Atlanta rapper-actor Ludacris is back atop the national sales chart with his latest, “Battle of the Sexes,” his third No. 1 album and the first rap collection to make it to the top since Jay-Z’s “Blueprint” logged two weeks there in September.

It’s a rebound of sorts for the rhymer born Christopher Bridges, after his 2008 album, “Theater of the Mind,” made it only as high as No. 5. “Battle of the Sexes” had first-week sales of 137,000 copies, putting it just ahead of the new Gorillaz effort, “Plastic Beach,” opening at No. 2 on sales of 112,000 copies.

In a strong week for new releases, with five debuting in the Top 10, the posthumous Jimi Hendrix collection “Valleys of Neptune” enters the chart at No. 4, on sales of 95,000 copies. That’s one notch higher than the peak position of his landmark 1967 debut album, “Are You Experienced?,” and right behind 1968’s “Axis: Bold as Love” and 1971’s “The Cry of Love,” both of which peaked at No. 3. The rock guitar hero scored his only No. 1 album in 1968 with “Electric Ladyland.”

The other new entries to the chart this week are from Southland-reared country singer Gary Allan, who debuts at No. 5 on sales of 65,000 copies of “Get Off the Pain,” and  Broken Bells, the new group featuring producer Danger Mouse and Shins singer James Mercer. Their collaboration, also called “Broken Bells,” starts out at No. 7 with sales of 49,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

-- Randy Lewis

Photo of Ludacris. Credit: Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times

The singer has a movie coming out, a tour starting up and a new album to work on.

James Mercer went to the movie audition last year expecting the worst. He wasn't even an actor but a singer-songwriter and the leader of a hugely popular indie-rock band called the Shins. But he was drawn to the character of Eli, a 35-year-old musician whose band and career are hopelessly stalled. "He's now doing temp jobs and is worried about his future," Mercer says of Eli. "Kind of like me 10 years ago."

A lot can happen in a decade. He eventually got that co-starring role in "Some Days Are Better Than Others," set for release in August. And with the Shins, Mercer has risen from his early bedroom recordings in Albuquerque to be the frontman of a million-selling indie-rock band, making music emotional and philosophical, with vivid melodies and an equal flair for understated ballads and rousing pocket symphonies of pop.

The band's last album, 2007's "Wincing the Night Away," showed a weakness for pop harmonies and a tradition of song craft practiced by the likes of the Beach Boys. It debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard album chart, suggesting an army of followers waiting to hear of the Shins' every move.

"Maybe it makes you work a little harder," says Mercer, 38. "I'm trying to avoid having regrets about missing opportunities. That would be the worst thing. Like having an audience waiting, and not working hard enough, and coming out with a record that disappointed them. It's just really work. The more you put in, the more you get out."