The Dears Are Still #1

The competition for the top spot on the top 50 chart over the past two months has been akin to the numerous Italian parliamentary elections in the '70s. Eight different bands have governed the chart for a week, hitting #1 only to be overcome the next week by the next band of young Turks. This chart upheaval has finally come to end with The Dears' Gang Of Losers holding on to the coveted #1 position for a second straight week.

The Dears held off all comers, especially Hidden Cameras' Awoo, which remained at #2. Yo La Tengo's I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Kick Your Ass switched places at #3 with Chad VanGaalen's Skelliconnection, which dropped to #4. Shout Out Out Out Out's Not Saying/Just Saying rises to #5 and is followed by TV On The Radio's Return To Cookie Mountain, which jumped eight places to #6. Golden Dogs' Big Eye Little Eye moves up three notches to #7, while The Bicycles' The Good The Bad And The Cuddly drops three spots to #8. Junior Boys' So This Is Goodbye rockets up 14 places to #9, and The Sadies' In Concert Volume One slips three positions to #10.

The Chart Sizzler Of The Week goes to Grizzly Bear's Yellow House, which enters the chart at #12. The next highest debut is The Cape May's Glass Mountain Roads at #26, followed by Tortoise's A Lazarus Taxon at #29 and Eric Chenaux's Dull Lights at #31. That last album garnered #1 debuts on both McGill's CKUT and Ottawa's CHUO.

The specialty charts saw above average changes at the top. The late J Dilla's first posthumous release, The Shining, moves up two places to top the Hip-Hop chart. Skerik's Syncopated Taint Septet's reissued 2002 album, Husky, jumped four spots to grab #1 on the Jazz/Blues chart. Strapping Young Lad's The New Black returns to #1 on the Metal/Punk chart after a four-week absence. Remaining at #1 are MSTRKRFT's The Looks on the Electronic chart and Ali Farka Toure's Savane on the World/Folk top 10.