The Decemberists Hit #1 Just Before Their Month

Finally, after several weeks of Beck Hanson's chart dominance, a challenger has wrested the #1 spot from the So-Cal lad and his two turntables and a microphone. The Decemberists' The Crane Wife moves up to #1, dropping Beck's The Information to #2.

The Dears' Gang Of Losers jumps a spot to #3, forcing Shotgun And Jaybird's Trying To Get Somewhere down a singleton to #4. Les Georges Leningrad's Sangue Puro rises 11 places to retake the #5 position it held a couple of weeks ago. Last week's Chart Sizzler, Tom Waits' Orphans, gains 19 places and parachutes into the top 10 at #6. Ox's American Lo-Fi rises three spots to #7, followed by the Mint Records Presents The CBC Radio 3 Sessions, which improves by three notches to #8. Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton's Knives Don't Have Your Back jumps nine places to #9, while K-OS' Atlantis — Hymns For Disco drops three spots to #10.

The Chart Sizzler Award goes to the #13 record, Immaculate Machine's Les Uns Mais Pas Les Autres, also known as "The French EP." Some specialty music gets support on the top new arrivals list, as hip-hopper Lady Sovereign's Public Warning arrives at #21 and metal maniacs Isis debut at #29 with In The Absence Of Truth. Other notable new entries include Sloan's Never Hear The End Of It at #35, Henri Faberge & The Adorables' eponymous release at #38 and Joanna Newsom's Ys at #43.

Two specialty charts feature albums returning to the top spots, as Classified's Hitch Hikin' Music grabs back #1 on Hip-Hop while Junior Boys' So This Is Goodbye reclaims the top spot on the Electronic chart. Matthias Lupri Group's Metalix remains at #1 on the Jazz/Blues top 10 and Amon Amarth's With Oden On Our Side spends another week atop Metal/Punk. The only truly new meat at #1 is on the World/Folk chart, where the Electric Gypsyland 2 compilation moves up two places.