Is the new Mountain Goats: "The Sunset Tree" going to be the album that finally gets me into them?

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Cokemachineglow gave it a really good review (http://www.cokemachineglow.com/reviews/mgoats_sunset2005.html), and it sounds like it's not-so-lo-fi again (like Healed), which is a good sign. But I must admit, I've never been able to get into the MGs, though I really want to. Best Ever Death Metal Band Out of Denton is probably the closest I have come. Will this one be it?

― Dave Maher (Dave M), Friday, 22 April 2005 15:53 (twenty years ago)

Oh man. I like the lo-fi, but i'm still excited. release date?

― poortheatre (poortheatre), Friday, 22 April 2005 16:06 (twenty years ago)

it's a more quiet affair than Healed was, the acoustic guitar isn't as violent, but the storyline about the step-dad throughout is really strong.

it's out April 26.

― pinder (pinder), Friday, 22 April 2005 17:00 (twenty years ago)

It's fantastic. "Dilauded" is all intense cellos, and the melodies are really strong throughout. "Dance Music" is excellent and sad. Lots of great fringey L.A. imagery, too.

― On a Strict El Cholo Diet (Bent Over at the Arclight), Friday, 22 April 2005 19:02 (twenty years ago)

I'm stoked. Can't wait....the more I listen to it the more I realize that We Shall All Be Healed is better than Tallahassee.

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Friday, 22 April 2005 19:09 (twenty years ago)

The Mountain Goats became my favorite band one weekend when I was in
bed sick and had "Sweden" in my CD player (I already liked them). I
left it in there and must have played it a hundred times as I slipped
in and out of consciousness. Now, I pretty much love all of their
albums.

I think the new one is coming out today or tomorrow. Real soon anyway.

― Salmon Pink (Salmon Pink), Friday, 22 April 2005 19:15 (twenty years ago)

I think it might be the best thing he's done. It's totally great.

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Friday, 22 April 2005 21:07 (twenty years ago)

:-D Based on the songs I heard live, it's going to be a cracker. :-)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 22 April 2005 21:09 (twenty years ago)

http://tenyearsof.us/img/2004-07-11.jpg

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 22 April 2005 21:14 (twenty years ago)

Didn't know you had gotten a piercing.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 22 April 2005 21:18 (twenty years ago)

You're aging well, Dan!

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Friday, 22 April 2005 21:20 (twenty years ago)

They're playing in Toronto on the same night as Autechre ... sorry J0hn, if you're reading this thread. :(

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Friday, 22 April 2005 21:28 (twenty years ago)

Jam session.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 22 April 2005 21:28 (twenty years ago)

You'd rather see Autechre twiddle some knobs, Barry?

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Friday, 22 April 2005 21:37 (twenty years ago)

Things they should do to make laptop "performances" more entertaining

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Friday, 22 April 2005 22:10 (twenty years ago)

I guess this is as good of a place as any to mention that archive.org has around half a dozen Mountain Goats live shows. They range from 2002 to late 2004 and the sound quality is pretty good on all of them. John's banter is pretty consistently entertaining, too (as could be expected.) I hope they tour on this album!

(John, if you read this, can you avoid the 21+ venues in St. Louis? It makes me a sad Steve when I miss MG shows because of my age.)

― stephen morris, Friday, 22 April 2005 22:21 (twenty years ago)

it's a great record, and i guess Dnce Music is getting on to be as redemptive and joyful as Best Ever Death Metal Band In Denton, though at this stage i'm completely immersed in tMGs and can't objectively grasp why anybody wouldn't be... At the moment my favourite on The Sunset Tree is Love Love Love, there's this gentle static-y (figital?) hiss buried in the mix that's just fantastic.

I think in general i'm still hung up on the home-recorded stuff, but i really like the myriad hifi hisses and buzzes that are left on the newer recordings. I can't wait to hear the home recorded versions, though since there's only 1000 copies or something i'll probably have to.

― LRJP! (LRJP!), Saturday, 23 April 2005 12:01 (twenty years ago)

What, where? A bonus disc or something? Hey neat. :-)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 23 April 2005 12:09 (twenty years ago)

I think they'll be selling the limited edition lps at shows. I saw them on this tour, but before it was released, so I missed out. So, go early and often I guess.

