Hey folks!

IMPORTANT PSA: In case you missed it, there’s going to be a Best Album of 2001 Virtual Karaoke Event on June 14th! But our intrepid organizers @lanna.bsky.social and @nanette.bsky.social need you to let them know some things: where in the world you are so a good start time can be chosen, if you want to sing (you don’t have to!), and if so, what. Please go here and take a minute to fill out the form. Thanks!

The eleventh week of the Best Album of 2001 is over! Generally, a non-surprising week: all the higher seeds won their matches. Look a little closer, though, and it’s more interesting than that. RIDE THE SKIES was a #99 seed and a notoriously divisive listen, but managed to only lose by 12 votes. LA REVANCHA DEL TANGO lost to THE BLUEPRINT by 15 votes, which is pretty wild for a #14/#115 matchup, but it was actually a lot closer than that total indicates — DEL TANGO was usually only 6-10 votes behind at any given moment, and THE BLUEPRINT only got those last 5 votes in the last 20 minutes when I reposted the match. This does not bode well for THE BLUEPRINT in future rounds. Finally, the GET READY/SONGS IN A MINOR match, while won by GET READY by 5, was one of those coin flip matches, where both albums took leads across all 24 hours. Another hour, and it could easily been a different result.

LAST WEEK’S RESULTS

On Monday, #30 Yeah Yeah Yeahs, YEAH YEAH YEAHS ep vs #99 Lightning Bolt, RIDE THE SKIES, 112-98-2. (212 total votes, +14)

On Tuesday, #35 Life Without Buildings, ANY OTHER CITY vs. #94 Firewater, PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY, 106-41-1. (148 total votes, +65)

On Wednesday, #14 Jay-Z, THE BLUEPRINT vs. #115 Gotan Project, LA REVANCHA DEL TANGO, 96-81-6. (183 total votes, +15)

On Thursday, #51 New Order, GET READY vs. #78 Alicia Keys, SONGS IN A MINOR, GO PLASTIC, 104-99-5. (208 votes, +5)

On Friday, #19 Kylie Minogue, FEVER vs. #110 Zero 7, SIMPLE THINGS, 111-42-1. (154 total votes, +69, nice)

NEXT WEEK’S MATCHES

Monday, June 8th: #46 Tortoise, STANDARDS vs. #83 Prefuse 73, VOCAL STUDIES + UPROCK NARRATIVES.

Tuesday, June 9th: #6 Radiohead, AMNESIAC vs. #123 Whiskeytown, PNEUMONIA.

Wednesday, June 10th: #59 Beulah, THE COAST IS NEVER CLEAR vs. #70 Destiny's Child, SURVIVOR.

Thursday, June 11th: #27 Cannibal Ox, THE COLD VEIN vs. #102 The Dirtbombs, ULTRAGLIDE IN BLACK.

Friday, June 12th: #38 Tool, LATERALUS vs. #91 Explosions in the Sky, THOSE WHO TELL THE TRUTH SHALL DIE, THOSE WHO TELL THE TRUTH SHALL LIVE FOREVER.

We currently have a Designated Cheerleader for THE COAST IS NEVER CLEAR and that’s it. If you’d like to write one for one of the other albums, send it to kentmbeeson@hey.com. Thanks!

Best,

Kent