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There is no new thing under the sun. I think I read it
on the back of a cereal box or heard it in a car ad. That
being said... the movement of the moment seems to be a
, Rough Trade yard sale with a jesus and Mary Chain BBQ after.
I guess there are worse trends: Rush + Santana + King
Crimson= Mars Volta.Over-the-hill singers doing standards,
Elvis Costello marrying Diana Krall, that whole American
Idol thing, putting my passport in the washing machine,
dreams of being eaten by wolves, gray hair and bad hats...
but i saw Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. "He had lost his con-
centration, blame it on a sharp movement" just sang by the
Eleventh Dream Day on the reissue of "Prarie School Freak-
out." The guitar solo keeps the wolves at bay.
I thought I had a point when I started. My brain is smooth-
ing out. No rant and rumble, because there is always good
music, always. And when I turn on the news or read the pap-
er, I hear joe Strummer scream in my ear, "Where the hell is
Elijah?"
1. "FEAST OF WIRE"- Calexico. They perfected their style a
long time ago; now their songwriting has caught up. Lyrics
are gritty and hallucinagenic, offhand and exact. I love thi~s
record so much, I hope they break up.
2."CUCKOOLAND"- Robert Wyatt. Just his voice alone. Aside
from some wonky keyboards, his voice is surrounded by
stellar playing by Eno, Karen Mantler, Paul Weller,trom-
bonist Annie Whitehead and Wyatt's own horns and percussion.
Personal is political and all that, but Wyatt is never stri-
dent, always human. Yeah, of course human, but so many
singers sound like a bad and successful idea of a singer.
Work it out, get back to me.
3."STREETCORE"- Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros. This sucks
in so many ways because sentimentality and nostalgia are
both part of the same depression. A torrential rain dur-
ing the Clash doing "Brand New Cadillac", totally blind-
ed by water on my glasses, the music getting louder. Ya
know, shit like that.
Clear-eyed, I never need to hear another Bob Marley
cover. Otherwise, I press replay and then press again.
"Where the hell is Elijah?"
4. "MASTER AND EVERYONE"- Bonnie Prince Billy. OK, so the
moniker changes are a bit precious. Fuck, Oldham has made
a beautiful record, short, sweet and free of affectation.
Or maybe it's all affectation. Too smooth for some, like
it's his "Harvest." Is that a bad thing? I'VE been a minor
for a heart of gold. What was it I said before about nostal-
gia?
5. "WOW/THE MAGICK FIRE MUSIC"- Jackie-o Motherfucker.
Over two hours of slow burn, occasional buzzsaws and ray
guns. If Godspeed weren't conceptual or Canadian. If Can
were the Band.
6 ."TRULY SHE IS NONE OTHER"- Holly Golightly. More spins
than any other; on that alone I should make it higher, but
I'm already here. I'm-a sucker for that flat, Nancy Sinatra
retro stuck in time but it always sounds fresh. Every lick,
backup vocal, hook, obscure Kinks cover, skip the Jack
White notes, more hooks and another obscure Kinks cover.
A pin-up girl for garage rock geeks.
7. "SUMMER SUN"- Yo La Tengo. Always reliable, which can be a
bad thing. You know, OH, ANOTHER GOOD STEVE EARLE, RICHARD
THOMPSON, LUCINDA WILLIAMS. ..NEXT. But they pull it off,
moving further from the "poppier Sonic Youth" tag that never
really fit. And the last two e.p.s proved they can still
surprise.
8."THISIS OUR PUNK-ROCK"- The Silver Mt. Zion Orchestra and
Tra-La-La Band and Chorus. That alone should disqualify.
Some of the Godspeed guys get all rustic, while still
bouncing on the edges of the atmosphere.
9. "RED-HEADED STRANGER"- Caria Bozulich. One of the most
underrated American songwriters does a classic justice.
Caria and Nels Cline turn a short story into a novel.Was
that a 7 on the pretentious meter? At least I haven't
used the terms "organic" or "angular."
Oddly, the biggest drawback are the guest voca.ls of
Willie, himself. He sounds hoarse, tired or stoned. Other-
wise, everything a tribute record should be.
10. "STILL LOOKIN' GOOD TOME"- THE Band of Blacky Ranchette.
