How's My Living? » the mountain goats

CHIRP Playlist: Friday, January 20, 2012

Sarah — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 16:54:41 +0000

9:53 PM Retribution Gospel Choir Poor Man’s Daughter from 2 (Sub Pop)
9:49 PM The Black Keys Little Black Submarines from El Camino (Nonesuch)
9:45 PM La Oreja de Van Gogh Cometas Por El Cielo from Cometas Por El Cielo (Sony)
9:41 PM The xx Crystalised from xx (Young Turks)
9:37 PM Chris Connelly Classically Wounded from Artificial Madness (Relapse)
9:33 PM Amanda Palmer Runs In The Family from Who Killed Amanda Palmer (Roadrunner)
9:28 PM Doomtree Bolt Cutter from No Kings (Doomtree)
9:26 PM 2Cellos Smooth Criminal from 2Cellos (Masterworks)
9:21 PM Murder By Death Dead Men and Sinners from In Bocca Al Lupo (East West)
9:17 PM The Pines Rise Up and Be Lonely from Dark So Gold (Red House)
9:14 PM The Handsome Family The Loneliness Of Magnets from Honey Moon (Carrot Top)
9:08 PM Brown Bird Shiloh from Salt for Salt (Supply and Demand)
9:05 PM Simon & Garfunkel Somewhere They Can’t Find Me from Sounds of Silence (Columbia)
9:00 PM Cloudbirds Ripples from Cloudbirds (Movings)
8:58 PM Justin Townes Earle Ain’t Waitin’ from Harlem River Blues (Bloodshot)
8:54 PM The Magic Numbers Let Somebody In from Those the Brokes (EMI)
8:51 PM The Mountain Goats Prowl Great Cain from All Eternals Deck (Merge)
8:49 PM John K. Samson Stop Error from Provincial (ANTI-)
8:43 PM Levon Helm Wide River to Cross from Dirt Farmer (Vanguard)
8:39 PM Booker T. Jones Walking Papers from The Road from Memphis (ANTI-)
8:37 PM Andre Williams and The Goldstars Babblin’ Brook from Nightclub EP (Pravda)
8:32 PM Frank Carillo and the Bandoleros Eastern Time from Someday (Jezebel)
8:29 PM Tiger Bones In the Dark from When You Die (Candy Dinner)
8:25 PM The Format She Doesn’t Get It from Dog Problems (The Vanity Label)
8:20 PM Jakob Olausson Engraved Invitation from Morning & Sunrise (De Stijl)
8:14 PM The Wars of 1812 Homestay from Status Quo Ante Bellum (Afternoon)
8:11 PM Wooden Wand & The Briarwood Virgins Wither Away from Briarwood (Fire)
8:07 PM Jessica Lea Mayfield Run Myself Into The Ground from Tell Me (Nonesuch)
8:03 PM Kim Taylor So Black, So Bright from So Black, So Bright (Bulldog Farm)

CHIRP Playlist: Friday, January 6, 2012

Sarah — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 16:50:48 +0000

Another night, another couple of hours of music. Hooray, Friday.

I’ll be back for an extra long show next week, from 8 pm to midnight. More banjo! More whistling! More everything!

9:55 PM The Don’ts and Be Carefuls Old Heart Young Heart from Sun Hits EP (Hot Congress)
9:50 PM Frank Zappa Trouble Everyday from Strictly Commercial (The Best of Frank Zappa) (Rykodisc)
9:45 PM Jon Langford & Skull Orchard 1234Ever from Old Devils (Bloodshot)
9:42 PM Teddy Thompson Everybody Move It from Separate Ways (Verve)
9:38 PM Wooden Wand & The Briarwood Virgins The DNR Waltz from Briarwood (Fire)
9:30 PM Zun Zun Egui Katang from Katang (Bella Union)
9:25 PM Radiohead Idioteque from Kid A (Capitol)
9:21 PM Thao with the Get Down Stay Down Burn You Up from Know Better Learn Faster (Kill Rock Stars)
9:17 PM Steve Hauschildt Too Short a Season from Tragedy & Geometry (kranky)
9:14 PM Lonely Drifter Karen Dis-In-Motion from Fall of Spring (Crammed Discs)
9:12 PM Clogs Cocodrillo from The Creatures In The Garden Of Lady Walton (Brassland)
9:05 PM Beats Antique Egyptic from Blind Threshold (Antique Records)
9:01 PM Oneohtrix Point Never Nassau from Replica (Software)
8:57 PM Dum Dum Girls He Gets Me High from He Gets Me High (Sub Pop)
8:54 PM Mutts Real Bright from Pray for Rain (8eat8)
8:50 PM Joe Firstman Now You’re Gorgeous, Now You’re Gone from The War of Women (Atlantic)
8:44 PM Cass McCombs Robin Egg Blue from Humor Risk (Domino)
8:39 PM Gordon Lightfoot The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald from Summertime Dream (Wounded Bird Records)
8:34 PM The Mountain Goats and John Vanderslice Scorpio Rising from Moon Colony Bloodbath (Cadmean Dawn)
8:30 PM And So I Watch You from Afar Think:Breathe:Destroy from Gangs (Sargent House)
8:25 PM Controller.Controller Disco Blackout from History (Paper Bag)
8:20 PM John Legend & The Roots Wake Up Everybody (featuring Common & Melanie Fiona) from Wake Up! (Columbia)
8:15 PM Eligh & Amplive Tattoo Song from Therapy at 3 (Legendary)
8:09 PM Neko Case Look For Me (I’ll Be Around) from Blacklisted (Bloodshot)
8:04 PM Case Studies California Ghost Story from The World is Just a Shape to Fill the Night (Sacred Bones)
8:00 PM Josh Joplin Group I’ve Changed from Useful Music (Useful Music)

