New Mountain Goats - "Sax Rohmer #1"
It's fun when John Darnielle spreads genre wings, whether talking metal in Decibel, guesting on an Aesop Rock jam, or upping the instrumentation during his 4AD tenure, but we've always been most fond of the Mountain Goats when dude wails ceaselessly on that trusty guitar, letting loose drill sargeant yowls that somehow add up to smart, funny, touching, emphatic, excellently detailed stories. Such a great lyricist. In that sense -- and maybe we're throwbacks -- but gotta say his Shrimper releases and the Zopilote Machine and Sweden-era stuff ruled most heavily (though, yes, The Sunset Tree also ruled heavily). All that said, we're totally stoked with the older-school sound of "Sax Rohmer #1." We understand it's referencing the English "Fu Manchu" novelist ("spies from Imperial China," the backdrop of clues), but more important is the pounding theme of loving, coming home ("if it's the last thing that I do"), etc. He's got blood in his mouth, for fuck's sake.
The Mountain Goats - "Sax Rohmer #1" (MP3)
Heretic Pride is out 2/19 on 4AD. It'll include guests like Annie Clark, Erik Friedlander, ever-present Franklin Bruno and Peter Hughes, and Superchunk's Jon Wurster, but all we really need is Mr. D kicking out his singular oratories. Some tour dates:
02/19 - Anchorage, Alaska @ Wendy Williamson Auditorium (University of Alaska)
02/22 - Vancouver, British Columbia @ Richards On Richards
02/23 - Seattle, WA @ Neumo's
02/25 - Portland, OR @ Doug Fir
02/26 - Portland, OR @ Doug Fir
02/27 - Eugene, OR @ WOW Hall
02/29 - San Francisco, CA @ Bimbo's
03/01 - San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
03/02 - San Francisco, CA @ Bottom Of The Hill (matinee)
03/04 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Troubadour
03/05 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Troubadour
Here's not the album cover.
Posted at 10:17 AM in MP3, Tour Dates
Tags: The Mountain Goats
How about a premature Premature Evaluation?
This record is painfully mediocre, even after Get Lonely. Looks like Sunset Tree FTW.
Score = -1
i find their whole catalogue really grows on you.
he really looks like that mountain goat.
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Foo Manchu was overrated. Rohmer's best book is the Quest of the Sacred Slipper: deformed midget assassins fueled by marijuana chase after the prophet Mohammed's slipper, decapitating infidels who have touched the slipper with a magic scimitar. Also, lots of turn of the century casual imperialistic racism, referring to asians as the yellow peril who possess feline cunning. Good times.
Score = 0
painfully mediocre? i beg to differ! i mean, i may not be the most impartial judge [after all, there is a tag on my blog called "mountain goats superfandom"], but i think heretic pride is a great segue from the epic bum-out that was get lonely [and by "bum-out," i mean "depressing," not "disappointing"]. it's nice to hear darnielle stomping and hollering again. it's also nice to hear him try his hand at reggae.
in other words: heretic pride > you.
Score = 1
painfully mediocre? i beg to differ! i mean, i may not be the most impartial judge [after all, there is a tag on my blog called "mountain goats superfandom"], but i think heretic pride is a great segue from the epic bum-out that was get lonely [and by "bum-out," i mean "depressing," not "disappointing"]. it's nice to hear darnielle stomping and hollering again. it's also nice to hear him try his hand at reggae, as he does in "sept. 15, 1983."
in other words: heretic pride > you.
Score = 1
Yeah, Doug, I like it when someone makes a less interesting version of their last four records, too.
Segue into what? Complete irrelevance?
Score = -1
i can't particularly convince you [or anyone] to listen deeper to something they don't really want to give a chance. if you don't like it, you don't like it. that's fine. i personally think that there are an embarassment of riches found on heretic pride. i could list them all, but i've already outed myself as an obsessive fanboy, anyway. and there are lyrical jewels that i'm still trying to uncover through further listening, like the regular occurrence of blood. because, as we all should know, lyrics have always been the most important component of a mountain goats song, album, etc.
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I agree with Douglas Martin, in that I disagree with the Person Who Wrote This Entry. I've been a fan of The Mountain Goats since Nine Black Poppies, and while I feel that Darnielle's releases haven't been consistent (I second Get Lonely's less-repeatability), the albums do have a magical element to them. I really like the return to positivity saddled with the "stomping and hollering" of Heretic Pride a lot. I think it will bring The Mountain Goats back to the forefront of whatever genre people consider them to be in these days.
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John is turning into an old man. Not to be mean... I love the guy. He's just becoming more comfortable in his own skin, which I wish wasn't the case. I always liked him angry and drunk. I will say this though, collaboration almost never suits him. You and I can think of many singer-songwriters that are exceptional both by themselves and with full gaggle of instruments behind them.. but not John. If you've listen to and compared The Sunset Tree album to the home recordings you'll understand why John will never get that kind of emotion out of a studio and he never as good as he is when he simply by himself. Also I really dislike the production on these 4AD albums, they sound so armature/semi-retired-professional-- like a high school kid using photoshop for the first time and loving all those darn filters (except they have protools and not photoshop).
For my money, the last great song by the mountain goats was "attention all pickpockets" featuring kimya dawson from the 2004 Letter From Belgium EP. I've seen the mountain goats live about a dozen times-- but it's been about 2 years since my last show (which became increasing mediocre and non-playful) -- I really miss those old shows.
I hope john doesn't become as irrelevant as The Rolling Stones. But that's what happens to old men.
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John does a good live show.
and I don't know about HIM becoming irrelevant, but YOU are certianly older and maybe change is necessary to keeping relevancy, things shouldn't move you in the exact same way as they did nine years ago, that would be, in fact, irrelevant.
