Jeff Schwartz Poop 07


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ken andrews – secrets of the lost satellite (dinosaur fight)
– yeah I know, I know; but the record definitely belongs on the list cause it’s one of his better offerings like YOTR. It is better than his other side gig called ON. Known from his FAILURE fame – well they never really made it to “Fame” rather more like underground notoriety and production darlings? “up or down”,”tripped up” – scream FAILURE. A must have for any KA fan. Strangely enough the i-tunes version, I know saying i-tunes is probably blasphemy on the pooplist no?, the i-tunes version has a different song on it than the actual physical disc. Being that I have both versions, as fanatic as I am, both songs I must say are worthy of having.

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pinback – autumn of the seraphs (touch & go) –
I didn’t know that this was their 4th release until I did some research on them, regardless of that, it’s very good. The drums, bass lines, keys/piano & songwriting really makes this one stand out. Poppy at times, police-like, and also built to spill vocals at times. The production is quite polished. “subbing for eden”, “from nothing to nowhere” & “how we breathe” stand out as favorite tracks. Mine came with a bonus disc and 3 additional tremendous songs. Definitely a bonus as these songs are 3 of the strongest from this release & not just “extra” tracks

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the white stripes – icky thump (third man/wb)
– Let me just say many terms come to mind to describe this one; vaudeville, musical, excellent as usual etc etc. etc.. What can be said, they don’t just make the list due to their name & who they are, however their records compete for space on the list every year, and always seem to win a well deserved spot hands down. “Rag & Bone” is phenomenal, kind of a skit or sketchy if you will, with it’s storytellin’ lyrical approach. Love the horns on “Conquest”; while “Little Cream Soda” & “Bone Broke” rock out, and “A Martyr for my love for you” is also a classic. They can do no wrong in my book.

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foo fighters – echoes, silence, patience & grace – (roswell)
“Summer’s End” – tell me this doesn’t have a Neil Young feel to it. “Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners” – reminds me of “Bron-Yr-Aur” from LZ’s Physical Graffiti. “The Pretender” rocks out of the gate, “Statues” – the lyrics are perfect & sum it all up, – “time will turn us into statues – eventually”. This release is far superior to the last couple they have put out, glad I picked it up. Diverse, great songwriting, and it ROCKS!, production is solid, every song is a winner.

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spoon – ga ga ga ga ga (merge) –
melodic, great bass, horns & hand claps, what could be better? “don’t make me a target” – the guitar work is very clean, raw and edgy. Overall they really show their diversity on this one in terms of musical styles. A fellow poopster and friend got me a version including the bonus disc as well with 12 additional songs & alternate versions.

 
bennett avery – 20 greenbrier – (janet)–
released on 11/7 and not on a Tuesday either. The release date got bumped back a week or so, for unknown label/labor reasons. Weighing in at 7lbs, 3 oz. and measuring 20 & ½ inches, the vocals on this one can really wail at times. Without a doubt, my favorite release of the year and certainly my most anticipated release ever. One of a kind and hard to find, anywhere – so good luck if you are looking. My most prized release & selection. Most certainly he belongs on the “POOP” list literally, as he’s quite the poopster.

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wilco – sky blue sky – (nonesuch) –
“walken”, “hate it here”, “shake it off”, “impossible germany” – everyone sounds different and excellent, as this is how a band such as wilco can find themselves on the list year after year. I think if I had to choose a camp to be in, I might be
defecting from Jay’s to Jeff’s; as I have been a little disappointed with the last SV record(s), – anyway let’s get back to wilco shall we? They put out great records, great instrumentation, lyrics, melodies, and songwriting. Not anyone else out there like em’ as far as i’m concerned.

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beastie boys – the mix-up – (capitol) –
I haven’t bought a BB record in almost 10 years; “hello nasty”, and being that they don’t put out records too often, AND when I heard it was an instrumental one, I had to ch – ch – check – check it out (lil’ beastie humor there). It’s definitely worth getting. Remember their last instrumental release? “the in sound from way out”. That too was excellent, however this one incorporates dub, funk, jazz, garage rock, cool nyc vibe – a just recently coined & created new genre/style of music right here, right now. Amazing musicians those boys, now men are. Hard to believe that they’ll be in the hall of fame soon as the’ve been around forever.

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puddle of mudd – famous – (flawless/geffen) –
Accuse me of being lame, I know this is a surprise…but it’s a phenomenal rock record. Produced by Bill Stevenson – legendary DESCENDENTS fame, and well known producer & well respected Jack Joseph Puig, this one is P-O-L-I-S-H-E-D. The songs are catchy, and if we need to call it a “guilty pleasure” – then I plead guilty as charged. The guitars, the crunch, the vocals, the harmonies, the melodies, it’s all inclusive. “Moonshine” stands out as a favorite, along with “famous”, “psycho”, “merry-go-round” & “if I could love you”. Very “radio friendly” – aside from the language, but musically a “pop/rock” screamer.

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dinosaur jr. – beyond – (fat possum) –
So ridicule me all you want, but I was never a huge dino or J. Mascis fan, I understood what they were about, just never turned into a die-hard as I know their fans are. This one took me “beyond” – pun INTENDED, what I had known them to be. I actually saw them in concert this past year as well. “Back to your heart” – sung by Lou Barlow is one of the best songs on the record. I did like “bakesale” – sebadoh – maybe that’s why? “Almost Ready” kicks off the record strong right outta the gate, great guitars as I would expect from J. and

Records that were deemed, “2nd fiddle”; “close but no cigar”; “eagerly anticipated, but unfortunately didn’t deliver”; “a letdown”; “some great songs, just not a home run all the way through” ………..you get the picture……..

Son Volt – The Search
Some really good songs “automatic society”, “action”, “underground dream”, “the search”, “methamphetamine”…. horns, Jay’s infamous lyrics, but some dud’s on it as well – hence 2nd fiddle listing, it’s no OKEMAH.
Queens of the Stone Age – Era Vulgaris
I wanted to love it, but really had problems initially with it. It did grow on me, as it’s just “different” from what they’ve done, so they’re growing & I guess I didn’t grow enough with them. There are some great songs on it such as “misfit love”, 3’s & 7’s”, “suture up your future”, run pig run”, and “turnin’ on the screw”. I also got my hands on the bonus disc which was also OK, not great. Has a song on it called “the fun machine took a shit & died” – kinda trippy & primus-like. They also slipped in an older song “make it wit chu” from the desert sessions & if you’re in the know, you would have picked up on this without ME tellin’ you.
Seether – Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces
Some really strong rock songs, with excellent production. The music reminds me of other bands at times like “no jesus christ” – sounds very tool-ish., and keyboards in other songs that try and emulate failure-like sounds…”fake-it” is a very poppy/radio friendly kinda
song – still it makes the 2nd fiddle list.
Neil Young – Chrome Dreams II
“boxcar”, “spirit road”, “dirty old man”, good songs; but I’m not buying into the hype surrounding this release.
Ween – La Cucaracha
All over the place in true ween-fashion…hitting on every possible musical style & genre under the sun. It’s very good as I’d expect nothing less from Dean & Gene. It just didn’t make it into one of the the top spots.