The Mountain Goats

Their album the Origin of Fire is probably my favorite vocal based album of all time, except for maybe the Berliner Messe album of Arvo Part's music.

I was sitting listening to it at work and a guy came in off the floor listens to it a second and says "you getting so high to this at home, right?"

my mom borrowed my car today and i forgot that the new MG cd was still in the player. when she came back she said "i don't know what cd that is, but it's the most depressing thing i've ever heard. the music sounds so nice and normal, and then he starts talking about throwing up in the sink!"

when i was like twenty and had tallahassee playing in the car when my dad was driving me back from college his reaction to 'no children' was "god, this is a cheerful record, isn't it?"

I will never understand the logic by which Christgau decides which Mountain Goats albums he likes and which he thinks are meh.

http://social.entertainment.msn.com/music/blogs/expert-witness-blogpost.aspx?post=ba99127c-adef-493f-b83c-35ba2ff18c68

Thorny to begin with, John Darnielle reached some near-perfect threshold of liminal comprehensibility with Tallahassee 10 years ago, then got thornier again, albeit in liminally comprehensible mode.

One of the must aggravating writers that ever lived

ahaha i kind of love that sentence

also

But the dealmaker is Jon Wurster's spare, inescapable drumming.

otm

I will never understand the logic by which Christgau decides which Mountain Goats albums he likes and which he thinks are meh.

otm. I loved the last one, this one okay.

xgau and underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned are in, like, near-complete accord as to which mountain goats albums are the best ones. (he didn't think the sunset tree succeeded, I don't know what to say about that.) but he was the only guy repping for "we shall all be healed," which, like, there are people in mountain goats camp who'll go to their graves still pissed that only xgau, at the time, seemed to get it. and his line on "autoclave" was so dead-on it was like, lol, ok, pwn3d, advantage xgau

I gate the MG's a try on the strength of his WSABH review, and it's still my favorite.

We Shall All Be Healed is my go-to MGs album fwiw.

we shall all be healed is absolutely my favorite tmg record, followed by get lonely

very singular moods nailed on both of those

At least his longer stuff he can have some point, I bet the consumer guide woulda been something like:

The Mountain Goats - Transcendental Youth

The Mountain Goats' John Darnielle writes mini rock operas like a guy that went to Sunday school in between shifts at Dairy Queen. Too bad I never much liked onion rings. B+

ok lol

m@tt if i ever get another editing gig my first priority is to give you a whole page to do that

haha. my christgau instincts are insisting that i try to unpack that.

(he didn't think the sunset tree succeeded, I don't know what to say about that.)

I was surprised he only gave it an honorable mention originally, but he slapped into the dean's list at the end of the year so his opinion must have improved over the year.

DQ onion rings were never too popular at my location. Most customers preferred to offset the heaviness of their chicken strip basket with a delicate combo of an extra gravy tub, mayo for the fries, and an oreo blizzard.

my tastes are not unlike xgau in re all this stuff (shocking), though my two Pick Hits are Sunset and Healed rather than Healed and Tallahassee

I checked into a bargain priced room on La Cienega,
gazed out through the curtains of the parking lot.
walked down to the Dairy Queen just before nightfall in my bare feet.
black tarry asphalt, soft and hot.
and when I came back I spread out my supplies.
on the counter by the sink,
I looked myself right in the eyes

an extra tub of gravy,
mayo and fries,
and you or your memory (stares at empty blizzard cup)

Tallahassee / We Shall All Be Healed / The Sunset Tree is as brilliant a run of albums as any in the previous decade.

Saw my first Mountain Goats show tonight. It was very good, and sweet baby Jesus does "This Year" rule with the added horns. When I told John that at the merch table he said it was new to this leg of the tour, so I'm glad to be on this second go round.

The Diaz Brothers has been lodged in my head for the better part of a month and shows no signs of leaving any time soon. That is one catchy chorus.

Awww:

http://twitpic.com/bm9mv8

The Diaz Brothers is still stuck in my head. It is the catchiest song in years. Holy moley. How come more people aren't singing its praises?

I dunno, I still haven't heard the new album, but did you catch that there is a whitehouse.gov position to make JD our next poet laureate?

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/recognize-mountain-goats-and-name-john-darnielle-us-poet-laureate/4X2y05sH

I've been thinking about starting a counter-petition to nominate David Berman.

Do you have to be an American citizen to sign a White House petition?

A good interview.

t's easy to get lots in the shoots and ladders game of his many characters

o rly

gf was watching New Girl and I was convinced Zooey's boyfriend was being played by Jon Wurster

This is neat. 1 minutes worth of a video for 'Wild Sage' made by Rian Johnson. Its really good but a shame it wasnt finished.

http://rcjohnso.tumblr.com/post/43268810808/back-in-2006-when-we-shot-the-woke-up-new-music

For those of y'all who don't also have the Bieber thread bookmarked

http://pitchfork.com/news/49873-watch-john-darnielle-defends-justin-bieber-lectures-paparazzi-in-song/

the amazing thing about this guy is how prolific of a musical career he's already had by the tender age of 31.

i like that mode for john d

There's a nice clean non-live version of You Were Cool at the end of his WTF btw

930 Club show sold out before I bought a ticket. Oh well, have seen 'em/him before.

Transcendental Youth is so good. Love the horns and also the cover art is my favorite yet for a mountain goats record.

dunno if this has been mentioned upthread but "Steal Smoked Fish" and "Western Hills", from the bonus 7"/subsequent digital release, are both outstanding, especially if you feel like crying and/or resent the variety of instrumental textures on recent tMG albums

Boy do I feel stupid. TMG are playing literally a mile from my house and I missed being able to get tickets. Its in a pretty cool venue too. Dammit.

http://exeterrecordclub.com/2013/09/19/the-mountain-goats-tallahassee-round-4-nicks-choice/

aww shit the london show is sold out. anyone know of how to get a hold of two tickets?

I doubt Aero reads this thread, but if he does:

THANK YOU FOR THE BEST GIG I'VE EVER BEEN TO

Jenny/Wild Sage back to back was just...fuck

man.. wish i could have been there. havent seen tMG live for so long

:( for not being able to get tickets

^

wait, so you can't just get in with your ILX Gold™ ID card?

Certainly didn't get me in downstairs. Arrived at 8, & ended up 3rd row back in the side balcony. Boy those MG's fans are an eager lot.

:) that the show was sold out

iirc his shows elsewhere in the UK aren't sold out but I'm not spending £70 on a rail ticket

the one time I did see him (at the QEH) he put on an incredible solo show - his work grabbed me more in this context than on record, to tell the truth, so it's great he's still doing European tours. long may it continue!

So, did John do a Zombie cameo to go with the song?

Is "All Eternals Deck" anyone else's favorite MG record?