Sonic Youth Holds Off Ladyhawk At #1

This week's chart brings back some fond memories, especially from two of the top 10 entries. While Sonic Youth's Rather Ripped remains in the #1 position, followed by the very impressive self-titled debut from Ladyhawk and Camera Obscura's Let's Get Out Of This Country, I'm remembering an evening in late September 2000 in a club gone the way of the dodo, Barcode. That night on the main floor below the now-defunct Ted's Wrecking Yard on Toronto's College Street, the tiny stage featured Feist, Peaches, Daddy Szigetti, World Provider and Elastica's Justine Frischmann dancing up a storm on what could have been a large kitchen table. It's strange to think that almost six years later, former roommates and close friends Peaches and Feist would both be in the top 10. Peaches' Impeach My Bush jumps up six places to grab #5 while Feist's Open Season experiences a resurgence and jumps back up to #8.

Looking at the rest of the chart, a superb jump was made by Nouvelle Vague's Bande A Part, which rocketed up 43 places to land at #4 in its sophomore week in the top 50. Other upwardly mobile albums include The Dudes' Brain Heart Guitar rising 19 spots to #23 and Asobi Seksu's Citrus jumping 13 notches to sit at #15. Moving south this week were Leather Uppers' Bright Lights, which dropped 38 places to #46, and The Paper Cranes' self-titled EP, which fell 25 positions to #50. Last week's Chart Sizzler, Sunset Rubdown's Shut Up I Am Dreaming, slid 16 positions to #25. Phoenix's It's Never Been Like That slipped 13 spots to #47.

Mojave 3's Puzzles Like You enters the chart at #17 to garner the Chart Sizzler Award this week, just beating Bruce Cockburn's Life Short Call Now, which debuts at #18. Afrodizz's Froots enters at #22 while Flotilla's Disaster Poetry arrives at #29. Other notable debuts this week include MSTRKRFT's The Looks at #32, the reissue of Wire's Pink Flag at #36 and the outtakes and extras album from Sufjan Stevens, The Avalanche, at #37.

There are two returning #1s on the specialty charts, Mr. Lif's Mo'Mega on the Hip-Hop chart and Celtic Frost's Monotheist on the Metal/Punk chart. Jeff Healey & The Jazz Wizards' It's Tight Like That returns to #1 on the Jazz/Blues chart after a week's absence. There are two new #1s on the other two specialty charts, both of which were at #2 last week and which have been on their individual charts for three weeks each. Kraak En Smaak's Boogie Angst takes over the Electonic chart andCheb I Sabbah's La Ghriba: La Kahena Remixes heads the World/Folk chart.