Dear POOPster:
So . . . there seems to be some agreement that 2016 could have been a tad better. If I may speak for many of you here, fuck you 2016, fuck you for so many reasons. As we approach the end of the world as we know it, we will have to find strength in the little things, as trivial as they might seem right now. And what could be more trivial than the 30th Annual(!) POOPlist.
16 Albums for 2016 Dan Wilmer, Alexandria, VA Egad, what a year. Good music helped…a bit. Buy New or Used via Amazon Rent via iTunes [?] 1. Car Seat Headrest – Teens of Denial. I like a lot of the other albums on this list, some a whole bunch. This is on a whole different level. “Fill in the Blanks” offers a punky rev-up to get things started, while mod-influenced songs like “Connect the Dots” seem destined to be featured in a future Wes Anderson movie. But the real highlights are tracks like “Drunk Drivers / Killer Whales,” and “Joe…
2014 was a pretty rough year for the world. While good music might ordinarily offer a diversion from the bad and the ugly, occasionally a year comes dangerously close to getting its ass kicked. Seasoned as we are after 28 years of committing POOP to paper and post, we persevere and continue (in the face of beheadings, ebola, Boehner’s new band of blowhards, “I can’t breathe,” and climate calamity) to cling to both bad alliterations and silly year-end lists. Or do we? This year only 26 self-important pontificators got their cool cards punched (2 fewer than last year).
1. Old 97’s – Most Messed Up. 22 years into their career, Rhett Miller and the boys produce one of their most raucous albums. ‘Mats bassist Tommy Stinson sits in on “Intervention” which poses the question: “He’s mystified why we’re so lame, but if he wakes up dead will he feel the same?” Lots of stompy, Hank Williams inspired honky tonk fun.
Dear POOPster: I know you’ve been waiting with bad breath for the front-page POOP analysis and tabulation. So on this occasion, the 27th annual foray into the realm of the POmpous and the OPinionated, I present to you the combined musings of pretty much the same gaggle of blowhards, 28 of them to be exact. For reasons that both escape and annoy me, we are once again an almost entirely male sampling of swillmeisters; it’s getting right testosterony up in here. Talk about fitting the record geek profile. . . Anyway, to the Price-Waterhouse stuff. As usual, I’ve attempted to…
“I hate music. What is it worth?Can’t bring anyone back to this earth.But fill in the space between all the notes,And I’ve got nothing else so I guess here we go.” – “Me and You and Jackie Mittoo,” Superchunk This list goes to eleven: Buy New or Used via Amazon Jason Isbell – Southeastern. Just a perfect alt country album. Buy New or Used via Amazon Kurt Vile – Wakin’ on a Pretty Daze. Love him and he’s just getting better and better. Buy New or Used via Amazon Steve Earle – The Low Highway. One of his very best….