In 2021 we reached June and still had only had five records reach #1 on the NACC 200. We’re just five chart weeks into 2022 and we’ve already reached that mark. There has been a different #1 every week so far this year. Taking their turn at the wheel this week is the Canadian collective Broken Social Scene. These relative spring chickens (having formed in 1999) fend off Cat Power (who began making music in 1992) and Elvis Costello (1970 for him) to score their second NACC 200 chart-topper with their second b-sides collection, Old Dead Young: B-Sides & Rarities (Arts & Crafts). We’d like to say this isn’t your parent’s college radio chart, but it very well could have been!
Two albums reach the NACC 200’s Top 10 this week and both do it in grand fashion. Mitski is back and after releasing a bevy of preview tracks, her sixth LP looks poised to follow the trajectory her fifth LP (2018’s Be The Cowboy) took. It spent what, at the time, was a record eight weeks at #1. Her latest effort, Laurel Hell (Dead Oceans) is just the 12th album to debut inside the NACC Top 10, opening at #7. It’s also the most-added record of the week gobbling up 108 Top 10 Adds (12 more than her previous album), the most Top 10 Adds we’ve seen since March of 2020.
Also blazing into the NACC Top 10 this week is St Paul And The Broken Bones. The Birmingham, AL eight-piece was formed in 2012 and is fronted by Paul Janeway (no relation to Kathryn Janeway). This is the first time we’ve had the pleasure of featuring the band here on our weekly chart recap, Their fourth LP, The Alien Coast (ATO), gives them their first NACC Top 10 record sailing 141-8. Only nine other records have previously made a jump into the Top 10 from further out (including last week’s record-holder, Yard Act).
Making a massive move into the Top 20 this week is Neil Frances. As a bit of education, they’ve titled their debut LP There Is No Neil Frances (Nettwerk) as, lo and behold, there is indeed no Neil Frances associated with this project (though we imagine more than one, perhaps even several Neil Frances’ do exist). Aussie Jordan Feller and So-Cal native Marc Gilfy formed their duo in 2016 in LA after meeting in 2012. They’ve followed their 2018 EP, Took A While, with this latest effort, which sails 152-18 on the NACC 200 this week.
Enjoying the biggest climb on the NACC 200 (racing 184-33) is the Canadian quintet Mother Mother. Formed in 2005, the band has released eight LPs including this expanded deluxe edition of their eighth album, Inside (Warner). Mother Mother has received renewed attention recently when young TikTok users discovered and fell in love with their first two albums. They’ve been used over 325 million times on the platform since late 2020 and have seen recent sold-out European and US tours.
Building rapt enthusiasm for their upcoming tenth LP, Lucifer On The Sofa (due this coming Friday), is the second #1 in just three weeks on the NACC Singles Chart for Spoon. They spent a record nine weeks at #1 with “The Hardest Cut.” Now they’ve reached #1 with “Wild,” which rises 4-1. Returning in grand fashion with this week’s most-added single is Arlo Parks, who holds the record for the longest-running #1 ever on the NACC 200 with her Mercury Prize-winning debut, Collapsed In Sunbeams. Her first new music since that album is “Softly.” It looks to pick up right where she left off with a rare Top 10 Single Add on the NACC 200 Adds Chart and already debuts at #10 on NACC Singles.
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 Non-Comm, Chill, Heavy, and Latin as well as a return to #1 on Jazz.
NACC 200 CHART: TOP 5 ADDS
# | ARTIST | TITLE | LABEL | # OF ADDS
1) MITSKI Laurel Hell [Dead Oceans] // 108
2) ANIMAL COLLECTIVE Time Skiffs [Domino] // 95
3*) BLACK COUNTRY NEW ROAD Ants From Up There [Ninja Tune] // 60
3*) HIPPO CAMPUS LP3 [Grand Jury] // 60
5) SPORTS Get A Good Look [oneRPM] // 58
*denotes a tie
NACC 200 CHART: TOP 5 DEBUTS
# | ARTIST | TITLE | LABEL | DEBUT
1) MITSKI Laurel Hell [Dead Oceans] // 7
2) POM POKO This Is Our House (EP) [Bella Union/PIAS] // 27
3) ANIMAL COLLECTIVE Time Skiffs [Domino] // 29
4) SPACEFACE Anemoia [Mothland] // 42
5) BLACK COUNTRY NEW ROAD Ants From Up There [Ninja Tune] // 44
NACC 200 CHART: TOP 5 CLIMBERS
# | ARTIST | TITLE | LABEL | MOVE
1) MOTHER MOTHER Inside (Deluxe) [Warner] // 151
2) NEIL FRANCES There Is No Neil Frances [Nettwerk] // 134
3) ST PAUL AND THE BROKEN BONES The Alien Coast [ATO] // 133
4) KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD Butterfly 3001 [KGLW] // 118
5) COMBO CHIMBITA Ire [Anti-] // 115
#1 ON NACC GENRE CHARTS:
GENRE: ARTIST Title [Label]
NON-COMM: CAT POWER Covers [Domino]
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: BONOBO Fragments [Ninja Tune]
ELECTRONIC: BONOBO Fragments [Ninja Tune]
FOLK: JANIS IAN The Light At The End Of The Line [Rude Girl]
HEAVY: SAXON Carpe Diem [Silver Lining]
HIP HOP: HAVIAH MIGHTY Stock Exchange [Self-Released]
JAZZ: CHRISTIAN MCBRIDE AND INSIDE STRAIGHT Live At Village Vanguard [Mack Avenue]
LATIN: COMBO CHIMBITA lre [Anti-]
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 (tie): CONFIDENCE MAN “Feels Like. A Different Thing” (Single) [Heavenly/PIAS]
ROYKSOPP “Impossible” (Single) [Dog Triumph/PIAS]
FOLK: RUPERT WATES For The People [Self-Released]
HEAVY (tie): AMORPHIS Halo [Atomic Fire]
NAPALM DEATH Resentment Is Always Seismic – A Final Throw Of Throes [Century Media]
HIP HOP: WAX TAILOR “No More Magical” feat. Mick Jenkins (Single) [Lab’Oratoire]
JAZZ (tie): JOE ALTERMAN The Upside Of Down [Ropeadope]
SERGIO PEREIRA Finesse [Seajazz]
WORLD: LOS BITCHOS Let The Festivities Begin! [City Slang]
NACC SINGLES:
GENRE: ARTIST Title [Label]
#1 SINGLE: SPOON “Wild” [Matador]
MOST-ADDED SINGLE: ARLO PARKS “Softly” [Transgressive/PIAS]