Hey folks!

Just a reminder that nominations for the upcoming Best Album of 2001 tournament will close just after midnight on January 31st, or, perhaps more accurately/pedantically, February 1st. (Usual caveat: I don’t usually stay up that late, so nominations will be turned off sometime the morning of the 1st.)

• Here’s a link to the ballot. Remember, until nominations close, you can always come back and edit your ballot. Keep listening to 2001 albums! As of this writing, we have 119 ballots. For comparison, the Best Album of 1989 tournament has 167 nomination ballots after closing, and the Best Album of 2000 (which happened before 1989) had 123.

• Here’s a link to the newsletter with readers naming some of their favorite and (to them) obscure 2001 releases.

• Here are my favorites from 2001 that I was already familiar with.

• Here’s the roundup of my thoughts on some new-to-me 2001 releases: 1st batch, 2nd batch, 3rd batch, 4th batch, 5th batch.

And here is the sixth batch which will undoubtedly be linked to in a future newsletter.

Boom Boom Satellites, UMBRA (Spotify, YouTube)

Oof, my first actual “don’t like” of 2001. Even more oofier because this is at least one reader’s favorite of 2001. The idea here is a merging of rock and EDM, but, to my ear, both sides of the coin are underwhelming, undercooked. What I’m looking for from both rock and EDM are “rock out” moments, and this never achieves liftoff towards that. Note: the album contains the track "Your Reality's a Fantasy But Your Fantasy Is Killing Me” with guest Chuck D., but no one seems to have it, I imagine due to some kind of rights issues. Here’s a Coldcut remix of the track. Rating: Lukewarm.

Jenny Toomey, ANTIDOTE (Spotify)

Indie rock singer-songwriter literate-lyrics type-stuff. This is a case of “Probably actually good” but for whatever reason, just wasn’t clicking with me. (The runtime is a skosh too long, for one.) So, if you like Aimee Mann, Kristen Hersh, k., artists in that ballpark, please ignore me and give it a listen. Definitely someone’s new favorite — maybe you? Rating: Interesting/Like.

Quantic, THE 5TH EXOTIC (Spotify, YouTube)

Winner of today’s newsletter! Not sure what’s up with 2001, as this is the third exotica-meets-triphop-and/or-electronica to rock my world, joining Gotan Project’s LA RAVANCHA DEL TANGO and Tipsy’s UH-OH! for some kind of groovy triumvirate. This one is a little different in that, to my understanding, none of the instruments are sampled, but played live and then sampled from there. (You wouldn’t know it to hear it.) If anyone knows a fourth or fifth to add to this group, hit me up.

Rating: Like/Love.

Junior Brown, MIXED BAG (Spotify, YouTube)

Listened to this yesterday while scrolling through the awful news about Alex Pretti, and so kind of just wasn’t having it. Not sure how much was the album and how much was my mood. I recall really liking the last Junior Brown album I heard for the tournament (’96’s SEMI CRAZY), so gonna give this the benefit of the doubt with a Rating of Interesting/Like.

Neurosis, A SUN THAT NEVER SETS (Spotify, YouTube)

First and last song sound like if late-period Johnny Cash went full sludgedustrial (complimentary). The middle part is more, to my ear, kind of bog-standard doomy sludge, but recorded extremely well, especially the drums. (It’s Albini, natch.) A shame Scott Kelly turned out to be a horrible person, he’s very talented. Last song also ends exactly like CLOVERFIELD, which is a plus in my book. Rating: Like.

Susheela Raman, SALT RAIN (Spotify, YouTube)

Feels like one foot in “Starbucks-counter CD” and one foot in something a little thornier. But then, anything that might get slotted under “world music”[1] is a big blind spot for me, so take these opinions with a bit of salt (rain). What I think I mean, though, is that if you want something to chill out to, an eensy bit trip hop adjacent, you can have that, and if you want to listen to the lyrics and get something out of that, you can. Love the men’s voices that come in at the end of “Woman,” very classic Kate Bush. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if Raman’s a Bush fan — this feels infused with Kate’s spirit without sounding like her at all. Whether or not this album gets through, let’s keep an eye on Raman as we progress through the 2000s.

Rating: Like.

[1] Is this considered an actual genre by people who listen to this kind of music? The Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, parts of South America, the entire African continent, just swept into one bag. It has the whiff of Reverend Lovejoy referring to “Christian, Jew or… miscellaneous.” (Apu: “Hindu. There are 700 million of us.”)