Scanning Soundscan - 6/16

The first thing that comes to mind when glancing at this week’s sales charts is that it’s probably not a good thing for a pop star to release a new album and get beaten on the charts by a TV soundtrack (Glee) & a movie soundtrack (Twilight: Eclipse). But that’s exactly what happened to Christina Aguilera.

Bionic hardly lived up to its name with a #3 debut and only 110k sold. It’s been 4 years since she last had a studio album, but 2006’s Back To Basics did over 346k in its first week. The tepid reaction to Bionic’s first single (“Not Myself Tonight” - which I actually do kind of like) did not help create excitement for this one at all. It’s not a total wash, the album will kill internationally and maybe there will be a deeper single that will help it in the US. For now, it looks pretty D.O.A.

Of course, “Glee” is back on top of the charts with the soundtrack from the season finale. The Fox series has turned into a cash cow and there are FIVE releases from the show in the Top 50 totaling almost 223k in sales this week alone. Maybe Christina can guest star on the show next season?

There aren’t a lot of interesting entries this week, but Tokyo Police Club debut at #58 with their new album Champ. They sold about 7300 copies total (about 3300 of those were digital, and close to 300 were on vinyl).

If you need any more proof that blog hype and Pitchfork love don’t really amount to sales, the full-length debut from The Drums was released digitally last week (the physical release isn’t until this fall) and sold less than 600 copies. In fact, I barely noticed it all the way down at #81 on the Heatseekers chart. Is anybody even going to care about that record by the time it hits retail in September?

Other notable entries:
Ratatat hit #68 with LP4.
The 3-disc deluxe edition reissue of The Cure’s Disintegration debuts at #89.
The 4AD debut of Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti placed at #170 (which is also a #5 showing on the Heatseekers chart).