NOW FOR NOW, BRIGHT EYES, HELLYEAH DEBUT TOP 10

Continuing a troubling trend, no single album breaks 100k this week, a development that leaves EMI’s Now 24 all alone at the top of the chart, with a total that falls short of 90k.

Unfortunately, that was more than enough to defeat Tim McGraw’s Curb album Let It Go and give it the #1 spot for the second week in a row.

One bright spot is the rise of Conor Oberst’s nom de band, Bright Eyes, whose critically kudo’ed Cassadaga debuts at #5 for Omaha indie Saddle Creek, by far the best chart performance in the history of the young troubadour most often compared to Bob Dylan and Neil Young.

Oberst is one of two newcomers to the Top 10, the other being Hellyeah, whose self-titled Epic debut bows at #9. The band features members of Mudvayne with ex-Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul, brother of the late guitarist Dimebag Darrell Abbott.

The rest of the Top 10 is populated by holdovers, including SRC/Universal Motown’s Akon (#3), Interscope’s Timbaland (#4), RCA/RMG’s Daughtry (#6), Columbia’s Beyonce deluxe edition (#7), SBMG Nashville’s Martina McBride (#8) and Hollywood’s Hilary Duff (#10).

The only other chart newcomer is Vagrant emo-rockers From Autumn to Ashes at #47.

Among those showing upward mobility are Universal Republic’s Amy Winehouse (#21-12), Star Trak/Interscope’s Robin Thicke (#32-19), Big Machine’s Taylor Swift (#34-22), Capitol’s Corinne Bailey Rae (#41-24), Epic’s Modest Mouse (#33-26), Universal Republic’s Hinder (#39-29), Atlantic’s Musiq Soulchild (#42-35), Epic’s Jennifer Lopez (#45-37), Casablanca/Universal Republic’s Mika (#44-39) and MCA Nashville’s Gary Allan (#48-43).

Next week, a hopeful jolt of energy for the charts, as Arista’s Avril Lavigne and Interscope’s Nine Inch Nails hit stores today.