Hey folks!

We have seven weeks before we begin nominating albums for the Best Album of 2001 tournament, so this is the time for you, and especially me, to start cramming. The goal here with the newsletter is to give you a recap of my 2001 listens every week, a kind of guide, if you will, towards what I think you should nominate and maybe what you shouldn’t. At the same time, though, you can’t take my word for it. (Not sure you can take my word for anything, to be honest.) If something I list here sounds interesting, then go for it. I have particular tastes, and the stuff that rocks my boat and the stuff that doesn’t probably seems random to passers-by.

You know what? Let’s go to the tape. And by “the tape,” I mean a series of .jpgs of my 2001 rankings so far, everything from LOVE to LEAVE IT. You’ll find stuff that I know you have absolutely no time for in the LOVE category and famous, critically-acclaimed albums get, uh, less than that. Here is that list:

For the record, as of this writing (not that it’s likely to change), the best album of 2001 is a tie between Andrew W.K., I GET WET and Life Without Buildings, ANY OTHER CITY.

Here’s what I heard the last week or so:

Air, 10 0000 HZ LEGEND (Spotify, YouTube)

I bought MOON SAFARI when it came out, on the strength of “Sexy Boy,” and I recall finding it disappointing at the time, and I know I found it disappointing when it showed up in the 1998 tournament. “Sexy Boy” is great, but the rest of the album is just sonic marshmallow fluff. Great if you need something to fall asleep to, but otherwise not my tempo. I was expecting the same here, so I was almost jump-scared when it began sounding like early, accessible Autechre. “Is the whole thing going to be like that?” I wondered. No! Of course not! It’s Air! But this has a backbeat backbone that was missing from the first album, while holding onto that warm, cloudy Air feeling, and that makes a big difference for me. Rating: Like.

Cannibal Ox, THE COLD VEIN (Spotify, YouTube)

The great thing about these tournaments is that they can reveal to you a new album that you instantly love; the bad thing is, that can curdle into “You mean I could’ve been listening to this for the last 25 years AND I HAVEN’T?!!?” Imagine early Wu-Tang — gritty New York “don’t fuck with me” beats — but if RZA was less interested in martial arts movies and more into Eno, Moroder, and Yes. (The rapping is more like producer El-P’s style, so forewarning on that.) This is tremendous, like nothing that was being made at the time and, more important to me, like nothing be made now, a road not taken. (Opener “Iron Galaxy” sounds like if cLOUDDEAD were interested in being accessible.) Need to have a regular date night with this. Rating: LOVE.

Chimaira, PASS OUT OF EXISTENCE (Spotify, YouTube)

This is a favorite of Friend of Best Album @onetrueposter.bsky.social and, uh, wish I could concur. It’s not a difficult listen, it’s not bad. The problem is me. This is nu-metal, and the thing about nu-metal is that it was made for kids. (If you’ll pardon a brief bit of gender essentialism, it’s like boy bands were made for teen girls and nu-metal was made for teen boys.) To my ear, there’s an adolescent whininess that defines nu-metal, and I was like 25 when it exploded onto the scene, so it was always greasy kid stuff to me. That whininess is all over the place here (and I barely noticed the sampling, which is reportedly what defines this against other Chimaira releases) and it just unleashes my cranky old man “get a job!” side. Look, I don’t even like WHITE PONY, the one agreed-upon nu-metal masterpiece, very much, so triangulate against that. Rating: Interesting/Like.

Eels, SOULJACKER (Spotify, YouTube)

The first time I experienced the Eels was the single “Novocaine for the Soul,” which starts with bandleader E muttering in the smallest, most passive-aggressive way possible, “Life is hard/and so am I.” I hated them immediately. Actually, I believe my first reaction was “Oh my god, shut the fuck up.” (And then I saw the album’s literalized cover and hated them even more.) The tournament has forced me to listen to several Eels albums since then, and I’ve slowly come to the realization that they are Not Terrible. (“Don’t buy!”) So imagine my shock when I started this and found myself really liking it. Yes, it sounds like Beck. In fact, it sounds like a version of Beck that would’ve written “Novocaine for the Soul,” but that’s okay, the Beck part overrides that. Furthermore, a couple songs fucking rock in a way that I’ve never heard Eels rock before. In fact, every song on here is a banger. Also, it’s a 40 minute album in 2001. Rating: Like/Love. Holy shit.

Fennesz, ENDLESS SUMMER (Spotify, YouTube)

So this is an electronic artist who, here, is mixing guitar with glitchy beats. Reviews note the melodies underneath the glitch, and uh, in that department I need more than what’s on offer here. It’s fine I guess? But if I’m going to listen to something like this, it may as well be Autechre. Rating: Interesting/Like and that might be overrating it a bit.

Le Tigre, FEMINIST SWEEPSTAKES (Spotify, YouTube)

It’s Le Tigre! It’s electroclash! It’s loud and angry but also fun and danceable! It’s probably better overall than the first album, if lacking a “Deceptacon” or “Hot Topic.” Recommended! ‘Nuff said! Rating: Like, bordering on Like/Love.

Pig Destroyer, PROWLER IN THE YARD (Spotify, YouTube)

From Le Tigre to Pig Destroyer — we contain multitudes here at the Best Album home office. Not much to say; this is a grindcore album, 22 songs in 36 minutes, bookended with a nasty, gross short story/prose poem, one of the few places you’ll unfortunately be able to understand the words. All I ask from a grindcore album is that it keep my interest over the running time and that the sub-one minute songs feel like they earn their brevity. This passes. Rating: Like.

Rebaelliun, ANNIHILATION (Spotify, YouTube)

Not much to say here either — this is death metal, the particular variety that, to my ear, is descended primarily from thrash band Slayer. Brazilian metal bands take their shit seriously, and Rebaelliun is no different. (Shame about the dumb name, though.) I like a death metal album that runs up against the genre’s anti-rhythm with rhythmic vocals, and that’s what’s on display here. In the end, all I ask from a death metal album is that it rock, and this does so with flying colors. Rating: Like/Love.

Tricky, BLOWBACK (Spotify, YouTube)

Remember earlier how I said that I wish I could’ve been listening to THE COLD VEIN for these last 25 years? Here’s the opposite of that experience, where there’s no way I could’ve appreciated this at the time, but now I can see it for the terrific release it is. This is Tricky going all-out mainstream after some flops, and in this context mainstream means alt-rock. In the context of MAXINQUAYE and PRE-MILLENNIUM TENSION, it’s a complete sell-out, but what Tricky got in return are a bunch of bangers, so this is some law of conservation of energy shit. There’s one track where he’s supported by the fuckin’ Red Hot Chili Peppers and I loved it. What the fuck. Rating: Like/Love.

BONUS RECOMMENDATION: Gotan Project, LA REVANCHA DEL TANGO (Spotify, YouTube)

I mentioned this one in an earlier newsletter, but I just want to get it back in front your eyes and ears. I’ve listened to it a couple more times, and it’s really lovely — if you liked Juana Molina’s surprise tournament hit SEGUNDO (and if you dig Tipsy’s 1996 album TRIP TEASE), I think there’s something for you here. It’s turning into “an album to write by,” which is about as high an honor I can bestow. (Yes, it’s still currently listed as LIKE/LOVE; that’ll likely change.)

See you next week with another 2001 field report!

Kent