The Set List

Little Treasures Within SoundScan's Top 200

Nielsen SoundScan's chart saw a slew of debuts Wednesday as the Sept. 25 release date was the last Tuesday within the Grammy eligibility period and the the last release date before the start of the fourth quarter. Top 200 boasted 45 debuts.
Chart also revealed:
Country fans like their CDs.Only 8% of the 547,000 copies sold of Rascal Flatts' "Still Feels Good" were digital downloads, and that was still a record amount (44,000).
Rap records struggle to not lose more than 60% of their business in the second week. Latest victim: Chamillionaire, who sold 27,000 and slid to No. 30 from No. 8.
Black Eyed Peas fans don't feel that strongly about the group's leader, will.i.am, who sold a mere 21,000 copies of his first solo disc despite considerable publicity for the disc.
Selling a song to a ubiquitous commercial yields album sales. Feist's "Reminder," featuring "1,2,3,4" that plays over and over on Apple's video nano ad, rose eight slots to No. 28 on a 33% sales spike.
Steve Earle's first album since he moved to New York City, Washington Square Serenade," sold 10,000 copies.
Cult heroes Devendra Banhart sold 6,000 albums as did Jose Gonzalez's "In Our Nature" and Herbie Hancock's interpretations of Joni Mitchell songs, "River: The Joni Letters." Iron & Wine, though, may have leapfrogged into the mainstream, selling 32,000 copies of "Shepherd's Dog."
Ingrid Michaelson, a musician with 3 million plays on her MySpace page who recently snared a placement on "Grey's Anatomy," saw her "Girls & Boys" crack the chart, selling 4,000 copies to open at No. 166.

Area 51: Against Me! Rallies the Troops

Against Me! sold one-sixth the number of albums that Interpol sold in the week ended Sunday, but in the list of indie bands making the leap to major label debut from the indie sector, the discs were one and two.
Against Me!'s "New Wave" sold 12,000 copies to debut at No. 57, according to Nielsen SoundScan.It is the Florida band's first album for Sire, part of Warner Music, and their fifth album overall. Fronted by  Tom Gabel, Against Me! made a splash in 2002 with folk punk album "Reinventing Axl Rose" on the No Idea label. Three albums on Fat Wreck Chords followed.
Butch Vig produced the new album, which boasts a much cleaner sound than the other discs, even as Gabel rails against fame and music scenes. His take on protest songs, "White People for Peace," has a cool video.

Area 51: Bryan Ferry Enters Desolation Row

Bryan Ferry's "Dylanesque" (Virgin) sold 7,000 copies in its first week to open at No. 117.
Hard as it may be to believe, it is his best chart position since 1994's "Mamouna," which reached No. 94. Ferry, who records at a snail's pace, has issued only three albums in the last 13 years; "As Time Goes By" hit 195, and 2002's "Frantic" reached No. 189.
The most important thing he wants to fans to know, though, is that he is not a Nazi supporter.

TV appearances include a rendition of "All Along the Watchtower" on the BBC.

Area 51: Tidbits from SoundScan's lower reaches

The lower reaches of the top 200 read like an indie hipster's dream as a slew of acts make return appearances after falling off the list.
Cold War Kids' "Robbers & Cowards" sold nearly 5,000 copies to leap back onto the chart at No. 172 (cume is 101,000); Rodrigo y Gabriela's self-titled debut is at No. 178 on sales of 4,500 (118,000 cume); and the National's "Boxer" sold 4,000 (No. 183, 29,000 cume).
Regina Spektor's "Begin to Hope," Peter, Bjorn & John's "Writers Block" and Bright Eyes' "Cassadaga" occuppied
slots 191-193, selling 4,100 apiece. The Shins also returned to the chart as "Wincing the Night Away" sold 4,000 to bring tis cume to 419,000.
The Arcade Fire's "Neon Bible" is about to fall off the chart after 16 weeks as it rests at No. 198, down 13 spaces from the week before. Its sales were down 800 units for the week as it sold 4,000 to bring its cume to 268,000.