Main Poop Analysis 2023

January 2024 Dear POOPsters: The 37 th Annual POOPlist now lights up your screens. Despite the tenuous state of the world (and this country’s inglorious contribution to it), we musical know-it-alls meet in the shadows once again to share our POmpous and OPinionated thoughts and ramblings. If nothing else compiling lists of the records that brought us joy and solace sure beats assembling lists of, I dunno, the most horrible climate disasters or the vilest actions on the world stage. The (only) 16 of us who contributed this year have decided that wildfires, droughts, floods, global hostilities and human atrocities…


Jim Meyers Poop 2023

This is my lame intro to my lame list. The end. The Replacements, Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit, Young Fathers, Olivia Rodrigo, Bakar, Cat Power, Ratboys, Anders Parker, Son Volt, Yo La Tengo


Don Cohen Poop 2023

Rolling Stones, Ian Hunter, Paul Rodgers, Tracy Nelson, Neil Young, Who, Bob Dylan, Olivia Rodrigo, Margaret Glaspy, Inhaler



Jim Finnigan Poop 2023

Go to the head of the class: African Head Charge, Gina Birch, Rufus Wainwright, Ghost Train Orchestra, Michael Bisio & Tim Hill, Brian Eno, Fred Again, Janelle Monae, The Fugs


Jay Stewart Poop 2023

Here we are and it is the end of the world. Here are some things I liked this year. Though I didn’t have Robert Smith on my Bingo Card, he’s more of a working class hero than Bruce Springsteen by going after Ticket Master’s Dynamic Pricing.



John Lefsky Poop 2023

I think I listened to so much music that I didn’t give myself enough time to absorb it all. I also spent too much time with some  records at the expense of others. The ones nearer the top are just the ones I listened to the most, though there are many I’m sure would move up in time. Whatever…


Michael Hodgkiss Poop 2023

Another calendar year disappears, while me, still the guy trying to restore my vinyl collection, the one which I lost a few years back during an hurricane, bought only a minimal amount of new music. With that said, this year I’ll make it simple, with minimal verbiage, I submit the following…


Mark Rosen Poop 2023

My POOP DISC-CLAIMER (disc-lamer?): I actually found a good amount of interesting music in 2023 and I didn’t have to pad my list with records that might have only marginally deserved my recognition. But as is the usual case, about half of my picks are rooted, in one way or another, in the past. RetroPOOP, if you will. To mangle the words of Sir Peter of Townshend, I look pretty old but my taste’s backdated, yeah. Buy New or Used via Amazon     Rent via iTunes [?] 1. THE REPLACEMENTS – Tim (2023 re-mix, part of the Tim: Let It Bleed…


Bill Still Poop 2023

Still Poopin’ ’23:
Andre 3000, Lonnie Holley, Yo La Tengo, Creation Rebel, African Head Charge, Panda Bear & Sonic Boom, Anohni & the Johnsons, Kali Malone & Stephen O’Malley, Fred Again & Brian Eno, PJ Harvey


Rich Allen Poop 2023

Since 2011, I’ve been running an international music review site called A Closer Listen, specializing in instrumental and experimental music. In 2023, we received an average of a dozen submissions a day (4380/year) in those categories alone, so I’ve been listening almost exclusively to new music. By simply doubling that figure, I estimate that at the very least, an instrumental or experimental album is released every hour. In the digital era, there has never been so much to choose from ~ and so much that goes unheard. On the brighter side, although there’s much more to sift through, there seems to be an equal amount of great music. These were my favorite releases of 2023!


Mark Zip Poop 2023

Google Bard prompt: “Write a year end top ten list in the style of Lester Bangs using the following music albums”. With any errors struck through and corrected in red 2023: A Year-End Sonic Boom Through Lester Bangs’ Eyes Forget your Top 10s, these records ain’t for faint hearts or Top 40 charts. This is the year punk turned the volume to 11 and tripped over its own power cord, the year dance cradled death in its sweaty palms, and the ghosts of folk past whispered secrets into electronic ears. Buckle up, Bangs-bots, ’cause here’s the sonic shitstorm that was…


Eric Fine Poop 2023

The word of the year is Silence. If I’m being honest about what I listened to the most, it was nothing, literally silence. Most nights ended with me, my noise cancelling headphones, and my thoughts. I found the quiet to be quite musical. Of course, I heard a handful of strong records reflected below, but this newfound muted music has led me to explore ambient and minimalism, hence the bonus lists. Enjoy! Rock and the like 1. Frog – Grog One of the most unique records I’ve heard in a long time. Difficult to lock them down to one genre,…


Mike Jurkovic – Poop 2023

You realize of course that, in the barbaric course of human events we have wrought upon ourselves, it is not Biden v fuckface but it is who and what we are as individuals and a society that will decide this gasping November. So ask yourself exactly what the hell you want to leave as a legacy: dictators and classic rock or classic rock and democracy?

That, in an ugly nutshell, is my state of mind these days. Fortunately there’s the missus’ love, that blue sky above Lake Awosting and some great music and meds to ease the pain. #VoteLikeUMeanIt


Matt Nerney Poop 2023

I just want to say that I’m thankful for all the creative artists who are still making transportive music that can guide us through the mayhem of the modern world. Listening to this kind of expansive, mindful music is one of the ways that helps me make it through the day in the increasingly bizarre and logic-free world we live in.


Dan Wilmer Poop 2023

23 Albums for 2023 – Dan Wilmer, Jersey City, NJ – The Replacements, Nation of Language, Ratboys, The Reds Pinks and Purples, The National, Blur, Noel Gallagher’s High-Flying Birds, Yo La Tengo, Beach Fossils, The Hold Steady


Main Poop Analysis 2022

Dear POOPsters: Time to POOP. For the 36th consecutive year, we POmpous and OPinionated rut-stuck regulars have re-convened to share the fruits of our music habits. In all 21 have weighed in and tilted at internet windmills this year. Even a few prodigal POOPsters have returned to the fold. That’s pretty encouraging given all that’s happened in America this past year; at least our Right To Choose music remains intact even if little else does. After fifteen separate ballots in the House of POOPresentatives, we have finally reached a consensus. I’ve once again employed the time-honored tabulation system, utilizing the…


Jim Meyers Poop 2022

I haven’t heard that much new music this year. Maybe I’m old. Or I don’t have Spotify or Sirius. Or that I just listen to records. Perhaps that’s redundant. — — Wet Leg, Fontaines DC, The Beths, Pup, Frightened Rabbit, Horsegirl, The 1975, Destroyer, Wilco, Alvvays …


Bob Lukomski Poop 2022

This year started off okay, even got across the pond for a couple weeks. Then the chest pains and shortness of breath… I’m now the proud owner of two stents (thereby putting the stent in “stentorian”). Physical recovery was quick, mental processing took a while longer. An excuse to start going out to shows (Roxy Music, Heaven 17, Stereolab, and a fair amount of local fare). Still, got some fun tunage over the course of the year, some return visits from old friends here (if you’ve been inspecting my pOOp from the past few years). As always, I bought more current year releases than listed, but don’t take this as a top 10 list. It’s just what’s been tickling my ears most. — Malka Spigel, Can, Loop, Adi Newton, Stephen Mallinder, Brian Eno, Left Hand Right Hand, Faust, Jochen Arbeit + Sonja Kosche, Anthology of Contemporary Music from South Africa …