Jeff Schwartz Poop 09




This is what I was able to muscle out this year, please read responsibly……….




Wolfmother   Buy New or Used through amazon
WOLFMOTHER – Cosmic Egg
Yes, Sabbath, yes White Stripes/Jack White, but how about WOLFMOTHER? They do bring their own sound to the table you know. And to reiterate a phrase that’s often echoed here in the poop, “NO Sophomore Slump Here!”. With songs that completely rock out like “Back Round” & “Pilgrim” plus the softer amazing tunes like “Caroline” & “Violence of the Sun” and the heavy melodic ones like “Sundial”, this record is Flawless, yes I said it Flawless. The bonus disc has 4 x-tra tracks & BONUS is exactly what it is – no filler here. So they get compared to many greats like Jack White & Sabbath & Led Zeppelin, must mean that they’re great too.



COCONUT RECORDS Davy  Buy New or Used throguh amazon   OR   @ eMusic
COCONUT RECORDS – Davy
Here is Jason Schwartzman’s musical project, while known more so for his acting, his music is pretty darn good too. “The Summer”, “Microphone” both sound great. The record is poppy & I like it. His other stuff is good too. Check out from 2007 “Nighttiming” quite good too. He also was in Phantom Planet which had some good songs as well. He had a show on HBO this past fall called “Bored to Death” – I saw a few of them & they were so, so. Maybe I needed to give it more of a chance?


WHITE RABBITS It's Frightening   Name Your Link   OR   @ eMusic
WHITE RABBITS – It’s Frightening
“Lionesse” – love the piano – electric that is – the sound seems like a theme from a black & white detective mystery spy movie, “Percussion Gun” a fine way to start off things, “They done wrong, we done wrong” – well being that Brit Daniels from Spoon produced this record, it’s no wonder that this song sounds very Spoon-ish. “The lady vanishes” has great guitars, “The salesman” has the overlapping vocals which stand out & sounds great. “Midnight & I” – the piano, the guitar, the beat – love it all. ITS FRIGHTENING was a great find – Thank You XMU on Satellite radio



ALICE IN CHAINS Black Gives Way to Blue   Buy New or Used through amazon
ALICE IN CHAINS – Black Gives Way to Blue
I have not bought anything from them since the early 90’s, and was surprised that I even took a chance picking up this new one. Glad I did. The vocals sound great – no disrespect to Layne (R.I.P.) but they took their time & certainly found the right piece to the puzzle. Jerry is a stickler for his, I mean “the band” so obviously he/they had big shoes to fill & William DuVall fits Alice like a glove. Heavy and mellow depending on the song. “Acid Bubble” sounds like it’s right off of “Facelift” which was released in 1990 almost 20 years ago. “Lesson Learned” is tremendous, the vocals & production throughout the record makes it most definitely worthy of being prominently displayed here on the poop.



WILCO   Buy New or Used through amazon
WILCO – (the album)
Clever artwork on the cover by having a camel in a downtown Chicago neighborhood, plus I love their suits that they are wearing in the album booklet. Musically it’s excellent, in fact I just waited in the sub-freezing temperatures for almost 2 hours for tickets to see them in NJ (the Wellmont – an intimate setting), only to secure 2, when I was hoping for 4. Felt like the old days waiting in line in the cold for concert tickets. The acoustic intro on “I’ll Fight”, the slide guitar on “Sonny Feeling”, the lyrics, the piano on “Everlasting Everything” & keys on “Bull Black Nova”, the gentleness of “solitaire” what can be said, Wilco hits it out of the park again. The DVD “Ashes of American Flags” also well worth checking out – See Below.



Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix   Buy New or Used through amazon   OR &nbsp: @ eMusic
PHOENIX – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Its amazing that 10 years has passed since UNITED. That’s the last time they appeared on my pooplist, & here they are again. “Fences”, “Lasso”. Very good!