CHIRP Playlist: Friday, December 30, 2011

Sarah — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 17:36:35 +0000

I played some music on New Year’s Eve Eve. They don’t really make songs for that.

9:55 PM DeVotchKa Vengo! Vengo! from Una Volta (Cicero)
9:52 PM Devil in a Woodpile Louisiana Fairytale from In Your Lonesome Town (Bloodshot)
9:48 PM She & Him Baby, It’s Cold Outside from A Very She & Him Christmas (Merge)
9:44 PM The Mountain Goats Lovecraft In Brooklyn from Heretic Pride (4AD)
9:40 PM Queen Don’t Stop Me Now from Jazz (Universal)
9:37 PM Summer Camp Losing My Mind from Welcome to Condale (Moshi Moshi)
9:32 PM Robbie Fulks Cold Statesville Ground from South Mouth (Bloodshot)
9:28 PM Melissa Ferrick This Time of Year from Still Right Here (Mpress Records)
9:24 PM Thomas Comerford Moonshiner from Archive + Spiral (Spacesuit)
9:20 PM The Black Keys Dead and Gone from El Camino (Nonesuch)
9:16 PM Quiet Company Set Your Monster Free from We Are All Where We Belong (self-released)
9:09 PM Steve Hauschildt Batteries May Drain from Tragedy & Geometry (kranky)
9:06 PM Andrew Bird Nomenclature from Noble Beast (Fat Possum)
9:00 PM Lost in the Trees All Alone in an Empty House from All Alone in an Empty House (ANTI-)
8:57 PM Thao & Mirah How Dare You from Thao & Mirah (Kill Rock Stars)
8:53 PM Jacaszek As Each Tucked String Tells from Glimmer (Ghostly International)
8:49 PM Vanessa-Mae Night Flight from Subject to Change (EMI)
8:44 PM Mutts Throwback from Pray for Rain (8eat8)
8:40 PM An Horse Rearrange Beds from Rearrange Beds (Mom + Pop)
8:36 PM The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir Praying Is A Heartache (Album) from …And The Horse You Rode In On (Bloodshot)
8:29 PM Cass McCombs To Every Man His Chimera from Humor Risk (Domino)
8:25 PM Rachael Sage How I Got By from Delancey Street (Mpress Records)
8:20 PM The Reverend Horton Heat Drinkin’ and Smokin’ Cigarettes from Laughin’ & Cryin’ with the Reverend Horton Heat (Yep Roc)
8:16 PM The Roots Kool On from undun (Def Jam)
8:13 PM Nneka Heartbeat from Concrete Jungle (Yo Mama’s)
8:09 PM Wooden Wand & The Briarwood Virgins Big Mouth USA from Briarwood (Fire)
8:06 PM Langhorne Slim Diamonds and Gold from Langhorne Slim (Kemado)
8:02 PM Ben Harper and the Blind Boys of Alabama Take My Hand from There Will Be a Light (Virgin)

CHIRP Playlist: Friday, December 9, 2011

Sarah — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 16:32:20 +0000

I had a week off, but now I’m back. Hear me again, same time next week, on CHIRP Radio, Friday nights, 8-10 pm Central. I even take requests!

