The Mountain Goats

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?

There's gonna be a novel!
http://fsgbooks.tumblr.com/post/78467383698/there-are-professional-thrills-and-there-are

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

― Treeship

The best of the recent lot

If "the recent lot" is, say, Heretic Pride onward, it's my second fave. "Harlem Roulette" and "Cry for Judas" nudge Transcendental Youth just a tad ahead of it, for me.

As for the novel, of course I'm pumped (very little recent literary fiction I've encountered matches his Master of Reality volume), but a fall release all but guarantees that I probably won't get around to reading it til around Summer 2015, at the earliest.

I'm one.of the.old.like their old stuff.better people so it would be Full Force Galesborg or Sweden easy. I know that J.Darinelle would vehemently disagree but I just don't get that same sense of bleeding brilliance from.any of the modern productions. Despite there.being a tonne of.great songs scattered about the more pristine recent lot.

I think both production approaches have their drawbacks and virtues but I don't think his songwriting's ever declined.

first track on sweden is breathtaking.

I was happy to hear Mountain Goats on the Walking Dead, it took a second to click. But I'm sort of with hinkle, Zopilote Machine, The Hound Chronicles, Sweden, Hot Garden Stomp, those tapes and cds were the soundtrack to my high school days. I've only heard a few scattered songs after Nothing For Juice, I should check out his newer hi-fi records?

Yes, absolutely, but don't miss the later lo-fi ones while you're at it (All Hail West Texas especially).

The life of the world to come resonates most strongly with me. Had a long drive up the California coast with that one.

Am a little surprised, given the novel's description, that it's apparently only 200 pages. Looking forward to reading it, in any case.