The five-member horse race for #1 we had lined up for this week has been boiled down to just two contenders. Courtney Barnett gave it a real go but, in the end, Beach House locked down the top spot for a third straight week with their seventh LP, 7, out on Sub Pop. La Luz & Arctic Monkeys began their descents this week after valiant runs for the top and Parquet Courts were climbed over by Courtney Barnett, who jumped 9-2 (she did reach #1 on the NACC Non-Comm Chart this week). With a third week on top, Beach House continue the wonderful streak of female solo and female-fronted acts ruling the NACC 200. This is the 28th of the last 34 weeks that has happened. Courtney Barnett will try to stop Beach House’s run, but also keep that great streak going next week, though a wild card will be the new Father John Misty record (which we’ll get to in a moment).
Two albums reach the NACC Top 10 this week. The bigger mover of the two is the seventh LP from Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks. The group formed in 2000, soon after the breakup of Malkmus’s band Pavement, who released five albums of their own between 1992-1999. The new album, Sparkle Hard, has been noted as The Jicks most ‘of-the-moment’ release with references to Facebook, Black Lives Matter & #metoo. This week the Matador release climbs 11-7 on the NACC 200. Joining them in the Top 10 is a previous biggest climber on the chart: Now, Now (who rise 12-10).
Taking two of our five features this week is Josh Tillman aka Father John Misty. Via various names and projects, Tillman has fifteen LPs under his belt. God’s Favorite Customer is his fourth as Father John Misty. And with it, he will try to become the second artist (after Ty Segall) to land two #1 on the NACC 200. His previous album, Pure Comedy, reached the top in April 2017. This week his new Sub Pop release is both the most-added, nabbing over 100 top 10 adds, and the week’s highest debut at #17, which is the second highest debut of the year, after our current #1 from Beach House opened at #12 three weeks ago.
This week’s biggest climber is the debut EP from 19-year-old electropop singer Claire Cottrill, who goes by Clairo. She drew attention in 2017 when her video for “Pretty Girl” went viral on YouTube. Now signed to FADER, the Carlisle, MA native’s diary 001 EP jumped from 158-54 this week. Fun fact: Clairo can also be found guesting on the latest release from labelmates’ Matt & Kim, who peaked at #22 last week with their sixth LP, Almost Everyday.
With Father John Misty taking two features this week, we have the opportunity to highlight another band. Scoring the second-highest debut on the NACC 200 is Austin, TX-based Latin funk outfit, Brownout. The 9-piece formed 15 years ago by members of the Grammy Award-winning Grupo Fantasma. With six LPs under their belt (including their two most recent Black Sabbath tribute albums), Brownout this time around pay homage to Public Enemy’s 1990 hip-hop classic, Fear Of A Black Planet, with what the band calls, “heavy psych-funk covers of Public Enemy classics in instrumental form.” Fear Of A Brown Planet debuts at #32 on the NACC 200 this week as well as opening on the NACC Hip Hop & World charts.
NACC’s genre chart-toppers and most-add releases, including new chart-toppers this week at Non-Comm, Heavy, Hip Hop, New Age, and Jazz can be found HERE.