Posted by Andrew Unterberger on 06/06/2012 at 1:45 PM News

The Popdust Files: Billboard, born and raised, charts, john mayer, sales

John Mayer may still be smarting from the dis he received from Taylor Swift on Speak Now‘s excoriating breakup track “Dear John,” but if the best revenge is living well, then CHECK THE F’ING CHARTS TAAAAYYYYYY-LOR. Mayer only sells 65,000 copies of his 5th studio album in its second week, but in another super-slow sales period, that’s good enough to get Born & Raised a second week on top of the Billboard 200. The album becomes Johnny M.’s first to ever spend multiple weeks at pole position, after previous #1s Heavier Things and Battle Studies spent one week each on top.

The rest of the top ten this week is pretty goddamn indie. There are only three debuts in the top ten this week, and all three might be playing at Bonnaroo this weekend for all we know—Regina Spektor (What We Saw From the Cheap Seats, #3, 42k sold), Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes (Here, #5, 35k), and Sigur Ros (Valtari, #7, 26k). All three reach chart peaks that match or tie their career bests, though obviously the slow sales week has something to do with that, as both Spektor and Sigur have notched better sales weeks in years past.

Next week, expect a number of industry vets (including the Beach Boys, Neil Young and Alan Jackson) to fight out for the top spot, and/or for the album chart to lose interest and ultimately decide not to bother even counting who sells what.

[Billboard]