Jeff Schwartz Poop 04


Back in Ye Old year of 2004, there once lived a young lad, who told of such a fruitful and compelling yet bludgeoning story of the poop unto all poops in the land. Yet it could only be told by one certified, and thoroughly masterful poopologist from the far away land of Poopville. Alas, I digress. Hence a mere mortal with the utmost pickiest of picky ears and musical tastes, his name, none other than JEFF SCHWARTZ who resides in the enchanting Township, or Hamlet if you will of Green Brook, NJ. Let’s begin.

Commonly referred to as a “TOP TEN”, this year however we shall try something a bit different. Instead of going along with the masses, I suggest that we put forth on this here date a new pattern. An undefined trend of newness if you will. My fellow poopologists, I come to you with an open mind. I’m calling this list my “NOTEWORTHY NINE”. (Basically 9 CD’s that caught my ear this past year – 2004). A word of caution to those poopsters actually sitting on the throne whilst reading this masterpiece, Try to find a more diverse list of music than what I’ve provided for you right here! Trust me it’s no act, I truly am open to many formats and styles of music, read on and gravitate to that level playing field in the sky that we call the almighty poop.

eagles of death metal - peace love death metal Buy from amazon
1) Eagles of Death Metalpeace love death metal – (rekords/rekords)
*this is not death metal, it’s just the name of the band –
Fans of Kyuss , Desert Sessions & Queens of the Stone Age take notice, your boy Josh Homme has another side project. This time he’s under the name “Carlo Von Sexron” or his nickname “baby duck”, and he’s one hell of a drummer. Keeping the beat & continuing the mastery of his head bobbin’ groove that he’s fine tuned over the years & brought to the masses with QOTSA. This record is excellent; it’s even on Hommes’ label rekords/rekords. The lyrics are great, the vibe is great, the comedy element is a nice bonus…remember dread zeppelin?, well think cooler than that but white stripes bluezyness, under produced – on purpose, plus the vibe – stoner less the edge & thickness, still very funky & fun. Includes a cover song, can you find it? This guy Homme in my opinion can turn shit into gold. As always devil references, yet again I stress, you’ll find no Death Metal here. Heard one of their songs in a Budweiser commercial last night – how crazy is that?

 

jay farrar - live ep Buy from amazon
2) Jay Farrar – Live EP – (transmit sound)
A nice morsel for you completeists who must have it all, like me. Played very loud the production holds up nicely, like you are right there, very crisp. Wish it was longer.

 

jay farrar - Stone Steel & Bright Lights Buy from amazon
3) Jay Farrar –
Stone, Steel & Bright Lights – (transmit sound)
You can breathe a HUGE sigh of relief since his last solo effort, which made my biggest disappointment list last year. Live – it can’t be bad, well it could but this one delivers. The two cover songs at the end are quite good as well; you’ll have to check it out to see what they are.

 

4) PJ Harvey – B-Sides (From the Uh Huh Her UK Singles)
Bows and Arrows, Angel, Stone….this may be the best B-Sides compilation she’s ever put out. It’s right up there with 50’ Queenie. The full length was also quite good, but just not as strong as the B-side outtakes.

 

descendents - cool to be you Buy from amazon
5) Descendents – Cool to be You – (fat wreck chords)
They’re baaaaack! And with a valiant effort as well. Milo is in the mix and the only problem is that they did not tour, at least not in the east that is, maybe they did a few local dates out west, but hey, they got families, responsibility and lives outside of music as we all do, well that is us grown ups with day jobs. Dog & Pony Show, Anchor Grill, ‘Merican, the title track – it’s all good ol’ original formula, with refreshing new stuff. They still shoulda’ toured though.

 

handsome boy modelling school - white people Buy from amazon
6) Handsome Boy Modeling School – White People – (atlantic/elektra)
School is in session, so settle down & grab that composition book for note taking. There may be a quiz so brush up on your skillz and pay attention to Prof. Dan the Automator and Dr. Prince Paul. As expected many guest teaching aides will grace this classroom including; Del the funky homosapien, Barrington Levy, Del La Soul, Mike Patton, Casual, Jack Johnson, Cat Power, Rahzel, Dres from Black Sheep, RZA, and many more including some SNL (Saturday Night Live) alumni. Of course the comedy element is always in full effect when it comes to this spinning duo. Kid Koala, Rob Swift, Chino from the Deftones and even John Oates were enlisted to make this masterpiece. Remember Handsome is as Handsome Does.

 

elliot smith - from a basement on a hill Buy from amazon
7) Elliot Smith – From a Basement on the Hill (anti)
Aside from leaving us with a phenomenal piece of work, it’s truly a tragedy that he’s no longer with us, physically. But musically he’ll be around forever. These songs are among his best, would have loved to had heard em’ live. It’s clearly not what I would have expected from him, but then again, would we ever know what to expect from him? Unfortunately, we would, and it did happen. Rest In Peace ES. Again we say goodbye to another creative genius soul gone way too young.

 

failure - golden Buy from cdbaby
8) Failure – Golden (they released it themselves as I found it on cdbaby.com)
OK, OK So I didn’t find it myself, a fellow nameless poopster had to enlighten me of its existence. So I’m officially out of the loop, what can I say. I mean the band did break up in the late 90’s, select members moved on to spawn ON, YOTR and other numerous projects, work with other bands that became quite mainstream if you will, and how’s a person to keep up? The brain can only retain so much you know. I ask of your forgiveness. Well I promise from here on in, no more sleepin’ at the wheel. I’m on High alert for any new
droppings and or morsels from the one and only Failure. In this 2 disc set, we got many demo’s and outtakes, some unreleased goodies plus a DVD of some behind the scenes footage and good juicy fanatical band stuff that only an obsessed fan such as myself, would appreciate and value. Appropriately titled GOLDEN, I’ll say.

 

wilco - a ghost is born Buy from amazon
9) Wilco – A Ghost is Born (nonesuch)
Hummingbird & Handshake Drugs – two songs that will most definitely go on to be staples on the Box Set someday, I hope. Caught them at Radio City Music Hall – I gotta say a good show, but maybe not the best place to see Wilco? Guess I’ll take what I can get. Anyway they keep on delivering the goods, especially if you like diversity, like I do.