#41 The Sunset Tree/ So You Want To Get Into...The Mountain Goats Part 3

Best Song: Dilauded vs Dance Music

Track List:

1.) You or Your Memory
2.) Broom People
3.) This Year
4.) Dilaudid
5.) Dance Music
6.) Dinu Lipatti’s Bones
7.) Up The Wolves
8.) Lion’s Teeth
9.) Hast Thou Considered the Tetrapod
10.) Magpie
11.) Song for Dennis Brown
12.) Love Love Love
13.) Pale Green Things

Yes this post is serving two masters. Not only is this the next step of my journey through The Mountain Goats; it is also one of my favorite albums. The timing worked out extremely well… almost as if I had planned it! (wink, wink)

When I first heard this album my mind rebelled against liking it, and looking back I can’t reconstruct my reasoning. Was it the personal tone of the record? The theme of abuse? Or more realistically was it the fact that I didn’t think about the lyrics at all? If I had to guess it would probably be the last point. When you get right down to it without the lyrics this album is just good, with them it is brilliant.

Because the best way to describe The Sunset Tree is as the best book that I have never read. Every story told is beautifully blunt and cathartic. From the drunken youthful angst of “This Year” to the savage revenge dreamed in “Lion’s Teeth” to the distant sorrow expressed in “Pale Green Things”. Every word is in the right place.

Not that this album doesn’t work well musically either. It contains John Darnielle’s greatest work as a composer: “Dilauded”. This is the song that made me think that maybe The Mountain Goats were worth my while. The desperation expressed in the lyrics and vocal delivery are only matched by the driving strings. This song can only be matched by the one it flow into. “Dance Music” is all about escapism. The juxtaposition of the terrible scene depicted with the upbeat piano driven music of the song is captivating. But still the feeling that one can hide in their favorite music is one that even the happiest most well adjusted person can relate to, it is the emotional in for the album.

Now unfortunately we get the only stinker on the album after those two master pieces. “Dinu Lipatti’s Bones” isn’t a bad song, in fact I would love it…except for the fact that the vocals repel me like it’s a can of Raid. I won’t get into it here because my problem with this song is much better represented on Get Lonely which is the next album I will talk about.

The Sunset Tree is the greatest thing to ever come out of John Darnielle’s brain. It is his magnum opus and I doubt he will ever top it. He certainly didn’t with the next album he came out with.

Till next time.

So You Want to get into…The Mountain Goats Part 2

Part 1


Life of the World to Come

Best Song: Hebrew 11:40

1.) 1 Samuel 15:23
2.) Psalms 40:2
3.) Genesis 3:23
4.) Philippians 3:20-21
5.) Hebrews 11:40
6.) Genesis 30:3
7.) Romans 10:9
8.) 1 John 4:16
9.) Matthew 25:21
10.) Deuteronomy 2:10
11.) Isaiah 45:23
12.) Ezekiel 7 and the Permanent Efficacy of Grace

So after my opinion of the Mountain Goats was sofftened by Heretic Pride, I had to get his newest release when it came out. And wouldn’t you know I really liked it. It was way more consistent then Heretic Pride, keeping me interested throughout its entire span. This was actually one of the first albums I talked about on this site, almost a year ago in my Top Albums of 2009 posts. Listening to it again my opinion has not changed much. “Hebrews 11:40” is still one of the best songs that John Darinelle has ever written. It showcases everything he is good at. Amazing arrangement of strings, interesting percussion, and a vocal delivery that sounds detached and distant, which ups the effectiveness of the song by a great deal.

“1 Samuel 15:23” still bores the hell out of me. If it wasn’t for the fact that some earlier albums have strong openers, I would guess that I would just hate all Mountain Goats openers based on Heretic Pride and The Life of the World to Come. The only other bad song on the album is “Deuteronomy”; in fact this is the only place where my opinion has changed. I used to let “Dueteronomy” go based solely on the emotion behind it, but I don’t even let it pass on that any more. When it comes down to it the song just drags on and on never drawing me in and never playing with my emotions.

Other then that the entire album is made up of good songs, few really stand out but I really have a special place for this album in my journey through the world of John Darnielle. It is because of The Life of the World to Come I chose to delve back into the Mountain Goats discography. My next stop would be a great one, to the best album in The Mountain Goats discography. I am of course talking about….

