Bloc Party Stop The Elevator

Bloc Party have received a stamp of approval more important than being cuddly NME faves of 2004: they have endeared themselves to all those movers and shakers across the country as their album, Silent Alarm retained the #1 spot on the Top 50 chart for a second week. This is the first time an international act remained at #1 for two weeks since Tom Waits' Real Gone in the last two weeks of October 2004.

Sitting at #2 is Victoria's Hot Hot Heat. They move one 'floor' closer to the top with their latest album, Elevator, and seem poised to shove BP from the top next week. Leap-frogging up three spots is Spoon's Gimme Fiction, while Beck's Guero stalls at #4 for the second consecutive week. Burning up the charts right behind Beck is P:iano. Their latest opus, Brigadoon rises 15 places, while former #1, Joel Plaskett's La De Da, drops four places to #6 and Great Lake Swimmers' Bodies And Minds slips two spots to #7. The decidedly non-Canadian Of Montreal's The Sunlandic Twins screams up the chart 22 places to #8 while Decemberists' Picaresque moves up one position to #9. The untitled sophomore release by Wintersleep experiences a resurgence as it moves back up the charts five spots to #10.

The Chart Sizzler blue ribbon prize goes to A Northern Chorus' Bitter Hands Resign, which enters the charts at #14. This Hamilton-based quintet received some strong support from one of their two hometown campus radio stations, charting at #4 on CFMU (McMaster). ANC also received top 10 support from CFUR (Northern BC), CFCR (Saskatoon) and CJSW (Calgary). The runner-up debut of the week is one of those weird Montreal collectives, Hanged Up, whose new album Clatter For Control arrives at #29 while 13 And God's eponymous album hits the charts at #30.

After bubbling under the chart radar for a month, Andy Stochansky's 100 finally debuts this week at #32 while Kaiser Chiefs' Employment does a similar appearing act at #37.A quartet of releases re-entered the charts in the 40s, most notably Elevator's August at #43 for a 13th week on the chart. Only Black Mountain's self-titled release at #20 has currently spent more time on the chart with 15 weeks.

Two of the five specialty charts have new #1s. William Parker Quartet's Sound Unity ascends nine places to #1 on the Jazz/Blues chart and the Verve Remixed 3 compilation jumps six spots to take over #1 on the Electronic top ten. M.I.A.'s Arular remains at #1 on the Hip-Hop chart for a second week, a feat matched by Strapping Young Lad's Alien on the Metal/Punk top ten. Finally, Alpha Yaya Diallo's Djama is glued to the top of the World/Jazz chart, a place he's been since entering that chart six weeks ago.