The Best Album of 1989
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The Best Album of 1989
@bestalbumbrackets.bsky.social
The Best Album of 1989 is Pixies, DOOLITTLE. Coming in early 2026: The Best Album of 2001!
Bracket: https://challonge.com/bestalbumof1989
Newsletter: https://buttondown.email/kentmbeeson.
Managed by @kentmbeeson.bsky.social
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New Newsletter! Is YANKEE HOTEL FOXTROT a 2001 or 2002 release? I made you vote, you voted, and now those votes have been collected into an answer, which you can learn by clicking below, or wait for someone in the chat to spoil it. Cheers!

buttondown.com/kentmbeeson/...
#398 Yankee Hotel Foxtrot: 2001 or 2002? An answer.
Hey folks! Modest Mouse, THE LONESOME CROWDED WEST (1997) Well, I’m glad I did the poll, because it did confirm that the question of YANKEE HOTEL FOXTROT’s...
buttondown.com
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Without the discourse and poll, I might have forgotten to nominate it as I have it down as '02. Hell, I'm old, I'll probably still forget. It's all right though!
December 16, 2025 at 12:10 AM
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@bestalbumbrackets.bsky.social
Sampling some 2001 country. Boy howdy is that Garth phrasing all over the place at this point in time.
December 16, 2025 at 12:09 AM
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For fans of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, their drummer Brian Chase plays on another 2001 album I like, Y by The Seconds.
The Seconds - Say Hey (from Y)
YouTube video by Kill Rock Stars
www.youtube.com
December 16, 2025 at 12:01 AM
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I fuckin' LOVE this song 'shit, I've got a gallery in NEW York'.
December 15, 2025 at 8:19 PM
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(Looking through the newsletter for the fine print saying that all voters must only stream it through dial-up for proper year-based fidelity…)
December 15, 2025 at 5:35 PM
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Happy to see this result, but I still think the 2001 frontrunner is THE BLUEPRINT.
JAY-Z - Izzo (H.O.V.A.)
YouTube video by JayZVEVO
www.youtube.com
December 15, 2025 at 4:45 PM
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Agreed, but letting someone copyright your work doesn't mean you didn't own the copyright when you released it the year before.
December 15, 2025 at 4:35 PM
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Not the first time I've disagreed with the voting community, but I will abide with the masses! Now we've got ourselves a tournament.
December 15, 2025 at 4:31 PM
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"Publication Date" and "Copyright" date are two very different things!
December 15, 2025 at 4:29 PM
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3-4 librarians have explained why it isn't.

For example, Dracula wasn't published in 2015, but this version of it was.
December 15, 2025 at 4:06 PM
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To my recollection, for 2001 purposes, the big difference between the Strokes and Wilco & White Stripes was that IS THIS IT? charted a lot higher in the UK (peaked at #2), significantly higher, in fact, than it did in the US (#33). Neither YHF (#40) nor WHITE BLOOD CELLS (#55) hit like that.
December 15, 2025 at 4:00 PM
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I think I voted for the opposite, but can u see stand the logic either way and wasn’t too worked up about the technicalities (and that’s me talking!)

That said, I’m working on my DC now and was ready to push this baby to the moon no matter which year it ended up, it’s still The One!
December 15, 2025 at 3:22 PM
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But the best source to fall back on 😉
December 15, 2025 at 3:19 PM
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Have you kept a record of who said it was 2002? On principle they shouldn’t be allowed to pick it for 2001
December 15, 2025 at 3:16 PM
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Probably won’t get nominated anyway
December 15, 2025 at 3:13 PM
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Actually I'm kind of relieved that we're getting the discourse about this over with and not pushing it until 2027. 😂
December 15, 2025 at 2:59 PM
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fascinating result. i feel the opposite of this (i have a lot of favs in 2002 but few that rise to that level here) so, while i may have voted the other way, this will at least allow me to go hard in the paint for YHF
December 15, 2025 at 2:59 PM
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Hopefully all the 2002 partisans will reject this development and refuse to vote for it on principle
December 15, 2025 at 2:38 PM
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The verdict is in!
New Newsletter! Is YANKEE HOTEL FOXTROT a 2001 or 2002 release? I made you vote, you voted, and now those votes have been collected into an answer, which you can learn by clicking below, or wait for someone in the chat to spoil it. Cheers!

buttondown.com/kentmbeeson/...
#398 Yankee Hotel Foxtrot: 2001 or 2002? An answer.
Hey folks! Modest Mouse, THE LONESOME CROWDED WEST (1997) Well, I’m glad I did the poll, because it did confirm that the question of YANKEE HOTEL FOXTROT’s...
buttondown.com
December 15, 2025 at 2:37 PM
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Good that it's consistent with Wikipedia, because that's prob the best (yes I know its not perfect obv) source to fall back on in general.
December 15, 2025 at 2:35 PM
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Damn, I wanted the answer to be “both”
December 15, 2025 at 2:34 PM
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I was Team 2002 considering that in '22 they released the 20th anniversary edition of YHF, but after reading @nanette.bsky.social 's blog and the contributions of others here, voted '01 in the end.

Having said that, I think the '01 Tourney has a clear front-runner now: IMO, YHF will be hard to beat
December 15, 2025 at 2:29 PM
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I voted for this and was also entirely fine with whatever. It isn't my favorite of either way, but it's an album I love nevertheless.
December 15, 2025 at 2:29 PM
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Kent is right in that this makes 2002 a lot more interesting, I'll say that.
December 15, 2025 at 2:20 PM