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The Chart Show: Father John Misty marries No.1 spot

  Play Now [1:04:00]

by Mark Wheat

July 02, 2015

Father John Misty
Father John Misty performing at Hall's Island in 2015
MPR / Nate Ryan

Father John Misty is the highest new entry this week ... at No.1! As if playing all his own beautiful wordy hits wasn't enough, he's also become adept at doing a variety of covers. Appropriately, for Canada Day, he recently recorded an acoustic rendition Arcade Fire's "The Suburbs" for Canada's national station CBC.

Submit your Chart Show ballot this week for a chance to win tickets to see Brandi Carlile and Iron and Wine at the Cabooze Outdoor Plaza on Sunday, Aug. 2!

Courtney Barnett jumps to No.3 with her ode to house hunting in the Melbourne suburb of Preston. She taped an amazing solo version for The Tonight Show as a web exclusive. She was also the musical focus of a lovely collage of Rock the Garden hit moments put together by our friends at the Walker Art Center, and you can stream her entire set and watch full videos of her performance, too.

Speaking of Rock the Garden sets, JD McPherson jumped up four spots to No.4 this week. His full performance is available for on-demand streaming, plus you can watch him perform "Firebug" and "Let's the Good Times Roll."

Alabama Shakes bounced up five places this week. Brittany and the gang's Sound and Color was included on NPR Music's "25 Favorite Albums of 2015 (So Far)."

Elle King is the highest mover on the Chart this week, up nine spots to No.6. She's literally on the verge of breaking through to the mainstream: yesterday she was featured on USA Today's "On The Verge" talking about her early life and being the child of Hollywood actor Rob Schneider.

St. Vincent, along with Rock the Garden guests Lucius, tUnE-yArDs and more were asked by David Byrne to help him turn the tradition of Color Guard into a new form of stunningly original contemporary performance art at shows in Toronto and Brooklyn last week.

Bouncing back on the Chart after a two-week hiatus are Florence and the Machine, who were elevated to headliners at last weekend's Glastonbury Festival when Foo Fighters had to pull out after Dave Grohl broke his leg. She seems to have pulled it off, even covering a Foo's "Times Like These." Ex-No.1 Jamie xx and Father John Misty were also at Glastonbury, perhaps the biggest festival of its kind on the planet.

Heartless Bastards are the other new entry this week after stopping by to play First Avenue with Craig Finn on Monday. They stopped by the station to record an acoustic set before the show, explained how they met Craig and told us what their plans for the 4th of July 4th are.

And, as he suggested from the stage on Monday night, Craig might well be back in the Twin Cities for the D4'th of July at the Triple Rock Social Club with Dillinger Four and Against Me!

Happy Fourth! Hope you enjoy our A-Z weekend that starts on Thursday at noon CT. (We like really long weekends here at The Current!)