#15 UPDATE! New album added to the tournament + upcoming run-off tournament
Hey folks!
The Best Album of 2000 Tournament is finally, to my mind, leaving the station and picking up speed. We have two updates today that push this thing just a little further on down the track.
FIRST UPDATE!
Last newsletter, I told you about the three albums picked by the winners of various contests. (They were !!!, !!!; The Fall, THE UNUTTERABLE; and Hannah Marcus, BLACK HOLE HEAVEN.) I wasn’t sure if I would ever make contact with the final winner, @breadharrity.bsky.social, but then out of the blue, they did! And they gave me their choice to enter directly into the Best Album of 2000 tournament:
NSYNC, NO STRINGS ATTACHED
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/20RMokVwJ2wjQ0s8FOdOFC?si=ufA9pmpaTnO2fOHjlnF-0A
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZpKeSSfcPs
In case you were wondering, this is the one with “Bye Bye Bye.” It also has this incredibly weird track called “Space Cowboy (Yippie-Yi-Yay)” that you have to hear. On Bluesky, I compared it to the infamous Simpsons track “Yvan Eht Nioj” but I’m not even sure that really gets to the heart of it.
SECOND UPDATE!
Even though all the contest winners have checked in with their album choices, we still have three more slots to fill before the Best Album of 2000 slate is complete. We’re going to determine at least one of them through a run-off tournament!
Here’s how this is going to work. This is going to be a five round bracket, which is like a four round, 16 competitor bracket, except we have one little annoying run-off run-off match because we actually have 17 competitors. The first two rounds will look like this:
Next, the seedings will be determined randomly, literally by me entering the titles into random.org, hitting the button, and taking what’s spat out. One exception: Modest Mouse’s BUILDING NOTHING OUT OF SOMETHING cannot be seeded #16 or #17, and if random.org puts it there, the entire list will be re-randomized. Why? Because BUILDING NOTHING is my #1 album of 2000 and I will not let it suffer the indignity of a run-off run-off match. I will instead let it suffer the indignity of losing to, oh I don’t know, Limp Bizkit.
Then we will run this tournament, one match a day just like in olden times. The voting will be done through Google Forms, just like the nomination voting, seed voting, and this most recent poll. As far as I can tell, people generally thought voting through Google Forms was Good Enuff™ and so we will do it again. I know we could get to the tournament through quicker means than a three week run-off tournament, but this is an opportunity to stress test Google Forms as a vehicle for voting. If it turns out there’s some heretofore hidden problem with it, I’d rather find out through this run-off tournament than the real thing.
A couple warnings. First, Google Forms requires Google Sign-In to vote. I like that; it helps enforce “one person, one vote.” If you are really opposed to signing in, let me know either through email or on Bluesky, and we’ll figure something out. Second, a match a day means you will be receiving a newsletter every day for the length of the tournament. They will be short, quickie newsletters, just announcing the newest match with a link (and the results of the previous match, I just realized), but it will a lot more communication from me then you are probably used to.
Finally, a big question: will this tournament create just one winner, or two? I’m not entirely sure yet. There are three slots left, and I’ve already decided that one of those will be an Editor’s Choice, i.e. I’m going to pick. I already know what it is, and people who follow me on Bluesky who have been paying attention could probably figure it out. Hint: you could call it a partner album to something already entered into the tournament. (It will not be BUILDING NOTHING; if that album couldn’t get in on votes, and can’t survive this run-off tournament, then it doesn’t belong here.) That leaves two slots left. It would be easy to just give it to the final two, but I have another idea up my sleeve. Still, what if I really liked the final two and wanted both to be entered? Then I might just do that. Regardless, all three slots will be filled by the end of the morning of June 18th because…
…that’s when seed voting will begin! That’s right, the next big phase of the tournament will start right after the run-off tournament. There will be a whole newsletter about it in the future, but the gist is: you’ll be given a list of all 128 albums, and you will vote for the ones you want to have a high seed, and leave blank the ones you want to have a lower seed. These votes will determine the seeds, and after that, there’s nothing left but to start the Best Album of 2000 Tournament in earnest. Seed voting will run from June 18th to June 30th.
Did I cover everything? Any other questions? Email me either by responding to this email (I think that works), hit me directly at kentmbeeson@hey.com, or “““skeet””” me on Bluesky, @bestalbumbrackets.bsky.social or @kentmbeeson.bsky.social.
