Hey folks!

The eighteenth week of the Best Album of 2001 is over! Again, all the higher seeds won, but holy smokes, not from a lack of trying on part of the lower seeds. WHITE BLOOD CELLS over ROCK ACTION was the only non-dramatic match, with WHITE BLOOD CELLS winning handily. The others… whew. 604 was defeating SOUTHERN ROCK OPERA for most of the match, ahead by 18 votes at one point, but in the last hour, SOUTHERN ROCK OPERA managed to squeak ahead by 6. A similar case with SOUND-DUST and GORILLAZ — #58 SOUND-DUST was thrashing #7 GORILLAZ in early voting, before the newsletter went out. Once it was out, GORILLAZ managed to take the lead and hold onto it, but not before both albums had 60+ votes. Even then, SOUND-DUST put up a hell of fight, and only lost by 22, which is pretty wild for album that’s 51 seed slots lower. #10 OH, INVERTED WORLD, IIRC, was ahead pretty much the entire time over #74 RINGS AROUND THE WORLD, but that album never gave up (so to speak), and it also only lost by 22, also wild for an album that’s 64 seed slots lower. And then there was #26 BLEED AMERICAN and #39 ISOLATION DRILLS, which ended in a tie with 130 votes each and no abstentions. This was expected to be competitive, but I didn’t expect a tie. Best Album by-laws state that in the case of a tie, the higher seed (in this case, BLEED AMERICAN) is declared the winner. This policy will be going under review before the next tournament, so if you have opinions and thoughts and ideas about it, write ‘em down, hold onto them, and stay tuned.

THE BEST ALBUM OF 2001 PREDICTION BRACKET TOP 20

Here’s Week #5 of the Prediction Bracket Top 20!

We have a new #1 bracket! That’s right, ALL RESEARCH AND SUCCESSFUL DRUG POLICY SHOWS THAT TREATMENT SHOULD BE INCREASED AND LAW ENFORCEMENT DECREASED WHILE ABOLISHING MANDATORY MINIMUM SENTENCES has taken over the top spot, moving up one to do so. Congratulations! Following close behind in the Top 3 are Party Hard, moving up 1 to #2, and Take Off Your Pants and Bracket, moving up 2 to #3. This is a new high position for all three brackets, so again, congrats!

As far as big movers in the Top 20, we have a tie for the biggest: both Veridis Quo and here you go create another bracket, you wanted to move up 5 notches, to #12 and #14 respectively. As far as those falling in the Top 20, The Revenge Of Flimsy Steve falls fro #1 down to #5 this week, while the biggest drops are from Winning Argument and Clarence Carter's Strokin’, both falling 7 notches, both tied at #18.

We welcome three brackets to the Top 20, two for the first time. Our highest debut is MeanwhileShinersTheEggWasReallyTheBestAlbum, popping in at #16, and newcomer Yes, it is comes in at #20. We also see the return of How to Disappear Completely from the Bracket top 10, not seen since Week #2, appearing at #17. Welcome! However, we have to say goodbye, for now, to four brackets: Life's Not a Bitch, Life is a Beautiful Bracket, You Only Call Her a Bitch
Because Your Prediction Skills Can't Hack It (last week #15), Two Hundred Thousand and One Years Ago (lw #18), 2001: A Bracket Odyssey (lw #19) and We Could Have Had The Crack (lw #19). Hope to see you again soon!

LAST WEEK’S RESULTS

On Monday, #7 Gorillaz, GORILLAZ defeated #58 Stereolab, SOUND-DUST, 130-108-1. (239 total votes, +22)

On Tuesday, #26 Jimmy Eat World, BLEED AMERICAN defeated #39 Guided By Voices, ISOLATION DRILLS, 130-130. [Tie goes to higher seed.] (260 total votes, +0)

On Wednesday, #10 The Shins, OH, INVERTED WORLD defeated #74 Super Furry Animals, RINGS AROUND THE WORLD, 125-103-1. (229 total votes, +22)

On Thursday, #23 Drive-By Truckers, SOUTHERN ROCK OPERA defeated #42 Ladytron, 604, 117-111. (228 votes, +6)

On Friday, #3 The White Stripes, WHITE BLOOD CELLS defeated #67 Mogwai, ROCK ACTION, 169-65-1. (235 votes, +104)

NEXT WEEK’S MATCHES

Monday, July 27th: #30 Yeah Yeah Yeahs, YEAH YEAH YEAHS ep vs. #35 Life Without Buildings, ANY OTHER CITY.

Tuesday, July 28th: #14 Jay-Z, THE BLUEPRINT vs. #51 New Order, GET READY.

Wednesday, July 29th: #19 Kylie Minogue, FEVER vs. #46 Tortoise, STANDARDS.

Thursday, July 30th: #6 Radiohead, AMNESIAC vs. #70 Destiny's Child, SURVIVOR.

Friday, July 31st: #27 Cannibal Ox, THE COLD VEIN vs. #38 Tool, LATERALUS.

We currently have a Designated Cheerleaders for YEAH YEAH YEAHS ep, THE BLUEPRINT, GET READY, THE COLD VEIN, LATERALUS and that’s it. (That’s it? That’s half! Great job, everyone!) If you’d like to write one for one of the other albums, which are ANY OTHER CITY, FEVER, STANDARDS, AMNESIAC, SURVIVOR (or even another for one of those other five), send it to [email protected]. Thanks!

Best,

Kent