TV On The Radio On Top Of Chart And Cookie Mountain

Doesn't sickness and holidays suck? That's what I've had to deal with over the past four days in the sumptuous comfort of an inn on the shore of Lake Huron. This mini-vacation is also the main reason that the charts and, by extension, this Charty Chart Chat column appear a day later than usual. In my absence, the Detroit Tigers wrapped up a pennant, the Arizona Cardinals scared themselves into a loss against the still undefeated Chicago Bears, and a new album reached #1 on the top 50 chart for the week ending October 13.

TV On The Radio's Return To Cookie Mountain jumps four places to knock The Dears' Gang Of Losers to #2. Chad VanGaalen's Skelliconnection remains at #3, while Junior Boys' So This Is Goodbye moves up five spots to #4. Les Georges Leningrad's Sangue Puro rises two positions to #5, followed by a similar ascent by Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton's Knives Don't Have Your Back to #6. Yo La Tengo's I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass tumbles five places to #7, while Black Keys' Magic Potion makes a massive 41-place jump to #8. Sandro Perri's Plays Polmo Polpo moves up 19 places to #9 and Hidden Cameras' Awoo slips six spots to #10.

The Chart Sizzler Award goes to sound manipulator and former U.S. college radio programmer, DJ Shadow. His latest album, The Outsider, enters the chart at #14. It garnered strong support from these campus stations: #5 on CJSW (Calgary) and CKUT (McGill); #6 on CFUV (Victoria) and CISM (Montreal); #7 on CFUR (Northern B.C.); #10 on CFMU (McMaster); #13 on CFRU (Guelph); #15 on CRAM (Ryerson); and #20 on CJSR (Alberta). Three new releases fought for the runner-up spot to DJ Shadow. The Decemberists' The Crane Wife debuts at #18, followed by Ohbijou's Swift Feet For Troubling at #19 and Be Good Tanyas' Hello Love right behind that at #20. Other notable debuts include B.A. Johnston's Call Me When Fat & Old Are The New Young & Sexy at #25, My Morning Jacket's Okonokos at #28 and Beck's The Information at #46.

The specialty charts saw Junior Boys' So This Is Goodbye return as the #1 album on the Electronics chart. J Dilla's The Shining remains atop the Hip-Hop top 10, as does Mastodon's Blood Mountain on the Metal/Punk countdown. There are new #1s on the two other specialty charts. Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood's Out Louder re-enters the Jazz/Blues chart at #1, following a trend set last week by this week's #2 album, Elizabeth Shepherd Trio's Start To Move. Finally, the self-titled album by Noel Ellis jumps two places to grab the top spot on the World/Folk chart. This EP was originally released independently in the early '80s and is now part of Light In The Attic's ongoing reissue series of "lost" Toronto reggae recordings.