 24KGOLDEN jumped five places to 25.

Gains

The Weeknd's album title track "After Hours" was the biggest loser this week as it tumbled from 17 to 48 as hype for the album fades away while "In Your Eyes" got a six place poke in the eye to 19.

Sam Smith's "To Die For" continues to lose ground unfortunately as it stumbled from 23 to 31 this week. 

"Godzilla" by Eminem feat. JuiceWRLD is sputtering out as it plunged hard from 18 to 32, the same happened for "Glitter" by BENEE which lost it's shine in skidding down from 21 to 37,

Finally "The Less I Know the Better" by Tame Impala fell ten places to 44. 

Drop Outs

Not really a lot to complain about here with the unsurprising exit of "The Gambler" by Kenny Rogers. We also lost 2019 hit "Good as Hell" by Lizzo, it had a great run on the chart so not too sad it's gone. 

"Heartless" by The Weeknd also left taking with it "July" by Noah Cyrus and most pleasingly "Yummy" by Justin Bieber, thank fucking christ however I do expect "Yummy" to make the year end list and my worst hits list for 2020.

New Entries

So outside of Dua Lipa's "Break My Heart" at number seven, what else entered the chart this week, well we have to go to 23 to find "Savage" by Megan Thee Stallion, a song that I actually don't mind from her, it's one of the better songs from the EP and it's got traction so it will stick around thankfully.

At number 30 is the pointless new PARTYNEXTDOOR single "Believe It" feat. Rihanna. What's the point of having Rihanna on the song if you are just going to use her as a backing vocalist? Ridiculous waste of talent.

5 Seconds of Summer have managed to chart their Maroon 5 impersonation "Old Me" off the back of the release of CALM. at 39.

Finally to wrap up this week, the success of "Say So" has meant that people are looking for what else Doja Cat has done so it's meant that "Boss Bitch" enters at 46.

That wraps up a pretty wild and busy week, keep an eye out for the next episode of 2000 Sound. Next week that new Drake song will most likely debut top ten, we'll find out from ARIA on Saturday at 5pm AEST. 

Justin Bieber's "EPs" are playlists.

So you may have noticed that Justin Bieber is releasing two EPs a week right now, so far we have "R&Bieber", "Work From Home", "Biebs and Chill" and today he released his fourth EP called "Couple Goals" however I have a massive problem with this...

Now ordinarily, I wouldn't have an issue with EP releases as it's a way of getting some extra songs that didn't make the album out into the world, artists do it all the time and it's a good way to sample the ideas an artist is set to express on an upcoming album however I am not fine with what Bieber is doing and to explain why I'll show you a couple of pictures including the album track listing and the track listing of all four EPs so far.\

"Changes" Album Tracklisting (via Wikipedia)

Tracklistings of all four EPs (Via Spotify)










With the exception of "Intentions (Acoustic)", these are album tracks not new music with the title track appearing on all four EPs, "Habitual", "Available" and "Confirmation" are are two of the four EPs each. There are no new songs on these "EPs" to be seen unless you count the acoustic version of "Intentions" as a new song (I don't), all of the tracks are on the album which kind of makes these releases really stupid as they are not new songs and most people who would want these songs would already have the album "Changes" and be listening to these songs on the album, right?

However it would seem these twice a week releases are a lame attempt to bolster streaming numbers for album tracks off an underwhelming album by calling these releases "EPs" rather than what they actually are which are playlists and it should be pointed out that Bieber and his team could have very easily assembled these as playlists on Spotify especially given how repetitive the playlists actually are.

As I said before releasing an EP is a good way to give people a taste of the album before the album drops but to release playlists thinly disguised as EPs AFTER the album is out reeks of serious desperation and it doesn't help the music isn't good.

Please Bieber, either release offcuts from the album as an EP or stop releasing these twice weekly EPs and curate these as playlists on streaming services instead.

2000s Sound: April 2nd, Unremarkable week sees NSYNC remain at number 1

So this week is a pretty standard one as far as a chart in 2000 can be normal but we have an incredibly busy top ten as *NSYNC keep hold of the number one slot for another week with "Bye Bye Bye" and it looks good for awhile as "Candy" by Mandy Moore rising one place to number two really isn't a threat right now.

