In the face of a slow sales week and the absence of a major new debut, Jack Johnson’s latest disc held on to the top spot on the charts. “Sleep Through the Static” moved another 105,000 discs, making it three consecutive weeks at number one. Alicia Keys continues to be a chart force with “As I Am,” which has been in stores for nearly three months yet still managed to sell 53,000 copies and claim the number two spot. Keys’ sales have been helped by two hit singles and a strong performance on the Grammys early in the month. Multiple Grammy winner and needle-drug enthusiast Amy Winehouse is also experiencing a bump from her performance on the award show, as “Back to Black” falls just shy of the number two spot with 52,000 copies.

The 13th edition of the “Kidz Bop” series, which features the kids from the “more Ovaltine, please!” commercials covering popular songs, debuts at number four with 49,000 copies. Experts believe that the use of the letter “z” in the word “kidz” may, in fact, be the driving force behind the series’ successful chart run. The fifth spot goes to the “Step Up 2: The Streets” soundtrack, which pushed 43,000 units. Right behind in sixth place was the soundtrack to “Juno,” which sold another 38,000 copies.

Buoyed by a hit single, Sara Bareilles’ “Little Voices” jumped up 9% to the seventh spot with 37,000 copies, a new high for Bareilles. Chris Cagle’s “My Life’s Been a Country Song” debuts at number eight with just under 37,000, while Mary J. Blige grabbed the ninth spot with 35,000 copies of her hit “Growing Pains.” Taylor Swift’s self-titled album rounds out the top ten selling 33,000 discs.

It reminds me of the time I found out about the group “emocappella.” An A cappella group that covered various songs by Taking Back Sunday and Saves the Day. It begs the question, are these guys really cool or incredibly nerdy? It’s a fine line.

Interesting statistic here regarding Teen culture courtesy of USA Today :

Nearly half (48%) did not buy even one shiny plastic disc last year, as the shift to downloads — legal and illegal — continued to change the musical landscape, according to research firm NPD Group. For 2006, 38% of teens reported not buying any compact discs.

So who’s buying CD’s, Vinyl, Cassettes, 8-track, Reel-To-Reel??????

Matt Pond PA kicked off their tour yesterday, and here are the rest of the dates. Note that he will be in Chicago on March 31st.

Mar 1 - Norfolk, VA - NorVa
Mar 3 - Carrboro, NC - Cat’s Cradle
Mar 4 - Charleston, SC - Map Room
Mar 5 - Tallahassee, FL - Club Downunder
Mar 6 - St. Augustine, FL - Café Eleven
Mar 7 - South Everglades, FL - Langerado Music Festival
Mar 8 - Tampa, FL - New World Brewery
Mar 9 - Jacksonville, FL - Jack Rabbits
Mar 12 - St. Louis, MO - Blueberry Hill
Mar 13 - Memphis, TN - Hi-Tone
Mar 14 - Norman, OK - The Opolis
Mar 16 - Phoenix, AZ - Brickhouse Theater
Mar 17 - Tucson, AZ - Club Congress
Mar 19 - Los Angeles, CA - El Rey Theatre
Mar 20 - San Francisco, CA - The Independent
Mar 22 - Vancovuer, BC - Richards on Richards
Mar 23 - Seattle, WA - Chop Suey
Mar 24 - Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
Mar 27 - Denver, CO - Bluebird Theatre
Mar 29 - Kansas City, MO - Record Bar
Mar 30 - Minneapolis, MN - Varsity Theatre
Mar 31 - Chicago, IL - Double Door

Apr 1 - Lansing, MI - Mac’s Place
Apr 2 - Toronto, ON - Lee’s Palace
Apr 4 - New York, NY - The Fillmore @ Irving Plaza
Apr 5 - Washington, DC - American University - The Tavern (AU Students Only)
Apr 6 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
Apr 7 - Philadelphia, PA - World Cafe Live
Apr 9 - Cincinnati, OH - 20th Century Theatre
Apr 14 - Atlanta, GA - The Loft
Apr 15 - Orlando, FL - The Social

No, I don’t read Maxim. But I read music blogs, and I have friends who read even more music blogs.

Through this (very long, I hope) chain of readers, SOMEBODY picked up the latest issue of Maxim and realized that writer David Peisner’s review of the Black Crowes’ forthcoming album Warpaint was literally, a bunch of nonsense - because there was no way he could have heard the album. The band’s label, Megaforce, released no advance copies for critics.

Megaforce gives Maxim a call, and the response, according to a press release by the Black Crowes read:

“Of course, we always prefer hearing music, but sometimes there are big albums that we don’t want to ignore that aren’t available to hear, which is what happened with the Crowes. It’s either an educated guess preview or no coverage at all, so in this case we chose the former.”

While I’m not going to claim that Maxim has a lot of “journalistic integrity” to live up to (nor do I believe that most Maxim readers pick up their copy for the music reviews), it is frustrating to think that there are editors out there that think that this practice is perfectly okay.

And the cynical side of me asks…if Peisner had given the album a five out of five instead of the two and a half he credited it - after claiming the album was “boozy, competent, and in slavish tribute to the Stones, the Allmans, and the Faces” - would the Black Crowes have said anything about it?

And how much do I want to punch wannabe music critics in the face?

The latest edition to Sub Pop Records, Foals, announced they will be going on tour in support of their April 8th released label debut, entitled Antidote. Here are the dates:Tue-Apr-22
Philadelphia, PA
Johnny Brenda’s

Wed-Apr-23
Washington, DC
Rock and Roll Hotel

Thu-Apr-24
New York, NY
Bowery Ballroom

Sat-Apr-26
Chicago, IL
Subterranean

Mon-Apr-28
Minneapolis, MN
7th St Entry

Tue-Apr-29
Madison, WI
High Noon Saloon

Thu-May-01
Buffalo, NY
Big Orbits Sound Lab

Fri-May-02
Toronto, ONT
Lee’s Palace

Sat-May-03
Montreal, QUE
Cabaret

Mon-May-05
Burlington, VT
Higher Ground Lounge

Tue-May-06
Cambridge, MA
Middle East

Thu-May-25
San Francisco, CA
Pop Scene

Sat-May-24
Los Angeles, CA
Troubadour

Wed-May-28
Portland, OR
Doug Fir Lounge

Thu-May-29
Vancouver, BC
Richards on Richards

Fri-May-30
Seattle, WA
Neumo’s

Apparently it could happen.

Whether or not you agree with it is a completely different subject - but it’s nice to see that the world outside of people who blog is finally recognizing that blogs are a relevant source of information.

Odd that he would get an offer well before a popular music blog would; but oh well.

Videos of Against Me!’s Thanksgiving acoustic show from the Metro in Chicago, Illinois have slowly been releasing over the past few weeks. Here is the newest.