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Progress is great. Sometimes it works-- but for the vast majority of these 4AD LP's it has not worked for me and a lot of other fans. I wish he would just push through and get past what he's doing right now instead of trying to refine it. Maybe work with other people besides Franklin Bruno, Peter Hughes and Erik Friedlander.. (I am excited about Annie Clark, I always enjoy when he has female backup) How about something with a little more twang? Please... anything but these awkward records that do not represent growth-- but complacency with the ones he works with.
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I for one find it nice that JD is fleshing out his songs. If you think it's not intimate enough, then stop bitching and see another live show. Get Lonely may have been a drag at times but Tallahassee, Sunset Tree, and WSABH were all tight as shit. JD said himself that he doesn't think anyone listens to the Goats for the music, but for the lyrics. I think it's great that he's trying to reach a broader audience now. Fuck I mean I love the Mountain Goats damnit. I just can't stand to hear anyone talking smack.
And yeah the production since the 4AD move (esp Tallahassee) has been pretty shoddy but if really gave a shit about production then you wouldn't like ANY prior releases, so don't bitch about it. Boo fuckin hoo man. Next time you'll probably shit a brick about how the production on Sweden was not up to your standards. Eat shit, take a chill pill and love Heretic Pride.
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Bluntacious:
The live shows have become so shoddy these days with play lists full of songs I don't really care for. Almost gone are the days of real emotion at these show... instead you get silly hair cuts and hipster glasses worn by a guy who doesn't quite know what he is or wants to become. Archive.org has a great selection of his shows available for free I would recommend everyone check them out (especially 2001-2004)
As for--===Production values.. I don't care. All I want is honesty. A lot of the recent songs feel absent of real emotional maturity. Some of these songs have shined through ('Dilaudid' for sure) but for the most part they don't feel like they come from an actual person with a vision but rather a generic hodgepodge of indieness and high school musical theater.
I didn't mean to get you all riled up, I'm sure I'd react the same way if I head someone talking smack about JD. I just have to be honest with myself.
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NEWALBUMNEWALBUMNEWALBUM! STOKED!
I think he's really going to come through with this record. Who is to say that there is less intimacy now than there was during the days of lo-fi? How do you gauge intimacy, lo-fi recordings? I love albums like All Hail West Texas and The Coroner's Gambit, but John's heart is still in it, obviously. He's doing what he does best.
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I'm not typically one to bitch and moan for the old times, but i have to agree with josh. there was a time when a mountain goats show was transformative (i remember a particularly rockin' encore sing-along to the sign at bottom of the hill a few years ago - i have honestly never felt so good listening to live music as i did that night). now it's just okay, just the same old motions with a similar set list (a reliable selection of standard mg songs drizzled with whatever new stuff he happens to be working on at the time). i mean, i enjoy seeing him perform, but i can't help thinking i really wouldn't have missed much if i'd just stayed home. and that's a damn dirty shame for someone who's got a catalog as deep as john darnielle's. Part of the problem, I think, is that the audiences have just gotten too big. Part of what used to make for such a great Mountain Goats show is that he really seemed to connect with those of us in the crowd. You got the sense that he felt genuinely happy and appreciative to be able to play his music for a crowd. And who knows, he probably still feels that way. He seems like a very nice guy. But it's hard to feel that connection with the crowds he now plays for. Perhaps it's inevitable. You play good music and you get well known and the crowds become bigger and that's just fame. But I didn't realize how important that connection was to his live show until it wasn't there any more.
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John Darnielle:
"Fuck all you hataz let a man get tha piece wet."
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It's obvious I have no perspective on the question of whether or not JD is the shit, as I obsessively listen to everything he's ever done (except Get Lonely, for personal reasons that I don't feel like sharing), and find the idea that anyone wouldn't like everything he does shocking, I tell you, shocking!
People who say "Oh, they used to be cool," about anything that they used to like but don't find relevant to their lives anymore have very little insight into the process of personal growth. You really used to dig something, and now it doesn't work for you? Big surprise - you're different from the person you used to be. It makes me laugh when people believe that their subjective opinions about any given artist's output have some bearing on whether or not that artist is acutally relevant.
I like The Mountain Goats, and think JD is one of the most amazing lyricists of all time, up there with (non-song-lyric) writers like Faulkner and O'Connor. Doest that mean he actually IS the most amazing lyricist of all time, etc., etc.? Of course not! Debate all you like, but don't get so hung up on your own opinion (pro or con) that you forget that you're not actually talking ABOUT someone, as much as you are talking about your opinion about someone. The map is not the territory.
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Scott did you just reference Infinite Jest? That was the cherry on top of a delicious ice cream sundae of a comment.
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Scott, are you referring to Jennifer O'Connor?
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Five bucks says it's Flannery, not Jennifer.
And Heretic Pride has the potential to be John's best work since Tallahassee.
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There are two possible motivations for my reply at this point...
I'm too blinded by my fanboy tendancies to see what others find more objectively...
OR
Y'all are nuts!
I don't see how anyone can listen to Sax Rohmer #1 and not get chills. Honestly, I think John's Songwriting has only improved. Sure, Get Lonely was way different and a shock to the mg fan's system, but I think enough time has passed now to really embrace it for what it is, a departure in a string of departures (whose beginnings began to show in WSABH, and continued from there). From what I've read, HP continues this line of departures. Sure, I think we've seen the end of the Alpha couple, quetzacoatl, and the orange ball of adjectives, but only in name! They're very much apparent in these more recent recordings, and if I can say so, much more effectively.
I for one,
Dig it. Hard.
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holy shit, autoclave? i'm sorry but heretic pride (while utterly more polished) is just another amazing tribute to john's almost unconquerable and lavish awesomeness. the mountain goats are real.
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