Greetings from the folks at Ovulation Station! FYI: We never download our music. Everything we listen to we purchase directly from the artist or those modest, indie labels we choose to support. DOWN WITH CORPORATE MEDIA! Here are our faves of 2007!     http://www.hop-frog.com/URCKpostasiatic.html V/A – Post-Asiatic: Lost War Dream Music (Urck Records) Hands down the boldest and most exciting compilation to surface in 2007. Features a diverse assortment of musicians from all walks of life playing instruments from around the world with surprising skill.     http://www.paradigms-recordings.com/store.html Hallvardur Asgeirsson – Lifsblomid (Paradigms Recordings) Blowing composers like Johann Johannson…

This has never seem less important. In a year or two, we won’t even be listening to half of this stuff. Hands up, who had Hole on their list back when, and who has since traded it in or thrown it away? I used to herald Radiohead, and now the sound of Thom Yorke’s reedy little voice has me reaching for         a) my shotgun         b)my shotglass         c)my Mudhoney         d)all the above   And will pitchfork please shut the fuck up, for a year or ten? Maybe, by that time, I’ll be listening…

Pondering Onerous Opinions Personally, ‘07 Got retired in October and though I’ve yet to find a groove for myself, I’m just being and having fun looking and listening for that groove. Here’s a few I’ve heard.     Buy new or used through Amazon Eilen Jewell – Letters from Sinners and Strangers Think a choice set list from Dylan’s radio Theme Hours and you’ve got Eilen’s sound.     Buy new or used through Amazon Emmylou Harris – Songbird Three songs into this five disc set and I knew this was top notch PoOp material. I can still get little…

Another year of downloads, mostly singles. So my album collection, due to formatting, is becoming quite limited. Who needs five great tunes and four fillers when you can pick and choose for 99 cents a selection. Best single title- “ME,YOU, AND MY MEDICATION: Boys Like Girls.’ Lots of RIP’s (not just ripped but the dead variety). Too numerous to mention, so I’ll just go on with my selections…and the first one will be an RIP probably way too soon….     Buy new or used through Amazon AMY WINEHOUSE – Back To Black Not just The Rehab song, but this…

Another girl, another planet. Another year, another POOP list. They just called the South Carolina GOP primary for John McCain, so i can finally get off the edge of my seat and rave up those favorite records from the past 12 or so months. I am sure it was a spectacular year for music, but I tried to avoid it all, mostly in an “I’m so far ahead of the underground music curve that all I listen to is my neighbor’s syphilis ridden monkey pound away on bongos as accompanied by the autistic boy down the street on mellotron –…

  Buy new or used through Amazon 1.Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings – 100 Days, 100 Nights     Buy new or used through Amazon 2.The Sadies – New Seasons     Buy new or used through Amazon 3.Southern Culture on the Skids- Countrypolitan Favorites     Buy new or used through Amazon 4.Los Straightjackets – Rock in Espanol, Vol. 1     Buy new or used through Amazon 5.Bo Diddley – I’m a Man: The Chess Masters: 1955-58     Buy new or used through Amazon 6.Charles Mingus Sextet With Eric Dolphy – Cornell 1964     Buy new…

  Buy new or used through Amazon Wilco-“Sky Blue Sky”     Buy new or used through Amazon Bruce Springsteen-“Magic”     Buy new or used through Amazon Josh Ritter-“The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter”     Buy new or used through Amazon Original Soundtrack-“Once Soundtrack”     Buy new or used through Amazon Bright Eyes-“Casadaga”     Buy new or used through Amazon Amy Winehouse-“Back to Black”     Buy new or used through Amazon Feist-“The Reminder”     Buy new or used through Amazon The Shins-“Wincing the Night Away”     Buy new or used through Amazon Various…

  Buy new or used through Amazon Bruce Springsteen – ‘Magic’ – Every single word rings true.     Buy new or used through Amazon Wilco – ‘Sky Blue Sky’ – My favorite Wilco since ‘Being There’. Nels Cline gets MVP of the year for his amazing guitar work especially on ‘Impossible Germany’.     Buy new or used through Amazon Levon Helm – ‘Dirt Farmer’ – “ And some stayed on to finish what they started, they never parted, they’re just built that way”.     Buy new or used through Amazon Bruce Springsteen with The Sessions Band –…

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 MANY MOODS OF 2007 I have been thinking a lot lately about Happiness. I recently found out that the derivative of the word itself, hap, means random, or by chance. Like happenstance. My first assessment of my personal happiness resulted in the realization that I just happen to be an extremely moody person. (By the way, my wife was on to this years ago.) All too often we all leave happiness to chance. Well, time to take things back into our control. Own your feelings. Create a path for yourself. Turn a negative into a positive. So, personally, my…

  Yawn   The only one syllable word fit enough to describe the musical dust bowl of 2007. Underwhelming releases from some acts that blew our hair back in previous years and no band that mightily earned the "new black" status on merit alone. Nonetheless, there were some decent releases that deserve recognition. So without further ado, I poop. Long, but not nearly as satisfying as previous years’ movements;     Buy new or used through Amazon 1) Neil Young – Live at Massey Hall: 1971 I always thought it a cop out when people would make reissues and/or live…

