HAVING A WILD WEEKEND

Indie stalwarts Vampire Weekend’s eagerly anticipated sophomore album, Contra, on XL Recordings/Beggars Banquet and distributed by WMG’s ADA, looks headed for a chart-topping debut next week with between 110-120k.

The Upper West Side Soweto Afropop from these Columbia University alumni is hitting the sweet spot with younger buyers, especially at digital outlets, where more than 50% of their sales are coming from. A nice set-up, which included live performances on The Tonight Show, L.A.'s influential KCRW and a night of release show in L.A. along with a a massive online presence, including several free streams, helped contribute to the strong start.

That’s based on one-day sales reports from those retailers who haven't thrown their hats into the ring for the 11:30 p.m. slot on NBC.

The Vampire Weekend story could be historic, as it would be the first #1 record for ADA, which also has Transference, the new album from Merge Records act Spoon coming next Tuesday. That release might just give the indie distribbery two chart-toppers in a row.

The competition for the two alternative superstars is—who else?—Susan Boyle, whose Syco/Columbia album will be around 95-100k this week after selling 93k last week.

The only other album of note hitting this week is Music Works/EMI’s Omarion, which looks to be in the 18-22k range.

Despite a strong top of the chart, which was actually up over a comparable period last year, overall sales are still down.

The market was down 24% vs. last week, down 5% vs. same week last year and down 5% year to date. That upturn was shorter than Conan O’Brien’s stint on the Tonight Show.