It's Crowded At The Top, But The Sadies Reign Supreme

This week marks a very odd first on the top 50 chart. Never before has there been a situation where so many former #1 albums have been in the top 10. This strange alignment of the (now eight) planets is probably as relevant to your world as knowing that there have never been more former prime ministers alive than there have been since the election of Stephen Harper 14 months ago.

There are seven. I'll let you try to remember them. The reason for so many former chart-toppers remaining so close to that position is due in part to the high-level competition among a number of different albums. In fact, there is another new #1 this week, as The Sadies' In Concert, Volume One jumps two spots and trades places with last week's champ, MSTRKRFT's The Looks. Sandwiched between those two is Shout Out Out Out Out's Not Saying/Just Saying, which vaulted four places. The Bicycles' The Good, The Bad And The Cuddly drops two spots to #4. Sonic Youth's Rather Ripped remains at #5 and Thom Yorke's The Eraser jumps six places to #6. Each of these last three albums has sat in the coveted #1 spot. Another record has been set, with The Sadies record becoming the fifth different #1 in the past five weeks.

Sufjan Stevens' The Avalanche drops three spots to #7, Blood Meridian's Kick Up The Dust jumps four places to #8, Oneida's Happy New Year drops one position to #9 and CSS' Cansei De Ser Sexy moves up one spot to #10.

The Chart Sizzler of the week goes to Yo La Tengo's I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass, which enters at #14. The runner-up, Hidden Cameras' Awoo, is way back at #22. It heads a pack of five new entries inhabiting the next seven positions. NoMeansNo's All Roads Lead To Ausfahrt is at #23 and Comets On Fire's Avatar is at #24, while Ratatat's Classics, Roots Manuva's Alternately Deep and the Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man soundtrack sit at positions #27 to #29.

Other notable new entries include those representing genres of music that rarely make the top 50. Slayer's purely metal Christ Illusion is at #31, the traditional folk Alberta: Wild Roses, Northern Lights compilation is at #45, and Harvee's independent francophone release, Sink Or Swim, is at #49.

Three of the five specialty charts have new #1s. Cut Chemist's The Audience's Listening jumps four places to grab the top spot on the Hip-Hop chart. Art Ensemble Of Chicago's Non-Cognitive Aspects Of The City moves up a place to take top honour on the Jazz/Blues chart, while the Jamaica To Toronto compilation returns to #1 on the World/Folk chart after a couple of weeks' absence. Remaining at #1 are Strapping Young Lad's The New Black on the Metal/Punk chart and MSTRKRFT's The Looks on the Electronic chart.