The last chart week of Summer 2023 is in the books. We’re finding it hard to believe the year is almost 2/3 complete and the chart year is almost 70% complete. Fourteen different albums have reached #1 on the NACC 200 so far this year. British trio The Clientele is the ninth of those to enjoy more than one week on top. The band has been together since 1991 and released nine albums (seven studio albums, one mini LP, and one ‘early recordings’ release). Their latest, I Am Not There Anymore (Merge), locks down the top spot for a second week. Next week they’ll look to fend off The Hives (7-3) and Osees (173-5) for a possible third week at #1.
Two new records reach the NACC Top 10 this week. One comes from the aforementioned Osees. Last week the band took most-added honors with its 27th LP, Intercepted Message (In The Red). The 173-5 explosion up the chart is the biggest climb on the NACC 200 this week. In a larger context, it is also the third-largest climb any record has ever enjoyed moving into the Top 10 and is the biggest climb ever into the Top 5! The band’s fall tour starts Sunday night with four hometown shows at The Chapel in San Francisco before they hit the road for 17 more shows around the US, including Gonerfest 20 on September 28.
Also making an impressive move into the top tier this week are British musicians and producers Josh Lloyd-Watson and Tom McFarland who record as Jungle. Formed in 2013, the pair has released four LPs, including their latest, Volcano (Caiola/AWAL). We first had occasion to feature the band in our weekly NACC Chart Recap in 2021 when Jungle’s previous album, Loving In Stereo, stepped 12-10 on the NACC Top 10. This week Volcano makes an even bigger statement, soaring 26-7 on the NACC 200.
Enjoying the highest debut on the NACC 200 this week is Cleveland, OH native Joshua Karpeh, who records as Cautious Clay. Although he’s been active musically since 2015, releasing four EPs and his debut full length, Deadpan Love, in 2021, we’ve never had an opportunity to feature him here until now. His sophomore LP, KARPEH (Blue Note), leaps aboard the NACC 200 at #24. Cautious Clay will be playing at the Sound On Sound festival in October and has four nights (Nov. 30-Dec. 3) scheduled at the Blue Note Jazz Club in NYC.
Contrary to popular belief, the members of the four-piece band called Ratboys are neither rats nor all boys. Formed in 2010 by Julia Steiner and Dave Sagan while attending Notre Dame, the band relocated back to Chicago after graduation in 2015. Since then, five studio albums have followed, including their latest, The Window (Topshelf). The band is certainly top shelf on the NACC 200 Top 30 Adds Chart this week, besting the next band on the chart by 21 Top 10 Adds. The album also debuts at #63 on the NACC 200.
Mitski Miyawaki, known better to music fans simply as Mitski, spends a fourth straight week at #1 on the NACC Singles Chart with “Bug Like An Angel.” The song is the lead single from her forthcoming seventh LP, The Land Is Inhospitable And So Are We, due September 15. Two singles tie for most-added honors this week. The first is from Soul & R&B legend, Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductee, and Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, BMI Icon Award, and Kennedy Center Honors recipient Al Green. Celebrated as one of the greatest artists and singers of all time, his cover of the Lou Reed’s “Perfect Day” is his first new music in five years. The second song tying for most-added single comes from Texas band Explosions In The Sky. “Moving On” is the second advanced track from their upcoming eighth studio album, End, due September 15. These two singles are the only ones to place on this week’s NACC 200 Top 30 Adds Chart.