― Salmon Pink (Salmon Pink), Saturday, 23 April 2005 12:54 (twenty years ago)

me too: "love love love" is really wonderful.

― locus solus, Saturday, 23 April 2005 14:26 (twenty years ago)

Any Brooklynites goin to Northsix post-Derby?

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Saturday, 23 April 2005 15:54 (twenty years ago)

Is the new Mountain Goats: "The Sunset Tree" going to be the album that finally gets me into them?

to answer the question: no.
i don't know which albums you've tried, but if you tried any of the last 3 and you didn't liked the Goats then, you won't now.
(We shall all be healed, for example, is a lot better than this new one)

― Ludo (Ludo), Saturday, 23 April 2005 17:23 (twenty years ago)

it's not a matter of trying that hard exactly. it's more a matter of time and patience. is it more easily accessible is i guess what i'm asking, kind of.

― Dave Maher (Dave M), Sunday, 24 April 2005 06:37 (twenty years ago)

You'd rather see Autechre twiddle some knobs, Barry?

Because strumming guitars is so inherently interesting, right? Let's see, it's sincere, sexy, traditional, passionate, phallic, direct, unmediated, folkloristic, tummy-friendly, Billybraggesque, protestsingerish, familiar, hallowed, bethyname, thykingdomcome, thywillbedone, inheavenasitisonearth, forthineisthekingdom, thepowerandtheglory, foreverandever, amen.

― Momus (Momus), Sunday, 24 April 2005 09:06 (twenty years ago)

I kind of cringe when I open MGs threads and the obligatory smug "you know, this band sucks" comments that every other artist ever gets are missing.

― Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Sunday, 24 April 2005 09:56 (twenty years ago)

When you see John live, the *really* interesting thing about his performance sure as hell *isn't* the way he strums a guitar.

― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Sunday, 24 April 2005 10:33 (twenty years ago)

There's a Congress song - that's John with Mark Givens (of Wckr Spgt) - that might do it for you...

http://www.mungbeing.com/media/the_congress_jungle_mercies.mp3

John is versatile and multi-talented. Is there one release that does it for any one person? There's something on each recording that I like which, spread out, make up a great catalogue.

― Ben Muggin, Tuesday, 26 April 2005 21:01 (twenty years ago)

two weeks pass...

I just got this a few days ago; wonderful. Can't stop listening to it.

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Wednesday, 11 May 2005 14:32 (twenty years ago)

It's v. v. good. :-)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 11 May 2005 14:36 (twenty years ago)

It took a little while to grow on me, I think because it was so heavy, but it's become one of my favorites this year. This Year-Dilaudid-Dance Music sequence is just amazing. The other highlights for me are Up the Wolves and Pale Green Things.

I love the imagery of Up The Wolves, and it took my a couple of listens to hear the line about "ever since we founded Rome" and realize that "The wolf" wasn't the step-dad. Though I'm still not sure who it is. I guess it's just hope for some surrogate or better mother.

― Scott CE (Scott CE), Wednesday, 11 May 2005 19:16 (twenty years ago)

two weeks pass...

God this album is really fucking good.

― Hari A$hur$t (Toaster), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 19:43 (twenty years ago)

This and Electric Six are competing for my album of the year.

― miccio (miccio), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 20:08 (twenty years ago)

so far, obv

― miccio (miccio), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 20:08 (twenty years ago)

Voting in advance, you madman!

It is a really fucking good album, indeed.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 20:12 (twenty years ago)

In regards to the thread question: Sadly, no.

There was a girl at this BBQ I went to yesterday who was wearing a Mountain Goats 2005 Tour t-shirt. I complimented her on it, and she said, "Did you see the show? Don't you love them?" And I had to go, "er, I'm not really into the music ... BUT I think John is a totally awesome person and I love his writing!!"

― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 20:15 (twenty years ago)

The whole thing has this bittersweet redemptive quality to it. It's really powerful and touching. I think he's finally got the instrumentation right too; I loved parts of the last two albums but it still seemed like it was feeling around in the dark somewhat (with production and new instruments). There's this great subtlety on 'The Sunset Tree' and everything seems to be in the right place.

