Round 2 of the battle for the NACC 200 crown took place this week between, La Luz (who have enjoyed the last two weeks at #1) and The War On Drugs, who has been waiting patiently at #2 these last two weeks. The War On Drugs‘ patience has paid off this week with a 2-1 rise to the top with its fifth LP, I Don’t Live Here Anymore (Atlantic). The Philadelphia six-piece is enjoying the second trip to #1 on our chart following its fourth LP, A Deeper Understanding, which topped the chart for two weeks in September of 2017. They’ll have immediate competition for #1 next week from Snail Mail (4-3), Curtis Harding (14-4), and Idles (42-6).

Expanding on our mention above of Idles, the UK five-piece scores one of two NACC Top 10 debuts this week, leaping 42-6 with their new LP, Crawler (Partisan). The album was last week’s most-added and just a week later leaps into the Top 10 and puts itself into the running for #1 as soon as next week. It’s the band’s fourth trip onto the NACC 200 dating back to their debut release in 2017.

Also reaching the NACC Top 10 this week is Australian singer/songwriter Courtney Barnett. Her third LP, Things Take Time, Take Time (Mom+Pop/Marathon Artists) jumps from 34-8 on the chart. It’s the follow-up to one of the most successful albums the NACC 200 has monitored. Her second LP, Tell Me How You Really Feel, spent seven weeks at #1 in 2018. It was the third-longest chart-topping run the chart has seen.

The third album reaching the NACC Top 10 this week comes from the aforementioned Curtis Harding. Two weeks ago, Harding’s third LP, If Words Were Flowers (Anti-) was the week’s most-added album. This week the meteoric rise of his album continues, up 14-4 (after rising 88-14 last week). Honorable mention this week goes to Elvis Costello & The Imposters, who score the week’s biggest climb (178-79) with their new single “Magnificent Hurt.” College and Non-Comm Radio is also being so generous in helping scrappy newcomer Adele get her music heard. She lands this week’s highest debut at #38.

English musician Damon Albarn has enjoyed a wildly successful and long career. He has enjoyed multiple #1 albums (6 of 8 LPs) and singles in the UK with his band Blur (dating back to 1988), topped the UK album and singles charts again with his other project, Gorillaz (dating back to 1998), and has just released his third solo LP, The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows (Transgressive/PIAS). It’s this week’s most-added new album and debuts at #90 on the NACC 200. Albarn is seeking his fourth NACC 200 #1 as Gorillaz has topped our chart three times prior.

Everyone’s favorite utensil-inspired band, Spoon (no offense The Knife), spends a third week atop the NACC Singles Chart this week. They also have the only single charting inside the NACC Top 20, spending a second week there. “The Hardest Cut” is the first single from their upcoming 10th LP, Lucifer On The Sofa, due out February 11. Three songs tie for most-added single honors this week: Cate Le Bon with “Moderation” (which hails from her upcoming sixth LP, Pompeii, due February 4), The Coathangers with their cover of Blondie’s “One Way Or Another” (part of a double covers single with labelmates L.A. Witch), and the late Teddy Pendergrass, with a remix by D-Nice of his single “The More I Get, The More I Want” from his 1977 eponymous debut solo LP.

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 chart-toppers this week at NACC Non-Comm, Chill, and R&B/Soul and returns to #1 on Latin and World.

NACC 200 CHART: TOP 5 ADDS

# | ARTIST | TITLE | LABEL | # OF ADDS

1) DAMON ALBARN The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows [Transgressive/PIAS] // 59
2*) DEAP VALLY Marriage [Cooking Vinyl] // 48
2*) ROBERT PLANT AND ALISON KRAUSS Raise The Roof [Rounder/Concord]
4) PIP BLOM Welcome Break [Heavenly/PIAS] // 46
5*) LADYHAWKE Time Flies) [Mid Century/BMI] // 38
5*) MR TWIN SISTER Al Mundo Azul [Twin Group] // 38

NACC 200 CHART: TOP 5 DEBUTS

# | ARTIST | TITLE | LABEL | DEBUT

1) ADELE 30 [Columbia] // 38
2) MAKTHAVERSKAN For Allting [Run For Cover] // 56
3) BUFFALO NICHOLS Buffalo Nichols [Fat Possum] // 76
4) HUSH CLUB Fingerprints & Stains [Self-Released] // 81
5) LUMINEERS, THE “Brightside” (Single) [Dualtone] // 83

NACC 200 CHART: TOP 5 CLIMBERS

# | ARTIST | TITLE | LABEL | MOVE

1) ELVIS COSTELLO & THE IMPOSTERS Magnificent Hurt [Capitol] // 99
2) MODEST MOUSE The Golden Casket [Epic] // 77
3) NYLON SMILE Waiting For Oblivion [Citrus City] // 74
4) CIRCUIT DES YEUX -io [Matador] // 65
5*) MITSKI “The Only Heartbreaker” (Single) [Dead Oceans] // 60
5*) FOALS “Wake Me Up” (Single) [Warner UK] // 60

*denotes a tie

#1 ON NACC GENRE CHARTS:

GENRE: ARTIST Title [Label]

NON-COMM: COURTNEY BARNETT Things Take Time, Take Time [Mom+Pop/Marathon Artists]
NACC NEXT: WAR ON DRUGS, THE I Don’t Live Here Anymore [Atlantic]
BLUES: SUE FOLEY Pinky’s Blues [Stony Plain]
CANADIAN: ANDY SHAUF Wilds [Anti-]
CHILL: JIM OTTAWAY Threshold Of The Universe [Self-Released]
ELECTRONIC: ROSS FROM FRIENDS Tread [Brainfeeder]
FOLK: VARIOUS ARTISTS Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows:
Songs Of John Prine, Vol. 2 [Oh Boy/Thirty Tigers]
HEAVY: MASTODON Hushed And Grim [Reprise]
HIP HOP: SHAD TAO [Secret City]
JAZZ: NICHOLAS PAYTON Smoke Sessions [Smoke Sessions]
LATIN: XENIA RUBINOS Una Rosa [Anti-]
R&B/SOUL: CURTIS HARDING If Words Were Flowers [Anti-]
WORLD: BOMBA ESTEREO Deja [Sony Latin]
MOST-ADDED @ NACC GENRES:

GENRE: ARTIST Title [Label]

ELECTRONIC (tie): CHRIS LIEBRING Another Day [Mute]
MODEL MAN Model Man [Mahogany/Marathon]
FOLK: ROBERT PLANT AND ALISON KRAUSS Raise The Roof [Rounder/Concord]
HEAVY: WOLFTOOTH Blood And Iron [Napalm]
HIP HOP: ALEWYA Panther In Mode (EP) [Low Key Source]
JAZZ: DAVE JANEWAY Distant Voices [Steeplechase Lookout]
WORLD: JUPITER AND OKWESS “Sexy Plexi” (Single) [Everloving]

NACC SINGLES:

GENRE: ARTIST Title [Label]

#1 SINGLE: SPOON “The Hardest Cut” [Matador]
MOST-ADDED SINGLE (tie): CATE LE BON “Moderation” [Mexican Summer]
COATHANGERS, THE “One Way Or Another” [Suicide Squeeze]
TEDDY PENDERGRASS X D-NICE “The More I Get, The More I Want (Remix) [Philly International]