What are your neighbors listening to? Oxford Karma has decided to survey Oklahoma mainstay Guestroom Records about their top-sellers each week to figure out just that. Here’s what was flying off the shelves/out of the crates this week:
1). John Carpenter — Lost Themes
2). Title Fight — Hyperview
3). Run the Jewels — Run the Jewels 2
4). Melvins — Ozma + Bullhead
5). Kyle Reid & the Low Swinging Chariots — Alright … Here We Go
6). Aphex Twin — Computer Controlled Acoustic Music Part II
7). Bob Dylan — Shadows in the Night
8). Guided By Voices — Bee Thousand
9). Belle & Sebastian — Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance
10). Taylor Swift — 1989
The AARP crowd has the list on lock, y’all. It also looks like folks are more excited about Friday the 13th than Valentine’s Day. The solo debut album from 67-year-old horror auteur and composer John Carpenter (Halloween, The Thing, Escape From New York and many, many more) shot to the top of the charts, though the romantic, shoegaze-soaked third studio album from Kingston, Pennsylvania exports Title Fight nestled in snuggly at No. 2. The best hip-hop album of 2014 (and just maybe the best album, period) slung back to the third slot, trailed by the vinyl reissue of two of the first records by sludge metal mainstays Melvins.
Norman-based, ‘Nawlins music-makin’ wunderkind Kyle Reid and his Low Swingin’ Chariots nabbed a spot in the top 5 with their brassy-happy release Alright … Here We Go. The new 13-track EP — fresh after 2014’s Grammy winning LP Syro — from Aphex Twin blipped and blooped its way onto the list, standing in stark contrast to Bob Dylan’s 36th (!) studio album, chockfull of covers of pop standards. The reissue of the now-off-again, Robert Pollard-fronted indie legends’ seventh record goes to show that many still are struggling with a post-GBV world. We feel you.
Meanwhile, Belle & Sebastian are holding on for dear life with their latest foray into twee-pop goodness, while no one can shake off T-Swift; 1989 is back on the chart yet again. We’ll see how much of a Grammy bump — if any — big winners like Beck, Sam Smith, and St. Vincent get next week.
