POOP MMVI Once again I have waited until the last minute (actually, I have 240 minutes to go ’til the clock strikes midnight) to gather my thoughts and music purchases for the past year, spread them out in front of me, and try to figure out which are worthy for mention in the preeminent “best of” publication of the year. I spent the better part of 2006 ignoring popular music, hence my list will seem somewhat limited when compared to the expansive sonic options touted by our fellow taste makers. I’m finding as I get older, the emotional link to…

Thanks to John L, I hear a lot more interesting CD’s this year; things I never have ventured to try. But with his box of goodies and plenty of time, I jumped right in. There was Ballboy, Caria Bozulich, Califone and Neil Young’s “GREENDALE,’ amnong others. 1 – WHITE STRIPES – Elephant 2 – JOE STRUMMER – Streetcore 3 – CALEXICO – Feast of Wire 4 – DAVID GRISMAN – Life of Sorrow 5 – GILLIAN WELCH – Soul Journey 6 – SUN KIL MOON – Ghosts of the Highway 7 – SLIPSTREAM – Trancendental 8 – MILES DAVIS –…

1. The Waterboys: Universal Hall – Recorded in a studio under Universal Hall at the spiritual center Findhom, in Scotland, this record is filled with healing music of the highest order, built around acoustic instruments. Mike Scott continues to create the Big Music his own way with no regard to current trends or the hit parade. A true musical hero. 2. The Jayhawks: Rainy Day Music – The best record of their career. Amazing song writing and vocals from Gary Louris. The guitars ring out and you will not find bettor harmony singers in the world today. In addition the…

The following is not a top ten, but just a list of some records that I enjoyed enough to listen to several times. It’s also not in any particular order.     Buy new or used through Amazon Jess Klein: Strawberry Lover     Buy new or used through Amazon Kathleen Edwards: Back to Me     Buy new or used through Amazon Ryan Adams: Cold Roses     Buy new or used through Amazon Arcade Fire: Funeral     Buy new or used through Amazon Kaiser Chiefs: Employment     Buy new or used through Amazon Cyndi Lauper: The…

23. The Bronx- s/t 22. Lucinda Williams- World Without Tears 21. Kings ofLeon- Youth and Young Manhood 20. Burnt by the Sim- Perfect is the Enemy of the Good 19. 0utkast- the Love Below/Speakerboxxx 18. Elvis Costello- North 17. Ryan Adams- Love is Hell part 2 16. My Morning Jacket- It Still Moves 15. The Strokes- Room on Fire 14. Coheed and Cambria- In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 13. The Shins- Chutes Too Narrow 12. The White Stripes – Elephant- hype leads to hope and with their fourth release many were hoping that the White Stripes would fall…

The Shins – Chutes Too Narrow Super Furry Animals – Phantom Power Burnt By The Sun – The Perfect is the Enemy of the Good The White Stripes – Elephant Josh Rouse -1972 Ryan Adams – Love is Hell pt. 1 & 2 The Mars Volta – De-Loused in the Comatorium Iron and Wine – The Sea & the Rhythm (ep) The Postal Service – Give up Aesop Roek -Bazooka Tooth Outkast – Speakerboxxx / The Love Below Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy – Master and Everyone Every Time I Die- Hot Damn! Dysrhthmia -Pretest 5ive’s Continuum Research Project – The Hemophiliac…

Best of 2003 Albums: 1. Magnolia Electric Company, Songs: Ohia (Secretly Canadian) 2. Greetings from Michigan, Sufjan Stevens (Asthmatic Kitty) 3. It Still Moves, My Morning Jacket (ATO) 4. Transfiguration of Vincent, M. Ward (Merge) 5. Unearthed, Johnny Cash (American) 6. Down the River of Golden Dreams, Okkervil River (Jagjaguwar) 7. Farewell Sorrow, Alasdair Roberts (Drag City) 8. Master and Everyone, Bonnie “Prince” Billy (Drag City) 9. Catalpa, Jolie Holland (Anti/Epitaph) 10. The Meadowlands, The Wrens (Absolutely Kosher) 11. Soul Journey, Gillian Welch (Acony) 12. Hail to the Thief, Radiohead (Capitol) 13. You Are Free, Cat Power (Matador) 14. Chutes…

Electric Eighteen   Buy new or used through Amazon Amp Fiddler – Afro Strut (U.S. Version). A slice of early seventies soul made new with splashes of New Orleans funk and Fats Waller from Joseph “Amp” Fiddler who has produced and played keyboard for Prince and George Clinton.     Buy new or used through Amazon Idan Raichel Project – The Idan Raichel Project. You take Israeli pop songs and mix in an eclectic group of musicians from Ethiopia and other African Jewish traditions to shake things up. If you liked the French rap song from the last episode of…

  Buy new or used through Amazon 1. Of Montreal – Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer (PolyVinyl) It’s hard to comprehend, but 10 years have passed since their debut album first appeared. Truth be told, I hadn’t been following their releases in at least half of those years, as I’d pretty much figured out where they were going, which seemed pretty predictable. Well Kevin Barnes must have realized that he’s gone as far as he could with his shtick and decided to throw himself headlong into a nervous breakdown by moving to Norway with his wife in the dead…