Neither is "Bloke" by Chris Franklin which fell one place to number three as sales fell back again this week against slightly stronger opposition, its coming under threat from "Pure Shores" by All Saints up one place to number four on the back of a week where it's sales finally improved and stabilised for once.

Leaping six places to number five is Sister2Sister's "What's a Girl to do?" on the back of some strong sales which in doing so helped to push "American Pie" by Madonna down two places to number six, it was the same effect for "S Club Party" by S Club 7 down one place to number seven and it was the same case for "Move Your Body" which fell one to eight.

Hanson's "If Only" moved up five places to reach the top ten at number nine, also arriving in the top ten is "All The Small Things" rose two places to fill the final spot in the top ten at number ten.

Gains

There were nine place gains for No Doubt's "Ex-Girlfriend" to 14 and Coco Lee's "Do You Want My Love?" to 15.

Leah Haywood's "We Think It's Love" rose ten places to 24 this week, this song has some momentum now, could be a chance of reaching top ten.

However the biggest gain this week was for Savage Garden's "Affirmation" which jumped from 49 to 36 this week.

Re-Entries

Destiny Child's "Say My Name" is back at 38 this week.

Losers.

Not many big losers this week with the biggest loser this week being "Tarantella 2000" by Linguini Brothers which fell from 42 to 49 this week.

New Entries

All the new entries are below forty this week with Slipknot earning the highest new entry of the week with "Wait and Bleed" arriving at 46.

Human Nature are in at 47 with "Be There with You" while UK boy band Five latest single "Don't Wanna Let You Go" is in at 50.

ARIA Singles top ten/chart review: 30th March. Change is in the air.

So this week was surprising, I was preparing for a massive album bomb courtesy of The Weeknd's number one album "After Hours" but much to my shock...that didn't happen,  oh sure there was still some impact on the chart which we'll get too however let's get to the top ten where "Blinding Lights" maintains the number one spot for a tenth week however I will say that there are signs that streaming slowing down which makes life interesting with "Roses (Imanbeck Remix) by Saint JHN up five places to number two.

"Roses" would be my best bet for number one unless Drake's new single called "Toosie Slide" being released on Friday AEDT makes a run especially if it gets virality on TikTok...joy...

It pushed "Intentions" by Justin Bieber and Quavo back to number three as streaming seems to finally be sick of this song the sooner it leaves the better.

"Don't Start Now" by Dua Lipa down to number four but I expect this will regain some momentum following the release of "Future Nostalgia".a week earlier than planned.

Doja Cat's "Say So" also slipped down one to number five and honestly, it's probably in a good position to take advantage of any songs weakening above as it is still credible on both sales and streaming.

Maintaining it's presence at number six is "The Box" by Roddy Ricch, again, sales are absent and streaming is dying in slow motion so this will be gone from the top ten soon.

Arriving in the top ten this week is "Death Bed" by Powfu feat. Beabadabee which went up six places off the back of streaming.

A victim of the frantic shuffling this week was "You Should Be Sad" by Halsey which went down three places to number eight as streaming and sales are being blunted for it.

"Supalonely' by BENEE feat.  Gus Dapperton goes up one place to number nine this week as it had a good sales and streaming week.

Finally former chart topper "Dance Monkey" by Tones and I slipped two places to number ten as it makes a slow graceful exit befitting a record breaking hit song.

Gains

This week was the week of The Weeknd as the title track from "After Hours" was the biggest gainer this week as it went from 48 to 17.
"Sunday Best" by Surfaces looks set to make an entrance to the top ten as it rose four places to number 12.

"Pump It Up" by Endor rose eleven places to 26 this week. I will give that song something, it is quite catchy!,

"Live in Life" by The Rubens continues to do well as it rose from 31 to 27 this week.

Also gaining big was "Maniac" by Conan Gray up ten to 28 although I suspect some of that gain was because of the release of his album called "Kid Krow"

Re-Entries

The sad death of American country music legend Kenny Rogers saw "The Gambler" back on the charts at number 31. It originally appeared on the Kent Music Report charts in 1978 peaking at 25.

The Weeknd is back at 38 with "Heartless"

Losers

The biggest loser this week is Tame Impala's "The Less I Know the Better" which tumbled from 17 to 34 this week as hype from the Hottest 100 of the decade dies down.

Suffering a ten place fall is Billie Eilish's "Bad Guy which fell to 35 this week.

