Dynamic Range Day: Inside the Loudness War

It seems that today is “Dynamic Range Day”. I think that perhaps the effort needs a better publicist or marketer, I went to Hallmark to look for a “Happy Dynamic Range Day” card and the lady gave me very odd look. No matter, it’s an interesting and necessary effort. The Dynamic Range Day site has a number of useful and informative resources. And if you’re that way inclined, you can win a whole bunch of cool gear. Dynamic Range Day: Inside the Loudness War – CE Pro Article from CE Pro.


Long Reads: The Global Songwriter Shell Game: Why The Major Music Companies Are Getting Your Royalties

Major music labels tell us that it is bad that people “steal content”, so they’ve come up with another revenue stream, accepting royalty payments which thay are not due, from people who are not authorised to collect them and then not giving it to the people for whom it was collected…. The Global Songwriter Shell Game: Why The Major Music Companies Are Getting Your Royalties | TuneCorner Music Blog.


Do You Sell Used Items? – Trans-Pacific Partnership Proposes the End of the Doctrine of First Sale

IANAL, but I was fascinated by this in-depth history of the Doctrine of First Sale (which allows me to sell used records to anyone willing to pay) and analysis of the most recent attempt to blow it up. It’s slightly heavy going, with quite a bit of law jargon, but the thrust of the piece leads to the remarkable conclusion that the TPP proposal, in an attempt to protect US industries which rely largely on copyrighted works, will actually drive then to make all copies abroad. At the same time it will finally kill the market for used books, records,…


Today’s Cover Tune: Oh Minnows cover JAMC

“Just Like Honey” by Oh Minnows Oh Minnows have contributed a fine cover of “Just Like Honey” to a charity album. Proceeds go to breast cancer research. Click the picture or the player box to “buy” the MP3s. Hat tip: TVD


Extra PoOP!

While Bernadette Lange’s PoOP did not get to us in time for inclusion in the annual pooling of swill on paper, we’re happy to add her bloviations to the rest of the upchuck. Plus, she’s a girl…. So there’s that. Benadette Lange Poop ’11


Bernadette Lange Poop ’11

I spent all of January trying to catch up on all the shit I had missed and ended up with a turtle head!!! These are the lists of someone who probably has no business being here but, the pooplist needs a vag…   Wipe front to back girls!!! BERNIE’S TOP 25 ALBUMS OF 2011   Buy New or Used via amazon 1. M83 – HurryUp, We’re Dreaming More like: Hurry up the vinyl is back ordered!!!! The influence Mellon Collie had on this record is very apparent. LOVES IT!!!   Buy New or Used via amazon 2. Beirut – The Rip Tide Didn’t…



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…


John Stewart Poop ’11

I really had a hard time finding a top ten in 2011. This past year it was all about the 99 Percent and Occupy Wall Street. What they did was change the conversation from the balanced budget to the lack of economic equality that exists in our country. The New York Mets of English Football? Manchester City won the FA Cup and West Ham United got relegated. I am also convinced when I watch the GOP debates? They should be playing clown music instead. I can’t take these people seriously at all. Ten Best of 2011.   Buy New or Used…


Jim Meyers Poop ’11

  Buy New or Used via amazon 1. Gillian Welch – The Harrow & the Harlot Melodic melancholy that sounds sepia tinged and dusty but never depressing. Dave Rawlings is my favorite acoustic guitarist under the age of Richard Thompson. Worth the eight-year wait.   Buy New or Used via amazon 2. Wilco – The Whole Love Jeff Tweedy actually sounds happy, which makes me a bit nervous. Nils Cline fixes it all.   Buy New or Used via amazon 3. Adele – 21 I listened to “Someone Like You” more than any other song this year, with the possible exception of “Rolling…


Andrew Stewart Poop ’11

  Buy New or Used via amazon 1. Bon Iver / Bon Iver This transcendent, atmospheric folk album defies logic, a shimmering narcotic elegy to loves that never were, and places that don’t exist. High-wire brilliance.   Buy New or Used via amazon 2. TV on the Radio / Nine Types of Light TVoTR finally hit their groove, enriching their beats with a warm, soulful sound.   Buy New or Used via amazon 3. Middle Brother / Middle Brother The leads from Dawes, Deer Tick and Delta Spirit team up to bust heads and break hearts.   Buy New or Used via amazon 4….