― Hari A$hur$t (Toaster), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 20:18 (twenty years ago)

It took me a loooooong time to get used to his voice and I am not in love with Talahassee as a whole (I totally still don't dig "Small Arms Traffic Blues") but the last two albums are outstanding and I'm enjoying the earlier stuff I've been visiting now.

― miccio (miccio), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 20:23 (twenty years ago)

This is my forth Mountain Goats album and i think it's possibly the most immediate (I.e, i got it today, cannot pull myself away from it) - I got the new Sleater Kinney album today and haven't even put it on yet.

― Hari A$hur$t (Toaster), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 20:25 (twenty years ago)

Also the lyrics to 'Dilaudid' are the bombdropper.

(x-post)

― jergins (jergins), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 20:27 (twenty years ago)

I'll note that sometimes when people ask me whether they'll dig the Goats, I ask them if they could ever imagine taking TMBG seriously. If they answer "I already do!" then I demand they pick an album up now. If they groan and go "so annoying!" I say it might take awhile.

Part of what really affects me about The Sunset Tree is how it risks cliche in the pursuit of expressing the story, despite its familiar archetypes, as well as possible. I can actually understand why some wouldn't enjoy it - one negative take I heard was "Dilaudid? WTF I already saw Drugstore Cowboy." But if you aren't opposed to troubled adolescent memoir on principle I think this is one of the strongest I've ever heard.

― miccio (miccio), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 20:34 (twenty years ago)

btw, I am not saying TMBG = Goats, merely that voice and genre might keep those who aren't immediately sympathetic at bay.

― miccio (miccio), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 20:35 (twenty years ago)

I wish Darnielle would publish it as a chapbook rather than an album.

― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 31 May 2005 20:39 (twenty years ago)

I was waiting for somebody to revive this album so I could add my own two cents. The first time I listened to this album after buying it about two weeks ago, I just wanted to email John with one of those "OMG U DONT KNOW ME BUT IM UR BIGGEST FAN!!!!!!!!!!!!" letters. Holy shit, I fucking love this album. This is the first time I've heard tMG before, and I'm in love. I haven't felt this way about music in a while...

― Mickey (modestmickey), Wednesday, 1 June 2005 01:13 (twenty years ago)

Yes, clearly this is a masterwork. I got into the MG's sorta ass-backward, starting from "We Shall Be Healed" (which I loved), then "Tallahasse" and the earlier stuff. The simplicity of this album is what's so unexpected - this transcends the "confessional" genre; it's like what John Lennon attempted on "Plastic Ono Band," only with 10 times the generosity, the acknowledgment that there are other people. "This Year" might be the song of the year; "Love Love Love" is clsoe behind.

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Wednesday, 1 June 2005 01:18 (twenty years ago)

too many typos - call it confessional honesty ;)

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Wednesday, 1 June 2005 01:23 (twenty years ago)

One thing that I really look for in music is sincerity. Something that really seems sincere, and I can also connect to... and shit, that's this album. I have a tendency to feel like every song is about me, despite obvious discrepancies that I brush aside, but damn, The Sunset Tree is my life.

― Mickey (modestmickey), Wednesday, 1 June 2005 02:55 (twenty years ago)

Wow, as an avid MG fan who has enjoyed most of the albums (that I've been able to track down), I *hated* this album. It really has nothing to do with the upping of production or anything like that. It seems odd that JD's writing style would go south so quickly, but to my brainstem this is a pretty lackluster album (sorry, *hate* was too strong).

And are we actually rating sincerity now? leighm ... I mean, I guess I can understand people "identifying" with songs, but just please attach a disclaimer if you do it.

― Maxwell Power (SuzyCreemcheese), Wednesday, 1 June 2005 03:03 (twenty years ago)

I think his songwriting is also at a peak with this album.

― Hari A$hur$t (Toaster), Wednesday, 1 June 2005 09:14 (twenty years ago)

It's not sincerity -- all bad art is sincere, as Oscar Wilde wrote -- it's the quality of Darnielle's songwriting.

