The Civil Wars Debut at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart

The Civil Wars Debut at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart

Though the duo may be on a touring hiatus, the Civil Wars are celebrating their first No. 1 album this week. The act's new self-titled set debuts atop the Billboard 200 chart, selling 116,000 copies according to Nielsen SoundScan. LATEST FROM CIVIL WARS It's easily the best sales week for the pair (Joy Williams and John Paul White) who previously saw a one-week high after the Grammy Awards in 2012, when their full-length debut, "Barton Hollow," shifted 36,000. Its sales that week were buoyed by the duo's performance on the Awards, which shot the album from No. 41 to its peak of No. 10 on the chart. The Civil Wars has been on hiatus since last November, citing "internal discord and irreconcilable differences of ambition." While the act is not performing shows to promote the new album, Williams has been giving interviews to the press. White, however, has been keeping a low profile and has not spoke to the media. A sturdy 69% of "The Civil Wars'" first week sales came from digital retailers. Its download sales of 81,000 easily place it at No. 1 on the Digital Albums chart as well. Last week's No. 1, Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines," falls to No. 3 with 65,000 (down 63%). The runner-up title last week, Five Finger Death Punch's "The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell, Volume 1," falls to No. 8 with 35,000 (down 69%). The new "Now 47" compilation arrives at No. 2 this week with 82,000 -- a figure slightly lower than the 91,000 that the "Now 46" set started with in May. All 47 of the regular, numbered, "Now" albums have reached the top 10, and all but the first debuted in the top 10. The Civil Wars: Track-By-Track Review Jay Z's "Magna Carta… Holy Grail" slides 3-4 with 48,000 (down 22%) and the "Teen Beach Movie" soundtrack holds at No. 6 with 38,000 (down 19%). Rock band Asking Alexandria nets its highest-charting album and best sales week yet, as "From Death to Destiny" debuts at No. 5 with 41,000. It surpasses the No. 9 debut and peak of its last release, 2011's "Reckless & Relentless," which moved 31,000 in its first week. Imagine Dragons' "Night Visions" profits from a $7.99 sale price in the iTunes Store, as the album vaults from No. 11 to No. 7 with 37,000 (up 46%). In terms of download sales, it rose by 87% for the week (climbing 10-3 on the Digital Albums chart). Gospel artist Tye Tribbett claims his first top 10 album, as his new "Greater Than" bows at No. 9 with a career-best sales frame of 30,000. He had previously gone as high as No. 16 with "Stand Out" (with his group G.A.). "Greater Than" also enter at No. 1 on the Gospel Albums chart -- Tribbett's fourth leader on that tally. Rounding out the top 10 on the Billboard 200 this week is Florida Georgia Line's "Here's to the Good Times," which is a non-mover at No. 10 with 26,000 (down 8%). THICKE HOLDS, JAY Z RISES ON DIGITAL SONGS CHART Over on the Digital Songs chart, Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" (featuring Pharrell and T.I.) holds at No. 1 for a tenth non-consecutive week, selling another 346,000 downloads (down 14%). Jay Z's "Holy Grail" (featuring Justin Timberlake) rises 3-2 with 166,000 (up 2%), Miley Cyrus' "We Can't Stop" falls 2-3 with 158,000 (down 10%) and Imagine Dragons' "Radioactive" is steady at No. 4 with 132,000 (down 15%). Anna Kendrick's "Cups" is a non-mover at No. 5 (114,000; up 4%), Avicii's "Wake Me Up!" jets 9-6 (113,000; up 13%) and Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" (featuring Pharrell Williams) is stationary at No. 7 (just under 113,000; up 10%). Drake's "Hold On, We're Going Home" is the chart's highest debut, as it starts at No. 8 with 109,000. The track features Canadian duo Majid Jordan and the latest preview single from Drake's upcoming studio album, "Nothing Was the Same." Lana Del Rey's breakout single "Summertime Sadness" (with Cedric Gervais), zips into the top 10, rising 13-9 with 101,000 (up 24%). 64% of the song's overall sales this week come from the uptempo dance remix produced by Gervais. The song was originally recorded as a dreamy ballad for Del Rey's "Born to Die" album. The track concurrently rises 22-17 on the Pop Songs airplay chart (known as Mainstream Top 40 on Billboard.biz) with a 47% gain in audience on top 40 radio. Drake's OVO Fest Surprises With Kanye West, Lil Wayne Capital Cities' "Safe and Sound" closes the top 10, as it falls 8-10 with 99,000 (down 3%). Overall album sales in this past chart week (ending Aug. 11) totaled 4.71 million units, down 7% compared with the sum last week (5.08 million) and down 5% compared with the comparable sales week of 2012 (4.96 million). Year to date album sales stand at 171.01 million, down 6% compared to the same total at this point last year (182.24 million). Digital track sales this past week totaled 22.10 million downloads, down 3% compared with last week (22.76 million) and down 8% stacked next to the comparable week of 2012 (24.03 million). Year to date track sales are at 820.24 million, down 3% compared to the same total at this point last year (845.43 million). Next week's Billboard 200 competes with the same week in 2012 when: 2 Chainz's "Based on a T.R.U. Story" debuted at No. 1 with 147,000. The previous week's No. 1, the "Now 43" compilation, fell to No. 2 with 75,000 (down 32%).



