The new year starts with a fresh #1 album atop the NACC 200. After five weeks dominating the chart, The Cure steps aside and someone who is no stranger to the top spot takes over. Josh Tillman rises 2-1 with his third NACC 200 chart-topper and joins an elite group (less than 10, in fact) that have reached #1 three or more times. Josh previously recorded under the name J. Tilman and releasing eight albums between 2003 and 2010. Tilman began using the name Father John Misty for his ninth LP, 2012’s Fear Fun, and has released six albums under that name including his latest, Mahashmashana (Sub Pop). After having reached number #1 in 2017 and 2018, he missed the top spot in 2022 with his 13th LP. But Mahashmashana has him back at the top to start the year.
Two albums reach the NACC Top 10 this week. The first comes from long-running quintet, The Mommyheads. Formed in 1987 by Adam Cohen (who now goes by Adam Elk to avoid confusion with Leonard Cohen’s son), the band broke up in 1998. After playing a reunion upon the death of the band’s original drummer, Jan Kotik, they decided to reform and make new music. Though Elk is the only original member, two other members date back to 1990. The band have released a myriad of records over the years in addition to re-issuing/re-mastering a number of their earlier albums. The best we can tell, One Eyed Band (Self-Released) is their 17th album and is now their first to reach the NACC Top 10. Their previous best was 2021’s Age Of Isolation, which reached #29 and was the NACC 200’s biggest climber the week it reached that spot. So this week’s 31-10 leap really is notable.
Also reaching the Top 10 is a singer, songwriter, musician, and producer that we are so pleased to finally have the first opportunity to feature on our NACC Weekly Chart Recap. London-born Michael Kimanuka released his debut LP, Home Again, in 2012. He won the BBC’s Sound Of… award that year. His third album, Kiwanuka, won the coveted Mercury Prize in 2020. And now his fourth LP, Small Changes (Geffen), is giving him some well-deserved chart flowers with a 12-5 jump on the NACC 200 this week. The album also recently topped the NACC R&B/Soul Chart, where it lands at #3 this week.
This week’s highest debut on the NACC 200 was the most-added album on our last charts of 2024. It comes from Chicago’s hemlock (not be confused with the longtime Las Vegas heavy metal band of the same name that capitalizes theirs). The brainchild of Carolina Chauffe, their latest album, 444 (Self-Released), is comprised wholly by reimagined selections from their ongoing, twelve-year song-a-day-for-a-month writing project. The album leaps aboard the NACC 200 this week at #22.
This week’s most-added album comes from rising Tennessee-based musician Maddie Kerr, who records as Mercury. Her first music available online dates just back to December of 2023. Two three-song EPs surfaced in 2024, one of them being this release. Swarm The Hive Mind (Big Loud Rock), which was released just after our last charts of 2024, collects just one more Top 10 Add than longtime English trio Saint Etienne’s 12th LP for the ‘most-added’ crown this week.
UK musician Sam Fender has this week’s new #1 on the NACC Singles Chart with “People Watching.” The song, which rises 3-1, is the lead single from his third LP of the same name, due February 21. This week’s most-added single comes from English band Idles. After enjoying one of the Top 20 NACC 200 albums of 2024 with Tangk, they return with a remix of “POP POP POP,” from that very album, that adds rapper Danny Brown to the mix.
