The fight for #1 on this week’s chart was a battle royale as a trio of records stormed the Top 5 last week to challenge Julie Doiron for the top spot. In the end, Doiron took one of the biggest drops from #1, dropping to #7 and leaving the door wide open. Three albums scored more points this week than any record has so far this year. In the end, Chan Marshall, aka Cat Power froze Broken Social Scene (2-2) and Elvis Costello & The Imposters (3-3) in place and vaulted 4-1 with Covers (Domino), her 11th studio album and third collection of cover songs. This is Cat Power’s second #1 on the NACC 200.
A huge record was broken this week: The biggest climb ever on the NACC 200. Interestingly enough, the record was bested just two weeks ago when Phoebe Alice Lou jumped 181 spots. This week Yard Act (last week’s most-added record), soars 190 spots. The Leeds quartet’s debut LP, The Overland (Zen F.C.) rockets 196-6, which is also the biggest climb ever into the NACC Top 10.
Two other artists join Yard Act as new entries into the NACC Top 10 this week. Aeon Station (the highest debut on the NACC 200 two weeks ago) rises 14-9. And last week’s highest debut from Tahliah Barnett, who records as FKA Twigs, leaps 23-5 with her third LP, CAPRISONGS (Young/Atlantic). Barnett got her stage name from being called Twigs for the way her joints crack. She added FKA as another act already called Twigs asked her to change her name. The more you know!
Pedro The Lion lands this week’s highest debut on the NACC 200. Formed in 1995 by Seattle artist David Bazan, nearly two dozen musicians have come and gone as members of the band though Bazan remains the one constant. Fun fact: Death Cab For Cutie’s Ben Gibbard was a member briefly in the early 2000s. Havasu (Polyvinyl) is Pedro The Lion’s sixth LP and first since 2019 when they reached the Top 5 of the NACC 200.
The week’s most-added album, of the 106 adds this week, comes from Los Angeles band Eels. The project was formed in 1991 by Mark Everett who goes simply by E. Much like Bazan with Pedro The Lion, E is the only official member for all of Eels’ work. Though many fewer musicians have been part of Eels vs Pedro The Lion over the years and also have been part of the band for much longer periods. Extreme Witchcraft (E Works/PIAS) is Eels’ 14th LP and collected 71 Top 10 Adds this week in addition to debuting at #82 on the NACC 200.
Brooklyn quartet Big Thief sails from 12-1 on the NACC Singles Chart this week with an eighth preview track (“Simulation Swarm”) from their upcoming Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You, due February 11. It’s only the second single to top the chart this year after Spoon’s record run. Glasgow quintet Franz Ferdinand handily takes the prize for this week’s most-added single, “Curious.” It’s the sixth preview track from their upcoming sixth LP, Hits To The Head, due March 11.
This week’s Top 5 overall NACC Adds, the genre chart-toppers, and the week’s most-added genre records are included below. There are new #1s at NACC NEXT, Folk, Blues, and Chill as well as a return to #1 on R&B/Soul.
NACC 200 CHART: TOP 5 ADDS
# | ARTIST | TITLE | LABEL | # OF ADDS
1) EELS Extreme Witchcraft [E Works/PIAS] // 71
2*) NEIL FRANCES There Is No Neil Frances [Nettwerk] // 61
2*) ST PAUL AND THE BROKEN BONES The Alien Coast [ATO] // 61
4*) POM POKO This Is Our House (EP) [Bella Union/PIAS] // 47
4*) SPACEFACE Anemoia [Mothland] // 47
*denotes a tie
NACC 200 CHART: TOP 5 DEBUTS
# | ARTIST | TITLE | LABEL | DEBUT
1) PEDRO THE LION Havasu [Polyvinyl] // 18
2) BORIS W [Sacred Bones] // 29
3) PALACE Shoals [Avenue A/Fiction] // 30
4) CLOAKROOM Dissolution Wave [Relapse] // 34
5) REPTALIENS Multiverse [Wavy Haze] // 35
NACC 200 CHART: TOP 5 CLIMBERS
# | ARTIST | TITLE | LABEL | MOVE
1) YARD ACT The Overload [Zen F.C.] // 190 (Record!)
2) AOIFE O’DONOVAN Age Of Apathy [Yep Roc] // 101
3) BIG THIEF “Simulation Swarm” (Single) [4AD/Beggars Group] // 76
4) JACK SHIMABUKURO Jake And Friends [Self-Released] // 73
5) SUFJAN STEVENS AND ANGELO DE AUGUSTINE A Beginner’s Mind [Asthamtic Kitty] // 67
#1 ON NACC GENRE CHARTS:
GENRE: ARTIST Title [Label]
NON-COMM: ROBERT PLANT AND ALISON KRAUSS Raise The Roof [Rounder/Concord]
NACC NEXT: BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE Old Dead Young: B-Sides & Rarities [Arts & Crafts]
BLUES: TINSLEY ELLIS Devil May Care [Alligator]
CANADIAN: JULIE DOIRON I Thought Of You [You’ve Changed]
CHILL: HOLLAN HOLMES Emerald Waters [Spotted Peccary]
ELECTRONIC: BONOBO Fragments [Ninja Tune]
FOLK: JANIS IAN The Light At The End Of The Line [Rude Girl]
HEAVY: FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY On What The Future Holds [Nuclear Blast]
HIP HOP: HAVIAH MIGHTY Stock Exchange [Self-Released]
JAZZ: HAROLD MABERN Mabern Plays Coltrane [Smoke Sessions]
LATIN: CEU Um Gosto De Sol [Urban Jungle]
R&B/SOUL: VARIOUS ARTISTS Daptone Super Soul Revue – Live At The Apollo [Daptone]
WORLD: CEU Um Gosto De Sol [Urban Jungle]
MOST-ADDED @ NACC GENRES:
GENRE: ARTIST Title [Label]
ELECTRONIC: VTSS Projections (EP) [Technicolour]
FOLK: ANAIS MITCHELL Anais Mitchell [BMG]
HEAVY: VENOM PRISON Erebos [Century Media]
HIP HOP: SAMM HENSHAW Untidy Soul [Dorm Seven/AWAL]
JAZZ: AZAR LAWRENCE New Sky [Trazar]
WORLD: DOWDELIN Lanmou Lanmou [Underdog]
NACC SINGLES:
GENRE: ARTIST Title [Label]
#1 SINGLE: BIG THIEF “Simulation Swarm” [4AD/Beggars Group]
MOST-ADDED SINGLE: FRANZ FERNINAND “Curious” [Domino]