Here’s the full schedule. Mark your calendars!
DATE | Events |
|---|---|
May 27-May 31, 2024 | Round 1 (Match #1), Round 2 (Matches #2-5) |
June 3-June 7, 2024 | Round 2 (Matches #6-9), Round 3 (Match #10) |
June 10-June 14, 2024 | Round 3 (Matches #11-13), Round 4 (Matches #14-15) |
June 17, 2024 | Round 5, Final Match (Match #16) |
June 18, 2024 | Seed Voting Begins! |
THE RUN-OFF ALBUMS
Here are the 17 albums entered into the Best Album of 2000 Run-off Tournament. Each one of these albums got 8 votes in the initial nomination phase, one less than necessary to qualify for the tournament. Please try to give each one a listen between now and their first match!
16 Horsepower, SECRET SOUTH
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/3xahx7Iltwae47PApCovO3?si=u-9LMciyTnGsJSJDbaTLpQ
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_muUu9jCTDVundv9ckCy1LMcXorRdrLrAM
The Apples in Stereo, THE DISCOVERY OF A WORLD INSIDE THE MOONE
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/5rH2LWLYaeVd0naDWcqiGP?si=qRy4rGZFRpOg6GhrW-7QuA
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-8t9hy0mCk
Crooked Fingers, CROOKED FINGERS
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/0a3CgMFFaPyk4H5FJdRBsZ?si=zJ2aCQqKQ4G0Sfl-91d8Cg
NOT ON YOUTUBE
The Distillers, THE DISTILLERS
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/6wqdOfBZNwJPZMV3J4RY4L?si=2jfvisR-RYuZgA1bUUa3Uw
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYim8TmI28Y
Duster, CONTEMPORARY MOVEMENT
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/6CYyrh3J08jXacgo9wHwsU?si=AZeDH7fzSk26BxK-GOJFvg
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZzMvWqFtV0
Enon, BELIEVO!
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/5dM4Pm91BOp2aGB7dZVyF3?si=s9NpP8c5QY-RALBsPyZX-g
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocG5OYNP7Mw
The For Carnation, THE FOR CARNATION
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/1tNPikqGc63Qu4CVsRya6t?si=AxJ12B1XSey2Yaa5cyU_oA
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V404enPgXlE
Lemon Jelly, LEMONJELLY.KY
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/6cugMaPzUNXXz60wNX3Amk?si=hfBFqyaaSRi06xlI2-nPmQ
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kx7m1xpaCgZXd0nZOSXGR61fK0b34-rtM
Limp Bizkit, CHOCOLATE STARFISH AND THE HOT DOG FLAVORED WATER
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/5mi7FKaWE5CtcOjdyxScA7?si=1EF8hHo6SaK5C9aClJEKuw
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_m8yfdHNSilFe3-lRVPdYK9-2MOQVuoy84
Modest Mouse, BUILDING NOTHING OUT OF SOMETHING
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/2fzFo9ypJRRla1N2IYOoQP?si=BWsrefEPQaCCvp_n2VMD5Q
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_suJxY2ozFw
Papa Roach, INFEST
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/0BHa0ePkvGAVKymB4FU58m?si=Px9EFPl9R1GYJ3MqhaeH2g
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7rN5Cz3hhk
Pearl Jam, BINAURAL
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/1RuYprt6Qlqu286h1f4dzZ?si=pqfxgNy1ReKgJdRsjEhmhA
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cqZc29DBfw
Phoenix, UNITED
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/5MBUL8d9FAYCCMrogOFX68?si=t1phiuZATUyjjGRpxFZmXg
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdbdikDCGTk
Slum Village, FANTASTIC, VOL. 2
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/3bF7UefpUmG1BAriPPLLez?si=7ur6xOh7TUS3ee70-RnfyA
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UD-Y50DPanI
Super Furry Animals, MWNG
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/7yJ43whcGIkKJQCS3hOvxN?si=KD8Cw9nHSGq6RZAmRTVVSw
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_me_2zLOW8QgUkvSHBtazCmGiuak46LqaI
Amon Tobin, SUPERMODIFIED
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/54zaC0AviuCfkDwHsUJIra?si=1iwlgcOiTFye4jDRfR8oeg
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6M5_sCIIYI
Weakling, DEAD AS DREAMS
NOT ON SPOTIFY
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnjH-ZYe59c&t=145s
