You all know the rules. At least, if you don't odds are against you having heard enough to vote at this point.

I'm pretty tapped for this block. Here's my vote:

Okkervil River - Black Sheep Boy
The National - Alligator
Midnight Oil - 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1
Flaming Lips - Zereika
X - More Fun In The New World (1)
Dangerdoom - The Mouse And The Mask (1)

I don't even like Zareika that much, but I feel like giving it points just for doing something nobody else has had the balls to do.

1. The National – Alligator
2. The Divine Comedy – Casanova
3. Okkervil River – Black Sheep Boy
4. American Music Club – Everclear
5. Electric Light Orchestra – A New World Record (3)
6. Guillemots – Through the Window Pane (3)
7. The Beach Boys – Wild Honey (3)

First four albums are great; the others are alright, I guess.

How is Devil Without a Cause in the AM 3000?

Wyclef Jean- The Carnival (20)
Jarvis Cocker- Jarvis (15)
Soul Coughing- Ruby Vroom (13)
Pink Floyd- Atom Heart Mother (11)
ELO- New World Record (7)
Beach Boys- Wild Honey (5)
Frank Black- Frank Black (1)
Bob Dylan- Planet Waves (1)
Black Sabbath- Heaven and Hell (1)
Hole- Celebrity Skin (1)

I suppose I shouldn't feel too ashamed. Five is better than zero.

Does it count that I've seen Koyaanissgatsi multiple times? I never made it through the whole soundtrack on Rhapsody.

1. Frank Zappa - Overnite Sensation
2. Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother
3. Fugazi - Red Medicine
4. Hound Dog Taylor & The Houserockers - s/t
5. Phillip Glass - Koyaanissgatsi

1. Ennio Morricone - Once Upon a Time in the West
2. Antonio Carlos Jobim - The Composer of Desafinado Plays
3. Jarvis Cocker - Jarvis
4. Van Morrison - Beautiful Vision
5. Mississippi Fred McDowell - Mississippi Delta Blues
6. Cheap Trick - s/t
7. Emmylou Harris - Red Dirt Girl
8. Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros - Streetcore
9. Todd Rundgren - Todd
10. Bukka White - Legacy of the Blues

11. Hole - Celebrity Skin
12. Ketama/Toumani Diabate/Danny Thompson - Songhai
13. Gary Stewart - Out of Hand
14. Neneh Cherry - Homebrew
15. Sheila Jordan - Portrait of Sheila Jordan
16. Lee "Scratch" Perry - Roash Fish, Collie Weed & Cornbread
17. Dinah Washington - What a Diff'rence a Day Makes
18. Mylo - Destroy Rock 'n' Roll
19. Hound Dog Taylor & the Houserockers - s/t
20. Little Feat - Waiting for Columbus
21. Wilson Pickett - The Sounds of Wilson Pickett
22. American Music Club - Everclear
23. John Hiatt - Slow Turning
24. Donny Hathaway - Extension of a Man
25. Luther Vandross - The Night I Fell in Love
26. Sparklehorse - Good Morning Spider
27. Otis Rush - Right Place, Wrong Time
28. Fenton Robinson - Somebody Loan Me a Dime
29. UNKLE - Psyence Fiction
30. The Temptations - All Directions

1. They Might Be Giants - They Might Be Giants
2. Vashti Bunyan - Lookaftering
3. Rufus Wainwright - Want One
4. Patti Smith Group - Radio Ethiopia
5. Fairport Convention - What We Did On Our Holidays
6. Kings of Leon - Aha Shake Heartbreak
7. Hole - Celebrity Skin
8. Hot Hot Heat - Make Up the Breakdown
9. Ben Folds Five - Ben Folds Five
10. UNKLE - Psyence Fiction

11. DangerDoom - The Mouse and the Mask
12. Motorpsycho - Timothy's Monster
13. Nirvana - From the Muddy Banks of the Whiskah

Weak list for me..started out with 27 possibles but almost all of these are "likes" not "loves". Here's my top 10 and for the first time I'm doling out lesser love to those below the top 3:

