Mark Rosen Poop 2015
Rhiannon Giddes –
J.D. McPherson –
Darlene Love –
Ryan Adams –
Bob Dylan –
Miriam –
Another Day – Another Time: Celebrating the Music of “Inside Llewyn Davis –
The Velvet Underground –
The Punch Brothers –
The Mavericks
Articles by MarkR
PoOPList 2015 – Call for submissions – You PoOPin?
Here is the annual plea for PoOP, as circulated by Our Fearless Leader, Mark Rosen. BTW, Mark Rosen, The Fearless Poop Leader is not the same Mark as the Mark Zip who runs this website. To the POmpous and OPinionated: You POOPin? If you’re getting one of these for the first time, POOP is our annual exercise in self-importance wherein we compile “Best Of 2015′ lists, to be published in a quaint ol’ print edition as well as online. This year will be our 29th annual exercise in swillification. A refresher about the rules and deadlines is in order: Limit…
Main PoOP Analysis 2014
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).
Mark Rosen Poop 2014
My Fourth POOP DISC-CLAIMER (disc-lamer?): It’s official. I’ve stopped looking for music by new artists. If whatever is out there is good enough, I’m figuring it’ll find me. As in the previous few years, about half my list this time around is either old stuff or it’s new stuff trying to be old stuff, a trend I don’t see reversing itself anytime soon. I’m not being crabby, mind you. Just realistic. Okay, maybe a little crabby.
Mark Rosen Poop 2013
My Third POOP DISC-CLAIMER (disc-lamer?): All through the year, I was convinced there were some really strong records and easy POOP choices for 2013. Only when I actually compiled my list did I realize that 11 out of my Top 20 picks were in some way direct throwbacks to music originally produced many years ago. More and more I find the output of the young whippersnapper artists increasingly eclipsed by artists or music, uh, of a certain age. I’m growing ever closer to throwing down a “Hey, you kids, get off my lawn.” Buy Newor Used via Amazon 1 –…
Main Poop Analysis 2012
With a quarter of a century behind us, we POmpous and OPinionated types have gone back to the well to haul up the usual buckets of blather and bile. While the world around us rages, we 26 would-be music critics prattle on, sharing our self-important musical observations with one another and exercising our Constitutional right to bear snark . After America got its ass kicked first by Sandy the Storm and then Sandy Hook the Elementary School, sometimes it’s the trivial stuff that keeps us keeping on. Sort of like a National Trifle Association. If you are among the already…
Mark Rosen Poop ’12
Buy New or Used via Amazon 1. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN – Wrecking Ball Bruce’s angriest album ever is also his best since Born To Run. The Irish rebel song “Death To My Hometown” is as fierce as music got this year. Look no further than Wrecking Ball for a record to put in a time capsule to capture the economic and political landscapes of 2012. Special credit must be given to the ghosts of Mitt Romney and ‘W’ and the various “robber barons” for their inspirational roles in this record. Buy New or Used via Amazon 2. THE dB’s – Falling…
Main Poop Analysis 2011
Dear Poopster Shoot off the fireworks. Pop a bottle of your best champagne. Bang a gong. Get it on. It’s the silver anniversary of POOP: our 25th annual rite of self-important pontification. Perhaps a deluxe edition is called for, with bonus lists. After a year marked by the tsunami in Japan, tornadoes in Joplin, an economy in the crapper, and a Republican field that might as well be called the Committee To Re-Elect Barack Obama, it’s time to kick 2011 to the curb. And what better way to do that than to bloviate about our favorite music of an otherwise…
Mark Rosen Poop ’11
1 – VARIOUS ARTISTS – Those Byrds Have Flown: A Byrdsian Tribute I’m not sure a download-only compilation of previously released tracks should be considered POOPworthy but this collection of 25 songs done in the style of circa 1965-66 McGuinn, Crosby, Hillman and two Clarks has artwork, liner notes, and tons of smarts. Tuneful and harmonic jangle galore. Call this Revenge Of the Rickenbackers. I wait only for my boot heels to be wandering. You *might* be able to find it here, but we couldn’t possibly say for sure Buy New or Used via amazon 2 – STEVE EARLE –…
It’s time for PoOP – Call for submissions
