Nardwuar Passes Gas At The Top

01/22/08 8:00pm

by Chris Burland (CHARTattack)

Chart's favourite son, Nardwuar The Human Serviette, has finally hit the top of the chart with The Evaporators' latest album, Gassy Jack And Other Tales. It moves up three spots to claim the #1 position on the top 50 chart for the week ending Jan. 18. This isn't the first time that The Evaporators have topped the chart, as their previous Ripple Rock hit #1 during the week of Feb. 6, 2004.

While a previous chart-topper, Buck 65's Situation, sits at #2, the rest of the top 10 (in fact the majority of the chart) is quite topsy-turvy. Elbow Beach Surf Club's Billy Club EP rockets from #19 to #3 after spending a couple of months outside the top 50. Katie Stelmanis' Join Us rises two places to #4. Holy Fuck's LP tumbles from #1 to #5. It's followed by Bonnie 'Prince' Billy's Ask Forgiveness EP, which improves by three spots to #6.

For the second week in a row, the Chart Sizzler Award goes to a top 10 entry. Entering at #7 is Luke Doucet And The White Falcon's Blood's Too Rich. Doucet et al received significant airplay on 10 campus stations, including: #2 at CJSR (Alberta); #3 at CKXU (Lethbridge); #5 at CITR (UBC); and #9 at CFRU (Guelph). Following the top debut is Cuff The Duke's Sidelines Of The City, which drops five spots to #8. The Hives' The Black And White Album rises five places to #9 and The CBC Radio 3 Sessions Volume 3 compilation re-enters the top 10 after a couple of week's absence with a 10-place jump to #10.

Outside of Blood's Too Rich, there were other interesting debuts this week. The self-titled, independently released album by The Art Department arrives at #17. Shad K's The Old Prince, which is receiving strong airplay on hip-hop shows, debuts at #21. Sam Shalabi's Eid — which is appearing on individual station specialty charts in the electronic, world and jazz genres — debuts at #24. It's followed by The Burning Hell's Happy Birthday at #25, Say Hi's The Wishes And The Glitch at #32 and Pine Tarts' eponymous release at #36.

For the first time in almost 11 months, there's a release that has survived on the charts for 20 weeks. Caribou's Andorra drops 12 places to #18 this week, but it's the 13th longest running album in the history of the top 50 chart, tied with four previous releases, with the most recent being The Hidden Cameras' Awoo a year ago. Other long-staying albums include Weakerthans' Reunion Tour at #37 and The New Pornographers' Challengers re-entering at #47. Both have spent 16 weeks on the chart and, coincidentally, had previous albums top the 20-week barrier.

There were two #1 changes on the five specialty charts. Daft Punk's Alive 2007 rises a spot to take over #1 on the Electronic chart from Holy Fuck's LP. Brad Turner Quartet's Small Wonder recaptures the #1 spot on the Jazz/Blues top 10, a position it held two weeks ago. Buck 65's Situation continues to rule the Hip-Hop chart, as does Youssou N'Dour's Rokku Mi Rokka on World/Folk. Both albums have spent the majority of their nine weeks at the top of their respective charts. High On Fire's Death Is The Communion remains the #1 album on the Metal/Punk chart. It has spent 16 weeks in the top 10, with 10 of those at #1.