#312 Best Album of 1989 Tournament: Week #13 Wrap-Up
Hey folks!
A bit of a long newsletter today. First up, this week’s matches went pretty much as expected, even the one upset (*coughs on fingers, rubs fingernails on chest*) [What are you so smug about? Yeah you picked Nomeansno over Pogues, but you also picked Pere Ubu over Spacemen 3 — Ed.] Our one upset was WRONG over PEACE AND LOVE, by 20 votes, suggesting either WRONG was underseeded or possibly PEACE AND LOVE was overseeded. (Little girl: Why not both?) WRONG’s next match will be against Fugazi’s 13 SONGS, seeded #11; I think that actually might be WRONG’s ideal matchup, in that I think it could peel away votes from a band in more-or-less the same genre. But I’m no expert here.
I also want to mention that while both DEEP LISTENING and CLOUDLAND lost, as expected from their seed, they each did quite well, considering. DEEP LISTENING was seeded #107 and is highly experimental, so losing by only 25 votes to some classic rock-style bangers is nothing to be ashamed of. CLOUDLAND only lost by 14, and was on the rise in the last hour of the match before it ended; a little more time, and the result may have been different.
THE BEST ALBUM OF 1989 PREDICTION BRACKET TOP 20
Now that Round 1 is over, it’s time to bring back the Prediction Bracket Top 20! A little explanation for those who don’t know. Before each tournament, through Challonge, I allow anyone to make a prediction bracket and guess the winners of each match all the way through the final. Now (speaking only from personal experience), why would you want to embarrass yourself that way? Well, the person who wins this contest gets to select an album to enter into the next tournament[1], that’s why.
Now, mostly to amuse myself, each week starting after Round 1 ends, I make a chart of the current Top 20 brackets, like a Casey Kasem American Top 40 countdown. Now, slicing the Prediction Bracket standings like this means nothing; I could do it every other week, once a month, once a day, it wouldn’t change the outcome — the winner is the winner. Except! Each week, I give each bracket a number of points based on their current position — the current #1 bracket gets 20 points, the #2 bracket gets 19 points, etc. At the end of the tournament, the bracket which has the most points (which, believe it or not, is rarely the one that won the prediction bracket contest) will also get to choose an album for the next tournament[1].
[1] These prizes are only available if there are free slots available in the next tournament; sometimes they aren’t. However, contest winners always win something, even if that means delaying their prize until the tournament after next.
Anyway, without further ado, here is this week’s Top 20 which actually consists of 21 brackets. Congrats to our first weekly #1, Breathe! Breathe! Breathe! Breathe, You Bracket! I also want to note that our current #4, Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Picks, actually dominated most of Round 1, only stumbling very recently. Unfortunately, the Eye in the Sky wasn’t watching during that period, so it counts for nothing. Dirty rotten filthy stinking, indeed.
You can find the current results of the Prediction Bracket here.
THE BEST ALBUM OF 2001 TOURNAMENT
Speaking of the next tournament and contest prizes, the next tournament will be The Best Album of 2001! The end of Round 1 is traditionally the start of talking about the next tournament, so, uh, start talking. If you’re wondering just what in hell actually came out 24 years ago, you’re in luck — there’s a Google Doc with every 2001 album that people in the Best Album community have found. I can tell you right now, you’re not likely to get through the entire list before we start doing nominations, but peruse the list and find some blind spots; you’ll be glad you did. I myself will have a special For Your Consideration newsletter in a week or two to hype up the albums I already know that I think you should nominate, ideally followed sometime later with another FYC newsletter with albums I just discovered.
LAST WEEK’S RESULTS
On Monday, #11 Fugazi, 13 SONGS defeated #118 Paul McCartney, FLOWERS IN THE DIRT, 149-30-4. (183 total votes, +119)
On Tuesday, #75 Nomeansno, WRONG defeated #54 The Pogues, PEACE AND LOVE, 82-61-2. (145 total votes, +21)
On Wednesday, #22 Neil Young, FREEDOM defeated #107 Pauline Oliveros, Stuart Dempster, Panaiotis, DEEP LISTENING, 76-51-1. (128 total votes, +25)
On Thursday, #43 Spacemen 3, PLAYING WITH FIRE defeated #86 Pere Ubu, CLOUDLAND, 63-49-2. (114 total votes, +14)
On Friday, #1 Pixies, DOOLITTLE defeated #65 Beat Happening, BLACK CANDY, 131-29-3. (163 votes, +102)
NEXT WEEK’S MATCHES
Monday, August 25th: #96 Screaming Trees, BUZZ FACTORY vs. #97 The D.O.C., NO ONE CAN DO IT BETTER.
Tuesday, August 26th: #16 Galaxie 500, ON FIRE vs. #49 808 State, 90.
Wednesday, August 27th: #17 Faith No More, THE REAL THING vs. #48 "Weird Al" Yankovic, UHF - ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK AND OTHER STUFF.
Thursday, August 28th: #8 N.W.A, STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON vs. #72 Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians, QUEEN ELVIS.
Friday, August 29th: #25 Prince, BATMAN vs. #40 Chris Isaak, HEART SHAPED WORLD.
Thanks for reading and subscribing, and have a great weekend!
Kent