Hey folks!

As of this writing, there’s still a couple hours left before the Best Album of 2001 Virtual Karaoke Event! Please go here and take a minute to fill out the intention (sing or no sing) form and then go here and fill out the sign up sheet for performance time right here. Thanks!

The twelfth week of the Best Album of 2001 is over! And a pretty wild week it was, even if there was only one upset. That upset was #70 SURVIVOR over #59 THE COAST IS NEVER CLEAR, which, looking at it (huge pop success vs. little-known indie) isn’t that much of a surprise. Stay tuned next round when SURVIVOR takes on AMNESIAC; that oughtta be interesting.

Then we had a shock as #102 ULTRAGLIDE IN BLACK came extremely close to defeating #27 THE COLD VEIN, only losing by 4 votes. As you may or may not know, the policy for ties, for nearly the entire life of the tournament, has been tie goes to the higher seed (so if this was a tie, THE COLD VEIN still would’ve won). I’m pretty close to reversing that policy for the next tournament. If ULTRAGLIDE IN BLACK, a #102 seed that “should’ve” only generated approximately 40 votes, got over a hundred and managed to tie with the #27 seed, and then I would have to declare that #102 seed the losing album… that’s just embarrassing. That’s not right. I’m a big believer in not changing things mid-stream unless absolutely necessary, so the 2001 tournament will keep the “tie goes to higher seed” policy. But next tournament, ties will probably go to the lower seed. As always, I encourage you to send me your opinions on any policy change before I do anything.

Then we had a second shock as #38 LATERALUS defeated #91 THOSE WHO TELL THE TRUTH SHALL DIE, THOSE WHO TELL THE TRUTH SHALL LIVE FOREVER by a single vote. This was neck-and-neck the entire time, and not only could an extra hour have changed the result, an extra minute could’ve changed the result. Basically a coin flip. Fun fact: this is the third Tool album to be in the Best Album tournaments, and the first to get to Round 2. That’s right, both UNDERTOW and AENIMA were eliminated in Round 1.

Amusingly, next round, under-performers THE COLD VEIN and LATERALUS will face each other. Should be fun!

LAST WEEK’S RESULTS

On Monday, #46 Tortoise, STANDARDS defeated #83 Prefuse 73, VOCAL STUDIES + UPROCK NARRATIVES, 77-58-3. (138 total votes, +19)

On Tuesday, #6 Radiohead, AMNESIAC defeated #123 Whiskeytown, PNEUMONIA, 175-30-4. (209 total votes, +145)

On Wednesday, #70 Destiny's Child, SURVIVOR defeated #59 Beulah, THE COAST IS NEVER CLEAR, 89-73-2. (164 total votes, +16)

On Thursday, #27 Cannibal Ox, THE COLD VEIN defeated #102 The Dirtbombs, ULTRAGLIDE IN BLACK, 109-105-1. (215 votes, +4)

On Friday, #38 Tool, LATERALUS defeated #91 Explosions in the Sky, THOSE WHO TELL THE TRUTH SHALL DIE, THOSE WHO TELL THE TRUTH SHALL LIVE FOREVER, 119-118-3. (240 total votes, +1)

NEXT WEEK’S MATCHES

Monday, June 15th: #11 Missy Elliott, MISS E... SO ADDICTIVE vs. #118 Ruby, SHORT-STAFFED AT THE GENE POOL.

Tuesday, June 16th: #54 Unwound, LEAVES TURN INSIDE YOU vs. #75 Lovage, MUSIC TO MAKE LOVE TO YOUR OLD LADY BY.

Wednesday, June 17th: #22 System of a Down, TOXICITY vs. #107 The Detroit Cobras, LIFE, LOVE AND LEAVING.

Thursday, June 18th: #43 Josie and the Pussycats, JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS: MUSIC FROM THE MOTION PICTURE vs. #86 Broken Social Scene, FEEL GOOD LOST.

Friday, June 19th is Bye Day. FRIDAY BYE DAY, EVERYBODY’S LOOKIN’ FORWARD TO THE WEEKEND. This is also the end of Round 1, so congratulations everyone! Well, I guess I’ll actually congratulate you when we get there.

We currently have a Designated Cheerleader for SHORT-STAFFED AT THE GENE POOL, MUSIC TO MAKE LOVE TO YOUR OLD LADY BY and that’s it. If you’d like to write one for one of the other albums (or even another for one of those two), send it to kentmbeeson@hey.com. Thanks!

Best,

Kent