1. The Field ‘Looping State of Mind’, 2. Balam Acab ‘Wander/Wonder’ 3. James Blake ‘James Blake’ 4. Burial ‘Street Halo’ EP 5. Pure X ‘Pleasure’ 6. Julianna Barwick ‘The Magic Place’ 7. Shabazz Palaces – ‘Black Up’ 8. Gang Gang Dance ‘Eye Contact’ 9. Ganglians – ‘Still Living’ 10. Washed Out ‘Within and Without’ 11. Kashiwa Daisuke – ’88’ 12. Bon Iver – ‘Bon Iver, Bon Iver’ 13. Tim Hecker ‘Ravedeath 1972’ / ‘Dropped Pianos’ 14. M83 ‘Hurry Up…’ 15. Grouper ‘A I A’ 16. A Winged Victory for the Sullen ‘A Winged Victory for the Sullen’ 17. Zomby ‘Dedication’…

A lot of good new stuff, but nothing great except in the Jazz and Reissue bins. Highest marks go to Disco Inferno (we weren’t ready for them in 1992), George Jones, Fania Retrospective, Craig Taborn, Ambrose Akimusire and almost all African compilations. Formidable Fourteen Charles Bradley – No Time for Dreaming / Bombina – Agadez / M & A – things yes / Frank Turner – England Keep My Bones / White Denim – D / The Black Keys – El Camino / Tom Waits – Bad as Me/ Bomb the Music Industry – Vacation / Siberia – Lights /…

A lot of good new stuff, but nothing great except in the Jazz and Reissue bins. Highest marks go to Disco Inferno (we weren’t ready for them in 1992), George Jones, Fania Retrospective, Craig Taborn, Ambrose Akimusire and almost all African compilations. Formidable Fourteen Charles Bradley – No Time for Dreaming / Bombina – Agadez / M & A – things yes / Frank Turner – England Keep My Bones / White Denim – D / The Black Keys – El Camino / Tom Waits – Bad as Me/ Bomb the Music Industry – Vacation / Siberia – Lights /…

1. The Vinyl District Record Store Locator app (available for iOS and Android)  (The Vinyl District/Shoutem)   Buy New or Used via amazon 2. Tom Waits – Bad As Me (Anti)   Buy New or Used via amazon 3. Brian Olive – Two of Everything (Alive)   Buy New or Used via amazon 4. Booker T. Jones – The Road From Memphis (Anti)   Buy New or Used via amazon 5. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues (Sub Pop)   Buy New or Used via amazon 6. Black Keys – Lonely Boy (Nonesuch)   Buy New or Used via amazon 7. Justin Townes Earle – Harlem River Blues…

as much as i have thought it to be a cop out in the past…i’m not sure the concept of the whole album or cd release really worked in 2011. not for me anyway. yeah there were a few nice things released & among those some truly great moments. a couple tracks on the new Mattson2 were absolute knockouts & there was a lovely ep by Emilie Proulx. i liked the Kurt Vile quite alot. mostly i scoured the new stuff for tracks here & there that i could sink my teeth into. many of the most satisfying cuts came…

occupy poop! it’s embarrassing to think anyone still cares about this crap or even has the time to ponder it based on the sands of time runnin’ out on our democracy. . . that the only music we should have been listening to & adding our ragged voices to was the global chant for justice & equality, but since mark asked – no decisive order as usual – just what distracted me from firebombing goldman sachs or lifted my spirits –   Buy New or Used via amazon paul simon – so beautiful or so what   Buy New or Used via…

  Buy New or Used via amazon Katie B – On A Mission (Rinse / Columbia) Among all the BRIT School graduates who made waves this year (Adele, Jamie Woon, Rizzle Kicks, Amy Winehouse), Katie B was by far my favourite. Last year’s contribution to the Magnetic Man album (featuring the brilliant lyric “something, something, something…”) and the “On A Mission” single had given us reason to expect a strong debut and we were not disappointed. The combination of pop, UK funky, dubstep and drum ‘n bass (hell, there’s even an Amen break on a coupla tracks) was addicting and served…

  Buy New or Used via amazon WILD FLAG – S/T (Merge): This disc is the real standout of the year for me. Harmonies and major guitar chops from both Carrie and Mary with Janet’s pounding backbeat keep this disc in the cd player.   Buy New or Used via amazon Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds – Gorilla Rose (In The Red): Former Gun Club-er and Cramp put out an amazing mix of sounds. Now it’s time to hit his back catalog.   Buy New or Used via amazon Half Man Half Biscut – 90 Bisodol (Crimond) (Probe Plus): I’ve only…

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 –…

The Year 2011 This year’s picks was simple for me. Well only during the last few weeks of the year when true gems “were dropped” onto the market.I would love to put Numbers 1-9 as only one record, EL CAMINO by The Black Keys, as this recording was the” best of the best” by a mile or two. Nothing was even close for me. You knuckleheads might not agree and offer a differing opinion. However, sticking with tradition and so as not to screw up Mark’s method of accounting I offer the following as 1 through 10.   Buy New or…

After a 1 year absence I do return to the banter, the chatter & pontification as we all love to do once a year …I realize that no one even noticed my absence, no concern what-so-ever as to why no list from yours truly, that’s OK, not a problem as I see how you folks are, so full of your own everyday lives and yourselves, consumed with no one else’s feelings but your very own & Pompous to boot! Hence the origination of this list, so as they say let’s get on with the show, or rather the PoOp year…

Favorite Things ~ 2011 ALBUMS    Buy New or Used via Amazon FareWell Poetry ~ Hoping for the Invisible to Ignite (Gizeh) This music is dangerous. It invites us to pass through the raging fire so that we might stand on the ravaged side, patting the flames on our singed clothes and glaring triumphantly at the monster that should have destroyed us. Spoken word, post-rock and Shakespeare’s Troillus and Cressida are combined in such a way as to challenge Godspeed! You Black Emperor for the post-rock crown.    Buy from Tartaruga Records Petrels ~ Haeligewielle(Tartaruga) Haeligewielle (holy well, sacred spring)…

At the end of the year when I go back and figure out what musically excited me and throw all the titles onto the digital paper, I can’t help but feel self-conscious about how narrow my tastes continue to be, even at age 42. Thankfully this year I can finally say that I have broadened my horizons with not only Bombino’s Agadez but also Raphael Saadiq’s Stone Rollin’. I stumbled upon Agadez through a random NPR album stream one uneventful day at work. Mr. Moctar is from the Northern African region of Tuareg and was raised on a steady diet…

At the end of the year when I go back and figure out what musically excited me and throw all the titles onto the digital paper, I can’t help but feel self-conscious about how narrow my tastes continue to be, even at age 42. Thankfully this year I can finally say that I have broadened my horizons with not only Bombino’s Agadez but also Raphael Saadiq’s Stone Rollin’. I stumbled upon Agadez through a random NPR album stream one uneventful day at work. Mr. Moctar is from the Northern African region of Tuareg and was raised on a steady diet…