More flash in the pan sellers falling off the charts just as quickly as they came. You really come to appreciate what Adele‘s 21 achieved last year in anchoring the music industry, don’t you?
This week the sun shines on K-pop star PSY and his incredible viral single ‘Gangnam Style’. Guy Sebastian, Matchbox Twenty, Flo Rida, Ne-Yo and TobyMac also come through with the goods.
Avril Lavigne‘s Goodbye Lullaby debuts at #1 in Australia this week, making this the Canadian pop rawker’s third chart topping album here. Over in the States, Goodbye Lullaby comes in at #4 on the Billboard Hot 200.
In Japan, the record – in both standard and deluxe editions – have dominated the iTunes charts, reportedly selling over 31,935 copies in the first 24 hours to debut at #1 and #4 respectively. With Brit and Avril getting us hyped this year, all we need for a full fledged reunion of early-00s pop titans is a couple of stellar releases from Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera.
There’s been a whirlwind of new releases blowing up our ARIA Top 20 this week, golf claps all around for the following chart debuts: The Waifs‘ Temptation (#3), Lupe Fiasco‘s Lasers (#4), Alexis Jordan‘s self-titled LP (#11), Oh Mercy‘s Great Barrier Grief (#13), R.E.M.‘s Collapse Into Now (#15).
Aussie country singer Jasmine Rae sees her new album Listen Here debut at #35 this week. Take a listen to her feisty track ‘Hunky Country Boys’ – because, y’know, she totally had me at the title:
Britney‘s roof-raising new anthem ‘Till The World Ends’ debuts at #18 on our Aussie digital charts and #20 on the US Billboard Hot 100 this week. Over in the UK, it shoots up to #21 but get this, every single Godney has released over there so far has gone Top 20 (except the underpromo-ed ‘Radar’).
So, you would’ve all heard the prematurely leaked Femme Fatale album by now. What are your thoughts and favourite tracks? To me, this truly is one of the most essential Britney albums to date. It’s ranked up there somewhere with In The Zone and Blackout. Bitch will slay hard once the record drops worldwide.
Jessie J‘s ‘Price Tag’ has stormed up the ARIA single charts this week, high stepping from #22 to #3, thanks in no small part to the healthy radio rotation it has been getting. Her album Who You Are enters at #27 here but watch this baby rise as the gospel of Jessie J spreads across the nation. Interest in the States should have piqued considerably after her recent Saturday Night Live performance.
Brian McFadden‘s ‘Just The Way You Are (Drunk At The Bar)’ debuts on the main ARIA charts at #49 this week. *Drops to the ground laughing, flails arms, getting wheeled out on a stretcher*
Gypsy & The Cat‘s ‘Jona Vark’ – Van She Tech and Tommy Trash remixes – debuts at #49 on our Aussie club charts this week. The Melbourne electro pop duo has been confirmed as Goddess Kylie‘s opening act for the Aussie leg of her Aphrodite tour.
Wiz Khalifa‘s ‘Black and Yellow’ makes a huge splash across the Atlantic this week when it debuted at #5 on the UK charts. The US chart topping hip hop track is the only new entry on the UK Top 20 this week. As of last month, ‘Black and Yellow’ has pulled over 2.3 million download sales in the States. Bam!
Clare Maguire‘s spectacular Light After Dark album tumbles from #7 to #24 in the UK this week while the chic single ‘The Last Dance’ falls from #24 to #49. I grabbed my copy of the LP when it came out here in Australia on Friday and it’s marvelous. Folks, lose yourself in this and it can be our smug little indulgence that the generic Aussie record buyers won’t get. Kinda like Hurts and Paloma Faith.
Another British soul diva conquers the US this week: Marsha Ambrosius‘ Late Nights & Early Mornings debuts at #2 on the US Billboard 200, behind Adele‘s titan 21 album. Marsha first came to our attention as one half of neo/soul duo Floetry but she’s probably better known these days for her songwriting prowess – see: Michael Jackson‘s lush ‘Butterflies’ (a favourite from his Invincible album) and Alicia Keys‘ ‘Go Ahead’ (from the As I Am record).
Your Chart Feed homework for this week is to check on Marsha‘s choons. Here’s the lead single from her Late Nights… record, ‘Hope She Cheats On You (With A Basketball Player)’:
Jennifer Lopez‘s anthemic ‘On The Floor’ moves up to #5 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Mami recently revealed in an interview chat that a second single will precede the Love? album release – and it’s likely to be a track titled ‘I’m Into You’ featuring Lil Wayne.
Ricky Martin‘s Musica + Alma + Sexo drops to #97 in the US after three weeks. No shade, of course. This record debuted at #3 and became the biggest primarily-Spanish language album to hit the US Billboard charts since Selena‘s Dreaming of You back in 1995. Ricky’s album is also pulled the biggest first week sales for any Sony Music Latin record.
Keri Hilson‘s ‘Pretty Girl Rock’ has finally cracked the US Top 30 this week, rising to #27. It’s only taken 15 weeks and so many close calls. Her brilliant No Boys Allowed album will drop in stores here this Friday (you can already download it off iTunes etc.) and Ms Keri is headed for our shores next month for the huge urban festival Supafest. Other headline acts include Taio Cruz, Timbaland, Snoop Dogg, Ciara, Busta Rhymes and Bow Wow. Grab your tickets here.
The ladies might’ve been first but now it’s the gentlemen’s turn to reimagine the songs of Tim and Neil Finn.
Following the overwhelming success of the 2005 tribute album She Will Have Her Way, EMI has hemmed a brother version – He Will Have His Way: The Songs of Tim & Neil Finn – following a similar pattern, weaving together an eclectic blend of artists like Paul Kelly, Jimmy Barnes, Darren Hayes, Chris Cheney, Luke Steele and Angus Stone.
Here’s the tracklisting:
1 – Oh Mercy – I Feel Possessed
2 – Chris Cheney – Distant Sun
3 – Boy & Bear – Fall At Your Feet
4 – Paul Kelly & Angus Stone – Four Seasons In One Day
5 – Glenn Richards – She Got Body, She Got Soul
6 – Paul Dempsey – Addicted
7 – Jimmy Barnes – Message To My Girl
8 – Art vs Science – I See Red
9 – Philadelphia Grand Jury – I Got You
10 – The Sleepy Jackson – Better Be Home Sooon
11 – Artisan Guns – Private Universe
12 – Darren Hayes – Not Even Close
13 – The Break with Dan Sultan – Shark Attack
14 – Perry Keyes – Poor Boy
15 – Busby Marou – Better Be Home Soon
16 – Kody Nielson – Kiss The Road To Rarotonga
17 – Perry Keyes – Angels Heap [iTunes bonus track]
Note the two polar opposite versions of the classic ‘Better Be Home Soon’ – you know to look to Busby Marou for the dutiful and earnest acoustic cover and raise an eyebrow at The Sleepy Jackson‘s experimental electronica take.
You can check out 30 second previews of the tracks here.
Footnote:
He Will Have His Way: The Songs of Tim & Neil Finn is out here on Friday 12 November.
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