The soundtrack for the new Twilight movie is at #1 this week in it’s first full week of release (it was #2 last week despite being released on a Friday instead of the usual Tuesday.) I must admit that I bought this soundtrack even though I rarely buy movie soundtracks and even though I think the whole Twilight thing is crap. The line-up is pretty impressive (Thom Yorke, Deathcab for Cutie, Muse, Bon Iver, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Editors, & Grizzly Bear are among those on this compilation) and all of the recordings are original to this soundtrack (never previously released.)

Rammstein’s new album debuted at #13 which is their highest charting album ever. Huh? I had no idea there were so many (any?) Rammstein fans in the US. Color me surprised!

Flight of the Conchords (the humorous duo is most well known for the HBO program by the same name) also debuted with a new album. They’re at #19 with I Told You I Was Freaky. Their last album (self titled first studio album which was a soundtrack to their first season on HBO) debuted at #3 last year which I guess means FotC mania is dying down a bit? Or maybe it’s because many of the songs were already released on ITunes (following their airing on TV.) This is the soundtrack to their second season on HBO.

Karen O And The Kids are at #43 with the soundtrack for Where The Wild Things Are. I bought this soundtrack too. This is quite unusual for me to have bought two soundtracks so close together because as I was saying, I normally don’t buy soundtracks. But this is quite good along with being ridiculously cute. The movie is fantastic, by the way. The soundtrack is definitely meant to be bought by those who see the movie, as it’s closely intertwined (including clips from the movie.)

The Beatles In Mono Box Set has re-entered the chart at #45, it had dropped off the chart entirely because it hadn’t been available for some time. It only went back in stock on Friday. It should be interesting to see how this (and the Stereo Box Set) does through the Christmas season. #45 may not seem that good, but you must consider that this box costs about $240.

The Flaming Lips‘ Embryonic fell from #8 to #51 in it’s second week. That’s not too surprising as it’s pretty much the norm for indie bands to drop a lot from the debut week (I know they’re on a major label, but I don’t care about that. In spirit the Lips are definitely “indie.”) They have a pretty good following who are going to buy their album no matter what when it comes out. But since they’re not getting much publicity to reach new fans, the sales quickly go down.

I and Love and You by The Avett Brothers only dropped from #54 to #63 in it’s 4th week. This is a great album. Although I’m not sold that it’s better than their 2007 album Emotionalism which I really love.

Monsters of Folk’s self titled debut album went from #61 to #76 in it’s 5th week. I haven’t got this yet, but I intend to check it out as I’m a big fan of M. Ward (and to a lesser extent Bright Eyes & My Morning Jacket.)

Sufjan Stevens debuted at #171 with BQE. I’m a little surprised by that. I thought he was more popular than he is. But I just looked his past chart positions up and I see that Illinois only peaked at #121. His highest charting to date is actually The Avalanche: Outtakes and Extras from the Illinois Album which hit #71.

I think about this a bit. How someone can almost seen “overexposed” in the “indie” world but in the mainstream world, people don’t even know who they are. This dichotomy I find quite interesting. The whole world of popular music has really been cut up into different niche markets that barely know (or acknowledge, anyway) each others existence.

You can find all of these albums at Amazon.com (check out their “bestsellers” list too, it’s usually slightly less creepy than the Billboard chart.)