This new year starts off just as last year ended on the NACC 200 with Natalie Mering, who records as Weyes Blood, holding sway at #1. Her second NACC 200 chart-topper (and fifth LP overall), And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow (Sub Pop), spends a second week atop the chart. The album more than doubles the lead it held over the #2 record on the last NACC 200 a few weeks back. Of the tens of thousands of albums released last year, …Hearts Aglow landed at #14 on the list of Metacritic’s best-reviewed of 2022.
Half of the albums inside the previous NACC Top 10 exit this week. Three of the albums that fill those newly open spaces are previous Top 10-peaking records. Arctic Monkeys, The 1975, and Plains all rebound into the top tier. Of the two brand new entries this week, it’s Dry Cleaning that makes the biggest move. After being mired in the bottom of the Top 20 for six weeks, bouncing around between the #20 to #17 positions, the South London quartet breaks free this week and rises 17-8 with their second studio album, Stumpwork (4AD/Beggars Group).
Also reaching the Top 10 for the first time is Black Pumas guitarist Adrian Quesada. He broke out in a big way in 2022 with two successful releases. The Laredo, Texas-born musician spent an amazing 17 weeks atop the NACC Latin Chart with Boleros Psicodélicos (the longest stay at #1 on any NACC Chart last year). His follow-up is receiving a warm welcome as well. Jaguar Sound (ATO) has reached the Top 5 of the NACC Non-Comm, World, & Latin Charts. This week it races 13-6 on the NACC 200.
St. Louis-born singer and songwriter Solána Rowe, who records as SZA, is having a moment. She has three singles rising on radio charts simultaneously with her second LP, SOS (Top Dawg/RCA). Her album debuted and has spent four straight weeks as the best-selling album in the country. The last female R&B artist to accomplish that feat was Janet Jackson in 1993. And SOS ended up at #5 on the list of best-reviewed albums of 2022 according to Metacritic. College and Community Radio are loving the record too. It’s the highest of our five biggest climbers on the NACC 200 this week, up 125-25. The album is also newly Top 10 on our R&B/Soul Chart and debuted on the NACC Non-Comm and NEXT Charts this week as well.
British singer, rapper, and actress Simbiatu Abisola Abiola Ajikawo may be better known as Little Simz. Her fifth LP, NO THANK YOU (Forever Living Originals/AWAL) is the first big new hit of 2023. Not only does she collect the most Top 10 Adds this week, but also enjoys the highest debut on the NACC 200 at #17. She also debuts inside the Top 10 of the NACC Hip Hop Chart. This album follows up her album, Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, which ended the year as one of the Top 30 biggest NACC releases of 2021.
Louisville, KY quartet, White Reaper, are building excitement for their fourth album, Asking For A Ride, due January 27. The last song on the album, “Pages,” soars 24-1 on the NACC Singles Chart this week as well as scoring one of the Top 5 highest debuts on the NACC 200. Two bands tie for the most-added single of the week. Of the 21 singles that went for adds they are the only two to make the Top 10 of the overall NACC 200 Adds Chart. Swedish trio Death And Vanilla are back with “Looking Glass,” a second taste of their upcoming fifth LP, Flicker, due March 17. And Minneapolis trio River Sinclaire also scores ‘most-added single’ honors with their new double-sided single “Driving” b/w “Emu Planet.”
The current Top 5 overall NACC Adds, the genre chart-toppers, and the week’s most-added genre records are included below. In addition to returns to #1 on NACC Non-Comm and Folk, we saw new #1s at Heavy, Jazz, Electronic, and World.
NACC 200 CHART: TOP 5 ADDS
# | ARTIST | TITLE | LABEL | # OF ADDS
1) LITTLE SIMZ NO THANK YOU [Forever Living Originals/AWAL] // 49
2) SELINA MARTIN The Spent Swimming [Self-Released] // 40
3) ANTI FLAG Lies They Tell Our Children [Spinefarm] // 35
4) LOUD HOUND It’s Okay To Be Lonely, Part 1 (EP) [Pendant] // 34
5) LELAND WHITTY Anyhow [Innovative Leisure] // 33
NACC 200 CHART: TOP 5 DEBUTS
# | ARTIST | TITLE | LABEL | DEBUT
1) LITTLE SIMZ NO THANK YOU [Forever Living Originals/AWAL] // 17
2) CROSSES (+++) PERMANENT.RADIANT [Warner] // 47
3) NOFX Double Album [Fat Wreck Chordst] // 53
4) WHITE REAPER “Pages” (Single) [Elektra] // 61
5) MARCUS KING Young Blood [American/Easy Eye Sound] // 71
NACC 200 CHART: TOP 5 CLIMBERS
# | ARTIST | TITLE | LABEL | MOVE
1) RICHARD DAWSON The Ruby Cord [Domino] // 115
2) SOAKED OATS Working Title [Dot Dash/Remote Control] // 113
3) CHLOE MORIONDO SUCKERPUNCH [Public Consumption/Fueled By Raman] // 110
4) LCD SOUNDSYSTEM “New Body Rhumba” (Single) [Columbia/Sony] // 109
5) SZA SOS [Top Dawg/RCA] // 100
#1 ON NACC GENRE CHARTS:
GENRE: ARTIST Title [Label]
NON-COMM: YEAH YEAH YEAHS Cool It Down [Secretly Canadian/Secretly Group]
NACC NEXT: ALVVAYS Blue Rev [Polyvinyl]
BLUES: BUDDY GUY The Blues Don’t Lie [RCA]
CANADIAN: ALVVAYS Blue Rev [Polyvinyl]
CHILL: LIMINAL DRIFTER Cortisol 22 [Hidden Shoal]
ELECTRONIC: ROYKSOPP Profound Mysteries III [Dog Triumph/PIAS]
FOLK: PLAINS I Walked With You Aways [Anti-]
HEAVY: SPIRITWORLD DEATH WESTERN [Century Media]
HIP-HOP: RUN THE JEWELS RTJ CU4TRO [Jewel Runners/BMG]
JAZZ: BILL FRISELL Four [Blue Note]
LATIN: HERMANOS GUTIERREZ El Bueno Y El Malo [Easy Eye Sound/Concord]
R&B/SOUL: LEE FIELDS Sentimental Fool [Daptone]
WORLD: HERMANOS GUTIERREZ El Bueno Y El Malo [Easy Eye Sound/Concord]
MOST-ADDED @ NACC GENRES:
GENRE: ARTIST Title [Label]
ELECTRONIC: SKRILLEX “Rumble” feat. Fred Again,,, & Flowdan [OWSLA/Atlantic]
FOLK: GERRY GLEICH It’s About Time [Self-Released]
HEAVY: BEYOND THE BLACK Beyond The Black [Nuclear Blast]
HIP-HOP: SEUN KUTI AND BLACK THOUGHT African Dreams (EP) [SKE80]
JAZZ: 3D JAZZ TRIO 9 To 5 [DIVA Jazz]
WORLD: DIDON Tunisian Tale [Electrofone]
NACC SINGLES:
GENRE: ARTIST Title [Label]
#1 SINGLE: WHITE REAPER “Pages” [Elektra]
MOST-ADDED SINGLE (tie): DEATH AND VANILLA “Looking Glass” [Fire]
RIVER SINCLAIRE “Driving” b/w “Emu Planet” [Guilt Ridden Pop]