The Beach Boys WILD HONEY (20)
Electric Light Orchestra A NEW WORLD RECORD (15)
Hole CELEBRITY SKIN (13)
John Cougar Mellencamp AMERICAN FOOL (7)
Ben Folds Five BEN FOLDS FIVE (5)
The Eagles ONE OF THESE NIGHTS (1)
Morphine CURE FOR PAIN (1)
John Hiatt SLOW TURNING (1)
The National ALLIGATOR (1)
Mudhoney SUPERFUZZ BIGMUFF (1)

Please note: Many of these at bottom are still pretty new to me so odds are I'd bump them upward if this same poll were done next year. (NATIONAL, MUDHONEY, HIATT, MORPHINE)

1. The National - Alligator
2. Guillemots - Through the windowpane
3. British Sea Power - The Decline of British Sea Power
4. Okkervil River - Black Sheep Boy
5. Hot Hot Heat - Make Up The Breakdown
6. Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros - Streetcore
7. Mylo - Destroy Rock & Roll
8. Kings of Leon - Aha Shake Heartbreak

I think this might be the last block of albums I cast a vote for. I,ve just had a look at the upcoming blocks and its pritty grim for me I,m afraid

Some excellent needles in this haystack. Top 2 are both in my Top 20 all-time (I had a tough time picking), and 3-5 are in my Top 200.

1. Milton Nascimento & Lo Borges - Clube da esquina
2. Ornette Coleman - Skies of America
3. Donny Hathaway - Extension of a Man
4. The Roots - Game Theory
5. Philip Glass - Koyaanisqatsi
6. The Divine Comedy - Casanova
7. The Damned - Machine Gun Etiquette
8. Grant Green - Idle Moments
9. Various Artists - No New York
10. The "5" Royales - Dedicated to You
11. Sun Ra - Atlantis
12. Lee Perry - Roast Fish Collie Weed & Corn Bread
13. Franco - 20eme anniversere
14. Bert Jansch - Bert Jansch
15. British Sea Power - The Decline of British Sea Power
16. Gong - The Flying Teapot
17. Ennio Morricone - Once Upon a Time in the West
18. Cheap Trick - Cheap Trick
19. Ornette Coleman - Science Fiction
20. The Last Poets - This Is Madness
21. Antonio Carlos Jobim - The Composer of Desafinado Plays
22. They Might Be Giants - They Might Be Giants
23. Bill Evans and Jim Hall - Undercurrent

01. Zaireeka. The Flaming Lips
02. Twin Infinitives. Royal Trux
03. Funcrusher Plus. Company Flow
04. No New York. ...al
05. Radio Ethiopia. Patti Smith Group
06. Sextant. Herbie Hancock
07. Clube da Esquina. Nascimento/Borges
08. Iron Man. Eric Dolphy
09. Science Fiction. Ornette Coleman
10. 94 Diskont. Oval
11. Revés/Yo Soy. Café Tacvba
12. Sounds Of The Satellites. Laika
13. More Than A New Discovery. Laura Nyro
14. Portrait Of Sheila. Sheila Jordan
15. Incunabula. Autechre
16. Skies Of America. Ornette Coleman
17. Ruby Vroom. Soul Coughing
18. Homebrew. Neneh Cherry
19. One World. John Martyn
20. Polnareff's. Michel Polnareff

Can't fill a top-10, but the Top 4 are wonderful, and in my personal top-100:

1. The Astaire Story - Fred Astaire - An astonishingly wonderful collection of 38 tracks. Released in 1952, Astaire went into the studio to record an overview of his musical career... all the songs he had performed on stage and in film. A great collection of jazz musicians led by Oscar Peterson provides a light and swinging platform. Along with three jam sessions, in which Astaire tap dances his solos, many of the greatest songs of the mid-century are accounted for. Even more astonishing is how many of them were first sung in public by Astaire: "Isn't This A Lovely Day," "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off," "Cheek to Cheek," "Steppin' Out With My Baby," "The Way You Look Tonight," "Nice Work If You Can Get It," "A Fine Romance," "Night and Day," "Fascinating Rhythm," "They Can't Take That Away From Me," "A Foggy Day." No, Astaire is not Sinatra or Crosby. But his voice has a warmth and charisma (just like his screen presence) that makes the listener root for him.

