Tonight: Mountain Goats Tribute Show at Turf Club

*MP3: The Mountain Goats - "Moon Over Goldsboro"

Friday, March 27th, 2009
Turf Club
Saint Paul, MN
9pm, 21+ $4
www.turfclub.net

On Friday, March 27th, a diverse group of musicians from the Twin Cities will gather at the Turf Club in St. Paul to pay tribute / incant the songs of The Mountain Goats. After waiting in vain for another tour stop from the lyrical and remote John Darnielle (and company), this assembled group has decided to take matters into their own hands. If the Mountain Goats will not come to Minnesota, we will bring Minnesota to the Mountain Goats.

Gentry Boeckel
Ian Mccowan
Ben Cook-Feltz
shugE
Bill Caperton
Tiger Gash
Chris Koza
Brian Whitson + the Nightwolves

(Ian Anderson)

The Mountain Goats - Heretic Pride

The Mountain Goats
Heretic Pride (4AD, 2008)
Grade: B-


Download: The Mountain Goats - "Sax Rohmer #1"
Download: The Mountain Goats - "Lovecraft In Brooklyn"


Mountain Goats singer-songwriter John Darnielle has always been best as a deranged observer, breaking hearts and puncturing egos with acerbic wit and howling with the voice of someone teetering on the brink. I have this shining image in my head of Darnielle drunkenly grasping at air while whisper-singing his way though Get Lonely a year and a half ago at the Triple Rock. With this vision in mind, Heretic Pride just doesn't have the vulnerability and personal touch of previous albums.

And that's a problem. Darnielle's genius doesn't lie in his amazing arrangements, his ability to shred or his good looks. He's a poet, and his strength comes from taking a subject that touches a nerve with most people and teasing it up with poetry until the listener is left with a stylized, but raw peek at the world as Darnielle dreams it. On Heretic Pride, Darnielle nails stylization, but sometimes, his weak delivery wins out over his lyrical brilliance.

John Darnielle is a captivating person to watch and listen to, but not because he has a good voice. Much like Jeff Mangum, the strength of Darnielle's voice isn't in its quality, but in how he uses it. His voice is built for passionate growls that bleed with intensity. It's made for singing poetry that speaks to the very core of your being. When I heard Darnielle making an earnest attempt to sing smooth over power-popper "Autoclave," I felt a little sick. I don't like hearing Darnielle sound so cavalier when babbling on about a throne of skulls. Where's the raw shake? The quivering voice of a man on the edge of saying "Fuck it" and driving off a cliff? It's almost like Darnielle is devolving as an artist from someone who was comfortable with his flaws to someone afraid to be chastised.

The album is dressed up in instrumentation to a greater degree than any other Mountain Goats album in the past. Unfortunately, Darnielle has never been a great musician. He's a competent songwriter with a great ear for melody, but has never been very good at arranging a diverse array of instruments. Like on The Sunset Tree, some of the arrangements are very solid, but others fall back on kitschy pop-rock territory. A good example of this is the opening to "San Bernadino," which sounds like a track off of any of the Mountain Goats' past couple albums with a U2 guitar line plunked in. There's a ghosting of the type of melodies that made Tallahasee and All Hail West Texas two of my favorite albums of all time, which is encouraging, but the instrumental arrangements on Heretic Pride hinder the album's melodic development more than they help.

Overall, as a huge Mountain Goats fan, I'm disappointed in this album (which is a huge bummer, since I avoided all hype and spoilers. Thanks for ruining my 21st birthday, John). It's more-or-less a solid album, but Pride definitely lacks the punch of previous albums. I never really missed the lo-fi hiss of his earlier albums because the later ones had really interesting lyrical content and spot-on vocal performances. But with weak arrangements and shy vocals, I'm starting to miss the tape recorder.

Mountain Goats Website

(April Wright)

Top Ten Tracks On Elbo.Ws Reviewed In 50 Words Or Less (1/16/07)

This feature took a little bit of a vacation, due to the fact that blogs were posting their best-of lists, which meant that the top ten consisted of previously released songs. But now that we're in the middle of January, new stuff has been cropping up. And so, another edition of the top ten tracks on Elbo.Ws reviewed in 50 words or less, this time for the
weeks of January 1st through January 16th.

