The Mountain Goats - Heretic Pride

in case J0hn reads this - don't want to download a leak, but do any of your labels have samples up yet?

i think it's safe to say with only 351 days left that yes this will top most critics' lists

I don't see how anyone could write good songs and carry the soul-sucking burden of being an ilxor at the same time.

He really is a special lyricist. I'm looking forward to the new disc.

obv. my "best record of the year" was a bit tongue in cheek, but, then again, I'm not sure if an album has kicked my ass this much since 2004 or something...

The song "Sax Rohmer #1" is available for download--I think I got it through the label. It appears to be legit.

It is f-ing great. Lyrically redoubtable, as you'd expect. Vocally, it's real punchy, which I love. More like his spikier performances on "Tallahasee" or "We Shall All Be Healed."

I can't wait for this.

Aesop Rock bigged up "Lovecraft in Brooklyn" in Today's Metro (UK free newspaper).

i like this. big and boomy some places, real pretty others. (current favorite is maybe the song about the lake monster.) really like erik friedlander on this one. good video for sax rohmer too.

C'mon iTunes, make the "Sax Rohmer #1" video available for purchase goddamnit!

(I'm waitin until release date to buy the CD otherwise.)

(i would like to note for the record that my copy of this was legally obtained for legal purposes.)(man it's a good thing more musicians don't hang out on this board, every thread would need awkward disclaimers.)

did scott solter work on this album also?

So is John Wurster now an "official" member of the mountain goats? If so, it would make me strangely happy.

I hear Scott Storch is going to remix the entire album, is this true?

really like erik friedlander on this one.

Erik Friedlander is always amazing.

yeah i liked his album last year .

i missed the super tuesday song.

Bought the vinyl today - listening now after a night of music and drinking - loving it.

I know the whole That Guy Who Says Each Album Is Better Than The Last cliché but fuck youz, yet again Heretic Pride is the best goddamned album. I'm a sucker for strings, and this one really pumps them up in the mix. Heretic's song sequencing x energy here works just as well as the sequencing x subdued nature of Get Lonely. So psyched to see these songs live in a few days.

I hear Scott Storch is going to remix the entire album, is this true?

you heard that wrong..Larry Storch has the remixing honors...

my girl Laura is in love with san bernardino. i promised her i'd give it an official shout-out!

she is right to be. this has totally become my default go-to record: "I don't know what to listen to i don't know what to listen to i don't know what to listen to oh fine heretic pride will make me happy"

i have to ration it out of fear i may tire of it. i don't by any means think that's likely but y'know, better to err on the side of caution.

That song about the murder of Prince Far I is terrific.

I don't want an album that's "not half bad" from the band that made In the Flat Field The Sunset Tree

-- J0hn D., Monday, June 16, 2008 9:59 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Link

(just kidding, this album is still pretty great)

uncool

(though yes, I agree the album is still pretty great)

yeah what.

I think i dig this one more than the Sunset Tree.

Is this on vinyl cause if so I will buy it.

yuh

uncool

hey it's not my quote! i don't think it's a valid viewpoint to hold anyway (and i'm glad if J0hn is loosening his standards a bit, as he mentioned in the Bauhaus thread). but what if people apply the same standard to each new Mountain Goats record? it happens already in critical circles, there's always that comparison, "oh it's fine, not as good as ________ though," i think it's fucking annoying. there should be no gold standard for good, better, best; it's all subjective.

BIG HOOS: i believe i've seen it (90% sure) at Waterloo here in town, on vinyl.

i dig this one more than Sunset Tree too. in fact, i think i like most every one of the 4AD releases better than Sunset Tree, which is still great. the best is Get Lonely, so underrated. this new one's great too.

Really I meant "uncool to do this here rather than the thread where the quote came from" more than anything.

To get back on message here: I love this album. As someone posted upthread it is my default 'go to' album of the moment. It's actually rather summery, the lyrics are fantastic and I'm loving the drums. What should I look for next from the Mountain Goats? I picked Heretic Pride up because I knew of J0hn from here for a few years and it just appeared at the right time. Yay for impulse buys!

It's actually rather summery

Highly OTM ^^^

I'd go for some of the other 4AD stuff before you venture too deeply into his back catalogue. Tallahassee is gorgeous, his first record for 4AD, possibly my favorite he's done. Get Lonely is haunting, the most instrumentally sparse and emotionally conflicted, sort of a breakup album, very underrated, also a favorite of mine. We Shall All Be Healed strikes me as, dare I say, his weirdest for 4AD, whatever that means. It's pretty good. And of course a lot of folks will advise you to get The Sunset Tree. You really can't go wrong with any of those records, though.

When you make it into the pre-4AD years, there are a lot of gems, too. There was a recent poll about best pre-4AD album, I think, which has some great discussion on it, and the poll results will give you an idea which ones are best loved: What is the best Mountain Goats album before the 4AD ones?

Good luck! Let us know what you hear :)

this album was a grower not a show-er

Really? I thought it was bomb-out fantastic from the first time I played it.

i liked it right away but i didn't LOVE it, but now i love it

wurster is so awesome on this

the "boom....boom crack CRACK...boom....boom crack CRACK" drum part on the title track is so dope

This one's good. All MGs albums are good. My favorite is still Get Lonely...

love this record

lately I have become OBSESSED with "In the Craters on the Moon"