9:57 PM Peter Wolf Crier Down Down Down from Inter-Be (Jagjaguwar)
9:54 PM Brown Bird Fingers to the Bone from Salt for Salt (Supply and Demand)
9:50 PM Cloud Control This Is What I Said from Bliss Release (Infectious)
9:47 PM Atlas Sound Amplifiers from Parallax (4AD)
9:43 PM Laura Marling Devil’s Spoke from I Speak Because I Can (Astralwerks)
9:39 PM Ani DiFranco Little Plastic Castle from Little Plastic Castle (Righteous Babe)
9:37 PM DRC Music Lourds (featuring Yende Bongongo of Okwess International) from Kinshasa One Two (Warp)
9:31 PM Luke Roberts All American from Big Bells and Dime Songs (Thrill Jockey)
9:26 PM John Prine Angel from Montgomery from In Person & On Stage (Oh Boy)
9:22 PM The Mountain Goats Birth of Serpents from All Eternals Deck (Merge)
9:18 PM Mt. Desolation Departure from Mt. Desolation (Interscope)
9:14 PM Thomas Comerford Dear Stephen Hauser from Archive + Spiral (Spacesuit)
9:10 PM Justin Townes Earle Ain’t Waitin’ from Harlem River Blues (Bloodshot)
9:05 PM Boyd Lee Dunlop Boyd’s Swinging Blues from Boyd’s Blues (self-released)
9:01 PM Mavis Staples Wrote A Song For Everyone from You Are Not Alone (ANTI-)
8:59 PM Hannah Fury Never Look Back from Through the Gash (self-released)
8:53 PM Tycho Coastal Brake from Dive (Ghostly International)
8:50 PM Daniel Bedingfield Wrap My Words Around You from Second First Impression (Universal Distribution)
8:44 PM Nneka Kangpe (feat. Wesley Williams) from Concrete Jungle (Yo Mama’s)
8:41 PM BC Camplight Richard Dawson from Hide, Run Away (One Little Indian)
8:38 PM Korallreven Keep Your Eyes Shut from An Album by Korallreven (Acephale)
8:29 PM DeVotchKa How It Ends from How It Ends (Cicero)
8:27 PM Mar Caribe Pirates of Lake Michigan from Songs From Under the Flight Path (self-released)
8:21 PM Kathleen Edwards Chameleon Comedian from Voyageur (MapleMusic)
8:18 PM Anthony da Costa Heart Without a Home from Not Afraid of Nothing (self-released)
8:14 PM David Vandervelde Corduroy Blues from The Moonstation House Band (Secretly Canadian)
8:10 PM Vampire Weekend Bryn from Vampire Weekend (XL)
8:07 PM Peggy Sue There Always Was from Acrobats (Yep Roc)
8:03 PM Ane Brun Song No. 6 from A Temporary Dive (Determine)

CHIRP Playlist: Saturday, October 22, 2011

Sarah — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 16:12:56 +0000

Who would have guessed that an empty radio studio in a manufacturing building would be creepy at midnight when you’re there all by yourself? Crazy, isn’t it? Made a couple of good musical discoveries, though, of artists I’d never heard before randomly selecting them to play. That’s always a plus.

Here’s what I played to close out Saturday night. Your next chance to hear me is on Saturday, November 5th, from noon to 2 pm (Central).

11:55 PM DeVotchKa The Enemy Guns from How It Ends (Cicero)
11:53 PM Sarah Siskind Say It Louder from Say It Louder (Request Records)
11:50 PM Mike and the Censations Don’t Sell Your Soul from Don’t Sell Your Soul (Ubiquity)
11:45 PM Regina Spektor Samson from Begin to Hope (Sire)
11:42 PM St. Vincent Champagne Year from Strange Mercy (4AD)
11:37 PM Andrew Bird Night Sky from Norman (Mom+Pop)
11:34 PM Neko Case I’m An Animal from Middle Cyclone (ANTI-)
11:30 PM Guster Either Way from Lost and Gone Forever (Sire)
11:26 PM Mates of State Sway from Mountaintops (Barsuk)
11:22 PM Rachael Cantu I Threw It All Away from Paupers, Peasants, Princes & Kings: The Songs of Bob Dylan (Doghouse Records)
11:18 PM Feist Comfort Me from Metals (Cherrytree)
11:13 PM Helen Money Too Heavy from In Tune (Table of the Elements)
11:10 PM Vashti Bunyan Come Wind Come Rain from Just Another Diamond Day (Dicristina Stair)
11:04 PM Bon Iver Re: Stacks from For Emma, Forever Ago (Jagjaguwar)
11:02 PM Kate and Anna McGarrigle Schooldays from The McGarrigle Hour (Hannibal)
10:58 PM The David Mayfield Parade I Just Might Pray from The David Mayfield Parade (Ninth Grade Records)
10:53 PM Joe Firstman Now You’re Gorgeous, Now You’re Gone from The War of Women (Atlantic)
10:51 PM Twin Sister Spain from In Heaven (Domino)
10:47 PM Sharon Van Etten For You from Because I Was In Love (Language of Stone)
10:41 PM Johnny Flynn Been Listening from Been Listening (Transgressive Records)
10:38 PM Laura Marling The Muse from A Creature I Don’t Know (Ribbon)
10:34 PM Mar Caribe Django Tango from Songs From Under the Flight Path (self-released)
10:29 PM The Acorn Blankets from Blankets! EP (Kelp)
10:25 PM Azita Stars or Fish from Disturbing the Air (Drag City)
10:20 PM Over the Rhine The Laugh of Recognition from The Long Surrender (Great Speckled Dog Records)
10:14 PM Bonnie “Prince” Billy No Match from Wolfroy Goes to Town (Drag City)
10:10 PM Ryan Adams Chains of Love from Ashes & Fire (PAX-AM/Capitol)
10:07 PM Pinetop Seven His Aging Miss Idaho from The Night’s Bloom (Empyrean)
10:02 PM The Traveling Wilburys Not Alone Any More from The Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 1 (Wilbury Records)
9:57 PM The Mountain Goats The Young Thousands from We Shall All Be Healed (4AD)
9:54 PM My Brightest Diamond Escape Routes from All Things Will Unwind (Asthmatic Kitty)
9:51 PM The Cell Phones Husband from Hospital Spaceship EP (Self-released)
9:46 PM JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound Awake from Want More (Bloodshot)
9:42 PM Melissa Ferrick Burn This Guitar from Listen Hard (Right On Records)
9:39 PM Thea Gilmore This Girl Is Taking Bets from Rules for Jokers (Compass)
9:33 PM Neil Young Alabama from Harvest (Reprise)
9:29 PM Deer Tick Let’s All Go To The Bar from Divine Providence (Partisan)
9:26 PM Brian Wright and the Waco Tragedies Morning Cigarettes from Bluebird (Breakout)
9:21 PM A.C. Newman Drink To Me, Babe, Then from The Slow Wonder (Matador)
9:17 PM We Were Promised Jetpacks Hard to Remember from In the Pit of the Stomach (FatCat)
9:14 PM Chin Up Chin Up We Should Have Never Lived Like We Were Skyscrapers (Stephen Snydacker Mix) from Chin Up Chin Up (Flameshovel)
9:08 PM Dan Mangan Robots from Nice Nice Very Nice (Arts & Crafts)
9:05 PM Malajube Radiologie from La Caverne (MB3)
9:02 PM Tegan and Sara Monday Monday Monday from If It Was You (Vapor Records)

