The Mountain Goats - Jenny from Thebes (October 27, 2023) • Page 3

That was such a good podcast and I wish he’d do more of it.

 

John Darnielle Reveals Syllabus For Upcoming Album

 

My friend Riley put out an album recently and he's heavily influenced by tMG. I figured I'd post the bandcamp link in here. He's such a talented songwriter, I really love this album. I figure some of you guys might be into it too. Lo-fi acoustic jams with sorta tongue-in-cheek lyrics dealing with super grand/abstract concepts in a down to earth way.

 

The Coroner’s Gambit reissue

 

I don’t need it. But I am so tempted lol

 

Fuck yes

 

Sorry to bump with this but I've recently reorganized my top 5 for these guys and I wanted to share. I don't have any avenue to talk about these guys sooo here it is :^)

1) The Sunset Tree - The greatest mix of John's lyricism and a polished/acoustic sound, this album has everything tMG has to offer at high doses. A basically perfect record imo and one that'd I use to get anybody into tmG. Favorite tracks: Hast Thou Considered the Tetrapod/Dance Music

2) All Hail West Texas - The pinnacle of lo-fi tMG with some of his best examples of storytelling. Favorite tracks: Color in Your Cheeks/The Mess Inside

3) We Shall All Be Healed - This was often bouncing around my favorite, but upon reexamination the above two records beat it out. This has some incredibly high highs but a bit more "lows" than the first two. This record sounds really good, and is scrappy and fun and has what I think is the best song John's ever written, Palmcorder Yajna. Favorite tracks: Palmcorder Yajna/Pigs That Ran Straightaway Into the Water, Triumph Of

4) Goths - This album is amazing all the way through. Not one bad song on here, and it sounds so fresh and feels like such a full piece of music. Love this one. Favorite tracks: Rain in Soho/We Do it DIfferent on the West Coast

5) Transcendental Youth - This album is really good, but the lows are lower than any of the previous albums mentioned, despite how few they are. Feels like a very affirmative record, and it was hard to place this and Goths but this has a couple songs that don't blow me away vs Goths having not one unenjoyable track. Favorite tracks: Lakeside View Apartments Suite/The Diaz Brothers

 

Never apologize for bumping a TMG thread!

I think my top five is probably:
Beat the Champ
The Sunset Tree
Transcendental Youth
All Hail West Texas
In League With Dragons

But the first two could swap depending on the day, and The Life of the World To Come would make a good case for the five spot.

 

A great list! I plan on spending a lot of time with In League, Knives and Dark in Here this upcoming week to really get familiar with them. Beat the Champ just missed out on top five for me but it's an awesome record.

 

Is everything okay? It’s nearly been one year without a new The Mountain Goats album…

/s

 

huge WNC benefit comp out today includes In League with Dragons b-side "Hand of Death"

Cardinals At The Window, by Various Artists

 

Honestly never checked this band out cause their back catalogue seems impenetrably large.

Just heard This Year and it’s convinced me that I should. Is The Sunset Tree the place to start? If so, what are the other highlights to check out?

 

It’s a great start. The other “standard” starting options would probably be All Hail West Texas for the lo-fi acoustic stuff or Transcendental Youth for the full band stuff.

 

As far as I'm concerned, the Big Four should be listened to in reverse order: The Sunset Tree, We Shall All Be Healed, Tallahassee, then All Hail West Texas.

 

there's a flowchart out there somewhere right?

edit: I've found the song one but that's not gonna make anyone feel like the discog is less insurmountable

 

I had liked The Sunset Tree for years but All Eternals Deck really kicked off an obsession for me.

I personally would do All Hail West Texas, go all the way forward through Goths, and then go backwards to the super old 4-track stuff

 

I still have not listened to this record though

 

Transcendental Youth was my intro and I think the best of the polished full-band era. Then from there I’d go Sunset Tree, then All Hail West Texas. And then in ten years you’ll be like “You know what? The Coroner’s Gambit is actually is huge jump up in
JD’s songwriting and might actually be better than AHWT but don’t sleep on Get Lonely either” get out now while you can

 

Beat the Champ is ten years old today. Still one of my favorites.

 

Wild that BTC turns 10 today and in a couple weeks The Sunset Tree turns TWENTY.

 

I feel ancient