Eric Fine Poop ’11

Wow, Mark… 25 years of PooP!!! Congratulations!!! Although I know I have not been there since day 1, it sure feels like I have been pooping my whole life! I think 2011 is the year I finally I felt old. Tons of my favorite bands from years ago put out records, although I did not enjoy any of them. I see hall of fame baseball players retire – younger than I am now. And the majority of music I listened to this year was from 20+ years ago. However, my addiction to seek out new music keeps me coming back…


John Lefsky Poop ’11

One of the hardest years to pin down a top 20. It seems like every time I turned around, there was some new music to be heard: some by old standbys and a lot by new acts. A couple of labels seemed to stand out (Sacred Bones, Trouble In Mind). Looking at my list from last year, I noticed that not a lot has changed: a lot of power pop/punk throwbacks alongside the noisemakers and sadsack song-writers. The last couple of years, #1 choices jumped out; I don’t even know what my top choice is as I write this. I…


John Greak Poop ’11

POOPLIST 2011: the Randy “Macho Man” Savage Memorial Edition This is all last minute, of course – why think about any of it? In some particular order, here are my favorite records of 2011. Enjoy?   Buy New or Used via amazon Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks – Mirror Traffic In the name of all that is (not) holy, get the Senator a blow job already!   Buy New or Used via amazon Explosions In The Sky – Take Care, Take Care, Take Care FNL-y.   Buy New or Used via amazon Raphael Saadiq – Stone Rollin’ Groovy.   Buy New or Used via…


Bill Still Poop ’11

Against the advice of my male friends and for the advice of my female friends here goes my strategy for this years list… granted, many women have been named in past lists, but not nearly as many as men. 2011 seemed to be dominated by women. Adele and the passing of Amy Winehouse aside, never in my estimation, have so many bands and solo artists been top performers, so my top 10 consist solely of women or bands with women in them.   Buy New or Used via amazon 1. Hollie Cook – Hollie Cook – (fantastic summertime reggae)   Buy New…


Damian Cleary Poop ’11

pooplist 2.0.1.1. …   Buy New or Used via amazon earth: angels of darkness, demons of light vol. 1:   Buy New or Used via amazon horseback: the gorgon tongue: impale golden horn+forbidden planet   Buy New or Used via amazon battles: gloss drop   Buy New or Used via amazon tim hecker: ravedeath 1972   Buy New or Used via amazon master musicians of bukkake: totem 3   Buy New or Used via amazon grails:deep politics   Buy New or Used via amazon haunted house (loren connors):blue ghost blues   Buy New or Used via amazon alvarius B: baroque primitiva   Try to Buy via Social Music Records…


Duncan Clark Poop ’11

  Buy New or Used via amazon 1. THE DECEMBERISTS – The King Is Dead – No themes. No prog rock. Just simple literate direct songs by a band that is hitting its peak. Even watching them in concert in a drenching rain did not dampen my enthusiasm for either the band or the album.   Buy New or Used via amazon 2. BLACK JOE LEWIS & THE HONEYBEARS – Scandalous – We knew from the first disc that this was a top notch funk and r&b band. The new album has a real edge and energy to it- sort of p(f)unk….


Patrick Kennedy Poop ’11

2011: ANOTHER YEAR, ANOTHER LIST WITH GODDAMN VIDEO GAMES ON IT This entire year I worked a shift from 11pm to 7am Mon-Fri, and therefore found myself catching up on sleep during almost all available free time. Still, I did listen to at least 10 things, see 10 movies, and play 10 video games (barely). Thanks to everyone for such amazing lists, and here’s to mass culture continuing to produce material after December 2012! ALBUMS:   Buy New or USed via amazon (1) Wye Oak – Civilian   Buy New or USed via amazon (2) Mastodon – The Hunter   Buy New or…


Jim Finnigan Poop ’11

Occupy PoOP 2011 Wherein we lowly and scruffy protesters get to choose the top 1%! Well, it was not the most exciting year for recorded music, but there certainly was a lot of it! Some rays of hope will soon shine on the masses with the appointment of our newest beloved leader! My On-U year: There were no Bonzos or Kraftwerk this year, so the masses stood crying in the streets, in orderly rows in front of their apartment houses (certainly the performance art event of the year!), until the politburo chose On-U Sound to return as the new beloved…


Jim Finnigan Poop ’11

Occupy PoOP 2011 Wherein we lowly and scruffy protesters get to choose the top 1%! Well, it was not the most exciting year for recorded music, but there certainly was a lot of it! Some rays of hope will soon shine on the masses with the appointment of our newest beloved leader! My On-U year: There were no Bonzos or Kraftwerk this year, so the masses stood crying in the streets, in orderly rows in front of their apartment houses (certainly the performance art event of the year!), until the politburo chose On-U Sound to return as the new beloved…