[embedded YouTube video; if you can’t see it, click here] John Darnielle (of the Mountain Goats, in case you haven’t been paying attention) made a guest appearance at the Weakerthans concert in Carrboro, NC a few weeks ago. He and John K Samson sang “Anchorless,” originally recorded by Samson’s previous band, Propagandhi. Probably a good […]
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Music and mood
February 20, 2010If you follow me on Twitter, you may have seen this tweet about a week ago: Warning: Listening to @TheMagFields‘ “All the Umbrellas” can induce psychosomatic cardiac fracture, even in asymptomatic individuals. followed a day or so later by this: I am declaring a temporary moratorium on the Magnetic Fields, the National, and the Mountain […]
Songkick: social media site for concerts
June 10, 2009Songkick brings together two bright spots in the world of music: fan communities, and live music. On the one hand, it’s an evolving database of live shows, complete with dates, opening bands, and fan-uploaded media like photos, posters and (of course) ticket stubs. On the other hand, you can be a Twitter-like follower of not […]
Upcoming: The ‘Nac Proudly Presents!
April 29, 2009Boston has been blessed with more great shows than usual recently, as this town’s hard-working and -playing music bloggers have been lining up bands to play for our mutual enjoyment. And the big gun is coming out this week – Bradley’s Almanac is hosting a night of bands at TT the Bear’s this Friday, May […]
Musicians to follow on Twitter
April 2, 2009Following musicians on Twitter is a fun way to get a peek into the life and minds of some of my favorite artists. If you haven’t seen it yet, there is a gigantic spreadsheet of musicians on Twitter. But it’s (increasingly) hard to find artists who are interesting to follow. In general, my criteria for […]
Cruisin’ with the Mountain Goats
December 31, 2008Go on a cruise with the Mountain Goats, the Weakerthans, Sloan, and many more. The Barenaked Ladies have organized a six-day trip, Ships & Dip V, on the Norwegian Jewel [pictured], with you and whole slew of artists. It’s the first week of February, starting from Miami and going to Cozumel and the Grand Stirrup […]
Want to write a book about an album?
November 16, 2008The 33 1/3 book series is pretty awesome, and they are currently soliciting proposals for new books. If you’re not familiar with them, the conceit is that each book is about a single album, but the exact format is somewhat variable. For example, John Darnielle‘s tribute to Black Sabbath’s Master of Reality is a short […]
Concert Notes: The Mountain Goats and Kaki King
October 21, 2008[embedded YouTube video; if you can’t see it, click here] [Showbox at the Market, Seattle, WA; October 20, 2008] I’ve seen the Mountain Goats umpteen times, and every show that I’ve been to has been amazing – I’ve never been to a show where I felt like John Darnielle has given less than his best. […]
The Mountain Goats: Satanic Messiah EP
October 10, 2008Woo! The Mountain Goats (and by ‘Mountain Goats,’ we mean ‘John Darnielle’) just recorded a four-song EP, Satanic Messiah. It’s available for download here; donations via PayPal or Google Checkout are encouraged ($3 for the ‘congregant’ level, $6.66 for the ‘disciple’ level, and $10 for the ‘acolyte’ level). Despite the title and Darnielle’s well-known obsession […]
Upcoming: Mountain Goats + Kaki King EP
September 8, 2008The Mountain Goats and guitarist-singer-songwriter Kaki King recorded a six-song EP, Black Pear Tree, and they just released the first single from it. Titled “Thank You Mario But Our Princess is in Another Castle,” John Darnielle describes it as being from the point of view of Toad (shown above being used as a human – […]
When worlds collide
May 1, 2008John Darnielle (yes, again) upbraids Roland and Yamaha for not providing gear for the live version of Model 500, Juan Atkins’s band: You need to get right, Roland and Yamaha. You need to get right. Juan Atkins is in this band. Without guys like Juan Atkins figuring out how to work your machines and making […]
A Mountain Goats sampler
April 13, 2008[embedded YouTube video; if you can’t see it, click here] I’ve been on something of a Mountain Goats kick recently, partly because of the recent concerts and partly because listening to John Darnielle’s songs can make anyone feel better about their personal life. I ended up putting together a ‘best of’ CD for myself, and […]
Coverage: The Mountain Goats, “The Sign”
March 18, 2008Well, I totally failed to post anything about either of the Mountain Goats shows I went to last week, so here’s a taste of what John Darnielle is like in concert – this is their cover of Ace of Base’s 1993 hit, “The Sign“. A quick YouTube search reveals that The Mountain Goats have played […]
Release notes: Destroyer, Trouble in Dreams
March 18, 2008Destroyer‘s eighth album, Trouble in Dreams, could be the perfect album from the 70s that you never heard. Like John Darnielle‘s, Dan Bejar’s distinctive voice polarizes listeners; if you didn’t enjoy his previous album, Destroyer’s Rubies, you probably won’t like this one either, although the vocal acrobatics are less in evidence. But Bejar writes songs […]
The Mountain Goats take on Super Tuesday
February 2, 2008NPR‘s Weekend America invited The Mountain Goats to write and perform a song for Super Tuesday. In true John Darnielle style, it’s a bitterly humorous meditation on politicians as vampires, with a dash of Revelations thrown in. As he says, “Things tend to be more interesting if you take them to extremes….You could be a […]
zed equals zee 