Unforunately "Sugar" went sour for BROCKHAMPTON as their first charting song went down a  sticky eleven places to 41 although it's a miacle that this song charted at all.

 In more  bad news "To Die For" by Sam Smith dropped eight places to 23 as they rescheduled the album release due to COVID-19 and finding another name for the album

In better news "Tummy" by Justin Bieber got indigestion and slipped six places to 49 as a result

Drop Outs.

The only drop out of any real note is "My Oh My" by Camila Cabello feat. DaBaby...good.

The other four that fell off the chart were "The Difference" by Flume feat. Toro y Moi, "Moral of the Story" by Ashe and "Suicidal" by YNW Melly.

New Entries

Two new entries this week with the highest debut of the week belonging to The Weeknd with "In Your Eyes" in at 13 while the latest streaming fad "Skechers" by DripReport in at 47.

So that wraps up a surprisingly short week on the chart with there being no album bomb from The Weeknd. Next week should be Dua Lipa's week, might see a song from 5 Seconds of Summer and the new one for Little Mix but we'll see whats when the chart is announced on Saturday at 5pm AEDT.

2000 Sound: 26th March: Glut of New Entries as *NSync keeps number one

So this week is interesting...just not in terms of the top ten right now but more the glut of new entries that really stalled any upward movement on the charts with a lot of big falls this week but the new entries didn't impact the top ten where for a 2nd week, *NSync's "Bye Bye Bye" rules roost at number one and really this song does look to have a hold on number one right now especially when you look at our number two which is "Bloke" by Chris Franklin which is losing strength on streaming.

"Candy" by Mandy Moore rose one place to number three forcing Madonna's rancid "American Pie" cover back to number four.

All Saints continue their really strange run on the chart with "Pure Shores" up two places again to number five, this song needs to find some consistency fast but it probably held up because "S Club Party" by S Club 7 weakened down one place to number six.

Eiffel 65's "Move Your Body" is back up one place to number seven while Killing Heidi's "Mascara" looks to be fading gracefully as it dropped two places to number eight while Vanessa Amorosi's "Absolutely Everybody" remains at number nine.

Jessica Simpson returned to the top ten this week with her painfully boring debut single "I Wanna Love Forever" up one place to number ten.

Gains

We are pretty short on big gains this week with the biggest coming for Leah Haywood's "We Think It's Love" which went up eight places to 34 but that was about it for gains over five places this week.

Losers

Oh boy. Brace yourselves for this because there's a long list of losers but let's stat at the bottom of the chart where William Orbit's "Barber's Adagio For Strings" which fell seven places to 50 while Savage Garden's "Affirmation" suffered an eleven place slip to 49.

Also finding life tough on the charts is "Otherside" by Red Hot Chili Peppers which fell from 46 to 31.

"Smooth" by Santana and Rob Thomas took a plunge from 28 to 44 as the waters got rough fast for that song.

Same could be said for Madison Avenue's "Don't Call Me Baby" which fell hard from 26 to 43 this week and is our biggest loser of the week.

28 Days dropped nine places to 36 with "Here We Go" while Macy Gray's "I Try" dropped twelve places to 28

New Entries

Hanson have the biggest new entry of the week with "If Only" in at 14. I actually really like this song so I genuinely hope it becomes a hit.

Alice Deejay is in at 19 with "Back In My Life" while No Doubt hit the chart at 25 with "Ex-Girlfriend"

Macy Gray's follow up "Still" breaks onto the chart at 26.

Kelis is in at number 30 with "Caught Out There"

Australian R'n'B group Kaylan have debuted on the chart with "Rock Me All Night" at 40 while finally the last of the new entries come from Metallica with Michael Kamen conducting the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra landing "No Leaf Clover on the chart.

ARIA Singles chart top ten/chart review: 23rd March.

So I am going to lay out some facts here in plain view, we are not going to see a change at the very top for a good few weeks yet but there's enough changes on the chart this week to keep things interesting especially as we have likely album bomb coming next week and maybe one not the week after but the following week after.

None the less, The Weeknd maintains his strange hold on the number one spot with "Blinding Lights" for a ninth week and with "After Hours" released on Friday and doing massive numbers on streaming, I don't see this being unseated from number one for some time.

