Here’s to 2011 – the Best Albums of the Year
So 2011 wasn’t like 2010, when Titus Andronicus worked its way inside my head and wouldn’t leave and LCD Soundsystem continued to be, by a number of measurements, the best band in the world. And it wasn’t like 2009, when Japandroids and Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Telekinesis exploded into the world and Dan Boeckner and Spencer Krug released their finest moments (so far) respectively, as Handsome Furs and Sunset Rubdown. Instead, 2011 had a different kind of satisfaction – mostly steadily great bands releasing solid records, up and down the list. There are notable exceptions (Weekend, Big Troubles, Cloud Nothings), but for the most part, music in 2011 seemed to me a bit like comfort food – nothing to challenge you too much, but it never lets you down.
With that said – here’s Part 1 of Song-o-Matic’s end of year list:
Various Things About the Mountain Goats, Including a Song
Fact 1: The Mountain Goats are the best.
Fact 2: they will be coming to Orlando in January, and I live there, and this is good news on a number of levels.
Fact 3: their best album, Tallahassee (no arguments entertained) will have been released 10 years ago next year.
Fact 4: the syntax of that last sentence is a little tortured.
Fact 5: I’m not going to fix it. Read More…
The Mountain Goats: “1 Samuel 15:23 (Live at Webster Hall)”
“For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king.”
So I swear I’m almost done. This blog isn’t going to become Mountain Goats-o-matic or whatever, but what can I say? I found a couple bootlegs and I’m not digging anything that’s come out lately, so I’ve basically just been listening to live bootlegs of the Mountain Goats for two straight weeks. What can I say.
Anyway, one thing I love about them live is that they choose a few staples for each tour, and the opening songs, which they play night after night, generally just KILL. Read More…
The Mountain Goats: Encore, April 8th, Cat’s Cradle
I went to see the Mountain Goats in Atlanta about a month ago, which entailed a very long drive there and a very long drive back and although I wouldn’t exactly say I was disappointed, I will say that I have seen them in better form. It was just a little sloppy and a little short, although there were easily moments that made it worth the drive, most notably a ripping version of “Southwood Plantation Road.” But anyway, I was thinking about that show yesterday and decided to head over to the live music archive, which, if you’re at all a fan of live bootlegs, you should probably spend a few hours perusing, as there are an incredible number of shows from an incredible number of bands, and they are all free, the best price of all.
So I thought I would see if there was a show posted from this most recent tour, which there was, and it turned out to be a particularly well recorded version of their show at the Cat’s Cradle one day after I saw them. And I guess I should have driven there instead, because this show is why you see the Mountain Goats live. So first off, thank you to the person who recorded it, and second, here’s the entirety of the first encore, which, if you’re ever wondering how you should write music or lyrics or perform your songs live, here’s how you do it.
The Mountain Goats: “Woke Up New (live)”
The Mountain Goats: “No Children (live)”
The Mountain Goats: “Palmcorder Yajna (live)”
The Mountain Goats: “The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton (live)”
The Mountain Goats: All Eternals Deck (a record review)
It’s a special sort of gift that my favorite songwriter is still making good music, let alone some of the best of his career, into his second decade of songwriting. Have you heard a Prince album lately? Sure, I can go back and listen to Dirty Mind whenever I want to, but I have to be contented with one or two good songs an album nowadays… not so with the Mountain Goats, who have just released one of the best albums of his/their career with All Eternals Deck.
The high water mark of John Darnielle’s songwriting is pretty damn high – it’s pretty hard to find a weak spot in his post-Coroner’s Gambit catalog. But where the past couple Mountain Goats records have had their flaws Read More…
The Mountain Goats: “Estate Sale Sign”
Holy crap. If this song was a girl, I would spend the weekend cheating on my wife with her. Although it would be more thematically appropriate if I had just been through an ugly divorce. Whatever, I’m getting confused. This song rules.
The Mountain Goats: “Cut Off Their Thumbs #1″
There is a new Mountain Goats record coming out next week, and as I am perpetually infatuated with the Mountain Goats, it’s a sure bet that I’ll be talking about it in this space. If I’m lucky, my pre-order of it will come this weekend and you’ll hear about it even earlier. Team Mountain Goats!
But anyway, so it’s a fait accompli that I spend quite of bit of time prior to new MG albums coming out listening to existing MG albums/songs, and this week/month is no exception. Today I’m combing through some miscellany and came across this awesome song that was released via his website or something several years ago – I really don’t remember – but, to my knowledge isn’t on any existing MG release. So, fellow fans of the Mountain Goats, and/or non-fans without ears, here you go:
The 10 Best Albums of 2010, Part 1
(You will not find it surprising that we are running end of year posts all this week. Today – best albums from limesix, tomorrow – a double-disc best songs mix, friday – best albums from cjkc.)
For the rest of forever, I will probably compare every new music year semi-unfavorably to 2005, when my best-of list ran deep into the 20s with albums I actually loved and listened to a ton. Apart from that aberration, I’d say every year has about 10 excellent albums that will continue to demand my attention and time into the new year, which, honestly, is probably more than enough. Don’t we all really listen to far too many albums nowadays?
On that note and only partially tangentially, I actually sold all my CDs this year and will be attempting to listen a LOT more to the 100-200 actual vinyl records I own (and the 10 – 15 I buy this year) than the 3300 albums I have in my iTunes library. Let’s call it a resolution.
Of course, all this is distracting from (and/or straight up contradictory to) the task at hand – ranking some records! Let’s face it, The Suburbs won’t decide for itself whether it’s better or worse than This is Happening (worse) or False Priest (a little better). Read More…
The Mountain Goats: Tallahassee (My Favorite Albums of All Time, Part 2)
(I’m counting down (or up – I’m not sure yet) my favorite albums of all time. I’m not sure how long this will take or how often I’ll write one. But this is Part 2. Part 1 is here.)
I can’t claim that I loved the Mountain Goats before anyone had heard of them (as opposed to now, when they’re world famous and all). I didn’t hunt down 7″s or order their EPs from Shrimper or comb record stores in search of rare compilations or do whatever else people do when they’re obsessed with bands no one else cares about. I don’t shout “GOLDEN BOY!” when I see them live, because I don’t really care about that song, and although I certainly can and do listen to their early stuff and enjoy it, it all kind of runs together for me, being as lo-fi and samey as it all is.
But I had heard OF them, and so when I joined eMusic back in 2003 when downloads were unlimited and I was casting about for new bands to listen to, I happily downloaded a little record called Tallahassee and gave it a spin. Read More…
The Mountain Goats: Live, Like they Mean It
I feel like I’d be doing you, the reader, a disservice by going too long between posts about the Mountain Goats. You know, because of them ruling and all. But since they haven’t released anything since The Life of the World to Come, and I haven’t seen them live in the past month, and I haven’t recently recorded a cover of one of their songs, I kind of have to make up a reason to post. So here we go! Read More…