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Wednesday, 1 June 2005 10:09 (twenty years ago)

Wasn’t Wilde being ironic when he sad that?

I really can’t see how this album disappoints lyrically; any disappointments I have with it are small – because it’s great - and strictly musical. It’s not the ‘hifi’ production as such, but the loss of immediacy that it entails.

It’s interesting that it is the newer, better/more typically produced records that are actually confessional…

― LRJP! (LRJP!), Wednesday, 1 June 2005 10:26 (twenty years ago)

Skipping 15 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

"He avoids the confessional trap by concentrating almost solely on the mundanities a 17 year young would find really important: Bartles & James, video games, Old Testament stories, etc. The images correlate with his emotions." - funny how close those mundanities are to a 26-year-olds!

Mickey - You'd have a point, but there is a confessional tone THEMATICALLY, not just "Nice to meet you; I'm John. I'm confessing." As you can find in some confessional poetry, "confessional" doesn't necessarily mean 1st P Narrator and gloomy subjects. It's a genre w/ limitations, but not as many as people like to believe.

That being said, I can hear what I DON'T like about it in this album.

― Suzy Creemcheese (SuzyCreemcheese), Wednesday, 1 June 2005 15:49 (twenty years ago)

http://www.shadowedsun.com/Mountains02/house/bartles&james.jpg

The real Bartles & Jaymes.

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Wednesday, 1 June 2005 15:52 (twenty years ago)

lol I bet they're drinking gin.

― Suzy Creemcheese (SuzyCreemcheese), Wednesday, 1 June 2005 15:56 (twenty years ago)

The shadow of the plant in the background looks like one of those laughing snapper plant things on Mario Kart.

― Hari A$hur$t (Toaster), Wednesday, 1 June 2005 15:59 (twenty years ago)

What makes a song like "Love Love Love" so devastating is what he omits from his lyrics. If you listen to this song without hearing the rest of the album you might think it's a facile exercise in analogy-making. Implicit in the "things" we do for love is what the protagonist's family never seemed to do for him; and it's implied in the damaged, bruised croon in which he sings the lyrics.

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Wednesday, 1 June 2005 15:59 (twenty years ago)

The one on the left has a faster kart i think. (xpost - to myself)

― Hari A$hur$t (Toaster), Wednesday, 1 June 2005 16:00 (twenty years ago)

intentional omissions and concrete nouns have always been aces in John's sleeve.

― miccio (miccio), Wednesday, 1 June 2005 16:02 (twenty years ago)

Soto, I'll have to say that your explication is more interesting than the song :^)

― Suzy Creemcheese (SuzyCreemcheese), Wednesday, 1 June 2005 16:12 (twenty years ago)

An amazing album: definitely among his best ever, and the first one I've really connected with since All Hail West Texas. I admire the bravery and wit with which John confronts his childhood traumas, and the melodies/production are among his best.

Agree with the above opinion of "Love Love Love," though I hadn't quite placed it in the album's overall theme until mentioned. What's interesting is that after reflecting on the things *others* do for love, we get "Pale Green Things," which fast-forwards to the abusive father's death. The son was beaten and bullied as a youth, but his first thought is fondness of what few good times they had. For those of us who've lost a parent - particularly when our relationship with that parent was difficult - it's a rare glimpse into the oddly mixed emotions we feel.

I really can't say enough about this album. I can't stop listening to it.

― mike a, Wednesday, 1 June 2005 16:19 (twenty years ago)

mike a OTM

― Mickey (modestmickey), Wednesday, 1 June 2005 20:25 (twenty years ago)

I wonder if John is ever going to write a song about the odd situation of reading commentary on himself on ILM and weighing the implications of responding versus not responding

― Mickey (modestmickey), Wednesday, 1 June 2005 20:29 (twenty years ago)

i'm sure he's been reading every word!

i really like The Sunset Tree, significantly more than Talahassee and perhaps a bit more than We Shall All be Healed.

nothing really has the same impact that the earliest stuff did though. i don't know if that has to do with me being 16 years old and Zopilote Machine just fanning the fires of adolescence... or if that material is just better. i met JD as a youthful 17 year old, bought Full Force Galesburg that night, and that record has come to be my favorite of his records. it seems like he took a few years off before Coroner's Gambit came out, and nothing since then has really had the same relevance to me. but i still like it all!

