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.
1. WILLIE NILE- World War Wilie – As screwed up as things were last year, this was an escape. It got played often and always made me smile. Willie is as dependable as musicians get these days. While everybody else struggles to put out albums, this is his 5th in 7 years. And ends with a great version of “Sweet Jane.”
2015 just might become known as the year to beat when it comes to unbridled stupidity in America. But more alarming than that, I fear that with good ol’ American gumption, the coming election year will no doubt leave it behind in the dust. Recently I learned that the oft paraphrased H.L. Mencken quote, the one about how no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people, actually had an even more apropos follow-up sentence: “Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby.” But while the American political system as we know it is currently circling the drain, we the POmpous and OPinionated have responded in the best manner we know. While some of those who would be President prattle on in their assholier-than-thou vitriol, 25 POOPsters have found 10 or 25 or so causes for which to campaign, with civil discourse and free of all squirmishes (thanks, Sarah P!). Feel the POOP.
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).
Buy New or Used via Amazon Rent via iTunes [?] 1. BECK – Morning Phase: I only own two cd’s by Beck- the two morose folky albums which I guess says a lot about me. That said, this is a beautifully constructed and recorded song cycle. Buy New or Used via Amazon Rent via iTunes [?] 2. THE WAR ON DRUGS – Lost in the Dream: This was drugs for the ears. I kept hearing bits and pieces that just wormed their way into my brain. I love…
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…
Buy New Or Used via Amazon 1. DROPKICK MURPHYS- Signed and Sealed in Blood: As much as it pains me to admit it, this was Boston’s year in more ways than one and that includes Fenway’s house band. Their most consistent work to date. Buy New or Used via Amazon 2. DAVID BOWIE- The Next Day: The soundtrack to my first half of the year. The “not quite dying” theme of the title track had particular resonance for what was going on at the time. Buy New or Used via Amazon; 3. JASON ISBELL- Southeastern: The best songwriter and storyteller…