Best Record of 2001: Day 60

Ruby vs. Missy Elliott Good morning! Today we’re taking a quick look at Ruby’s Short Staffed at the Gene Pool as it faces off against Missy Elliott’s Miss E: So Addictive! Imagine, if you will, a world where, instead of venturing to America’s Dairyland, Shirley Manson decides to make a record with, say, Tricky or Thievery Corporation. Feel free to substitute Curve’s Toni Halliday here if you prefer. If you squint hard enough, you can see it—and when you do, you’ll have a pretty good idea of what Short-Staffed at the Gene Pool sounds like. Instead of Manson, we get Lesley Rankine, late of Silverfish (instead of Angelfish…another parallel?). In case that didn’t work, the short version is this: full-voiced female vocals, sometimes chanteuse, sometimes vixen, pouting and preening and snarling over synth grooves and post-party sounds. The sounds? They’re as varied as the vocals they support. Together with producer Mark Walk (Skinny Puppy), they hit on everything from trip-hop to rock to…