1. Beck Sea Change DGC/Geffen Records Once again, he’s outdone himself. Even Jackson Browne should be suitably impressed with this gloom n’ doom beauty. Take Mutations and remove any semblance of humor. 2. Aimee Mann Lost in Space Superego Records I don’t understand how Bachelor No. 2 got raves and this one seems to fly under the radar for most. If she has more of these in her misery treasure trunk, by all means keep em comin! 3. Super Furry Animals Rings Around the World Beggars/XL Records A real mish-mosh of Beatle-pop, electronica insanity and 70s cliché-isms. A real feast…

Favorite Things ~ ALBUMS    Buy from Amazon B.J. Nilsen ~ Fade to White (Touch). Amazingly, the first new CD I bought in 2005 turned out to be the finest. January’s door had just opened, and here was the perfect soundtrack, one that remained in my CD player until the final frost and returned with the first flakes. “Fade to White” is an apt title for this masterpiece of sampled snow and devastating drones, whipping winds and white-out conditions. As the white noise builds to a tumult, the listener can easily imagine being snowed-in; the final icicle-thin pings sound like…

ALBUMS Buy from amazon Mum ~ Summer Make Good. “Will the summer make good for all our sins?” After the resignation of one of its lead vocalists, Mum retreated to a remote lighthouse in Galtarviti for inspiration. The result is their finest album to date, a treasure chest of creaks and anchors, kettles and coins. “Summer Makes Good” evokes wind-chapped faces, bulky, rain-drenched sweaters, tin cups clenched by a crackling fire. We hear whistles and chirps, violins and glockenspiels, a girls’ choir recorded in a cinema basement. All this and more are embedded in a spider’s web of skittery beats….

   Buy new or used through Amazon M.I.A. – Arular (XL/Beggars) Dunno what I can add to all the column inches already dispensed on this. It’s just so wondeful a mix of beats, samples and musics that I feel like listening to it right now. It’s just sooooo….. fuckin’ good.     Buy new or used through Amazon    Buy from Amazon VA – Run the Road 1 (Vice Records USA) VA – Run the Road 2 (679 Records UK) Best comps to get in on the UK grime scene. Almost all of the biggest names from the last 2…

30 TOPS – – – – 30 – casiotone for the painfully alone – etiquette (tomlab) makes the postal service sound like the telegram 29 – the thermals – the body, the blood, the machine (sub pop) makes green day sound really, really old 28 – indian jewelry – invasive exotics (monitor) doom-plated psych-rock from the bowels of the bowels 27 – grizzly bear – yellow house (warp) winner of my first annual scott dellamore album layout of the year award 26 – skygreen leopards – disciples of california (jagjaguwar) straight up heartache; another notch in the jagjag belt 25…

  Buy new or used through Amazon M. Ward / Post-War: reclusive indie-folk guitar hero wakes up and smells the genius   Buy new or used through Amazon Beck / The Information: uplifting and funky, Beck quits moping, starts popping and locking   Buy new or used through Amazon Tapes ‘n Tapes / The Loon: Pixies plus Pavement, pure indie pleasure   Buy new or used through Amazon Arctic Monkeys / Whatever People Say That I Am…: great dance-punk, undeniably catchy   Buy new or used through Amazon Band of Horses / Everything All the Time: slow-burning, clean, and bright…

  Buy from CD Baby 1. THE FELICE BROTHERS: Through These Reins & Gone – local Hudson Valley guys made the best music I heard all year…several live shows really showcased their Band/Dylan influences. big things lie ahead for them.   Buy new or used through Amazon 2. BOB DYLAN: Modern Times – what can one say? blatant rip offs from Muddy Waters aside, a brilliant, fun, insightful ride. (local reference- rented out the Bardavon to write and jam for a week)   Buy new or used through Amazon 3. NICOLAI DUNGER: Here’s My Song, You Can Have It, I…

I have been doing this for 5 or 6 years now I think? Do I have a frigging clue in what I am doing? Hell to the no. I love the music I listen to, as well as the movies and tv shows I watch. I do support gay marriage, as well as a woman’s right to choose. But other than that I am your typical meat-eating, right to bear arms liberal. Anyway here’s what I dug in 2006. There was a lot of stuff I enjoyed so my top 10 turned into my Top 20 My Favourite Albums of…

I will be the first to tell you I have no musical taste. I leave that to the experts and those who know so much better then me. That being said, I do love music and I enjoy and here is what made me smile in 2005. I played Franz Ferdinand a lot and they almost made it to number 1. But I decided to give it to Bright Eyes for having 2 albums I thoroughly enjoyed plus making one of the best protest tunes of the past 20 years with “When The President Talks to God”, as well as…

  Go to Jeff Schwartz PoOP 2006 Original .pdf here (Opens in new window) If you need a fast loading, non-bloated .pdf viewer, we suggest Foxit Reader (Windows) Here’s a rough preview: