Black Mountain Usher In The Year Of The Rat At #1

Last week the world ushered in the Chinese New Year with a blizzard that shot down almost every mode of transportation in China. This unexpected storm left the country unprepared and some 180 million people (that's six times the population of Canada) who travel home for the News Year's celebrations were stranded. Riots ensued as part of the disaster.

Now we're in the Chinese year of the rat, and everything has mellowed out. Fittingly, Vancouver stoners Black Mountain ascended to #1 on the Canadian campus/community radio chart at the same time. Their new In The Future album, in its second week, jumps four spaces to take the title.

Last week's top debut, Cat Power's Jukebox, moves up a spot to #2. Jason Collett's Here's To Being Here falls from the top to #3, while the much-heralded self-titled debut from Vampire Weekend rises 10 places to #4. The Magnetic Fields' Distortion jumps seven spots to #5, while Luke Doucet And The White Falcon's Blood's Too Rich remains at #6. Katie Stelmanis' Join Us drops five notches to #7 as The Evaporators' Gassy Jack And Other Tales slides four positions to #8. The Mountain Goats' Heretic Pride rockets up 25 places to #9, while the longtime former #1, Buck 65's Situation, drops two spots to #10. That's as low on the top 50 as Situation has sat, having debuted at #10 during the week of November 9, 2007. That gives it 12 weeks in the top 10.

The Chart Sizzler Award goes to Jane Vain & The Dark Matter's Love Is Where The Smoke Is, which enters at #16. Jane and company garnered a great deal of support from their home province and charted at #1 on CJSW (Calgary), #2 on CKXU (Lethbridge) and #18 on CJSR (Alberta). The album also hit #1 at CILU (Lakehead).

The runner-up debut is Hello Blue Roses' The Portrait Is Finished And I Have Failed To Capture Your Beauty at #22. Hayden's In Field And Town lands at #26 to lead a trio of new entries that also includes Monade's Monstre Cosmic at #27 and the self-titled independent release by Beasts & Superbeasts at #29.

While the top 50 chart has new blood at #1, four of the five specialty charts are stuck in a groove with their top albums. Youssou N'Dour's Rokku Mi Rokka rises a place on the World/Folk chart to recapture #1, a position it held two weeks ago and for the six weeks before that. Daft Punk's Alive 2007 remains at #1 on the Electronic chart, Buck 65's Situation has a stranglehold on the Hip-Hop chart (as it has for 11 straight weeks), Dillinger Escape Plan's Ire Works tops Metal/Punk and Out To Lunch's Excuse Me While I Do The Boogaloo retains its #1 spot on Jazz/Blues.