CHIRP Playlist: Saturday, October 1, 2011

Sarah — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 16:23:58 +0000

Thanks to everyone who tuned in to my inaugural (internet) radio adventure on CHIRP Radio. If you’re interested to know what kind of music I play whenever I get three hours behind the controls of Chicago’s best radio station, then read on. I’ll be back on the air on Saturday, October 8th, from 9 am to noon, Central time.

8:56 PM Neil Young Southern Man from After The Goldrush (Reprise)
8:52 PM Jessica Lea Mayfield Blue Skies Again from Tell Me (Nonesuch)
8:51 PM The Jayhawks She Walks in So Many Ways from Mockingbird Time (Rounder)
8:47 PM Tinariwen Tamiditin Tan Ufrawan from Tassili (ANTI-)
8:44 PM Martha Wainwright Jesus and Mary from I Know You’re Married But I’ve Got Feelings Too (Zoe)
8:40 PM Serengeti Flutes from Family & Friends (Anticon)
8:33 PM Andrew Bird Not A Robot, But A Ghost from Noble Beast (Fat Possum)
8:29 PM Brandi Carlile Looking Out from Live at Benaroya Hall with the Seattle Symphony (Columbia)
8:25 PM Milagres Halfway from Glowing Mouth (Kill Rock Stars)
8:20 PM The Bowmans Make It Last from Far From Home (self-released)
8:17 PM Wilco Black Moon from The Whole Love (dBpm)
8:14 PM Justin Townes Earle Poor Fool from Midnight At The Movies (Bloodshot)
8:08 PM Allá Es Tiempo from Es Tiempo (Crammed)
8:04 PM Vienna Teng 1BR/1BA from Dreaming Through the Noise (Zoe)
7:59 PM Active Child Johnny Belinda from You Are All I See (Vagrant)
7:54 PM Gotye Somebody That I Used to Know from Making Mirrors (Ais)
7:52 PM Buffalo Rome Plant White Roses from Obscurities (Merge)
7:45 PM Ohbijou Balikbayan from Metal Meets (Last Gang)
7:41 PM The Avett Brothers The Weight of Lies from Emotionalism (Ramseur Records)
7:37 PM Low Majesty / Magic from C’mon (Sub Pop)
7:33 PM White Mystery Take a Walk from White Mystery (self-released)
7:28 PM Okkervil River Your Past Life as a Blast from I Am Very Far (Jagjaguwar)
7:25 PM Peter Wolf Crier Beach from Garden of Arms (Jagjaguwar)
7:20 PM Booker T. Jones Representing Memphis (featuring Matt Berninger and Sharon Jones) from The Road from Memphis (ANTI-)
7:15 PM Teddy Thompson Separate Ways from Separate Ways (Verve)
7:07 PM Braid Universe or Worse from Closer to Closed EP (Polyvinyl)
7:04 PM St. Vincent Northern Lights from Strange Mercy (4AD)
7:01 PM Anais Mitchell Hades & Persephone from The Brightness (Righteous Babe)
6:57 PM Dessa Into the Spin from A Badly Broken Code (Doomtree)
6:53 PM The Grey Race On the Chin from Give It Love (Unfiltered)
6:51 PM Tom Vek World of Doubt from Leisure Seizure (Co-op)
6:45 PM Nico The Fairest of the Seasons from Chelsea Girl (Polygram)
6:42 PM Laura Marling Rest in the Bed from A Creature I Don’t Know (Ribbon)
6:39 PM Jeff Pianki Missing Parts from Paper Window. (self-released)
6:35 PM Alpha Consumer The Crown Salesman from Kick Drugs out of America (self-released)
6:30 PM A.A. Bondy Surfer King from Believers (Fat Possum)
6:25 PM Dusty Bibles Wintersong from Sinus Rhythm EP (self-released)
6:20 PM April Smith and the Great Picture Show Drop Dead Gorgeous from Songs for a Sinking Ship (self-released)
6:17 PM Beirut Goshen from The Rip Tide (Pompeii)
6:14 PM Neko Case Runnin’ Out of Fools from Blacklisted (Bloodshot)
6:09 PM The Mountain Goats Psalms 40:2 from Life Of The World To Come (4AD)
6:03 PM Girls Just a Song from Father, Son, Holy Ghost (True Panther Sounds)
5:59 PM Ha Ha Tonka Usual Suspects from Death of a Decade (Bloodshot)