― j fail (cenotaph), Wednesday, 1 June 2005 21:00 (twenty years ago)

My only hope with all this recent resurgence of tMGs is that the new fans don't take J0hn's outright dismissal of his earlier work (a rather unfortunate artistic cliche) to heart.

― gygax! (gygax!), Wednesday, 1 June 2005 21:16 (twenty years ago)

I wonder if John is ever going to write a song about the odd situation of reading commentary on himself on ILM and weighing the implications of responding versus not responding

I'm told "Going To Xanga," "Daedaleus Hotlink," "Box Of Comments" and "Fuck With Darnielle Day (And Everybody's Celebrating)" are already in the can for Blogosphere

― miccio (miccio), Wednesday, 1 June 2005 21:23 (twenty years ago)

Going off of a Last Plane To Jakarta essay from... last month?, I don't think J0hn would participate in this discussion even if he was still a regular ILX poster.

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 1 June 2005 21:24 (twenty years ago)

This one? http://lastplanetojakarta.com/archives/2005/04/rave_on.php

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 1 June 2005 21:28 (twenty years ago)

I believe that was spun-off of a Momus vs. Pitchfork (?) thread where Momus critiques the review of his record.

― gygax! (gygax!), Wednesday, 1 June 2005 21:29 (twenty years ago)

among other things

― miccio (miccio), Wednesday, 1 June 2005 21:31 (twenty years ago)

well. now I don't need a song to wonder what's going through his head as he reads criticism about himself.

anyways, I can't say it enough - I am in love with this album.

― Mickey (modestmickey), Wednesday, 1 June 2005 22:24 (twenty years ago)

weird how "confessional" has become so central to discussion of the album; what if he'd just made it all up as usual? it cuts close to the bone either way, certainly more so to me than Tallahassee and that's as far as I used to think he had to go. (you can sub whatever your earlier fave was in place of Tallahassee if you like.)

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Wednesday, 1 June 2005 23:21 (twenty years ago)

Oh, I assume he DID make some if not all of it up. As a fiction writer I've found that the more autobiographical the material I'm dealing with, the more inclined I am to exaggerate, distort, improvise, and disgard.

It still doesn't change the fact that it does fit comfortably into the hoary confessional genre.

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Wednesday, 1 June 2005 23:30 (twenty years ago)

Also speaking as a fiction writer, I'll ~kind of~ agree (not that it's central to the discussion, but it's interesting). Hey, Richard Powers and Bill Vollmann (and DFWallace, in some short stories) have gone so far as use their own names in their fictions (no doubt fictionalized, but nonetheless more autobiographical than not). I haven't been reading all of the reviews/interviews/hearsay lingering around TSTree, but I'm under the impression that he has said in interviews that this is a serious departure b/c it's autobiographical. Sure, this could be a ruse, but that still doesn't change the confessional mood of the album (which I still don't like - the style that sets the mood).

I'll also add that, after a couple more listens today, I enjoyed the trope development more than I had before. But, by now, I've listened to this 5 times through, and it's still not growing on me.

― Suzy Creemcheese (SuzyCreemcheese), Thursday, 2 June 2005 01:07 (twenty years ago)

Can we just talk about All Hail West Texas instead?

― Suzy Creemcheese (SuzyCreemcheese), Thursday, 2 June 2005 04:32 (twenty years ago)

Hail Satan, baby.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 2 June 2005 04:38 (twenty years ago)

I mean, I wouldn't feel bad if "Hail Satan" were considered the high-point of my artistic career. Not saying that JD (I know you're lurking ... although you still might be on tour; I wouldn't know b/c I'm probably not gonna see you after seeing you in NYC) is dunzo. He's not; despite what I've said, I don't think this album is all that bad. But ...

