PoOPlist '04
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1. BRIAN WILSON – Smile
I was fully expecting to hate this. But what could have been a very cheesy attempt to retread the past turns out to still sound quite adventurous. I guess Brian really wasn’t made for these (or those) times. Is it sacrilege to suggest that this might actually be better than the original? Probably, but the modern production values and the vision of the bandleader-whose-name-no-one-can-pronounce more than compensate for Brian (a mere shell of a Beach Boy these days) slurring the lyrics. Only heroes here, no villains.
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2. STEVE EARLE – The Revolution Starts . . . Now
. .but ended November 2nd. Here’s hoping the
revolution has only hit a bump in the road. Unfortunately, even I
don’t believe that. At least “Condi, Condi” remains
relevant.
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3. BOBBY BARE, JR. & THE YOUNG CRIMINALS’ STARVATION LEAGUE -From The End Of Your Leash
A drunk’s-eye view of Nashville, playing in a rock’n’roll
band (don’t overlook the vomit on the
wall), his favorite hat and his faithful dog. Actually, he sings like
a lost puppy.
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4. BOB DYLAN – Live 1964: Concert at Philharmonic Hall
It’s
Halloween 1964 and the singer has his “Bob Dylan mask on.”
Actually, this is a Dylan
so relaxed, so outgoing, so having himself a pisser that it might be
the rare evening Dylan took his mask off. After doing his share of
clowning around, Dylan drops jaws with Side 2 of Bringing It All
Back Home, leaving the crowd knowing something’s happenin’
but they don’t know what it is.
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5. DAVID BYRNE – Grown Backwards
Music that broadens or reinvents musical genres usually does well in POOP.
When it does so with equal doses of emotion, humor, quirk and opera, it can’t
miss. Rated ‘R’ for violins.
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6. VARIOUS ARTISTS – Por Vida: A Tribute To The Songs of Alejandro Escovedo.
Through Por Vida I discovered not only some great songs but also a
great artist with a rich catalogue.
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7. VARIOUS ARTISTS – Doin’ The Mod: That Driving Beat, Volume 5
60’s
UK guitar bands try their hand at Northern Soul and create a
concoction that’s not quite
either. Very cool.
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8. A.C. NEWMAN – The Slow Wonder
. . or what a New Pornographer would sound like if Neko Case were
off, oh I don’t know,
making a live album.
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9. LORETTA LYNN – Van Lear Rose
This
is not a hypen-lover’s marriage of two musical styles but more
a violent collision of two musical planets.
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10. CAFÉ TACUBA – Cuatro Caminos
No entiendo Espanol but I do entiendo a good hook when I hear one, and
when they are as
frequent as they are here, I say muchas grassy-ass
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11. RICHARD THOMPSON – The Chrono Show
On
this website-only release, RT performs acoustic versions of songs
rarely performed in concert
in chrono order. Not a bad body of work to choose from either.
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12. OLLABELLE - Ollabelle
Artists
from every walk of music except gospel come together a pull
off a record that could
spawn a whole new musical style—adult gospel. Musicians work in
mysterious ways.
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13. NORAH JONES – Feels Like Home
Call it middle-age musical malaise if you wish but I can’t ignorah.
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14.
NEKO CASE – The Tigers Have Spoken
Again, Neko makes a Case for having one of the most original voices in all
of music on this stellar live collection of originals and covers. Kudos for
dusting off Buffy Saint-Marie’s “Soulful Shade of Blue”
and The Shangri-La’s “Train From Kansas City”.
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15.
RUFUS WAINWRIGHT – Want Two
Some
would say Rufus is an acquired taste. If so, I’ve acquired it.
A bit more dense than Want
One, but that doesn’t stop me from Wanting Three. The
accompanying DVD is more
accessible and quite good, too.
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16. SONIC YOUTH – Sonic Nurse
These
senior citizens continue to show that no matter how you tune those
six strings, the
guitar
still reigns supreme.
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17. THE LIBERTINES – The Libertines
A
uniquely British record that proves that a bad war creates fertile
ground for music in any
country that wages it.
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18.
VARIOUS ARTISTS – Dancehall Stringbusters: Crunchy Guitar
Instros From the 60’s
What Link hath wrought. Grunge before it had a name.
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19. TINARIWEN - Amassakoul
A mass
of cool, indeed. John Lee Hooker meets Jerry Garcia in the West
Sahara. But where in
the desert do they plug in their guitars?
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20. MARAH – 20,000 Streets Under The Sky
A nice
comeback after their last piece of crapola. Docked a few notches for
running out of gas
after about 15,000 streets.
REISSUES OF NOTE
ELVIS
COSTELLO – Almost Blue & Kojak Variety – over twice
as long and five times as good as the originals.
SONGS OF NOTE
BOBBY BARE & THE YOUNG CRIMINALS’ STARVATION LEAGUE - “ Let’s Rock + Roll”
DAVID BYRNE (with Rufus Wainwright) – “Au Fond du Temple Saint”
NEKO CASE – “If I’m Gonna Sink (I Might As Well Go To The Bottom)” [from Touch My Heart: A Tribute to Johnny Paycheck]
STEVE EARLE – “Condi, Condi”
LESS-THAN-HONORABLE MENTION
COURTNEY LOVE – America’s Sweetheart – “I wanna be the girl with the most coke.”
SALLY TIMMS – In The World Of Him – Everyone is entitled to one career misstep.