The Mountain Goats


The Mountain Goats - "Sax Rohmer #1"

"Sax Rohmer #1" is defined by by propulsive, determined playing of John Darnielle and Peter Hughes. But there's no angst here, despite the similarity to "Boys Don't Cry" during the transitional sections. We doubt anyone would swoon over the song's refrain, but Danielle gets points for passion. Perhaps all this Get Company?

Grade: B

Download: The Mountain Goats - "Sax Rohmer #1"

The Mountain Goats MySpace Page


Headlights


Headlights - "Cherry Tulips"

Ian wrote this up earlier. I don't share all of his enthusiasm, just most of it. The song begins with a mock-organ sound, like every cheesy church hymn does. Thankfully, "Cherry Tulips" blossoms into gorgeously with an slide guitar line that echoes like a starry night. Take notes, "Sunny Skies".

Grade: B+

Download: Headlights - "Cherry Tulips"

Headlights MySpace Page


Hello Blue Roses


Hello Blue Roses - "Sunny Skies"

I have finished listening to this song and will fail to capture the fragile beauty of Sydney Vermont's voice in less than 50 words. That said, the song itself is rather unremarkable and old-fashioned piano-pop. "Sunny Skies" is like setting up to watch a sunset only to find that it's dark already.

Grade: C+

Download: Hello, Blue Roses - "Sunny Skies"

Hello, Blue Roses MySpace Page


British Sea Power


British Sea Power - "Waving Flags"

Pretty Much Amazing.

Grade: A

Download: British Sea Power - "Waving Flags"

British Sea Power MySpace Page


Wye Oak


Wye Oak - "Warning"

The Music Slut described this as "Rilo Kiley's shoegazed obsessed cousins" and the description couldn't be more apt. Singer Jenn Wenner recalls that other Jen, but instead of an alt-country canvas, she coos under walls of tremolo-heavy Dinosaur Jr.-style feedback. If only If Children were being released next week.

Grade: B+

Download: Wye Oak - "Warning"

Wye Oak MySpace Page


Hello Blue Roses


Hello, Blue Roses - "Shadow Falls"

Download: Hello, Blue Roses - "Shadow Falls"

Looks like I have another shot at recapturing beauty. I'll have an easier go of it this time, because both Dan Bejar and Sydney Vermont have created an gorgeous tapestry of synthesized sounds and ethereal vocals that's poignantly juxtaposed against the plaintive chorus. After multiple listens, "Shadow Falls" is still a stunner.

Grade: A-

Hello, Blue Roses MySpace Page



Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks


Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - "Baltimore"

Who knows if hipsters are to the aughts as what hippies were to the 60s but, if both sides ever came to blows, "Baltimore" could be used as a peace offering between the two. The hipsters get the tottering opening and lackadaisical charm; the hippies, the instrumental dexterity. Everybody wins, for once.

Grade: B+

Download: Stephen Malkmus And The Jicks - "Baltimore"

Stephen Malkmus MySpace Page


Sunny Day Sets Fire


Sunny Day Sets Fire - "Stranger"

UK-based pop quintet Sunny Day Sets Fire prove that the international language is not love but rather The Beatles. There are enough incandescent melodies, ringing guitars and space-bound synths to please the most strict of anglophiles (and Granddaddy fans), while the insistent rhythm section helps grounds the lovestruck narrator. Sunny Day Sets Fire to my soul.

Grade: A-

Download: Sunny Day Sets Fire - "Stranger"

Sunny Day Sets Fire



Yeasayer


Yeasayer - "2080"

Still going strong since last fall's release of All Hour Cymbals, Yeasayer tastefully experiment with folk-rock's soothing melodicism and the intelligent anxiety of David Byrne by updating it for 2008 via Animal Collective. "It's a new year/I'm glad to be here". Right back at ya. Stick around, yes?

Grade: B

Download: Yeasayer - "2080"

Yeasayer on MySpace

Evangelicals


Evangelicals - "Skeleton Man"

Comparisons between Evangelicals and The Flaming Lips are inevitable, since both bands are from Oklahoma and play psychedelic music. Both groups have also their fair share of whimsy, but Evangelicals take a more patient route to their surreal imaginations. The only mystics Evangelicals are waging war against are themselves. And it sounds pretty good.