  Favorite 20 Albums of 2007: Buy new or used through Amazon 1. “Magic” – Bruce Springsteen Buy new or used through Amazon 2. “A Singsong and a Scrap” – Chumbawamba Buy new or used through Amazon 3. “Workingman’s Cafe” – Ray Davies Buy new or used through Amazon 4. “The Scene of the Crime” – Bettye LaVette Buy new or used through Amazon 5. “100 Days 100 Nights” – Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings Buy new or used through Amazon 6. “Don’t Tell Columbus” – Graham Parker Buy new or used through Amazon 7. “Sweet Warrior” – Richard Thompson…

DeLaire Minneapolis, Minnesota It Be POOP 2008 Oh man I really enjoy just saying pompous and opinionated let alone writing it. Let’s see I’ve been segregating 2007 releases all year and before me are on my a list too long to mention . So I start with the one’s who never seem to leave the tray in the car ,in the bedroom ,all my replay devices.   Buy new or used through Amazon 1) Jeff Beck – Official Bootleg USA This is recorded live in 2006 but I procured it 2007. The man ,the true rock n roll growl, the…

  Buy new or used through Amazon JOHN BUTLER TRIO – Grand National Something for everybody – superb playing, politics and ass kicking grooves. The CD that I played most often last year.     Buy new or used through Amazon LUCINDA WILLIAMS – West Not much going right with her life these days but it’s her best since “Car Wheels”.     Buy new or used through Amazon KATE RUSBY – Awkward Annie Her cover of the Kinks’ “Village Green Preservation Society” says it all: it’s a seamless mix of traditional and new songs.     Buy new or…

A few albums that didn’t make it to the top of my list but are still noteworthy: The A-Sides – Silver Storms Air – Pocket Symphony Dntel – Dumb Luck The Good, the Bad, and the Queen Gogol Bordello – Super Taranta!   Disappointments of the Year: Against Me! – New Wave Grizzly Bear – Friend EP Minus the Bear – Planet of Ice Okkervil River – The Stage Names Rilo Kiley – Under the Blacklight

POOPIN’ FOR THE YEAR 2007 In no particular order:   Off The Hip Records HELLBOUND HONEYS Vol. 1 (Off the Hip): This is an excellent comp of girl garage bands from Europe, Australia, US, and Argentina. Plenty of fuzz guitar, Farfisa organ and simple beats. There’s two songs from each of the seven bands on the disc. Las Curvettes are the stand-out band but there’s no stinkers in the bunch. Hopefully, there will be a second volume in the near future.   Buy from Goner HEAD – HEIL HEAD (Evil Clown): This is a collection of all of their material…

  Buy new or used through Amazon Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not — Yes, the hype for a certain part of the prospective audience was deafening, so what. The question is, does it communicate what it wants to? Answer: YES! In spades, I say. Basic rock ‘n roll is a lot more difficult than this makes it seem. Some whining on the West side of the pond about it being "too English".. so what.   Buy new or used through Amazon Various Artists – Mary Anne Hobbs Warrior Dubz — Wherein a BBC…

I’ve been shitted on list 2003 Hi everyone- Praveen here to serve up your yearly dose of the illest electronic and hip hop beats… Lots going on with Percussion Lab, check out the 24/7 stream on www.percussionlab.com to hear my recommendations, exclusive mixes, video, Pictures and more. The live show is on Friday nights, 12-2am on WVKR (91.3fm) (www.wvkr.org). In no particular order… * Prefuse 73: Extinguished Outtakes (Warp Records) * Dabrye: Payback 12″ (Ghostly International) * Verbose: Observe (Neo Ouija) * Xela: For Frosty Mornings and Summer Nights (Neo Ouija) * Maps And Diagrams: Polytuft Tech (Expanding Records) *…

Best Music of 2008   Buy New or Used from Amazon 1. Blitzen Trapper/Furr: Sounds like a lost Big Star record, with a healthy dose of Gram Parsons plus hints of the Beatles, Bowie and Chicago. Every single song is great: a classic.   Buy New or Used from Amazon 2. Born Ruffians/Red Yellow & Blue (sounds like: Violent Femmes + Shins + Dismemberment Plan). These cocky fuckers kick down the door with their edgy, angsty indie-rock sound.   Buy New or Used from Amazon 3.A.A. Bondy/American Hearts: (sounds like: Whiskeytown + Jeff Tweedy + Dylan). This dark, mostly acoustic…

2007: Best Music   1.Spoon/Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (another edgy rock masterpiece from these indie veterans, this one’s near-perfect)   1a. Neil Young/Live at Massey Hall 1971 (“these are a few new songs I’ve been working on…”: mind-boggling acoustic soundboard set)   2.Beirut/The Flying Club Cup (mournfully joyous orchestral pop, unique and moving; a quantum leap forward)   3.Radiohead/In Rainbows (stripped-down and organic yet still complex – a beautiful, satisfying rock album)   4.Ted Leo and the Pharmacists/Living With The Living (surprisingly melodic punk record fueled by anti-war anger and the need to rock, hard)   5.Menomena/Friend and Foe…