The Fine Art Of Disturbing The Guests With Your Racket

Mel — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 05:59:42 +0000

There was a breakup a while ago, and the last straw was a Golden Smog song.

More specifically, the last straw was the inappropriate commentary related to me and the Golden Smog song that he felt it necessary to make in front of our friends. I remember thinking, For the umpteenth time he’s taking this thing I love on its own merits, for my own reasons, for what it means to me, and twisting it to try and make that meaning about him, and he’s embarrassing me in front of our friends in the process. And it’s the kind of thing I can’t explain because he’ll just brush me off yet again, and I don’t think I can take that from him any more.

For the next thirty-six hours, I stewed. And then I realized something: he wasn’t the only one who could use music as a weapon.

So I made a mix.

Unleashing my inner fifteen-year-old was the smartest, best decision I could have made. I combed my library and searched for all the tracks with lyrics that said exactly what I wanted to say to him. I dumped my usual criteria when making a mix — I repeated artists, didn’t bother worrying about genre, abandoned all concern about corniness and cliché. My only self-imposed constraint was to make it fit on a single CD.

The mix saved that Golden Smog song for me, and it helped me put my anger where it belonged. I still pull it out every so often — because it’s a good mix, rather than because I need it. He doesn’t know I made it, and he’ll never know what’s on it, because it doesn’t matter any more.

Around the time I started trying to forgive him for the last straw, and for all the straws that came before, I started listening to the Mountain Goats. And beyond the obvious appeal under the circumstances of, say, “No Children” — what I loved, and love, best in their work was the frenetic certainty that made me want to chairdance, cardance, living room dance, dance all the time, everywhere. The Mountain Goats are like taking a backscratcher to my id, and the process of scratching also pushes that button that makes me want to wiggle around like a nerd and not care at all who sees me. I can count on one hand the bands that give me that impulse.

Which explains why I acquired a tape of their recent Chicago show — they’re good, I like them, they make me happy, they’re taper-friendly, naturally I seek out a tape. But I nearly did a spittake the first time I heard John Darnielle’s introduction to “Family Happiness” on that tape:

This is a song about, as several of my songs are about, a couple of people in a car. They have a third sort of person in the car, but it’s more of a ghostly sort of energy force, right? So it’s not actually a person, but it’s a sort of person they have conspired to make who sits behind them at all times, and tells them that the only way either one will get out of this alive is to eat the other one. And the name of the ghostly energy force is BOB, and he rides in the back seat.

That, friends, is a Twin Peaks reference I can appreciate. And it got me thinking about Twin Peaks, and the Mountain Goats, and the two most blatant occasions in the series in which a girl stakes out her musical territory.

Twin Peaks has lots of things I like in my media, but there are two things in particular that relate: there’s what reducing teenaged girls to functional symbols does to them and the communities they live in, and there’s weird music used weirdly. There’s been some academic criticism done on Angelo Badalamenti’s soundtrack for Twin Peaks with a lot of jargon thrown around (diegetic and non-diegetic leitmotifs that evince the liminality of the narrative, and I could go on), but without getting into all of that, here’s the point I want to come to.

“How many times have I asked you,” Audrey Horne’s father Ben asks her immediately after he turns off the music, “not to disturb the guests with that racket?” And Audrey smiles — toward the camera, not toward Ben — and tells him, “About four thousand.”

