Twostepcublog

It's time to kick off this week's "album sweep", sampling the records making their debut on the Top Album Sales chart in Billboard this week, which electronically tracks the vast majority of the sold albums in the United States. As always, I've included highlighted links to buy any of the new sets, along with some of the artists' other major work. But if you can, drop on by an independent record store. It'll do you (and the economy) good! As opposed to the ridiculous sham the trade magazine has made of the old "Top 200 Albums" chart, which now includes now only singles sales but also internet streaming tallies (so basically they can call anything #1 at this point without contest), Madonna proves again to be the biggest pop star in the world as her thirteenth studio album Rebel Heart sold over 116,000 copies in its first week. It's now her ninth #1 seller and sixth in a row. Her first, Like A Virgin , topped the chart 30 freaking year...

It's time to kick off the first of today's five "chart sweeps" of the songs making their way on to the various radio, club, and singles charts in Billboard magazine this week. As usual, I'll start out on the pop side of things, and then later in the day move on to the latest on rock, R&B, country, and dance radio... On the "big" chart, Billboard 's Hot 100 , which combines tallies of radio airplay from all formats, sales, and internet streaming (whether subscription like Spotify or on-demand like YouTube), Taylor Swift's " Blank Space " spends a third week at #1... The highest entry of the week all the way up at #12 is an oddity - a track from a film score featuring an actress who has never sung on a record before. "The Hanging Tree" is pulled from the score album (not the soundtrack album) for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 from composer James Newton Howard, and has its star Jennifer Lawrence singing in ...

Hey gang, I'm ready to kick off the first of today's five "chart sweeps", checking out the songs making their way on to the various radio and club charts in Billboard magazine this week. As usual, I'll start out on the "pop" side of things, then later in the day cover the latest on rock, R&B, country and dance radio... On the "big" chart, Billboard 's Hot 100 , which combines tallies of radio airplay from all formats, sales (like iTunes, Amazon, and what dwindling physical singles sales there are) and internet streaming (with subscription services like Spotify and on-demand like YouTube), Taylor Swift's " Blank Space " holds for a second week on top... Landing up at #26 as the highest entry on the chart is a-cappella stars Pentatonix, who have been the most successful act from the competition show The Sing-Off by far. And as the show is about to come back for a one-off this holiday season, the quintet's Christ...

Part three of this week's overloaded four-part "album sweep" is on tap, sampling the records making Billboard magazine's official Top 200 Albums sales chart in the U.S. You can check out parts one and two by clicking here and here , and as before I've included highlighted links to buy the new stuff as well as some of the artists' other major work... Experimental rock titans the Flaming Lips have been going at it since 1986, even scoring a top-10 album in 2009 with Embryonic , and now they're giving back. Their latest, With A Little Help From My Fwends , is a collaborative effort with alt-rock and pop musicians like My Morning Jacket, Grace Potter, and even Miley Cyrus to cover the entire Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Beatles album. It benefits a charity that provides vet care for needy pet owners, and its in at #58... (Click below to see the rest of the post)

Well the first "album sweep" of the year to be broken in two came this week, and you can check out yesterday's part by clicking here . Here's the rest of the albums making their first appearance on Billboard magazine's Top 200 Albums chart. As before, I've included highlighted links to buy anything if possible. Critically-heralded alt-country singer/songwriter Lucinda Williams' self-titled debut album from 1988 finally makes the chart this week courtesy of an expanded re-release and remaster, which places at #39 this week. In 2008 she made it to #9 with Little Honey .... (Click below to see the rest of the post)