Irish country singer Nathan Carter has shot straight to the top of the charts with his The Wagon Wheel Show Live album in its first week of release. Ellie Goulding's Halcyon Days has long occupied the top spot after spending a remarkable 72 weeks in the charts and you would expect Goulding to overtake Nathan Carter once his sales slow down as we would expect. Pharrell Williams' G I R L has jumped in straight to the number three slot with Kodaline and Beyonce making up the rest of the top five.
There's more luck for Pharrell in the singles charts with his Oscar nominated tune 'Happy' still occupying the top stop after 14 weeks in the charts. 'Rather Be' from Clean Bandit feat. Jesse Glynne is in second place with Katy Perry's 'Dark Horse', Hozier's 'Take Me To Church' and 'Timber' by Pitbull & Ke$ha completing the top five best selling singles of the week.
Speaking of releases, this week (and the tail end of last week) sees new albums from Elbow (The Take Off and Landing of Everything), Metronomy (Love Letters), Paloma Faith (A Perfect Contradiction), Joan As Policewoman (The Classic), Mo (No Mythologies To Follow),
The above acts have chosen an interesting week to release their records as two of music's most iconic records were released on this day in the past. Incredibly, it's now been 27 years since U2 release what is probably still their best record 'The Joshua Tree' while it's now been an incredible 41 years since Pink Floyd released their masterpiece Dark Side of the Moon.
And what's in store in Ireland's live music venues this week?
MONDAY
Haim @ The Olympia
Foxes @ The Acadamy
Beyonce @ The O2
TUESDAY
Shane Filan @ The Olympia
Beyonce @ The O2
WEDNESDAY
Beyonce @ The O2
Metronomy @ The Olympia
THURSDAY
Stiff Little Fingers @ The Academy
The Vincent(s) @ Dolan's, Limerick
FRIDAY
Shane Filan @ The Olympia
R.S.A.G. @ The Button Factory
Little Green Cars @ Cork Opera House
Booka Brass Band @ The Lodge, Cork
Blind Yackety @ Harbour Bar, Bray
Kila @ The Parade, Kilkenny (free gig)
SATURDAY
VANN MUSIC @ The Button Factory
Overkill @ The Academy
No Spill Blood @ Whelan's
Katie Kim @ Triskel Arts Centre, Cork
SUNDAY
Kodaline @ The O2
Nervo @ The Wright Venue