Whether Audrey is actually disturbing the guests with her racket — because that’s the point: it’s her racket, not his, and not anything that any guest in her father’s hotel would like — is debatable. But her father doesn’t like it. She’s dancing by herself in his office, in a world of her own, to music that makes her want to move. He’s asked her to stop before, which she refuses to do. It’s her racket, and she likes it. It makes her want to move.

Audrey dances in public, too. She asks Donna Hayward a question in the Double R Diner that will later become relevant to the show’s MacGuffin, brushes off Donna’s followup, and says, listening to her music coming out of the diner’s jukebox, “God, I love this music. Isn’t it too dreamy?” And then she gets up from her stool at the counter.

The Haywards, parents and daughter, give Audrey funny looks, and Audrey looks right back and keeps moving.

Dancing, voluntary and involuntary, shows up a lot in Twin Peaks — but it’s Audrey Horne who sticks with me. They watch her, they tell her to turn off her racket, and she looks them in the eye and keeps dancing.

Audrey Horne is a teenager. There’s something to be said for unleashing your inner teenager. We don’t like to think that’s true — we like to be cool, and above it all — but sometimes it is. Sometimes it helps. It can help you get through the day to willingly make the decision to let go of worrying about how cool you look and how good your taste is and how attached you are to irony and just move. As John Darnielle put it the other day on Twitter:

The Mountain Goats: Official Website | MySpace | Twitter | Store

Album Review: A Fine Frenzy, Bomb in a Birdcage

April in Review

Sarah — Tue, 10 May 2011 15:14:59 +0000

So, Grooveshark was acting a bit wacky lately, and the handy little widget option went away, thus delaying my April mix. It’s back now, so have at it. The list is a bit short this month, as I haven’t been listening to a whole lot of new and interesting things. Thanks, cat and work and being busy.

Concert Review: The Mountain Goats and Megafaun, Variety Playhouse, 4/7/11

Mel — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 17:35:48 +0000

Like Sarah, I was fortunate enough to catch the Mountain Goats and Megafaun last week. She wrote a great review. You should read it. Right now. I’ll wait.

That’s pretty much what happened at the show I saw in Atlanta last Thursday night. There were a few differences — for example, I’m pretty sure the Variety Playhouse is half the size of the Vic, so I found Megafaun to be transcendently delightful, as Sarah noted at the end of her review — but the overall deal was close enough that I wouldn’t be saying anything new if I wrote about the show I saw. Sarah also knows their catalog much, much better than I do; because of that, the show wasn’t a must-see for me, but instead a “hey, they’re playing when I’ll be in Atlanta, I love the Variety Playhouse, it’s the night before my birthday, that would make a nice present for myself” show. I’ve been listening closely for about two months and I’m barely scratching the surface.

So: if you want a more objective review, Sarah’s is great and I highly recommend it. As a Mountain Goats neophyte, I’m going to take a different route that gets more personal. Fair warning.

I know you’re probably here for music talk, and that’s why I’m here, too, even if I’ve been quiet in the last couple of weeks. But I’m sure you know how it is when things get overwhelming. In the last two months I’ve found out about graduate school admissions decisions, I’ve decided where I’m attending and thus where I’ll be moving in August, I’ve started purging my apartment of stuff that won’t be moving with me, I’ve dealt with some health issues, I’ve watched political theater in Washington, D.C., and I’ve thought some about an ex. In last week’s field trip to Atlanta, my parents and I started having the conversations about the location and uses of some of their financial and legal arrangements, just in case. In short, there are a lot of changes going on, they’re not all pleasant, and that’s not going to stop any time soon. If nothing else, I’ve got to keep my increasingly soul-sucking day job — which has nothing to do with music — until August, when I’m off to move to a place I’ve never been before to do things at which I’m pretty out of practice. There are too many answers I don’t have and too many things I can’t fix right now, and I don’t like it.

And while all that’s been going on, in the background I have been communing with the Mountain Goats in preparation for that show at the Variety Playhouse. Me and John Darnielle at my desk, with his nasal falsetto and his metered sucker-punch lyrics and his shreddy guitar playing.

Before I left for Atlanta, I’d already been thinking about the value of revisiting the kinds of albums that we do some growing up alongside, to see if our perception of them changes as we change. (One of my coping mechanisms at work is sticking Andrew Bird’s Armchair Apocrypha on repeat; I’ve been having some thoughts about the album lately.) And here is John Darnielle, writing a lot about growing up and getting out. I’ve been thinking about an ex; here is John Darnielle with “No Children”. I’ve been watching the political theater surrounding the federal budget and its threat to Planned Parenthood, when next year I’ll likely need Planned Parenthood for basic preventative care; here is John Darnielle talking with Mother Jones about women’s rights and access to health care. I’ve been adjusting myself to the notion of moving back to the South after I moved to Colorado to get away; here is John Darnielle with “Heretic Pride”. My current job is draining, everything is changing, everyone is getting older, and here is John Darnielle with a proto-It Gets Better Project, saying that I am going to make it through this year if it kills me.

