Mighty VanGaalen Rules For Fifth Week

10/15/08 12:22pm

by Chris Burland (CHARTattack)

Over the six weeks since the launch of the new ChartAttack website, folks have had the opportunity to view, interact and contribute on a greater level than in the past. There are blogs, forums and postings, as well video and audio exclusives.

One of the few resources that was lost in the transfer to the new site was the viewing of the individual charts used to calculate the top 50 campus chart and the five top 10 specialty charts. Unfortunately, these text files wouldn't fit the new web format easily, so a decision was made to leave them out.

Over the past month, two industry publicists have enquired into the possibility of receiving these individual charts. We have sent out these files to them on a weekly basis by email. If you wish to receive this small service, just contact Chris Burland via email (top50@chartattack.com) to be added to this list.

After surprising this chart compiler by reaching #1 on the campus radio chart, Chad VanGaalen's Soft Airplane refuses to descend from the top of the chart. For the fifth consecutive week, the Calgary native's new album continues to fight off all comers to remain at #1.

The latest challenge comes from Mother Mother’s O My Heart, which rockets up 13 places to land with a thud at #2. Land Of Talk make Mother Mother's ascendency look like a puddle jump, as their Some Are Lakes full-length debut rises an astonishing 41 places to grab the #3 spot. Okkervil River's The Stand Ins rises eight positions to #4, while The Stolen Minks' High Kicks makes a modest rise of three spots to #5. Women's self-titled debut drops three places to #6, followed by The Stills' Oceans Will Rise, which slips a spot to #7. Hexes & Ohs' Bedroom Madness jumps five positions to #8, while Winter Gloves' About A Girl tumbles a fiver to #9.

After a couple of weeks of relatively weak new entries, we find the latest Chart Sizzler in the top ten. Rae Spoon’s Superioryouareinferior is the highest debut of the week at #10. Spoon's album received substantial airplay from seven campus radio stations across Canada, and was the #1 album on CFRU (Guelph), #2 on CFBU (Brock), #3 on CJSR (Alberta) #8 on CKUT (McGill) and #9 on CJSW (Calgary).

The runner-up in the new entry sweepstakes is a split EP by Stamina Mantis and Shearing Pinx, which enters at #13, and a close third in the race is Bison B.C.'s Quiet Earth, which settles at #18. Eleven of the last 32 entries on this top 50 chart are new entries. Some of the highlights are Deerhoof's Offend Maggie at #34, Broadcast Radio's Hallways Of The Twenty-First Floor at #39 and the self-titled release from Lady Dottie And The Diamonds at #46.

Two of the five specialty charts have new #1s this week, as Josh Martinez's The World Famous Sex Buffet rises eight positions to capture the #1 spot on the Hip-Hop chart. The newly renamed Bison B.C. jumps five spots to take over top spot on the Metal/Punk top 10 with their new album, Quiet Earth.

Elsewhere on the speciality charts, things stay the same. Dandi Wind's Yolk Of The Golden Egg remains at #1 on the Electronic chart, Chiwoniso's Rebel Woman dominates the World/Folk top 10 and Jane Bunnett's Embracing Voices has a stranglehold on top spot on the Jazz/Blues chart.