Yip/Jump Music vs every other Johnston rekkid

I think most of his records are pretty wondeful. 'Artistic Vice' was a proper recording and also quite magnificent. '1990' was a bit too much even for Daniel, though it does have _Don't Play Cards With Satan_ on it. I haven't heard any of his more recent records -- are they any good? But, yeah,'Yip/Jump Music' is probably the meisterwerk. Damn, I had all my Daniel Johnston/Shimmy Disc CDs pinched a few years back. I bet the thieves didn't get too much for them either.

Yip/Jump is all about Danny and his organ (snicker). He bangs so hard on that thing its a wonder it made it through the sessions. gotta love it though, if only to hear him lament about the truck that almost hit him (poor Dan)

Songs of Pain/More Songs of Pain are great, but there's no instruments here. I rarely throw this on, but it still makes me chuckle when i do. 1990 i could never find, so i don't really know, although i think it has one called Funeral Home on it which i love, even though its like 30 seconds. i thought the collaboration with Jad Fair of Half Japanese in '89 was pretty good stuff, esp. 'First Day At Work' & 'I Did Acid with Caroline'

'Fun' is polished studio stuff. same as always: goofy country and snivelling childishness, but he actually rocks out here. Haven't heard the latest one, and the tracks are virtually impossible to find even on napster.

'1990' is as dark as f***. He really sounds as lost as any singer could ever sound... it's a bit hard to listen to -- one of the few records that has made me cry. I really love Danny. He's written loads of truly great songs. I wasn't too keen on the Jad Fair collaboration, though -- Jad Fair does my head in a bit.

"Everybody wanted to be The Beatles and I wanted to be like him... but he died". _Planet X_ is true class aswell. Have you heard Kathy Mcarthy's album of Danny cover versions? It's only about 25 mins long, but still great. Shit, I wish I had some of his CDs still.

I heard he got ripped of by Shimmy Disc big style too. Poor Dan -- he should be a star... if he could handle it.

"I am a baby in my universe.. I'll live forever, forever..."

Heh...that song was on a couple of minutes ago. i managed to burn a cd of my faves. Dan likes to keep it short but sweet so this cd has like 35 tracks on it. Yeah...if there's a guy who deserves fame its Dan, but yeah, he'd get freaked out at all the attention. I didn't know about that cover disc..ahh, a new hunt d:)

"he was always polite to the people who' tell him that he was nothin but a lazy bum but..goodbye to them he had to go..."

1990 is the only album of his that i really like. its a memorable albumand beautiful often. particularly the almost schmaltzy "some things last a long time", which is very moving.

Yip/Jump is, I think, the best of his songwriting. Speeding Motorcycle and King Kong are for me the two standout tracks, though there are plenty of others. I find Fun tedious and dull. However, what I've heard of Johnston's other early-mid 80s phase is all quite good. Johnston is another of those artists who I feel embaressed playing for friend -- social appreciation seems precluded by the overt amateurishness, which it takes concentration to get past.

Cheap yes, amateurish no - these are very sophisticated recordings, with a strong sense of ambience. They are not so affecting by complete fluke. Johnston is a great performer, songwriter, lo-fi sophisticate - alongside his mental issues (like Robert Lowell is a great poet who had breakdowns).

I love ‘Yip/Jump’ , but all the 80s stuff is wonderful - ‘Continued Story/Hi how are you’ I adore – his cover of "I saw her standing there" is one of the most moving recordings I have ever heard. I saw him live in London a few months ago and he was fantastic – everything that Jonathan Richman is always said to be but generally these days isn’t.

What’s the verdict on the recent album?

Christ, that was a real gush..

ive only heard a handful of tracks off of it. its in the vein of his 'Fun' album. there's his traditional acoustic bashing alongside some countrified rock numbers..still not bad. i really miss the organ he used to play, though.

"Hi How are You" is way better than "Yip/J.M."

I own most of his records and i like all of them, but yip jump is not his best. If you can get it, try to find the double cd of continued story/hi how are you. It friggin rocks. It seems to have some at least basic studio stuff as well as really lo fi stuff taboot. By the way, kathy mccarthys album (dead dogs eyeball) is also fantastic. (and if you get it) fun was not a bad album. You might also like fungobat, he's kind of in the same loser rock genre.

I liked this conversation: Interviewer: 'What do you think of people covering your songs?'
DJ:'I love it, I love all of them. That Firehose song was really good.'
Interviewer: 'What about the Yo La Tengo version of 'Speeding Motorcycle'?'
DJ: 'Yeah, well, the thing about that is that they sound like they're dead.'

That sounds about right.