In an effort to restore a wee bit of normalcy (and to bring some sorely needed distraction and diversion), you are hereby invited to take part in the 34th Annual POOPlist. The calamity that is 2020 has made our annual exercise in being POmpous and OPinionated feel downright necessary this year. Anyway, what else do you have on your plate right about now?
Dear POOPster: Here we go again. As the nation flounders and is perhaps on the verge of altogether going down, we POmpous and OPinionated blowhards carry on like the band on the Titanic deck did. And we know how that ended. Now more than ever we need whatever distractions we can muster that might refocus our attention and restore the Old Normal to our lives, which brings us to the 33rd Annual POOPlist. This year only 19 blathering bloviants shot their confetti cannons into the cybersphere. Maybe it was the decision to not post the lists as they were submitted…
My POOP DISC-CLAIMER (disc-lamer?): In a more perfect world music would be one of many vehicles that could bring about meaningful change. In a less perfect one music might at least provide balm to a troubled world. But amidst the chaos and calamity so pronounced right now in America, music struggles even to be a diversion. I look forward to a time when my music habit can once again consume my attention and I hope even more that I can recognize America once again when I wake up on November 4th. These are the titles from which I sought and…
Wow – in the 25 years I have been participating in the POOP, this might be the least interesting list of releases. Truth be told, I spent the majority of the year moving back and forth from jazz to classical. More interested in background music than foreground, I guess. Nonetheless, the draw to put down my opinions on paper are too strong to quit now. With that, let’s see what I can eke out from what I’ve heard this year. Buy New or Used via Amazon Rent via iTunes [?] 1. Brittany Howard – Jaime A real eclectic collection…
Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry & Adrian Sherwood,
Peter Stampfel & The Atomic Meta-Pagans ft. Shelley Hirsch,
Mark Stewart,
Angélique Kidjo,
Barrence Whitfield’s Soul Savage Orchestra,
Katie Jacoby,
APositsia Orchestra,
Simon’s Dream,
Ensemble H,
Amy Rigby,
Tyler the Creator,
Anderson .Paak,
Big Business,
Lizzo,
Lightning Bolt,
Swans,
Sturgill Simpson,
Michael Kiwanuka,
Purple Mountains,
Sunn 0)))
Here are my opening remarks. It’s best I don’t say anything about the current state of pop music. Because it’s pretty clear that critical opinions are not valued and get you a rage pile on. I guess I should just go to my corner and wait to die. But no I won’t. It’s not that I don’t want things to change. I recognize that change is inevitable. All music will change. But in our rush to embrace the new, we should not forget things that are tried and true. Like passion, melody and good lyrics. Something that you feel in your gut, something that makes you strut. These things are worth revisiting again and again. Even if music must change.
Deerhunter,
The Hold Steady,
Hiss Golden Messenger,
Raconteurs,
Van Morrison,
Ride,
Sharon Van Etten,
Ex Hex,
The Regrettes,
Andrew Bird,
75 Dollar Bill,
Bonnie Prince Billy,
Boris,
Sunn O))),
Lee “Scratch” Perry,
Mdou Moctar,
Lana Del Ray,
Tindersticks,
Efrim Manuel Menuck & Kevin Doria,
Swans,
V.A – “Nigeria 70: No Wahala: Highlife, Afro-Funk & Juju 1973-1987” Nick Cave – “Ghosteen” (What’s next after complete heartbreak?) Billie Eilish – “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go” (Disruptive, freakish, ASMR, a new sound) Amyl and the Sniffers – “Amyl and the Sniffers” (Snotty rock n roll should never die) Sleaford Mods – “Eton Alive” Angel Olsen – “All Mirrors” Chemical Brothers – “No Geography” FKA Twigs – “Magdalene” Underworld – “DRIFT Series 1” (A song/video every week for a year? Sure, why not?) Chase n Status – “RTRN II JUNGLE” Vampire Weekend – “Father of…
Sleaford Mods,
Hans-Joachim Roedelius & Tim Story,
Schneider TM & Jochen Arbeit,
Ilpo Väisänen,
Severed Heads,
Stephen Mallinder,
Noah Creshevsky,
Moosmann Tunnell Clark,
Test Dept,
Soon,
Basil Kirchin,
This is funny. I was just about done and a blink of the lights caused my entire draft to vanish. There is no frickin’ way I am going to try and recapture the wit of what is now lost to the ether. So instead of trying to recall what I spent the last 2 hours poopin’, I’m just gonna provide a boring list with no comments. Either that or pour a bottle of water on my computer. Missing key words: Robert Wyatt, pagan, rockin’, angular, Canterbury, shoe – gaze, nostalgia, converge, the suffix – esque, some other shit. 1) THE…
My first CD collection was a single black plastic Laserline shelf—you know the kind, with the notched spaces for each case—wrapped in a padded case with a handle. It was a present from Santa.
