Hey folks!

The seventh week of the Best Album of 2001 is over! The big news is we had two upsets this week. #66 LAUNDRY SERVICE had a pretty solid victory over #63 MUSICFORTHEMORNINGAFTER, by 39 votes. Now, this was a mid-60s match, so upsets aren’t too uncommon (both albums got 16 nomination votes and MFTMA got one more seed vote than LAUNDRY, so it was effectively 50/50), but it’s always a little exciting when it happens. But then, #85 GLOBAL A GO-GO squeaked out a win against #44 HOT SHOTS II by 10 votes. (In the Bluesky era, 10 votes is more than it seems, probably the Twitter equivalent of 25-40; still, in the Bluesky era, I’ve also seen leads of 10 votes and more disappear.) Not sure what happened — Joe Strummer’s name recognition? HOT SHOTS II overseeded? — but this is why we run the matches.

In other news, on Wednesday evening, singer/songwriter and sex pest Ryan Adams was brutally beaten by five rich kids from Manhattan. The cause of the altercation is unknown, with one bystander describing it as “hard to explain.” Adams was left many injuries, including a ruptured aorta, and was taken to Mount Sinai, where he has been busted up and broken up since. When reached for comment, Adams said, “I no longer love you New York.”

LAST WEEK’S RESULTS

On Monday, #21 Le Tigre, FEMINIST SWEEPSTAKES defeated #108 k., NEW PROBLEMS, 109-58-1. (168 total votes, +51)

On Tuesday, #85 Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros, GLOBAL A GO-GO defeated #44 The Beta Band, HOT SHOTS II, 113-103-2. (218 total votes, +10)

On Wednesday, #2 The Strokes, IS THIS IT defeated #127 Ryan Adams, GOLD, 268-21-4. (293 total votes, +247)

On Thursday, #66 Shakira, LAUNDRY SERVICE defeated #63 Pete Yorn, MUSICFORTHEMORNINGAFTER, 117-78-1. (196 votes, +39)

On Friday, #31 The Dismemberment Plan, CHANGE defeated #98 De La Soul, AOI: BIONIX, 101-58-2. (161 total votes, +43)

NEXT WEEK’S MATCHES

Monday, May 11th: #34 Silver Jews, BRIGHT FLIGHT vs. #95 Princess Superstar, PRINCESS SUPERSTAR IS.

Tuesday, May 12th: #15 Aaliyah, AALIYAH vs. #114 Hope Sandoval and the Warm Inventions, BAVARIAN FRUIT BREAD.

Wednesday, May 13th: #50 Four Tet, PAUSE vs. #79 Fennesz, ENDLESS SUMMER.

Thursday, May 14th: #18 Stephen Malkmus, STEPHEN MALKMUS vs. #111 Kaija Saariaho & Esa-Pekka Salonen, SAARIAHO: GRAAL THÉÂTRE, CHÂTEAU DE L'ÂME & AMERS.

Friday, May 15th: #47 Death Cab for Cutie, THE PHOTO ALBUM vs. #82 Sloan, PRETTY TOGETHER.

We currently have Designated Cheerleaders for… absolutely none of the above! If you’d like to write one (or more!) of the albums up, send it to kentmbeeson@hey.com. Thanks!

Best,

Kent