It’s that time of the year again! We want to hear what your Top 10 favorite records (Albums, EPs, and/or Singles) of 2020 were! We’ll compile a list and publish them on our website as part of our 2020 Year-End Recap. Head HERE to tell us your answers (DEADLINE : Friday, December 11).
For the first time since mid-October, an album spends a second week at #1 on the NACC 200. After a speedy turnover at the top the last six weeks, Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy holds firm for a second frame with his solo LP, Love Is The King (dBpm). It’s his fourth LP away from his band. With former #1 records sitting at #2, #3, #5 & #7, Tweedy looks fairly secure on top, though The Mountain Goats (4-4) and Eels (11-6) may beg to differ.
Three new albums rise into this week’s NACC Top 10: the aforementioned Eels jumps 11-6 and Nothing climbs 14-10. But it’s The National’s Matt Berninger who makes the biggest move, zipping 18-8 with his debut solo effort, Serpentine Prison (Book/Concord). The album has taken one of the longer journeys into the Top 10, cracking the top tier in its sixth week on the NACC 200. Sometimes slow and steady indeed wins the race.
This week’s highest debut comes from last week’s runner-up for most-added honors. Mamalarky is a quartet that formed in Austin, TX but now calls Atlanta, GA home. With the cache of including ex-Cherry Glazerr bassist Livvy Bennett and White Denim keyboard player Michael Hunter, the band’s debut self-titled LP (out on Fire Talk) leaps aboard the NACC 200 this week at #24.
Last week’s most-added record becomes this week’s biggest climber on the NACC 200. British trio, The Cribs soars 138 spots (170-32) with their eighth LP, Night Network (Sonic Blew/PIAS). After a pep-talk from Dave Grohl and invite to record at his band’s studio in LA, the re-invigorated all-brother trio have recorded what NME has called “their best album in a decade.”
This week’s most-added album comes from an up-and-coming pair of musicians from Melbourne, Australia. Feelds (James Seymour) and Merpire (Rhiannon Atkinson-Howatt) have teamed up for a new collaborative project, Wilson’s Prom. Written against the backdrop of a 1950s high school prom, the aptly titled EP, Welcome To The Prom (Self-Released) collects 52 Top 10 Adds and in the process narrowly bests a little band called Smashing Pumpkins for the most-added title.
As if to ensure in some small way the unpredictability and randomness of 2020, “Weird Al” Yankovic is featured on the new #1 song topping the NACC Singles Chart this week. NACC 200 chart-topper Portugal. The Man, has teamed up with the parody legend on a new song that celebrates Indigenous Peoples’ Day. “Who’s Gonna Stop Me” rises 2-1. North Coast quintet The Babe Rainbow returns with their first new music of 2020. “Zeitgeist” is the most-added new single of the week.
The Top 5 overall NACC Adds, this week’s genre chart-toppers, and the week’s most-added genre records are included below. In addition to a return to #1 at NACC Jazz and Blues, there are new chart-toppers at Hip Hop, Heavy, and Electronic.
NACC 200 CHART: TOP 5 ADDS
# | ARTIST | TITLE | LABEL | # OF ADDS
1) WILSON’S PROM Welcome To The Prom [Self-Released] // 52
2) SMASHING PUMPKINS. THE CYR [Sumerian] // 47
3*) ALEX MAAS Luca [Innovative Leisure] // 46
3*) JOAN OF ARC Tim Melina Theo Bobby [Joyful Noise] // 46
5) KACY & CLAYTON AND MARLON WILLIAMS Plastic Bouquet [New West] // 39
* denotes a tie
NACC 200 CHART: TOP 5 DEBUTS
# | ARTIST | TITLE | LABEL | DEBUT
1) MAMALARKY Mamalarky [Fire Talk] // 24
2) NICK CAVE Idiot Prayer (Nick Cave Alone At Alexandra Palacce [Bad Seeds, Ltd./AWAL] // 35
3) CABARET VOLTAIRE Shadow Of Fear [Mute] // 38
4) ANNA MCCLELLAN I Saw First Light [Father/Daughter] // 41
5) PVA Toner (EP) [Big Dada] // 42
NACC 200 CHART: TOP 5 CLIMBERS
# | ARTIST | TITLE | LABEL | MOVE
1) CRIBS, THE Night Network [Sonic Blew/PIAS] // 138
2) BABEHEAVEN Home For Now [Self-Released] // 126
3) KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD Live In San Francisco ’16 [ATO] // 112
4) DUCKWRTH SuperGood [Republic] // 105
5) MIPSO Mipso [Rounder/Concord] // 88
#1 ON NACC GENRE CHARTS:
GENRE: ARTIST Title [Label]
NON-COMM: SHARON JONES & THE DAP-KINGS
Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Rendition Was In) [Daptone]
NACC NEXT: GORILLAZ Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez [Parlophone/Warner]
BLUES: SHEMEKIA COPELAND Uncivil War [Alligator]
CANADIAN: HELENA DELAND Someone New [Luminelle]
CHILL: ANE BRUN After The Great Storm [Balloon Ranger]
ELECTRONIC: ACTRESS Karma & Desire [Ninja Tune]
FOLK: RAYE ZARAGOZA Woman In Color [Self-Released]
HEAVY: AC/DC Power Up [Columbia]
HIP HOP: COMMON A Beautiful Revolution, Pt. 1 [Loma Vista]
JAZZ: ELLA FITZGERALD Ella: The Lost Berkin Tapes [Verve]
LATIN: LA DAME BLANCHE Ella [Nacional]
R&B/SOUL: SHARON JONES & THE DAP-KINGS
Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Rendition Was In) [Daptone]
WORLD: SONGHOY BLUES Optimisme [Fat Possum]
MOST-ADDED @ NACC GENRES:
GENRE: ARTIST Title [Label]
ELECTRONIC: JOHN GARRISON Extinguisher [Self-Released]
FOLK: KAVY & CLAYTON AND MARLON WILLIAMS Plastic Bouquet [New West]
HEAVY: YASHIRA Fail To Be [Good Fight]
HIP HOP: SENOR KAOSAND ILLASTRATE Kings Of Vice [Ultra Beast United]
JAZZ: DOUG CARN Jazz Is Dead 005 [Jazz Is Dead]
WORLD (tie): KOKOROKO “Baba Ayoola” [Brownswood]
VARIOUS ARTISTS Tru Thoughts Covers 3 [Tru Thoughts]
NACC SINGLES:
GENRE: ARTIST Title [Label]
#1 SINGLE: PORTUGAL. THE MAN “Who’s Gonna Stop Me” feat. “Weird Al” Yankovic [Atlantic]
#1 ADDED SINGLE: BABE RAINBOW “Zeitgeist” [Self-Released]