“THAT’S WHAT THEY ALL SAY…” In the end, 2008 was the year of Change and a great feeling of elation in many people I know. At a Little Annie show at Santos Party House on November 6, she couldn’t stop smiling and finally came out with, “How can I sing the blues when I feel so happy?” But, beware, Grasshopper! As the great philosopher Bonzo Dogband once said, “No matter who you vote for, the government always gets in”. 2008 to me was a year of some nice but unspectacular recordings, and some great concerts. First, the concerts: By far…

Mission Improbable “Good Morning, Agent PoOp’007 – It has come to PoOp Central’s attention that several Pop Stars have gone missing and have been replaced by suspicious soundalikes and look-alikes. Your mission, Jim, should you decide to accept it, is to evaluate the replacements and report back with your Top 10…” The first suspicious singer we come upon is named Amy Winehouse. At first we suspected that she was Mary Coughlan in disguise, and indeed the Winehouse songs about love’s trials and tribulations could have been secretly written by Coughlan, but, we decided that Winehouse’s soul vocals and ska covers…

The first word in ‘listen’ is LIST – Paul Morley TOP 10 RECORDINGS – PLUS RUNNERS-UP if you read the details Buy new or used through Amazon 1. Little Axe Stone Cold Ohio Tighter, more song-oriented, rootsier than previous Little Axe things, this was my favorite On-U release in years   Buy from the Band 2. Youngblood Brass Band Live. Places Brass powerhouse, much improved from their debut. Their studio followup, Is That a Riot? (#13) is worth investigating too, just a notch lower in energy. Brass band fans should also check the Dirty Dozen Brass Band’s remake of Marvin…

Well my ultimate PoOP list is here and I didn’t even write it! Simon Reynolds book Rip It Up and Start Again – Postpunk 1978-1984 was my favorite musical experience of the year. Not the book alone – I DJ’d my reading experience with the records listed or mentioned in the text, and the soundtrack on my stereo(s) was better by far than anything else that made it to my turntables or CD players. And what a selection: Slits meets Pop Group meets Gang of Four meets Mutant Disco meets 99 meets On-U meets PiL meets YMG meets Joly [!]…

Despite the fact that my choices hardly ever effect the PoOP standings, I still feel it is my duty to muze and music to have a go at PoOP. I didn’t hear much that grabbed my ear musically, this year, so my list is rather subdued. I suspect that this is a symptom of the Post-Election Trauma Syndrome (PETS) that I and a lot of my friends and neighbors are experiencing as well. While I was not particularly fond of the Democratic candidate, anything promised to be better than the doofus fascist who apparently won thanks to the people in…

Turbines to Power! Rockets to Speed! DAS LIED DER DEUTSCHEN What does it say about me that I chose as my album of the year a Kraftwerk record that was made in 1983 and has been sitting on a shelf for 20 years? Florian und Rolf have either been tweaking the thing all this time or they just got tired of it or maybe they needed the money. Note that they still haven’t written any new songs since 1986, except for Expo 2000. Nice way to make a living. But the thing was continually on my stereo. No other electro…