On first glance, the top four occupants of this week's album chart—Mariah Carey's
E=MC2 (182,000 copies); Leona Lewis'
Spirit (96,000);
Flight Of The Conchords (52,000); and Ashlee Simpson's
Bittersweet World (47,000)—are a testament to the importance of television in promoting albums; all four artists had their albums co-promoted on various chat and game shows last week (and, in the case of the mumble-funny Kiwis in
Flight, their own HBO series). On second look, their sales totals are further evidence that the bar for a "successful" album is even lower these days, particularly if you count the sales of the No. 5 album, Atmosphere's
When Life Gives You Lemons You Paint That Shit Gold, which sold 36,000 copies last week. When life gives you lemons, indeed.
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Idolator
Plenty of critics have regurgitated press releases to fill up a feature well, but the Seattle Weekly's "review" (that's how the article is tagged) of the new Flight Of The Conchords album consists mostly of interview quotes with Tony Kiewel, the band's A&R representative at Sub Pop. Kiewel explains how he first heard the group, why he thinks they're so great and how the band is doing really well, even going gold in New Zealand! Weekly editor Brian Barr concurs, adding that mixture of mockery and genuine musical tribute is what makes them so great. Barr sure sounds like a fan. I bet he'd get a kick out of interviewing the band! Maybe Kiewel could hook that up sometime.
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