Dear leader and fearless PoOPmeister Mark Rosen writes: Yes, it’s time to POOP. This year’s list will be the 25th Annual edition of POOP. The rules remain the same: limit yourself to that which will fit on 2 sides of a page, leaving a small margin where the inside binding will go. send me an attached copy, preferably as a Word Doc. send me a few bucks to cover my expenses. I usually lose a bit of buckage on these and my losses seem to be slowly trending upwards. You no longer have to send me a hard copy as…
Main Poop Analysis 2010
January 2011 In a year marked by the earthquake in Haiti, Elvis-impersonating Chilean miners and the end of Lost, we are reminded that in the greater scheme of things, it’s only POOP. But while Tea Partyers, one JetBlue flight attendant and Cee Lo explored new ways to express their ire and frustrations, we 29 POmpous and OPinionated patrons of the musical arts embraced the new era of civility in our annual rite of peaceful pontification. No POOP libel here. If you’ve been here before, feel free to skip this paragraph. As usual, I’ve attempted to tabulate the entries and, as…
Mark Rosen Poop ’10
Buy New or Used via amazon 1 – THE BLUE SHADOWS – On the Floor Of Heaven Unreleased in the US until this year, this 17 year old record out of Canada (sweetened with a bonus disc of extras) is a real alt-country classic. Great melodies falling somewhere between the Beatles and the Burritos, ringing early R.E.M. guitar tones, Phil and Don-like harmonies, thoughtful arrangements. How the hell did this fly under the radar? This clicks on every level. Thanks, Irv. Buy New or Used via amazon 2 – ROBERT PLANT – Band Of Joy Plant has invented his own…
William Manley Poop 09
Main Poop Analysis 2009
February 2010 Dear POOPster: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. So said Darles Chickens . . . or something like that . . . as well as a few of this year’s contributors in their various musings. In our perennial January rite, 34 POmpous and OPinionated self-righteous musical hedonists have contributed their usual critical flatulence to this, the 23th Annual POOPlist. After all these years, I think it’s fair to say that our serious love/fascination/addiction for/with/to music of every variety might now qualify as “a pre-existing condition,” not that that will have any future…
Mark Rosen Poop 09
MY SECOND EVER POOP DISC-CLAIMER (disc-lamer?): Last year I blamed my musical malaise on my distraction with the election. This year the malaise continues and I really don’t have a convenient explanation for it. I had more time on my hands than ever this past year, and I probably listened to less music. I’m starting to hear myself sound more crotchety (I’m still a few years away from cantankerous though). I am no longer willing to snuggle up to this year’s model, whatever that was. More and more I am finding my solace in old musical friends (or newer artists,…
You’ve Got Poop 08!
Dear POOPster: Yes we can . . . be POmpous and OPinionated. Come hell or high gas prices, a sputtering economy with the fuel light on, and corporate bailouts (where there should have been corporate-types out on bail), 34 POOPsters have still weighed in. Call this your musical stimulus package. For the last twenty-two years, these pages have recognized the creativity, imagination and originality expressed on turntables and in CD players. But it’s quite possible that what America did on November 4th trumped music in terms of creativity, imagination and originality. Life imitates POOP. It’s been a long time comin’…
Mark Rosen Poop 01
1. GILLIAN WELCH – Time (The Revelator) Gilly continues her less-is-more musical philosophy. Sometimes haunting, sometimes jubilant, always exquisite. For God’s sake, give David Rawlings his due credit. This is the last time I’m going to tell you, Gilly! (See Gillian Welch bootleg below.) 2. RYAN ADAMS – Gold He may be the only guy in America who may have benefited from 9/11 but that really can’t be held against him. The fact that as a person he can be something of an asshole can be. Luckily he sure knows how to tap into that American thang. 3. VARIOUS ARTISTS…
Main Poop Analysis 2001
Dear POOPster: You’ve got POOP. The Fifteenth Annual POmpous and OPinionated List is now official and in your hands. As acknowledged in many of this year’s responses, this was not your average year and the pursuit of music has never seemed as trivial as it did during the second half of 2001. Perhaps our annual celebration of good music is a bit muted this year but it does get us one step closer to remembering what life was like on September 10th and that includes being cranky and clever. Enter POOP. As usual, I’ve attempted to tabulate the entries and,…