In other words, sometimes we find the things we need when we need them.

It was a real joy to go back to the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta; it may be my favorite venue anywhere. It smells like an ice rink. It’s not too big, not too small. You can stand up front, you can sit in the back, you can sit on one of the risers at the sides at a table, you can sit in the balcony and put your feet up — something for everyone. It’s in one of my favorite downtown neighborhoods, perfect for general concert pregaming and lolligagging around. I got to watch the show from the lowest riser on the right, against the wall at my own table, with an unobstructed view the whole time, and great sound. It was downright civilized — which was pretty great. Sometimes you just don’t feel like dealing with the crush of people up front, and the Variety’s always good for accommodating that.

At my table, I wrote this in my notebook before the show, meaning to turn it into a post later:

In listening to John Darnielle, both his music and on Twitter, I’ve found good work for rough times. I’ve found unrelenting optimism when I’ve desperately needed it. I’ve found an ally when the news implies I have none. I’m not just talking about the music, either. Darnielle is a vocal supporter of women’s rights, and right now that matters to me. One of the most vital functions of music for me, and I’d guess for a lot of people, is its ability to make us feel as though we have allies, as though we are not alone. As I keep listening, and thinking about what I listen to, it’s getting increasingly important to me that artists I champion — and I use that word deliberately — are allies off the stage as well as on it.

I can like a song, and I can like an album, and I can and do plug good work regardless of an artist’s personal politics. But that deeper connection to their music, the kind that inspires me to research and delve and find out as much as possible about their work with all the logic and passion I can muster, only comes when I find things that convince me those artists are likely to have my back, politically speaking.

And John Darnielle, in his support for women’s rights, and human rights, has my back. That’s ultimately why I’m at the Variety Playhouse tonight. I feel the same way about Andrew Bird (see this post for one reason why); once upon a time I felt the same way about Wilco. It’s entirely possible that I won’t feel the same way about any of these artists in five years — and that’s okay.

What I’ve finally had the time and space to realize this week in Atlanta is that it’s not the future we should be afraid of, it’s stagnation. There’s nothing wrong with going back to the music we’ve loved for years and listening to it as the people we are now, rather than who we used to be.

Right now music isn’t my day job — but in August, that’s going to change. (It won’t be everything I’m going to do, but one reason I picked my particular program at my particular university is that there aren’t many places better for studying American popular music, past and present.) And one of the things I’m going to be looking at in depth is how politics affected and continue to affect music. Some of the things I’m going to have to sort out are my opinions on how politics should affect music. And one of the things I’m scared of is that learning to be a better critic will kill my ability to react to particularly excellent music with literal feetkicking glee, as I did with “Family Happiness” last Thursday night.

And while I lived in my head for a lot of that show — from the distance I was to the stage, John Darnielle looks unnervingly like the ex I’d been thinking about — I wasn’t there the whole time. There was “Family Happiness”; there was the track that didn’t make it on The Sunset Tree, “Song for my Stepfather”, there was “Palmcorder Yajna”, and there was “This Year”. The frenetic depth of emotion on display did wonders for me. Eventually I was able to let a lot of stuff go in favor of letting the music in, which is something I haven’t been able to do in several months.

We all bellowed along with “This Year”. It felt like a covenant I made with five hundred strangers, which made us friends. And I listened to it on repeat all the way home — my parents’ house in the suburbs, not Denver. Somewhere on I-75, and it may well have been right as I passed the Big Chicken, I turned another year older, and the song became a covenant with myself, too.

Megafaun was great. (“His Robe” goes over particularly well in a small room in front of a mostly Southern audience — we’re more likely to get the visual references involved in the band’s monkeying around on stage like televangelists.) The Mountain Goats were phenomenal. And next time I see them, I’m going to know a lot more of the catalog so I can get more out of it besides an emotional recharge to help me face down the next four months. Pretty sure that’s still going to happen, though. I’ve got a feeling the Mountain Goats are going to be a band I follow for a long time to come, no matter what I wind up discovering or how my opinions change.

There are no concrete or easy answers, but in the meantime there are songs about Tolstoy and vampires and stuff to help us cope. I can live with that, happily. Thanks, Mountain Goats.

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Concert Review: The Mountain Goats and Megafaun, The Vic, 4/5/11

Sarah — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 18:20:31 +0000

: Photo by D.L. Anderson

The list of artists whose music actually moves me – breath caught in my throat, caught up in the story the lyrics tell, maybe even a little teary-eyed over a song or two – is pretty short. You can probably guess most of the members of this elite club, as they’re frequent subjects on this site. Shows from these artists are always difficult for me to write about, because it’s hard for me to separate out my feelings and all the reasons why I’m so moved, in order to give you something a little more objective to read. But we’ll give it a try this time around. Anyhow, over the past few years, the Mountain Goats have wormed their way onto that list, and this week’s show, though short due to Chicago curfew laws (the show was all-ages), really helped reinforce that they absolutely belong there.