Can't I go one year without one or two Giant Sand related
picks. Duh. Howe Gelb and a truckload of guests. Cat Power,
M. Ward, Neko Case, Richard Buckner, members of Lambchop
and Grandaddy, take it to the country in the forth of the
Blacky Ranchette series. As scattershot as the sessions
were, this is more together than Gelb's solo work.
OK, pressing on.
11."QUICKSAND/CRADLESNAKES"-Califone
others. .."ALONE AT THE MICROPHONE"- Royal City. "AT THE
CRYSTAL PALACE"- Erase Errata. "THE ANGEL OF THE SQUARED
CIRCLE"- Pedal Steel Transmission. "GHOSTS OF THE GREAT
HIGHWAY- Sun Kil Moon. "MAYORS OF THE MOON"- Jon Lanford and
His Sadies. "GALLOWSBIRD'S BARK"- The Fiery Furnaces.
"HATE"- The Delgados. "DANGEROUS MAGICAL NOISE"- The
Dirtbombs. "RUN TO RUIN"- Nina Nastasia. "HAHA SOUND"-
Broadcast. "AIRS OF THE EAR"- Richard Youngs. "SOUL
JOURNEY"- Gillian Welch. "STAMPEDE"- Quantric Soul Orch.
"DECORATION DAY"- Drive-By Truckers. From the vaults and
reissues :Johnny Cash Box, Bjork Box, Televsion, Uncle
Tupelo,Elastica BBC sessions, Robert Wyatt BBC sessions,
Elvis C., Spacemen 3, Nips, Modern Lovers.
There's a good e.p. inside all the bloat:Lucinda Williams,
Nick Cave, Richard Thompson. No hope: Elvis C. Ryan Adams,
the Strokes.
Film; ALL THE REAL GIRLS, LOST IN TRANSLATION, AMERICAN
SPLENDOR, THE SECRET LIVES OF DENTISTS.
Out of room, out of brain.
John Lefsky - Poop 2003
12. "ORCHARDS AND
CARAVANS''-The Birdtree
13. "SINGING BONES"-The Handsome
Family
14."APPLEO"'-Deehoof
15."CARNABAILITO"- Gaby Ker-
pel
16. "YOU ARE FREE"- Cat Power
17. "A GUIDE FOR DAYLIGHT
HOURS"- Ballboy
18."ABC MUSIC"- Stereolab
19. "SEND"- Wire
20. "THE PHOENIX ALBUM"- the Warlocks.
The Full PoOP 2003
Our Fearless Leader's Annual Analysis 2003
THE CONTRIBUTORS
Richard Allen
´01 ´02 ´03
Ken Beck
´01 ´02 ´03
Kent Benziger
´01 ´02 ´03
Paul Cangelosi
´01 ´02 ´03
Brennan Cavanaugh
´02 ´03
Duncan Clark
´01 ´02 ´03
Damian Cleary*
´01 ´02 ´03
Kevin Ferris
´01 ´02 ´03
Jim Finnigan
´01 ´02 ´03
Eric Fine
´01 ´02 ´03
Bob Fino
´01
RoseAnn Fino
´01
Michael Fix
´01
John Greak
´01 ´02 ´03
J.T. Habersaat
´01
Bruce Handschuh
´01
Kathena M. Hasbrouck
´01
Kevin Hodgkiss*
´01 ´02  ´03
Michael Hodgkiss
´02 ´03
Andy Jacknick
´02 ´03
Rick Lange*
´01 ´02 ´03
John Lefsky
´01 ´02 ´03
Susan Lyne
´02 ´03
Andrew Martin
´01 ´01
Rich McBride
´01
Jim Meyers
´01
Mike Miller
´01 ´02 ´03
Matt Nerney
´01 ´02 ´03
Irv Rosen
´01 ´02 ´03
Kerri Rosen
´02
Mark Rosen
´01 ´02 ´03
Raissa St. Pierre
´01 ´02 ´03
Jeff Schwartz
´01 ´02 ´03
Praveen Sharma
´01
Dave Squillante
´01
John Stewart
´01 ´02 ´03
Bill Still*
´01
Dan Wilmer
´02 ´03
Mark Zip
´01 ´02 ´03
* = pictures (larger files)
Parnassus Records
(our hosts)
Rhino
(for no real reason)
Zip's Ziggurat
Shameless link to a messy site - which will change, soon