Around this time I had 6 CDs, maybe 8. The case fit 12 and it wasn’t full.
The Rails, Fontaines D. C., Le Vent Du Nord, Lankum, Karine Polwart, The New Pornographers, Vampire Weekend, Gary Clark Jr., The Raconteurs, June Tabor & Oysterband
Grumble, grumble, grumble … the future of music … grumble, grumble … the future of technology … grumble, grumble, grumble … the future of society … Sit Down I Think I Love You Buy New or Used via Amazon Rent via iTunes [?] 1. New Pornographers ~ In the Morse Code of Brake Lights: Still kicking out the glam. I feel like AC Newman has kind of become my age-set inner voice (well, at least in my head). I’m not always sure what he’s on about, but it somehow always feels right (just like in my head). A very…
In alpha order my (15) most listened to records/reissues/artists (mostly vinyl) for 2019. Mose Allison Tribute: Various artists IF YOU’RE GOING… The Beatles: THE BEATLES and ESHER DEMOS (box) The Beatles: ABBEY ROAD (box) The Beatles: SGT.PEPPERS Gene Clark: NO OTHER John Coltrane: BLUE WORLD Bob Dylan: w/Johnny Cash TRAVELIN’ THRU (67-69) Rory Gallagher: BLUES (2lp) Chrissie Hynde: VALVE BONE WOE The KinKs: VILLAGE GREEN PRESERVATION…(180) The KinKs: ARTHUR (box set) Mercury Rev: DELTA SWEETE REVISITED Van Morrison: THREE CHORDS and THE TRUTH (white vinyl) Patti Smith: HORSES (live at Electric Lady) Mavis Staples: WE GET BY Tedeschi Trucks Band:…
Don Cohen’s 2019 POOP Favorite Albums: Allman Betts Band: Down to the River Son Volt: Union Robbie Robertson: Sinematic Bruce Springsteen: Western Stars Joseph Arthur: Come Back World Judy Collins & Jonas Fjeld: Winter Stories Our Native Daughters: Songs of Our Native Daughters Gary Clark, Jr.: This Land Sharon Von Etten: Remind me Tomorrow Tom Russell: October in the Railroad Earth JJ Cale: Stay Around Gurf Morlix: Impossible Blue Neil Young: Colorado Orville Peck: PONY Favorite Discovery: Craig Smith Farewell and a Tip o’ the Hatlo Hat: Peter Tork Hal Blaine Roky Erickson Dr. John Leon Redbone Johnny Clegg Daniel…
Fix’s List of 2019 Stuff
PoOp 19: the decade falls It was this handful of recordings that gratefully, again and again and again, pulled my attention away from binge watching the destruction of our cherished, yet all too vulnerable democracy. They are mostly jazz recordings I know, but they made me feel like I had some connection to the music, unlike whatever it is that passes for popular music these days and makes me feel like a god-damned intruder w/three left feet, six bad ears and a penis for a nose from Ultra Gabba Hey Hey-17 fifteen gazillion light years away. Perhaps to my detriment…