BUILT TO SPILL There is no Enemy   Buy New or Used through amazon   OR   @ eMausic
BUILT TO SPILL – There is No Enemy
Amazing live as always, – saw em’ last October in NYC & even with Doug being maybe a little under the weather, they delivered. “Aisle 13” starts off with typical greatness out of the gate, “OH YEAH” – very strong, slow long jams & full of sound. “Life’s a Dream” – nice and dreamy with clean guitars & wah wah – what could be bad? “Things Fall Apart” – love the horns, “Tomorrow” – love the fuzzy guitars. Chances are when they release a record, it’ll be listed here on the list, however please know that here at Jeff’s PoOplist, we do take into effect our quality control department & take our listings quite seriously. I do listen to them over & over to ensure that each & every release is worthy of being on the list and they don’t automatically make the list just cause’ they put a record out, well sort of….(wink wink)



THEM CROOKED VULTURES Them Crooked Vultures   Buy New Or Used through amazon
THEM CROOKED VULTURES – Them Crooked Vultures
Josh, Dave & John & (Ringo? – just kidding)…..just cause’ these 3 are involved, doesn’t automatically get them on the list, it’s the tunes that do, but hey the caliber of musicians that are involved speaks volumes in itself. “Mind Eraser, No Chaser” – love it! “Scumbag Blues” has hints o’ cream, “Elephants” – reminds me of true heavy Zeppelin-esque riffs as does “Reptiles” having many notes of Zep, especially the riffs. “Dead End Friends” is truly one of the best songs on the record – just a great head bobbin’ droney groove. I’m glad this one did not disappoint, as I was looking forward to it once I heard it was coming out. Hope they play in NYC again real soon.


DINOSAUR JR Farm   Buy New or Used through amazon  OR   @ eMusic
DINOSAUR JR. – Farm
Ok so I was never a big DINO fan & I know you all will chastise me that I haven’t been on board with J., Lou & Murph until their last effort “Beyond”, however I think FARM is even better than BEYOND making it my favorite release from them. In my opinion they get better with time, age whatever – like a fine wine if you will. “Said The People” – so so good – slow & melodic, “I Don’t Wanna Go There” – the 8+ minute jam. Guitars, oh I love the guitars on this one. J. can play. I also am usually partial to the vocals by Lou “Your Weather” rather than J. but again this one makes the poop in my mind.




BLITZEN TRAPPER Furr   Buy New or Used with amazon
BLITZEN TRAPPER – Furr (08’)
I know this came out in the past & should have been on my list last year, but as they say, better to come late to the party than never? At least I found this one after critics & you poopsters smacked me over the head with it being on everyone’s list except mine last year. OK so now here it is. Does it qualify for this year since it technically did not come out this year? – I say yes, as it’s my list & I am making the rules for “MY” individual list. Reminds me of Jason Falkner & Classic Queen Brian May guitar fills at times, Neil Young piano & vocals, overall – it’s way solid!






Oh Yeah……..3 “music” films too.



Wilco Live Ashes of American Flags   Buy New or Used through amazon
Wilco Live: Ashes of American Flags
Great live footage, their DVD’s are always enjoyable.



It Might Get Loud  Buy New or Used through amazon
It Might Get Loud – Jimmy Page, Jack White & Edge
When I left the theater I wanted to go out & listen to Led Zeppelin for the next month non-stop. Jack White can do no wrong in my book, except for the Dead Weather CD which I could not understand myself. I was also finally able to see how talented the Edge is when out from under the shadow of Bono.



Anvil The Story of Anvil   Buy New or Used through amazon
Anvil: The Story of Anvil
I never liked this band, in fact they sucked. Good movie though. Very funny, pathetic & boy are these strange fellows. You kind of feel sorry for them, not really, but maybe a little. It’s not like they didn’t make it due to them being from Canada or not getting a break, their music was just “LAME” to put it nicely.





by Jeff Schwartz – Green Brook, NJ