Hey folks!

Round 3 has officially begun! And so far, no surprises. (Wrong album, dummy - Ed.) All the higher seeds won their matches. Even the one that I thought would be close, #16 Grandaddy vs. #17 O Brother soundtrack, wasn’t. And despite what I said last week, I don’t think the choices will that tough this week… with the exception of Friday’s match. That could be interesting.

Here are some Round 2-specific records:

Most # of votes in a match: #4 Radiohead, KID A over #61 The Jayhawks, SMILE, 139 total votes.

Least # of votes in a match: #82 Dead Prez, LET’S GET FREE over #111 Juana Molina, SEGUNDO, 74 total votes.

Most # of winning votes: #4 Radiohead, KID A (101 votes) over #61 The Jayhawks, SMILE.

Least # of winning votes: #82 Dead Prez, LET’S GET FREE (37 votes) over #111 Juana Molina, SEGUNDO, which also tied with 37 votes. In the event of a tie, winner goes to highest seed.

Most # of losing votes: #13 Belle & Sebastian, FOLD YOUR HANDS CHILD, YOU WALK LIKE A PEASANT (61 votes) losing to #52 Lambchop, NIXON (62 votes).

Least # of losing votes: #85 Wu-Tang Clan, THE W (14 votes) losing to #21 Ghostface Killah, SUPREME CLIENTELE (77 votes).

Most crushing defeat: #2 PJ Harvey, STORIES FROM THE CITY, STORIES FROM THE SEA (92 votes) over #66 Idlewild, 100 BROKEN WINDOWS (24 votes) by 68 votes.

Biggest squeaker: #82 Dead Prez, LET’S GET FREE (37 votes) over #111 Juana Molina, SEGUNDO (0 vote difference).

Most abstentions: A three-way tie, each with 3 abstentions: #4 Radiohead, KID A over #61 The Jayhawks, SMILE; #12 D’Angelo, VOODOO #76 over De La Soul, ART OFFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: MOSAIC THUMP; #17 Various Artists, O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?: MUSIC FROM A FILM BY JOEL & ETHAN COEN over #81 Kylie Minogue, LIGHT YEARS.

Upsets: We only had two upsets this round — #52 Lambchop, NIXON over #13 Belle & Sebastian, FOLD YOUR HANDS CHILD, YOU WALK LIKE A PEASANT, and #37 Jurassic 5, QUALITY CONTROL over #28 Peaches, THE TEACHES OF PEACHES.

THE BEST ALBUM OF 2000 PREDICTION BRACKET TOP 20 COUNTDOWN

We have a new #1! This week You have GOT to be Kid A-ing me! finally unseated And He Also Made False Predictions after its seven weeks at #1. The score is still close between the two, so this could reverse itself at any time. Elsewhere in the chart, The Color of Molasses inched itself up to a new high of #3, and Your Grandchild is a Bracket, Not a Pay Check entered the top ten for the first time at #8. The biggest movers were Oops!...I'm Losing Again (at #12), sctttnnnt (at #13) and KID B (at #13), all moving up six. The biggest dropper was What'll We Do With The Bracket-O, from #13 to #19. We had two debuts and one re-debut this week. I'm Sorry Ms. Harvey, I Am Surreal re-debuted at #16 for its third non-consecutive week on the chart, and Mr. Me's Beautiful Bracket and dorsalstop2000 both came in at #17. We lost four brackets from last week: Good Fortune (last week #10), My Bracket is More Sad and Painful Than Yours (last week #14), Rated R you serious? (last week #16) and Oh Neko, There Art Thou (last week #19). Hope to see you four again soon!

LAST WEEK’S RESULTS

On Monday, #11 Godspeed You! Black Emperor, LIFT YOUR SKINNY FISTS LIKE ANTENNAS TO HEAVEN defeated #75 Asian Dub Foundation, COMMUNITY MUSIC, 64-28. (92 votes, +36).

On Tuesday, #22 Queens of the Stone Age, RATED R defeated #43 Elastica, THE MENACE, 59-43 (102 votes, +16).

On Wednesday, Round 3 began, and #1 OutKast, STANKONIA defeated #33 Death Cab for Cutie, WE HAVE THE FACTS AND WE'RE VOTING YES 96-24-1 (121 votes, +72).

On Thursday, #16 Grandaddy, THE SOPHTWARE SLUMP defeated #17 Various Artists, O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?: MUSIC FROM A FILM BY JOEL & ETHAN COEN, 74-60 (134 votes, +14).

On Friday, #8 The White Stripes, DE STIJL vs. #25 Badly Drawn Boy, THE HOUR OF BEWILDERBEAST, 73-47 (120 votes, +26).

NEXT WEEK’S MATCHES

Monday, January 20th: #9 The Avalanches, SINCE I LEFT YOU vs. #24 Broadcast, THE NOISE MADE BY PEOPLE.

Tuesday, January 21st: #4 Radiohead, KID A vs. #29 Johnny Cash, AMERICAN III: SOLITARY MAN.

Wednesday, January 22nd: #20 Erykah Badu, MAMA’S GUN vs. #52 Lambchop, NIXON.

Thursday, January 23rd: #5 Yo La Tengo, AND THEN NOTHING TURNED ITSELF INSIDE-OUT vs. #37 Jurassic 5, QUALITY CONTROL.

Friday, January 24th: #12 D'Angelo, VOODOO vs. #21 Ghostface Killah, SUPREME CLIENTELE.

If you haven’t heard these 10 albums yet… Who am I Kid A-ing? Of course you have!

Kent