Hey folks!

The twenty-first week of the Best Album of 2001 is over! But before we get into that, a special message:

We have another session of Best Album Virtual Karaoke coming up, this time for the inaugural year of 1995! But when should we do it? That’s what we’re asking in this quick little Google survey right here, that’s right, just click here. It’s all of two questions! And if you haven’t participated in the Best Album Virtual Karaoke, know you’re missing out. You don’t have to sing if you don’t want to!* (*unless you’re the Best Albums editor, then they make you.)

And now onto the weekly wrap-up! And guess what? Just guess. Take a big wild guess. That’s right, all the top seeds won their matches. No upsets whatsoever. Okay, so #13 TAKE OFFS AND LANDINGS only defeated #20 “LOVE AND THEFT” by six votes, so that was close, but the end result is the same. In all the other matches, the top seed pretty much walked away with it. Will we see some upsets next week? I see one definite possibility, and I see one album whose support might be a little soft. But we’ll find out next week, won’t we?

THE BEST ALBUM OF 2001 PREDICTION BRACKET TOP 20

Here’s Week #8 of the Prediction Bracket Top 20!

Absolutely no change in the Top 5 this week — in fact, the entire Top 7 is the same. ALL RESEARCH AND SUCCESSFUL DRUG POLICY SHOWS THAT TREATMENT SHOULD BE INCREASED AND LAW ENFORCEMENT DECREASED WHILE ABOLISHING MANDATORY MINIMUM SENTENCES, Party Hard, and The Revenge Of Flimsy Steve hold down the Top 3 this week followed by Dead Leaves and a Dirty Bracket at #4, New Problems (with the bracket) at #5, Drink Milk at #6, and Alpha Delta Kilo at #7. The biggest movers this week were Take it or leave it; it's hard to explain and Clarence Carter's Strokin’, both moving up six notches to #11, while I know I'm going to regret doing this had the biggest fall, dropping from #18 to #12.

Three brackets return to the Top 20, and one brand new one appears. Re-debuting this week is Who’s Josh? at #13, The 2001 Music Project: Upsets & Despair at #15, and We Could Have Had The Crack at #16. Welcome back! And a big hearty welcome to Björk Sweep, making its first appearance on the chart. May you stick around until the end!

We gained four brackets this week, but lost five. Say goodbye, for now, to Tyranny of Something (last week #13), Daaaaaan (lw #13), The Blooper Hint (lw #16), I'm Bookish and Indie Rock Coded AND I VOTE (lw #17), and Life Was Full Of Possibilities (lw #20). Hope to see you all again soon!

LAST WEEK’S RESULTS

On Monday, #9 Spoon, GIRLS CAN TELL defeated #24 The Coup, PARTY MUSIC, 120-81. (201 total votes, +39)

On Tuesday, #4 Daft Punk, DISCOVERY defeated #29 Built to Spill, ANCIENT MELODIES OF THE FUTURE, 130-83-1. (214 total votes, +47)

On Wednesday, #13 Rilo Kiley, TAKE OFFS AND LANDINGS defeated #20 Bob Dylan, "LOVE AND THEFT", 129-123-1. (253 total votes, +6)

On Thursday, #5 Björk, VESPERTINE defeated #28 Andrew W.K., I GET WET, 157-70-3. (230 votes, +87)

On Friday, #12 Fugazi, THE ARGUMENT defeated #21 Le Tigre, FEMINIST SWEEPSTAKES, 119-94-3. (216 votes, +25)

NEXT WEEK’S MATCHES

Monday, August 10th: #2 The Strokes, IS THIS IT vs. #31 The Dismemberment Plan, CHANGE.

Tuesday, August 11th: #15 Aaliyah, AALIYAH vs. #18 Stephen Malkmus, STEPHEN MALKMUS.

Wednesday, August 12th: #7 Gorillaz, GORILLAZ vs. #26 Jimmy Eat World, BLEED AMERICAN.

Thursday, August 13th: #10 The Shins, OH, INVERTED WORLD vs. #23 Drive-By Truckers, SOUTHERN ROCK OPERA.

Friday, August 14th: #3 The White Stripes, WHITE BLOOD CELLS vs. #35 Life Without Buildings, ANY OTHER CITY.

We currently have a Designated Cheerleaders for IS THIS IT, CHANGE, STEPHEN MALKMUS, GORILLAZ, BLEED AMERICAN, OH, INVERTED WORLD, SOUTHERN ROCK OPERA, WHITE BLOOD CELLS and that’s it. (That’s it? That’s nearly all of them! Great job everyone.) If you’d like to write one for one of the other albums, which are AALIYAH and ANY OTHER CITY (or even another for one of those other eight), send it to [email protected]. Thanks!

Best,

Kent