― Suzy Creemcheese (SuzyCreemcheese), Thursday, 2 June 2005 04:48 (twenty years ago)

(just re-reading that - should be apostrophes, not quotation marks that denote song title. Just wanted to call attention to the fact that those words in that song could be considered a high point in an artist's career)

I'm actually kind of stumped by the orginal question. I wish it didn't depend so much on the person getting 'into it'. I can't imagine getting into MG w/ this and them going into everything preceding.

― Suzy Creemcheese (SuzyCreemcheese), Thursday, 2 June 2005 05:57 (twenty years ago)

intentional omissions and concrete nouns have always been aces in John's sleeve

miccio totally OTM. I've been trying to develop an elegant and accurate summation of tMGs for ages and that’s exactly what I was trying to say.

― LRJP! (LRJP!), Thursday, 2 June 2005 10:24 (twenty years ago)

if the whole thing was fictional i dont think it would matter. the "17 years young" line and others like it would still bug people.

― AaronK (AaronK), Thursday, 2 June 2005 11:41 (twenty years ago)

"weird how "confessional" has become so central to discussion of the album; what if he'd just made it all up as usual?"

Not that weird, really. I think his notes on the album cover make it impossible to approach it as fiction. "Confessional" seems wrong, though. It's a memoir, and a brilliant one. Question for long time fans: I've only heard the last three albums. I admired "Tallahassee" but I absolutely adore "We Shall All be Healed" and "The Sunset Tree." What should I get next?

― Not Thaat Chuck, Thursday, 2 June 2005 13:01 (twenty years ago)

_All Hail West Texas_ and _Zopilote Machine_ would be my suggestions for further back-catalog listening. _Hot Garden Stomp_, too, but so far that hasn't been reissued.

― mike a, Thursday, 2 June 2005 14:25 (twenty years ago)

Could somebody explain what is disagreeable about the confessional 'tone' of TST? I don't think I can spot it. The tone really doesn't seem drastically different from lots of other, for lack of a better description, emotional music that I love, such as Songs: Ohia or Magnolia Electric Co.

Is the weight, the heaviness, of the subject matter what gives it its tone? Is that all? Please explain

― Mickey (modestmickey), Thursday, 2 June 2005 14:48 (twenty years ago)

NTChuck, I'd say All Hail West Texas; I listen to that and Hey Hey We're the Mountain Goats, which I think might be some random comp someone has made, but I like the mix.

Mickey, it's tough to put a finger on. I know that it's not the subject material (although I get the feeling that the subject material might be a reason why some people love it). Maybe it's that, before, it never sounded like those two bands that you mentioned (still doesn't, but no matter, I can hear what you're talking about), or too much of anything else. Maybe I don't think that his new style holds his themes like the previous solo-guitar-n'-boombox style had. Can't fault him for changing it, though.

― Suzy Creemcheese (SuzyCreemcheese), Thursday, 2 June 2005 15:32 (twenty years ago)

In the form vs content debate I'm squarely in the form content: I don't care what it's about as long as it's done well. On paper the thought of listening to an album-length disquisition on a man's problems with an evil stepfaher makes me want to throw it across the room. In the case of TST it's exceedingly well done, without sacrificing aural mystery (this is arguable, as Suzy has made clear the last couple of days).

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Thursday, 2 June 2005 15:36 (twenty years ago)

Maybe it's just the editor in me that wants to go back over it and change certain things. The problem is that I usually don't have this urge w/r/t MG albums. I wish the problem weren't so ineffable for me. I was damned excited to hear it. I'm listening to Ghana right now, and I think that so many of these previous albums sound detached (ie wandering themes, different narrators). It's interesting that someone who has used the 1st P Narrator for so long can do the same on this album and it has a completely different feel.

― Suzy Creemcheese (SuzyCreemcheese), Thursday, 2 June 2005 15:55 (twenty years ago)

http://mirrorimageorigin.collegepublisher.com:80/media/paper439/stills/tn67t05x.gif

― Suzy Creemcheese (SuzyCreemcheese), Thursday, 2 June 2005 16:32 (twenty years ago)

Here's the answer to the question: Probably.

