Imaginary Cities Grab #1 On Chart

Jan 25, 2011

by CHARTattack Robot

Braids, Charty Chart Chat, Imaginary Cities

While there has been an overwhelming reluctance of radio programmers across the country to dip their collective toes in the growing batch of new music being released since the holiday period, the tide does seem to be turning, slowly. While there are now 16 albums with 10 weeks or more service on the campus radio chart for the week of Jan. 25, 2011, at least there’s some new blood breaking into the top ten this week.

The one constant over the past two months has been the ‘one and done’ trend with albums in the #1 position. Outside of the two weeks The Russian Futurists’ The Weight’s On The Wheel held the #1 spot ending two weeks ago, all of the other albums since Nov. 16, 2010 have only stayed at #1 for a week. During that time seven different albums have held the top spot on this chart.

This week Imaginary Cities‘ Temporary Resident continues that trend by jumping up three spots to land at #1 this week. It’s an surprising spot for the band that features The Waking Eyes’ Rusty Matyas and singer Marti Sarbit. Temporary Resident isn’t available for sale until February 22. It’s the first time an album has hit #1 before its official release date. It’s not simply a case of an album rocketing up in the weeks before its release. The album has already logged seven weeks on the campus chart and there’s four more weeks until its official release.

Giant Sand’s Blurry Blue Mountain falls a spot to land at #2 followed by Sufjan Stevens’ The Age Of Adz which rise three places to sit at #3. Diamond Rings’ Special Affections, another former #1 album, experiences a bit of resurgence in popularity this week rising five places to #4. Suuns’ Zeroes EP also jumps three spots to reach its highest point on the campus chart since hitting #4 eight weeks ago on Nov. 23, 2010.

The Decemberists’ The King Is Dead makes the biggest internal jump on the chart this week rising 43 places to take over the #6 position. They are followed by the Chart Sizzler of the week. Braids‘ Native Speaker becomes the first album to debut in the top ten since The Vaselines’ Sex With An X debuted at #7 on September 28, 2010. The Black Angels’ Phosphene Dream debuted at #5 the week of Sept 21 and !!!’s Strange Weather Isn’t It? arrived at #6 on Sept 7. So the the four months without any top ten debuts is quite uncharacteristic for the campus chart.

Daft Punk’s Tron Legacy Soundtrack jumps up four spots to #8, while the self-titled Afrocubism falls two spots to #9. The biggest loser among the top ten was the seven place drop suffered by The Weight’s On The Wheel which sticks at #10 this week.

The self-titled release by Concerns Of Royalty arrives at #18, the second-highest new entry while Jon McKiel’s Confidence Lodge enters at #21. The rest of the new entries can be found in the bottom third of this week’s chart with 12 of the last 18 spots occupied by new chart fodder. The notable entries are Jenn Grant’s Honeymoon Punch at #34, Destroyer’s Kaputt at #38 and British Sea Power’s Valhalla Dancehall at #43.

The album with the most weeks on the charts continues to be Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs which holds steady at #14 in its 24th week on the chart. Both Black Mountain’s Wilderness Heart and Women’s Public Strain have lasted 17 weeks on the chart with the former falling two spots to #13 and the latter rising five places to #17.

There’s been little change among the #1 albums on the five specialty charts. Three have #1 albums that have occupied that spot in previous weeks. Aeroplane Trio’s Naranja Ha jumps three places to top the Jazz/Blues top ten again. Afrocubism’s eponymous release regains the #1 spot on the World/Folk chart and Kylesa’s Spiral Shadow regains the #1 place on the Metal/Punk chart after a week’s absence.

On the Hip-Hop top ten, Gangrene’s Gutter Water remains at #1 for a second week and a total of four of the last five weeks. Gee Wunder & T Major Presents: Original Heads debuts at #3 this week and could challenge for the top spot in the weeks to come.

Finally, Daft Punk’s Original Motion Picture Soundtrack for Tron: Legacy rises two places to grab the #1 position on the Electronic chart, the only new album to top a specialty chart this week.

Imaginary Cities Grab #1 On Chart

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