My rough draft for best albums/songs of 2001 goes like this:

Best albums o' the year:

Isolation Drills - Guided by Voices

All is Dream - Mercury Rev

Poses - Rufus Wainwright

You Should Know By Now - Barbara Manning & the Go-Luckys

Honorable Mention:

Indiscretion Jeff Kelly

Essence Lucinda Williams

Best songs:

"Poses" and "Tower of Learning" by RW

"Fair Touching" & "Glad Girls" by GbV

"Nite & Fog" by MR

Best live performance:

Soft Boys at Maxwells 3/01

White Stripes at Pier 54

This is rather scant, but I hope to go back and look through the records I bought this year (not too many, alas) and fill in the blanks. Everything pre-summer seems like 2 years ago.