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The Chart Show: Sister act HAIM top the Chart ahead of sold out First Avenue gig

by Mark Wheat

May 08, 2014

HAIM
HAIM's new album, 'Days Are Gone,' comes out Sept. 30.
Bella Howard/Courtesy of the artist

The Haim sisters soar to the top this week on the surge of fans trying to win tickets to their sold out First Avenue gig on May 19. They're also featured wearing Karen Walker, Fendi and Givenchy in this month's Vogue UK. I wonder which they're more proud of?! The massive influx of their fans to the voting pool seems to have helped other artists like Lucius, who bounced up 10 places, but not another sister band First Aid Kit, who were the highest new entry last week but fell 10 places this week.

Submit your Chart Show ballot this week for a chance to win tickets to Elvis Costello's show at the O'Shaughnessy on June 9!

Biggest debut this week is from Lana Del Rey, who had Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys produce the forthcoming Ultraviolence. Dan is quoted in NME this week,
"She impressed me every day. There were moments when she was fighting me. I could sense that maybe she didn't want to have anybody think she wasn't in control because I'm sure it's really hard to be a woman in the music business. So we bumped heads a little bit, but at the end of the day we were dancing to the songs." Speaking of the Black Keys, they went back up seven places this week. They're new album Turn Blue is streaming at iTunes and will be out on CD and vinyl next week.

The new tUnE- yArDs album Nicki Nack is out this week and Pitchfork gave it a raving 8.1 stating that, "Garbus is an artist who lives with weird but flirts with normal.... In moments when Garbus does calm down, she does it with the grace and certainty of an archer drawing back her bow — less a concession than a show of power."

The other new entry this week is from Afghan Whigs, one of Barb Abney's faves from her old home town of Cinncinnati. They put out their debut in 1988 and were one of the most successful bands to ride the alternative music boom of the '90s. They haven't released a record for 16 years and the new configuration of the band involves just two of the original members, singer Greg Dulli and writer and bassist John Curley.

Atmosphere's 8th studio release Southsiders is also out this week and is our CD of the Week. Andrea Swensson suggests in her review that, "It's a return to form for the duo. Ant's beats have rarely sounded as sophisticated as on opening track 'Camera Thief,' while one of the album's standout tracks, 'Arthur's Song,' harks back to the organ jive and classic-soul sound of early Atmosphere songs like 'Guns and Cigarettes.'" They're also our featured MN Artist of the Month, so you can hear a ton of their stuff on Local Current, our 24 hour Minnesota music stream, plus hear them on the Local Show Sundays at 6 p.m. to hear them featured.

And finally as part of our Schell's The Current Beer release celebration and to mark their 5th birthday on the Morning Show, Jill and Steve are having a party at Psycho Suzi's from 6-10 a.m. on May 16 with guest J.Roddy Walston!