Album Sweep: September 22, 2012 - Part One...

Good afternoon, and welcome to the first half of this week's "album sweep", where I sample the new records making their debut on the album sales chart in Billboard magazine. I've included links to get them from Amazon if you like anything you see, but of course you can get them anywhere you can, like at an independent record store (hint, hint)...

The top seller this week is the new album by the pop/rock group Matchbox Twenty, with their first #1 album, North. Mind you, lead singer Rob Thomas already has a #1 solo album already, so this is icing on the cake.The album has their new top-40 hit "She's So Mean"...

(Click below to read the rest of the post)


Las Vegas-based indie-rock band Imagine Dragons settle into the runner-up spot with their debut full-length album Night Visions. It has the top-5 rock hit "It's Time"...

After a couple of noble top-20 efforts, Christian hip-hop artist Lacrae lands himself at #3 with his sixth studio album Gravity.

Indie-rock singer/songwriter Cat Power is named for her baseball cap she wore (from Caterpillar), and her fourth album comes in as her biggest at #10, Sun...

Baltimore neo-psychedelic rock band Animal Collective get their second straight top-20 album as Centipede Hz arrives at #16....

Northern Irish electropop outfit Two Door Cinema Club get their first charting album to #17 with their sophomore release, Beacon. It has their modern rock hit "Sleep Alone" as a highlight...

Melissa Etheridge is up to her eleventh studio album, with three of those going top-10, and all of those after she came out of the closet as a lesbian. Ah, the power of music. Her latest, 4th Street Feeling, comes in at #18...

Canadian indie-pop group Stars see their sixth album The North here at #48...

and right behind at #52 is alt-punk god Bob Mould, who was part of the seminal group Husker Du, before breaking free and going solo (with a stint in the band Sugar in between). Right now you can catch him DJing at the NY/DC Blowoff parties, and his latest album, Silver Age, is in my opinion his best yet. If you dig the Foo Fighters now, watch their inspiration and learn...

That's it for this half...there's a lot of good music out this week, and hard to pick just three of these, but my biggest recommendations are the Bob Mould, Two Door Cinema Club, and Cat Power albums.

Come back tomorrow for part two of this week's album sweep, but in the meantime, later on I'll bring you the latest in England on Brit Sweep. Cheers!