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The Best Album of 1989

@bestalbumbrackets.bsky.social

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What’s the best album of 1989? Let’s find out! A new match every M-F, 9am CST. What just lost? Look at the pics above! Bracket: https://challonge.com/bestalbumof1989 Newsletter: https://buttondown.email/kentmbeeson. Managed by @kentmbeeson.bsky.social

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The Best Album of 1989 @bestalbumbrackets.bsky.social · 19h

The Best Album of 1989 Round 3 Match #97
#1 Pixies, DOOLITTLE
vs.
#97 The D.O.C., NO ONE CAN DO IT BETTER

forms.gle/YV5N1y8CMk2c...

The Best Album of 1989 Round 2 Match #97: Pixies vs. The D.O.C.

This is the Best Album of 1989 match for Tuesday, October 14th 10am CST. It will be open for 24 hours, and the winner will move onto Round 4 of the bracket. If you haven’t heard either album, I highly...

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It's so obvious @trivialal.bsky.social · 8h

"So buy a bucket coz I'm coming with my album, and for the record, meaning *my* record, check it, listen to the single and you'll be like 'yo I gotta get it!' "

Truer words never said on a guest intro.

The doc all day every day on this one

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Brian Darr @hellonfriscobay.bsky.social · 11h

I may have been invited to a 924 Gilman show as early as 1989 (certainly by 1990) but i didn’t feel like I’d have fit in. Took me until 2009 to finally go to see a co-worker’s band.

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Your Friendly Neighborhood Gamecat @gamecat235.bsky.social · 11h

If I were to equate this to preferences when it comes to March Madness I would say that you are definitely pro-chaos bracket.

And I salute you for it. Seeding is overrated in a one and done tourney.

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Brian Darr @hellonfriscobay.bsky.social · 11h

(Well, not yesterday but that was still round 2)

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Brian Darr @hellonfriscobay.bsky.social · 12h

I’m fervently hoping for at least two and wouldn’t mind a lot. This week I believe I’m voting for the underdog each day.

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Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 12h

We were a bit young for it and found it working backwards from bands we liked later. I've got to know a couple of people who grew up in that area around that time and it does seem like the music scene there was quite cliquey, same as in England I guess (eg I know almost nothing about PWEI)

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Brian Darr @hellonfriscobay.bsky.social · 12h

Embarrassed to admit as a Bay Area native that I hadn’t heard most of it until the tournament!

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Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 12h

Love that operation ivy record, Sound System was such an anthem in my teens.

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Brian Darr @hellonfriscobay.bsky.social · 12h

I didn’t vote for it this round but that doesn’t mean I’m not bummed too. Burdened with a terrible seed and some bad luck on top of that.

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Brian Darr @hellonfriscobay.bsky.social · 12h

Operation Ivy: st
Pop Will Eat Itself: This is the Day, This is the Hour, This is This
Queen Latifah: All Hail the Queen
Indigo Girls: st
Nomeansno: Wrong

The final eighth of this bracket got a lot less interesting to me with these favorites all gone (though there are still albums I like in play.)

The Best Album of 1989 @bestalbumbrackets.bsky.social · 12h

I’m happy it cleared Round 1!

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Kevin Alexander @kevinalexander.bsky.social · 12h

I’m really bummed IBTABA is out.

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Brian Darr @hellonfriscobay.bsky.social · 12h

I spaced on presenting my usual “fallen soldiers” list of first-round favorites I’d most miss in round 2, but let me present my round 2 set of LPs that I most wish could’ve advanced (whether I voted for them or not):

808 State: 90
Soul II Soul: Keep on Movin’
Wire: IBTABA

(Continues in post 2)

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Paul Boldrin @paulboldrin.bsky.social · 12h

Apparently people generally think that the years when they were aged 10 - 15 were the best for music, but in my case it is an objectively correct fact. Exhibit A - albums that came out when I was (roughly) 10:

The Best Album of 1989 @bestalbumbrackets.bsky.social · 13h

Hey folks!

Here are the 32 best albums of 1989 as decided by you, the voters. If anyone asks you what the 32 best albums of 1989 are, you direct them to this official and binding list. The albums are presented in seed order, from highest to lowest, from most expected to be here to least expected. 🧵

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guerrieroc.bsky.social @guerrieroc.bsky.social · 12h

I can't seem to distill a longer reflection about the correlation between the initial seeding & the Final 32 (which might not even be correct), but I don't mean to suggest people look at the seeding and automatically vote for the higher of the two.

Let's see if we get 3rd round upsets.

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sharkastic.bsky.social @sharkastic.bsky.social · 13h

And the Field Mice

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Joe @boxy.bsky.social · 13h

Here's a rare(ish) promo version of 'D.O.C. and the Doctor' that was later edited into the 'Noisy Mix' (also the mix they used for the video) and 'somethingtobumpinyacar' for the 12":

The DOC & Dr Dre - The DOC and the Doctor (Rare Original Radio Promo Version)

YouTube video by Marcus Gibraltar

www.youtube.com

The Best Album of 1989 @bestalbumbrackets.bsky.social · 12h

And there you have it — the 32 Best Albums of 1989.

The Best Album of 1989 @bestalbumbrackets.bsky.social · 12h

#24 The Replacements, DON’T TELL A SOUL (lost to #41 Mekons, THE MEKONS ROCK N’ ROLL, 81-79-1)

#23 Indigo Girls, INDIGO GIRLS (lost to #42 The Wedding Present, BIZARRO, 91-89)

The Best Album of 1989 @bestalbumbrackets.bsky.social · 12h

Conspicuously missing:

#32 Throwing Muses, HUNKPAPA (lost to #97 The D.O.C., NO ONE CAN DO IT BETTER, 99-83)

#29 XTC, ORANGES AND LEMONS (lost to #36 The Cult, SONIC TEMPLE, 91-86)

#26 Bob Mould, WORKBOOK (lost to #39 Jungle Brothers, DONE BY THE FORCES OF NATURE, 82-63-2)

The Best Album of 1989 @bestalbumbrackets.bsky.social · 12h

Seed #97 The D.O.C., NO ONE CAN DO IT BETTER

A color photograph of The D.O.C., a young Black man wearing a leather jacket, a black Sacramento Kings cap, and two medallions, possibly made of leather, showing Africa. He has a wary, suspicious look on his face. He is outside, possibly in a park somewhere. Behind him is a statue of I'm guessing Jesus, but wearing a crown, holding an orb, and a staff in the other hand. He's is on an orb-shaped pedastal that reads "KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS."

The Best Album of 1989 @bestalbumbrackets.bsky.social · 12h

Seed #42 The Wedding Present, BIZARRO

A dark brown-green background. In red, done with a pencil or crayon, is a kind of explosion shape, made out of a series of scribbles.

The Best Album of 1989 @bestalbumbrackets.bsky.social · 12h

Seed #41 Mekons, THE MEKONS ROCK N' ROLL

So this appears to be a drawing or painting of a white man with dark hair and an intense stare -- it's possible it's supposed to be Elvis Presley. But it is radically obscured by an overlay of colors and patterns. The patterns suggest trees and/or leaves, with various color filters (orange, blue, red) applied.

The Best Album of 1989 @bestalbumbrackets.bsky.social · 12h

Seed #39 Jungle Brothers, DONE BY THE FORCES OF NATURE

A colorful drawing of the heads of three young Black men, surrounded by images of the jungle along the bottom (grass, trees, a camel, a lion) and a city skyline above them. Beyond the sklyine is a big purple volcano, erupting. Also above them is a Black fairy-like creature with butterfly wings. Around the edges of the picture are planets.