NACC 200 NOTABLES:
1] After weeks of steady decline, numerous newer albums rising quickly behind her, and being overtaken by Broken Social Scene last week, we’re not sure anyone expected Arlo Parks to return to #1 this week. But that is exactly what happens. That battle wasn’t actually between Parks and Broken Social Scene either. Last week’s biggest climber into the Top 10 from Aldous Harding came within a quarter of a point of #1 this week… the closest any race has ever been for the top spot in NACC 200 history. But in the end, Arlo Parks took the crown and grabbed a sixth week on top with her third album, Ambiguous Desire. This gives her a whopping 21 cumulative weeks at #1 over her three #1s (just one week behind overall all-time leader Mitski).
2] No new albums reach the NACC Top 10 this week. The top tier has gotten incredibly crowded. But honorable mention goes to Courtney Barnett, who rebounds back 11-9 this week with her fourth solo studio album, Creature Of Habit.
3] Last week’s most-added album from Future Islands makes an expected splashy debut on the NACC 200 this week. Their eighth LP, From A Hole In The Floor To A Fountain Of Youth, leaps aboard the chart this week at #25.
4] Philly native Kurt Vile is no stranger to our Weekly NACC Chart Recap. This is the fourteenth time we’ve featured him here. Between LPs, EPs, and collaborative albums, he’s got 30 releases under his belt. He’s reached the NACC Top 10 four times and topped the chart in 2024 with his EP, Back To Moon Beach. Now his 10th LP, Phildelphia’s Been Good To Me, takes most-added honors (his third time doing so) with 64 Top 10 Adds. He also enjoys the second-highest debut on the NACC 200, opening at #32.
GENRE CHART HIGHLIGHTS:
1] Death Cab For Cutie holds tight to #1 on NACC Singles again this week. Not only does “Riptides” (the lead single from the band’s upcoming eleventh studio album) spend an 8th week on top (which extends its lead as the longest run for any single this year), the band ties Tinsley Ellis for the most time any artist has spent at #1 on any NACC Chart this year! This will be the last week the band can spend at #1 on this chart as their album comes out Friday, but what a run they’ve had.
2] The NACC Blues Chart once again becomes the only NACC Chart this year where every #1 has spent multiple weeks on top. Taj Mahal And The Phantom Blues Band spend a second week on top this week with their album, Time.
3] Country singer Kacey Musgraves has never fit neatly into the narrow box an artist must fit into to be embraced at Country Radio. Her proud support of the LQBTQ+ community (Happy Pride, btw!), her frank lyrics, and her celebration of weed have never done much to charm the straight white men that control the levers there. Those that hand out awards certainly understand and appreciate her talent, though. She’s won Album of the Year twice at the ACM Awards, owns seven Country Music Association Awards, and eight Grammys (including Album of the Year). The more country radio ignores her, the more College and Non-Comm Radio have been happy to embrace her. Her seventh album, Middle Of Nowhere, has given Musgraves her first NACC 200 Top 20-peaking album. It’s also previously reached #2 on NACC Folk and spends a second week atop the NACC Non-Comm Chart this week as well.
