Music: Chart Beat, It's a Love Beat

Iron & Wine: "Sigh...maybe I'll shave tomorrow..."

This week's Billboard Top 200 chart sees country once again ruling the roost with the new Rascal Flatts album coming in at number one. The biggest surprise has to be indie mope-folkster Sam Beam's Iron and Wine album The Shepherd's Dog which rides excellent reviews and a newly expansive sound into a career high debut at number 24. Foo Fighters clumsily named Echoes, Silence, Patience, and Grace takes the number 3 slot followed by neo-soulstress Jill Scott and then it's a heavy estrogen zone further down as Queen Latifah reigns at number 11 and 13-15 is occupied by Melissa Etheridge's Awakening Joni Mitchell's cool new one Shine, and Chaka Khan's umpteenth comeback attempt Funk This respectively.

This Weeks Chart Beat: West Bests Gritty Fitty

Hot Hot Heat: Someone always insists on looking in the wrong direction, wearing a different outfit and throwing off all sense of perspective with their freakishly tiny proportions...

By now we all know who came out on top in this week's Billboard Top 200 shootout: Black Francis. Hah, I wish! Kanye West wins fair and square with his Can and Daft Punk sampling Graduation logging almost a million units. 50 Cent has to settle for number two and a set of steak knives. Riding in at number three is Kenny Chesney, representing for the hat act brigade. Further down the big chart Feist proves once again that Madison Avenue is the new MTV as her Apple ad sends The Reminder back up from 95 to 44. Psych-jam weirdos Animal Collective storm the big time at number 72 with Strawberry Jam followed by Hot Hot Heat's Happiness LTD. at 86. Despite all this action sales are still down from the same week last year.

Music: Chart Beat -- Early Returns from The Precincts

Kanye and Cruise mistake the VMAs for the V-Jay Jays

Last night I was at the 14th Street Virgin megastore in New York City where Kanye West had a line waiting around the megablock for his signature on their copies of his new CD, Graduation. It seems like the relentless prom-ing, tantrum throwing and magazine cover-ing will payoff as the music industry gurus at Billboard are projecting Kanye to take the top slot on the chart next week. Meanwhile 50 Cent and Kenny Chesney are running neck-and-neck for number two. 50 Cent has said that he'll retire as a solo artist if he loses the top spot to West so he should be looking for a nice gated community in Florida right about now. No word yet on how the new dirty Projectors album is doing however. The best part of the article is when Billboard's researcher queried a "Northeast urban-oriented store" as to why their sales for both albums seemed a bit light for the first day. Replied the store, ""Of course, you realize Sept. 11 wasn't the release date in my store..."

Music News: This Weeks Chartbeat

Lyle Lovett: Hathead much?

Indie Rock takes a beating again this week on Billboard's Top 200 Albums as Disney's High School Musical 2 continues it's reign of blood atop the chart. Further down the chart to stuff I'd actually want to listen to, ex-Mr. Julia Roberts (Lyle Lovett) lopes in at number 18 and critically acclaimed alt-rapper Aesop Rock enters at number 50.