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Circling 'The Bling Ring' hot (or not) spots around Los Angeles

Circling 'The Bling Ring' hot (or not) spots around Los Angeles

In Hollywood, all that glitters is not gold — or even fool's gold. That's the lesson Anne Ross learned last year while working as a production designer on "The Bling Ring," Sofia Coppola's film about a group of teenagers so desperate to get close to celebrity that they broke into stars' mansions. The movie, in theaters this weekend, is based on the true story of a 2009 crime spree, during which a gaggle of San Fernando Valley youths burglarized the homes of Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, Orlando Bloom, Brian Austin Green, Audrina Patridge and Rachel Bilson. Before "The Bling Ring" began, Ross, a New Yorker, wasn't particularly familiar with Los Angeles but, like many transplants, had formed her own image of the city through its media depictions. Many of the trendy spots the crime circle frequented were often featured in television and film. GRAPHIC: Bling Ring locations Though they were underage, the Bling Ring often spent its evenings at now-defunct L.A. nightclubs such as Les Deux or Guys & Dolls — after-hours joints seen on "The Hills," an MTV reality show on which Patridge appeared. The ring used stolen wads of cash to shop at Kitson, a paparazzi hot spot on Robertson Boulevard. It even set up shop on the Venice Beach boardwalk, selling the things it had stolen for pocket change. "The Bling Ring" production team scouted 43 clubs and bars to find the right locations to replicate the Bling Ring's night-life crawl. Stephen Dorff, who starred in Coppola's film "Somewhere," even took the filmmaker and Ross out to Greystone Manor so they could experience the party scene firsthand. "It was the trashiest, craziest place," Ross recalled. "I had never seen bottle service before, and we were all flabbergasted. We didn't know what to make of it. A lot of those places are all made of really crappy plywood and have bad paint jobs that look OK in the dark." Much of the scouting process was disillusioning, Ross admitted. She and location manager Christopher Miller, a California native, spent hours driving around the San Fernando Valley so she could familiarize herself with the area where the criminals grew up. She was surprised to realize that the "white, beige boxes" where most of the kids were raised didn't look much different than the celebrities' homes. So she took liberties in designing the stars' big-screen mansions, which in reality "weren't as grand as you'd like them to be," she said. PHOTOS: The original 'Bling Ring' - Where are they now Patridge, arguably the least recognizable Bling Ring victim, got a major home upgrade in the film. At the time her home was burglarized, the MTV reality show star was living in a Spanish-style Hollywood Hills home that cost her $1.15 million to buy. In the movie, however, her home looks far more expensive — a glass-walled, ultra-modern abode perched atop a hill with an expansive view of the city's glittering lights. "At first, I was like, 'She's the poorest one of the bunch. She's never going to have this house,'" Ross said. "But the cinematographer loved the way we saw the kids break into it from afar, making them look like rats trapped in this glass home. It was the right call." There was, however, one location that didn't disappoint: the home owned by Paris Hilton inside the gated Mulholland Estates community. Hilton, who still lives there, agreed to let Coppola go into her closets and nightclub room to film numerous scenes for the picture. "She has a smaller house where I think she just throws parties, but the home where we filmed was incredible," Ross said. It may seem perplexing that Hilton was willing to open up her private space after having it invaded so publicly by the Bling Ring, who broke in six times and stole upward of $2 million worth of goods. The 32-year-old, however, said she is not concerned about the movie causing her any additional security issues. "I've put in an advanced security system with laser systems. Security guards are always there, and there are cameras everywhere," Hilton said. "So if anyone tries to get in, they're going to get caught." amy.kaufman@latimes.com



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