Much to my disgust, a good streaming week saw regressive and antiquated garbage "Intentions" by Justin Bieber feat. Quavo climb one place to number two but given what it's up against, I suspect this song has hit it's peak however streaming was enough to ensure it moved past Dua Lipa's "Don't Start Now" which went down to number three however with "Future Nostalgia" dropping Friday 3rd April, don't be surprised if it returns to number two.

Also to my rampant disgust, "Say So" by Doja Cat jumped one place to number four because people don't have enough brain cells to realize that this song is just cut price Dua Lipa with a mediocre beat, seriously why is this song in the top five rather than the far superior "Physical" by Dua Lipa however "Say So" pretty much switched with "You Should Be Sad" by Halsey which fell one place to number 5 (If Halsey has any sense than she'll make "3am" the next single from "Manic").

The biggest gainer within the top ten this week is the current UK number one "Roses" by Saint Jhn which rose five to break into the top ten at number seven, now this song has momentum on it's side as streaming is getting hold of this song, it swallowed "Dance Monkey" by Tones and I which sneezed down one place to number eight.

"Adore You" by Harry Styles followed suit down one to number nine while finally BENEE and Gus Dapperton get their first ARIA singles chart top ten hit with TikTok pushing "Supalonely" up to number ten.

Gains.

The biggest gain came for Sam Smith's new single with "To Die For" up eleven places to 15 which is good because I do like that song.while "Blueberry Faygo" by Lil Mosey rose eight places to 23.

Losers

The big story in our losers is the twenty place fall for "Stupid Love" by Lady Gaga to 33, this song isn't going to stick around like her fans would have hoped. Suspect they will be praying the next single will be sticking around.

Also taking a hard plunge was "Sugar" by Brockhampton which suffered a sweet malfunction to go from 19 to 30.

"Never Seen the Rain" by Tones and I dropped from 15 to 21 while "Yummy" by Justin Bieber dropped from 36 to 43 as everybody tries to forget it exists.

Drop Outs.

Two significant drop outs this week those being "I Don't Care" by Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber finally being gone after 43 weeks on the chart while "Castles" by Freya Ridings also falls off after a respectable run, they took "No Time to Die" by Billie Eilish, "The Other Side" by SZA and Justin Timberlake and "Baby Pluto" by Lil Uzi Vert with them.

New Entries

Our highest new entry this week is a 5 year old song from Tame Impala with "The Less I Know the Better" debuting on the ARIA singles chart at 17 thanks to being voted at number one on Triple J's Hottest 100 of the Decade last weekend, I'd be surprised if it stuck around.

What might stick around though is Tones and I's new single "Bad Child" which debuted at 18 this week.

The other new entries come from Flume with "The Difference" feat. Toro y Moi at 45, most strangely Noah Cyrus's "July" enters at 49 and finally "Suicidal" by American rapper YNW Melly is in at 50.

That wraps up the week. Next week? Well, it's going to be the weekend of The Weeknd with an "After Hours" album bomb so we'll have to see what kind of carnage that will cause when the chart is updated on Saturday at 5pm AEDT

Smashing It Somewhere Else: "In The Air" by L.A.B

Currently #1 for three weeks in New Zealand.

This is going to be something I do on an occasion if there's a song I like somewhere in the world doing well that isn't on the ARIA top 50 singles chart in Australia and fortunately New Zealand is going to be where the focus lies for the first edition of this series as there is a song riding on top of the charts there that I just have to talk about it, that song being "In the Air" by L.A.B,

L.A.B hail from New Zealand's Bay of Plenty with it's founding members being keyboard/guitarist Brad and drummer Stuart Kora, they brought in Joel Shadbolt for lead vocals and bassist Ara Adams-Tamatea with their sound being spanning many genres including blues, funk, rock and even elements of electronic music with "In the Air" being the second single from their third album "L.A.B III" released at the back end of 2019. 

Let's not mince words here, "In the Air" is this gorgeously layered chilled song that is perfect for any occasion be it chilling at home or out on a long Sunday afternoon drive, I just love the sound of this song with its guitars and that groove that works so god damn well. This song is like coming home and finding a warm fuzzy blanket to curl up in.

As for the lyrics delivered by Shadbolt, the song is about finding that connection with somebody special and enjoying the moment of being with that person whoever that is which Shadbolt delivers with incredible sincerity.

"In the Air" is the sort of song that really should be getting big around the world right now, please give it a chance, people.

"In the Air" - L.A.B (Official Music Video)