We enter February with the Top 4 of the NACC 200 remaining stationary from last week. Leading the way is Toro y Moi, the name Columbia, SC-native Chaz Bundick uses to record under. His sixth Toro Y Moi LP, Outer Peace, holds down #1 for a second week. The Carpark Records release climbed from 20-1 the week before last and by spending another week at #1, ensures that every record that has climbed from #20 or lower to #1 has always spent more than one week on top. Next week the rest of the Top 4 (Sharon Van Etten, Pedro The Lion, Deerhunter) will make another run at Toro Y Moi. Two more artists have also moved into dark-horse contention for the top: Maggie Rogers (8-5) and James Blake (23-6).
Speaking of James Blake, he leads three new records into the NACC Top 10 this week. The London-born musician’s fourth LP, Assume Form, out on Polydor, just became his highest charting album in both his native UK as well as in the US. Blake has been busy since his 2016 The Colour In Anything release collaborating with Beyonce, Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar, and Travis Scott among others. Assume Form is the biggest climber into the NACC Top 10 this week with its 23-6 jump. Joining him in the Top 10 are Juliana Hatfield (up 12-8) with Weird, her 17th studio album (not including her time with Blake Babies, Some Girls & The Lemonheads) and last week’s highest NACC 200 debut from Mike Krol, who rises 13-9 with his fourth LP, Power Chords.
The highest debut on the NACC 200 this week comes from NYC-born singer and songwriter Emily King. Her 2007 debut LP, East Side Story, was Grammy-nominated for Best Contemporary R&B Album. King has had the pleasure of touring with John Legend and Floetry as well as opening for R&B legends such as Chaka Khan and Erykah Badu. Now signed to ATO Records, King has released her third LP, Scenery. The album jumps aboard the NACC 200 this week at #29.
Enjoying the biggest climb on the NACC 200 so far this year is Better Oblivion Community Center, a collaboration between songwriters Conor Oberst and Phoebe Bridgers. Both artists record alone and with others (Oberst with his old punk band Desaparecidos, among other projects, and Bridgers as one-third of boygenius). Upon receiving an early version of her breakthrough debut LP, 2017’s Stranger In The Alps, that Bridgers sent Oberst, he was moved to write her back and express his admiration for the comfort he knew people would find in her work. She invited him to sing on a track from that release and the two decided to record an entire album together. The result is their self-titled Dead Oceans-released album that soars from 197-34 on the NACC 200 this week.
Over just three albums Los Angeles duo Girlpool has become a college and community radio darling. Cleo Tucker and Harmony Tividad’s sophomore LP, Powerplant, soared to #1 on the NACC 200 in June of 2017. And now their follow-up, What Chaos Is Imaginary, collects the most Top 10 adds so far this year. The Anti- Records release is also the third highest debut on the NACC 200 this week, opening at #44. Girlpool will set out on tour in support of the new album in April with tour dates that run into May.
Last week’s most-added single from Vampire Weekend, the double release “Harmony Hall” b/w “2021,” rises from 3-1 this week on the NACC Singles Chart as well as becoming one of eight new titles to reach the NACC Top 20. Interpol land the week’s most-added single with “Fine Mess,” which follows only five months after their album Marauder, and was released just a day before starting their North American tour.
You can find the Top 5 of the NACC Adds Chart, and all of this week’s #1 genre releases and most-added genre records below. This week sees a number of new #1s at NACC NEXT, World, Hip Hop, Heavy, Blues and Latin. SUBSCRIBE to NACC to view full top 30 charts in all genres.
Your eyes don’t have to be the only way you experience NACC’s musical highlights. Follow the ‘College Radio Weekly Highlights’ playlist on Spotify (HERE) and let your ears in on the action too.
NACC 200 Chart: Top 5 ADDS
# | ARTIST | TITLE | LABEL | # OF ADDS
1) GIRLPOOL What Chaos Is Imaginary [Anti-] //105//
2) DEER TICK Mayonnaise [Partisan] //86//
3) CHERRY GLAZERR Stuffed & Ready [Secretly Canadian] //70//
4) FLAT WORMS Into The Iris (EP) [GOD?] //54//
5) BEIRUT Gallipoli [4AD/Beggars Group] //47//
#1 On NACC Genre Charts:
GENRE: ARTIST Title [Label]
NON-COMM: SHARON VAN ETTEN Remind Me Tomorrow [Jagjaguwar]
NACC NEXT: TORO Y MOI Outer Peace [Carpark]
HEAVY: FLOTSAM AND JETSAM The End Of Chaos [AFM]
ELECTRONIC: VARIOUS ARTISTS Brainfeeder X [Brainfeeder]
HIP HOP: MALIBU KEN Malibu Ken [Rhymesayers]
JAZZ: HAROLD MABERN The Iron Man: Live At Smoke [Smoke Sessions]
FOLK: LULA WILES What Will We Do [Smithsonian Folkways]
WORLD: NICOLA CRUZ Siku [ZZK]
CHILL: MOODS Zoom Out [Boogie Angst]
BLUES: WALTER TROUT Survivor Blues [Provogue]
LATIN: NICOLA CRUZ Siku [ZZK]
Most-Added @ NACC Genre:
GENRE: ARTIST Title [Label]
ELECTRONIC: BIG WILD Superdream [Counter]
FOLK: LIVINGSTON TAYLOR
The Best Of Live: 50 Years Of Livingston Taylor [Whistling Dog]
HEAVY: BEAST IN BLACK From Hell With Love [Nuclear Blast]
HIP HOP: DARRELL KELLY “Evil” (Single) [Viral]
JAZZ: JAMES SUGGS You’re Gonna Hear From Me [Arbors]
WORLD: SANTANA In Search Of Mona Lisa (EP) [Concord]
NACC Singles:
GENRE: ARTIST Title [Label]
#1 SINGLE: VAMPIRE WEEKEND “Harmony Hall” b/w “2021” [Columbia]
#1 MOST-ADDED SINGLE: INTERPOL “Fine Mess” [Matador]