2. Ben Folds Five - s/t - While he often mkes it difficult to like him, and his latest efforts have been overly sappy, I can't help but really enjoy Ben Folds. Yes, he is the new Elton John/Billy Joel. Is that so bad? He was at his best on the Five's debut, particularly "Philosophy," "Jackson Cannery," and "Underground."

3. Ruby Vroom - Soul Coughing - This was a revelation for me in 1996. I had expanded to listen to all kinds of new rock and soul music in the prior few years. But in 1996 I began to realize what other strange stuff was out there, including this strange downtown NYC band that was mix-matching things up in strange ways. Like Beck, but in their own inimitable style.

4. Cure for Pain - Morphine - I used to dislike the baritone sax. Then I heard this very cool album.

5. Game Theory - The Roots

6. American Fool - John Cougar

7. Mercy, Mercy, Mercy! - Live at "The Club" - Cannonball Adderly

8. What A Diff'rence a Day Makes - Dinah Washington

1. Soul Coughing - Ruby Vroom
2. Mano Negra - Puta's Fever
3. Hole - Celebrity Skin
4. The National - Alligator
5. Morphine - Cure for Pain
6. Smog - Knock Knock
7. Tom Verlaine - Dreamtime
8. Frank Zappa/The Mothers - Over-Nite Sensation
9. Miles Davis - Jazz Track/Ascenseur pour l'échafaud
10. Pink Floyd - A Saucerful of Secrets

Ugh, terrible grouping here.

1. My Fair Lady Soundtrack
2. The Roots - Game Theory
3. Starsailor - Love is Here
4. The Animals - Animalisms
5. Kiss Me Kate Soundtrack
6. OutKast - ATLiens
7. Wyclef Jean - The Carnival
8. The National - Alligator
9. Kid Rock - Devil Without a Cause
10. Bill Evans - Explorations

1. THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS
2. CHEAP TRICK
3. Don Henley, BUILDING THE PERFECT BEAST
4. Lou Reed, NEW SENSATIONS
5. X, MORE FUN IN THE NEW WORLD
6. Guillemots, THROUGH THE WINDOWPANE
7. The "5" Royales, DEDICATED TO YOU
8. Michel Polnareff, POLNAREFF'S
9. Nirvana, FROM THE MUDDY BANKS OF THE WISHKAH
10. The Flaming Lips, ZAIREEKA

A small word about identifying albums on your lists.

I haven't necessarily heard of the album you're listing, so I don't necessarily know, say, that ELO means 'Electric Light Orchestra'.

And it might throw me off if, in some cases you list 'Artist - Album' and in other cases you list 'Album - Artist'.

Also, I just use the auto-sort with Excel's list wizard, so if you don't list the full name of the artist I might not realize the album has already been voted for and make a new entry for it. The same applies for 'Various artists'.

So, in future lists, please be consistent (Either all artist - album or all the other way around, no mix), and please list the full name of the artist.

Since there's only a 5 point difference between 8th place and 18th place, I'll only give clues to the current top 7.

1. Not even going to try to cover this one up, it's The National: 79
2. Provider Of Three Full Containers: 48
3. Sick spirit: 48
4. Sale at the magic shop: 44
5. Statement of uncertainty: 40
6. 15 albums in 1: 39
7. Resident of The Bucket: 38

1. Joe Strummer and the Mescalaroes- Streetcore
2. Hot Hot Heat- Make Up The Breakdown
3. Paul Kelly and the Messengers- Gossip
4. Kings of Leon- Aha Shake Heartbreak
I realy haven't heard nearly enough. Streetcore is a absoulutly amazing album; one of my all time favourites. Joe Strummer's Mescalaroes stuff seems to be somewhat ignored, it takes some growing time but is very good. There is barely a bad song among the 3 albums he released.

1. Ennio Morricone – Once Upon a Time in the West
2. Nitin Sawhney – Beyond Skin
3. Antonio Carlos Jobim – The Composer of Desafinado, Plays
4. Fairport Convention – What We Did on Our Holidays
5. Everything But the Girl – Walking Wounded
6. Bryan Ferry – Boys and Girls
7. Midnight Oil – 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
8. Philip Glass – Koyaanisqatsi
9. Midnight Oil – Blue Sky Mining
10. The Temptations – All Directions

Even though "Once Upon a Time in the West" has two number one spots, it will probably not make the cut. Unless someone...

1. ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA “A New World Record”
2. THE DIVINE COMEDY “Casanova”
3. ENNIO MORRICONE “Once Upon a Time in the West”
4. KETAMA/TOUMANI DIABATÉ/DANNY THOMPSON “Songhai”
5. ANTONIO CARLOS JOBIM “The Composer of Desafinado Plays”
6. THE FLAMING LIPS “Zaireeka”
7. MILTON NASCIMENTO & LÔ BORGES “Clube da esquina”
8. EVERYTHING BUT THE GIRL “Walking Wounded”
9. CAFÉ TACVBA “Revés/Yosoy”
10. PINK FLOYD “Atom Heart Mother”

Henrik gets his wish. Of course, 38 points was the cutoff this time, so he didn't need it. Honorio did however knock both his top two into the top ten.

And create a three way tie in the process.
1. The National - Alligator (79/6/2)
2. Ennio Morricone - Once Upon A Time In The West (55/3/2)
3. Flaming Lips - Zareika (49/4/1)
4. Okkervil River - Black Sheep Boy (48/3/1)
4. Soul Coughing - Ruby Vroom (48/3/1)
6. Electric Light Orchestra - A New World Record (45/4/1)
7. Cheap Trick - Cheap Trick (44/3/0)
7. Divine Comedy - Casanova (44/3/0)
9. They Might Be Giants - They Might Be Giants (40/2/2)
10. Hole - Celebrity Skin (38/4/0)
10. Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros - Streetcore (38/3/1)
10. Milton Nascimento & Lo Borges - Clube da esquina (38/3/1)

I had all these cool ideas for tiebreakers. Like, use the 11-20 place votes of anybody who didn't vote for one in their top ten, only everybody who listed more than ten gave points to one of the three. Or, I could negate the points given to one album if the same voter listed another album higher. But, nobody gave points to more than one of the three albums.

So. It's a vote. I abstain as the only one I've heard is Celebrity Skin and I think it only has one or two good songs.

Here's how the vote works. You can give a first place vote and a second place vote. THE RESULT WILL BE BASED ON FIRST PLACE VOTES. But in the event of a two way tie, anybody who voted for the non-tied album will have their second place vote counted.

If after all this the result is still a tie, the old top-heavy method of scoring will be applied. In that case:

Hole: 12 + 10 + 4 + 1 = 27
Joe Strummer: 20 + 6 + 3 = 29
Milton Nascimento: 20 + 4 + 4 = 28

Streetcore wins all ties, if the other two are tied, Clube de Esquina beats Celebrity Skin.

And if anyone's curious what the clues were:

1. Not even going to try to cover this one up, it's The National: The National
2. Provider Of Three Full Containers: Okkervil River - Black Sheep Boy
3. Sick spirit: Soul Coughing
4. Sale at the magic shop: Cheap Trick
5. Statement of uncertainty: They Might Be Giants
6. 15 albums in 1: Flaming Lips - Zareika
7. Resident of The Bucket: Hole

If this is where we're voting, I'm voting for only 1 - Clube da Esquina. One of the finest albums I've ever heard, bar none. It's been called the Brazilian Sgt. Pepper, though it's way more consistent than Sgt. Pepper.

Regardless, fans of Lennon/McCartney ought to check it out...there is a strong influence there.

I vote for Clube da Esquina too.

Streetcore

1. Streetcore
2. Club da Esquina

1. STREETCORE
2. CLUBE DA ESQUINA

I,m giving Clube da Esquina a number 2 vote based on a single listen. Its a lovely album, and I think it would be nice to have as much variety as possilbe get through. However, I,d feel bad picking it ahead of Streetcore having already included it as one of picks from this block.

1. Clube da Esquina
2. Streetcore

1. Streetcore
2. Celebrity Skin

1. Clube da esquina
2. Celebrity Skin

It's 4-4-0, and everybody who gave points to either Streetcore or Clube de Esquina has already voted.

Maybe I should find a way to hear samples of both without paying anything so I can vote.

I'm at work so just about any site with streaming audio is firewalled out. If this is still open tonight, I'll try and check out STREETCORE and CLUBE DE ESQUINA so I can vote fairly. I'm only familiar with CELEBRITY SKIN right now.