I finally bought this, um, yesterday or two days ago, and I like it a lot. It's very tender. Warm. Also, whoever mentioned the part in 'Broom People,' OTM. So far, it's just something I want to hear a lot i.e. won't stay out of my CD player kind of thing. I know I'm kind of new/ignored around here, but that's my verdict: Lovable. Oh, so lovable.

― Dave Maher (Dave M), Thursday, 9 June 2005 02:00 (twenty years ago)

Love, Love, Lovable, even.

― Dave Maher (Dave M), Thursday, 9 June 2005 02:01 (twenty years ago)

Tallahassee was a much better album, IMO

― meister, Thursday, 9 June 2005 11:00 (twenty years ago)

Details, as someone said, are everything. The "seventeen years young" line is important for the simple reason that it's a particular year that he's determined to live through. Namely, the year before he turns EIGHTEEN. At which point he can get the hell out of there. If he can just make it that far, everything will be ok. He can dig up a pianist's grave, build a house out of his bones and live happily ever after with his drug addict girlfriend and a lifetime supply of dilauded. Which he'll need because he's still too young to buy booze and he won't be able to steal scotch from his stepfather anymore.

― Salmon Pink (Salmon Pink), Thursday, 9 June 2005 13:18 (twenty years ago)

It's not so much the fact that it doesn't make sense, or doesn't add anything to the narrative, I just don't like the execution of style. And just to add, it's not the fact that he's saying he's 17; it's the 'young' that makes me twitch a little.

― Suzy Creemcheese (SuzyCreemcheese), Thursday, 9 June 2005 14:45 (twenty years ago)

Has anyone heard the MG "Random Rules" cover yet?

― Suzy Creemcheese (SuzyCreemcheese), Friday, 10 June 2005 06:17 (twenty years ago)

j0hn's CD-R GO! from the most recent Seattle Weekly:

http://www.seattleweekly.com/features/0524/050615_music_cdrgo.php

― jergins (jergins), Thursday, 16 June 2005 22:05 (twenty years ago)

there is a NYTimes write up - apparently. I saw it quoted in Pitchfork...looked glowing.

― Susan Douglas (Susan Douglas), Thursday, 16 June 2005 22:22 (twenty years ago)

I think there might have even been a write up in the New Yorker about the performance at NorthSix, too. I had a pretty blah time at the previous NY performance (after having loved the NYC Southpaw show the previous tour through).

btw, the Random Rules cover - not essential by any means. nice pick, though. i guess you really DO need that rain in the background.

― Suzy Creemcheese (SuzyCreemcheese), Friday, 17 June 2005 02:28 (twenty years ago)

Forgive me if this article has already been posted, but this is brilliant:
http://www.wweek.com/story.php?story=6405

It's an interview with JD done in haiku form!

Q. Preparing yourself
for an ominous ending
What is the magpie?

A. Only a traitor
undresses his metaphors
As if they were whores

Damn that cryptic metaphor that I can't forget about, and damn that even more cryptic answer!

― Mickey (modestmickey), Friday, 17 June 2005 03:32 (twenty years ago)

coroner's gambit isn't getting enough love here - two best tmg songs evah in "jaipur" and "family happiness" and no i'm not kidding. possibly his best, with we shall all be healed, and no i haven't heard the new one yet.

― hey john come 2 springfield already ok, Monday, 20 June 2005 01:40 (twenty years ago)

two weeks pass...

I've loved a lot of albums in the past few years, but this is the first time in almost five years where a record has made me swell up inside every time I put it on. Hell, sometimes it just plays in my head and I just tear up inside. This used to happen way more often when I was in my teens, but I'd just figured that the feeling leaves when you grow older and are more aware of all the bands out there, past and present.

― alex in montreal (alex in montreal), Friday, 8 July 2005 19:12 (twenty years ago)

Just got this....it is a pretty amazing record. Very affecting.

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Friday, 8 July 2005 19:22 (twenty years ago)

fifteen years pass...

Really feeling this album this evening

― Mule, Sunday, 20 September 2020 22:11 (five years ago)

three years pass...

but down in your arms,
in your arms, I am a wild creature.

― Mule, Saturday, 2 March 2024 00:44 (two years ago)

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