Hey folks!

The first week of the Best Album of 2001 is over! Generally, nothing too unexpected happened this week, unlike the first week of 1989 when we had two surprise upsets. One point of interest was that while YANKEE HOTEL FOXTROT defeated IOWA handily as expected, IOWA didn’t take it sitting down, and had what is probably the second best performance of a #128 seed, nabbing 27.5% of the vote. (In the 1999 tournament, #128 seed Choking Victim got nearly 30% of the vote against #1 The Magnetic Fields.) Anyway, great job Slipknot!

LAST WEEK’S RESULTS

On Monday, #1 Wilco, YANKEE HOTEL FOXTROT defeated #128 Slipknot, IOWA, 261-99-1. (361 total votes, +162)

On Tuesday, #64 Rufus Wainwright, POSES defeated #65 Kings of Convenience, QUIET IS THE NEW LOUD, 141-86-2. (229 total votes, +55)

On Wednesday, #32 Mary J. Blige, NO MORE DRAMA defeated #97 Stars of the Lid, THE TIRED SOUNDS OF STARS OF THE LID, 140-65-1. (206 total votes, +75)

On Thursday, #16 Low, THINGS WE LOST IN THE FIRE defeated #113 Thursday, FULL COLLAPSE, 161-52-2. (215 votes, +109)

On Friday, #33 Aesop Rock, LABOR DAYS defeated #96 Tori Amos, STRANGE LITTLE GIRLS, 127-67-1. (195 total votes, +60)

NEXT WEEK’S MATCHES

Monday, March 30th: #49 Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, NO MORE SHALL WE PART vs. #80 Roots Manuva, RUN COME SAVE ME.

Tuesday, March 31st: #17 Cake, COMFORT EAGLE vs. #112 Margo Guryan, 25 DEMOS.

Wednesday, April 1st: #48 Ben Folds, ROCKIN' THE SUBURBS vs. #81 The Langley Schools Music Project, INNOCENCE AND DESPAIR.

Thursday, April 2nd: #8 Gillian Welch, TIME (THE REVELATOR) vs. #121 Ash, FREE ALL ANGELS.

Friday, April 3rd: #57 Jim O'Rourke, INSIGNIFICANCE vs. #72 Kristin Hersh, SUNNY BORDER BLUE.

Hope you had a great week, and I’ll see you again… in just a few moments, as I have a Very Special Newsletter to send out. See you then!

Kent