Though touring for their latest album, All Eternals Deck, John Darnielle and company (Peter Hughes on bass, Jon Wurster on percussion, and Yuval Semo on keyboards/guitar) certainly didn’t let the new songs take over the show. Darnielle’s back catalog includes hundreds of songs and extends to the early 90s, when The Mountain Goats were largely a solo endeavor and Darnielle was a lo-fi darling. Armed with a full band, however, songs that were formerly sparse and stark took on a whole new life.

The thing that always strikes me the most about a Mountain Goats show is the sheer amount of joy you’re confronted with. It doesn’t matter if the song is about a doomed marriage, suicide, bullying, addiction, or any other less-than-cheerful topic; there’s always a palpable sense of enthusiasm on stage from Darnielle and company that makes it very easy to have a good time. Darnielle is so earnest in his song delivery and his banter with the crowd that he’s impossible not to like. He is an unlikely frontman but he plays the role well, even if he does need to take his glasses off to headbang for a few beats.

While the new songs from All Eternals Deck got a great reaction from the crowd, especially “Damn These Vampires”, it was the older tracks which provided some of the most memorable moments of the evening for me. ”Family Happiness”, introduced as “a story about a couple of people in a car”, was delivered with a fiery intensity that grabbed my attention immediately. The lines “look at the person I’ve turned into, tell me, how do you like him now?” are ones which really made the song stick in my head. ”You can arm me to the teeth, you can’t make me go to war,” Darnielle sings, and you can easily deconstruct the dysfunctional relationship of these travelers, both of whom think “the only way out is to eat the other one”. “Home Again Garden Grove” was a highlight mentioned in just about every review I’ve read of the show, the formerly acoustic song taking on a new urgency with the addition of a full band.

Unreleased track “You Were Cool” was a touching song about pushing on through your teenage years and coming out on the other side. “I hope you love your life like I love mine, I hope the painful memories only flex their power over you a little of the time,” the song goes, and anyone who has ever had a less than stellar adolescence sighs a collective sigh. The show even had a special guest: lately, the Mountain Goats have been covering “Plain” by Silkworm; here in Chicago, the lead singer of Silkworm, Tim Midgett, came out to sing his own song, backed up by the Mountain Goats. Darnielle had a huge fanboy moment after that, and it just put a smile on my face to see a musician being excited about the music of others. It’s one thing to thank an opening band or collaborator; it’s another to be as obviously full of glee as he was.

What always brings me back to the Mountain Goats — me and all of the other thousand-some fans in attendance, I’m guessing — is that no matter how cryptic the song, there’s always something in there that you can relate to. You’ve been one half of the couple in the car, fighting tooth and nail to outlast your partner. You’ve been one half of that couple that really needs to call it quits, but are too stubborn or too stupid or too proud to follow through. You’ve been the awkward teenager wondering if things will ever get better. You’ve told yourself, over and over again, even on the darkest of days, that you’re going to make it through this year, even if it kills you. I’ve certainly been there. Maybe you have, too. That’s why I love this band. There’s a message in there that you can identify with, without the message being too heavy-handed. I went to the show expecting to rock out a little bit, and I left feeling uplifted and encouraged. Yes, I am going to make it through this year, and so are you.

Openers Megafaun, a North Carolina-by-way-of-Wisconsin trio, easily won the attention of the crowd, and brought with them a self-deprecating sense of humor that likely played well with the amassed Mountain Goats fans. Not many openers can get their audiences to pay attention to them, let alone to sing in three part choral harmony, but Megafaun succeeded easily. I look forward to exploring more of their music; hopefully, they’ll swing by Chicago again in the future on a tour of their own, hopefully in a smaller venue.

At least one recording of the show has surfaced over at Archive.org, so you can listen for yourself. Both 16-bit and 24-bit recordings are available. Both links offer MP3s and streaming audio, in addition to the FLAC files.

Setlist as follows behind the jump, thanks to a user at the Mountain Goats forums. (Note, one song on here is a lie. A little Google-ing for other reviews will reveal it, but John Darnielle told us to lie and I’m not going to go against that. Why? Because it’s hilarious.)

The Mountain Goats: Official Website | MySpace | Twitter | Store

Liza Forever Minnelli
Southwood Plantation Road
Jeff Davis County Blues
Broom People
Age of Kings
Family Happiness
Outer Scorpion Squadron
Song for Dana Plato
You Were Cool
Woke Up New
Seeing Daylight
Damn These Vampires
Home Again Garden Grove
Birth of Serpents
Plain (Silkworm cover, with Tim Midgett)
Palmcorder Yajna

Encore 1
The Friend Catcher (Birthday Party cover)
Never Quite Free
No Children

Encore 2
This Year (with Megafaun)