Grade: B+

Download: Evangelicals - "Skeleton Man"

Evangelicals MySpace Page

(Jonathan Graef)

Three New Songs From The Mountain Goats

Download: The Mountain Goats - "Sax Rohmer #1" (via Stereogum)
Download: The Mountain Goats - "Lovecraft In Brooklyn"
Download: The Mountain Goats - "San Bernardino"

Earlier today, Stereogum posted a new Moutain Goats track called "Sax Rohmer #1" from the Goats' upcoming February release Heretic Pride. The song starts with heavily accented eight-note acoustic strumming which is matched precisely by the drums. The song as progresses, the music breathes a little more, though there is still plenty of that fierce John Darnielle vocal delivery that we all know and love--particularly on the lyric "I am coming home to you/with blood in my mouth/I am coming home to you/if it's the last thing I do". All in all, the song definitely bodes well for Pride being a more hopeful contrast to Get Lonely (which wouldn't be hard to do, but still).

Additionally, two more tracks from Heretic Pride have come to light. "Lovecraft In Brooklyn" is a rocker with a frantic, syncopated bass line, electric guitar, organ and violin, all of which help capture the hectic nature of "trying to keep the wolves at bay" and "waking up afraid of my own shadow/like, genuinely afraid". Oh, the danger of big city life.

Secondly, the heartfelt, peaceful strings of "San Bernadino" stand in direct contrast to the chaos of "Lovecraft In Brooklyn." From what I can tell, "San Bernadino" tells the tale of a romantic getaway, perhaps to a bed-and-breakfast. No matter the subject of the song, the warm, intimate nature of "San Bernadino" is what makes the song absolutely fantastic. Once we get our hands on the physical record (that's February 18th, for those of you keeping score), we'll give mad props to whomever arranged the strings.

Here's the cover:



Pre-order Heretic Pride here

Mountain Goats MySpace Page

(Jonathan Graef/April Wright)

Mountain Goats Announce Album Title And Release Date

Download: The Mountain Goats - "Source Decay"
Download: The Mountain Goats - "Dance Music"
Download: The Mountain Goats - "No Children"
Download: The Mountain Goats - "Minnesota"


In my daily wishful glance at the Mountain Goats homepage (oh, John Darnielle, won't you come back and play "The Sign" for me?) and Last Plane To Jakarta I found something actually worth reporting.

NEW ALBUM!

Well, technically it was announced back in July. But now we have a release date and a title. Heretic Pride will be out on Feb. 19th, just in time for my 21st birthday.

The album is being produced by Scott Solter and the awesomely fantastic John Vanderslice. On top of it, Annie Clark (from St. Vincent) is going to appear on the album, which will surely send Jon Graef into spasms of pleasure.

The tracklist is as follows:
1. Sax Rohmer #1
2. San Bernardino
3. Heretic Pride
4. Autoclave
5. New Zion
6. So Desperate
7. In the Craters on the Moon
8. Lovecraft in Brooklyn
9. Tianchi Lake
10. How to Embrace a Swamp Creature
11. Marduk T-Shirt Men's Room Incident
12. Sept 15 1983
13. Michael Myers Resplendent

I'm really excited about this and I'm already formulating all kinds of ideas about what these songs are about. I wonder if "Sept. 15 1983" is a revisit of the encounters described in "Source Decay," in which Darnielle sings about a former friend with whom he visited Bangkok in 1983. Well, Harry Potter, eat your heart out. I have new unanswered questions to ponder.

The Mountain Goats Official Website

(April Wright)

Tonight: The Mountain Goats At The 400 Bar

Download: The Mountain Goats - "There Will Always Be Ireland"
Download: Bowerbirds - "Dark Horse"

The Mountain Goats play an 18+ show tonight at the the 400 Bar. Doors open at 7 and the show starts at nine. Bowerbirds open. Buy tickets here.

The Mountain Goats MySpace Page
Bowerbirds MySpace Page

(Jonathan Graef)