A column in which Duncan Greive scours the world’s charts in the hope of finding, if not the perfect beat, then something worth whistling at least.
The Locals
I try to avoid talking about the album charts because they seem less connected to pop music than ever, but occasionally events force your hand. Following Dirk Nowitzski's heroics in winning an NBA championship for the Dallas Mavericks, another Dallas, this one named David, has done something quite remarkable. The Rose Tint debuts at number three on the New Zealand album charts, two spots ahead of Bic Runga - who has torn her house down to rebuild it in pretty remarkable fashion herself.
But Dallas' feat is the more impressive. Because despite the 'free album' having been a known approach since Radiohead's In Rainbows, and a way to launch hip hop careers for everyone from Drake to Dallas collaborator Freddie Gibbs, the fusing of various approaches (from an artist pretty deep into his career too), and the staggering success they've wrought, is what's really new here.
To recap: The Rose Tint was released as a free download six months ago, and generated significant amounts of buzz, helped by extremely savvy online promotion from Dallas. Six months later he releases it on CD, and throws ridiculous energy into its release (most impressively a pop up store - an idea borrowed from fashion, but executed better than anyone in that arena I've seen). And despite some major retailers refusing to stock it - including the nation's biggest, The Warehouse - it gets within a SuBo and a Gin of topping the chart.