…To Be Continued

#42 Who's Next

Best Song: Baba O'Riley

1.) Baba O'Riley
2.) Bargain
3.) Love Ain't For Keeping
4.) My Wife
5.) The Song Is Over
6.) Getting In Tune
7.) Going Mobile
8.) Behind Blue Eyes
9.) Won't Get Fooled Again


Who's Next is a masterpiece with one flaw. All the songs are over shadowed by the opener. Not only is “Baba O'riley” the best song on the album, it is one of the best songs ever written. The synth loop was ground breaking and avoids the usual dated feel that comes with most synths. The song manages to send chills down my spine every time I listen to it. The synth comes in and I am anticipating the drums and bass. Then I am waiting for the vocals to burst in with Daltrey's signature roar. The guitar is really just the icing on the cake at this point. One of the things that makes the song is how minimal the song is, while still being an arena shaking tune. Every arena band after The Who wishes they could have a song like this in their catalog and not a single one comes close.

But like I said after "Baba O'Riley" nothing seems quite as good till the last three songs pick it up again. That doesn't make the rest of the songs bad, just underwhelming. Both "Bargain" and "Love Ain't for Keeping" are two great songs that showcase the musicianship of the band just fine. "My Wife" is our John Entwistle song on the album and is one of his best. It is a little dark like all his songs, but it showcases his arrangement skills more then anything else. The interplay between the bass and drums is certainly the main focus of the song, as it often is with The Who. The guitar is there to keep everything together, bass, drum, piano, and horns all can use it as their time keeper.

"The Song Is Over" is a little pretentious and the synth part seems a little dated so if you where going to pass on one song it would be this one."Getting in Tune" on the other hand is one of those songs about music full of comparisons between music and life. Not only is he getting in tune with the song but with life. Just like all of the songs the rhythm section makes the song reach another level. John Entwislte is my favorite bassist, and Keith moon is my favorite drummers. They both knew how to keep their parts interesting without going off track with pointless fills and solos.

Of course now I can really get pumped again, "Going Mobile" is almost as good as "Baba O'riley". I love the acoustic guitar part that feels like it is being played by Pete Townshend sitting in the passenger seat of a car with his feet out the window. The entire songs succeeds in filling the mind with images of traveling, making it one of my favorite songs to listen to in my car. "I'm an air-conditioned gypsy." is probably my favorite line on the entire album. "Behind Blue Eyes" is all about the slow build. I have heard people complain about the arena rock bridge almost ruining the song. This is the exact opposite of the truth. "Behind Blue Eyes" needs the full arch to make it work. It needs to build dissipate and resolve so it can stand alone and appear to be attached to the final song. A lot of penultimate songs suffer the fate of being considered an intro to the closer and "Behind Blue Eyes" avoids that.

And what a closer we have! "Won't Get Fooled Again" is over 8min long but never once feels like it is over staying it's welcome. Well maybe a little during the guitar solo but it earns that little indulgence with the main body of the song. Rebellious to the core but in a call to arms to be savvy, not to just follow because they are told to. Who's Next fell in a string of classic albums by The Who that started with The Who Sell Out and ended with Quaraphenia. Who's Next is merely the third best of these four classics, what are the next two? We will just have to wait and see won't we...

So You Want to get into…The Mountain Goats Part 1

So I was reading over my Frank Zappa post and I think I realize the problem, I tried to put too much into one post. So from now on this feature will be a multipart chronicle of my own personal journey through an artist catalog. So with no further ado let’s begin

Heretic Pride

Best Song: San Bernardino

1.) Sax Rohmer #1
2.) San Bernardino
3.) Heretic Pride
4.) Autoclave
5.) New Zion
6.) So Desperate
7.) In the Craters on the Moon
8.) Lovecraft in Brooklyn
9.) Tianchi Lake
10.) How to Embrace a Swamp Creature
11.) Marduk T-Shirt Men’s Room Incident
12.) Sept 15th 1983
13.) Michael Myers Resplendent

When I was first introduced to The Mountains Goats I hated them. I was not a fan of lo-fi and wasn’t interested enough in the lyrics to let them lift the song. While John Darnielle does a good job at tugging at your emotions and it a great writer, he will never be my personal savior or my favorite lyricist. It was a couple of years after that initial taste, while getting some music from my sister, that I first heard “Dilauded” off Sunset Tree. I asked her “If he can write songs like this why doesn’t he do it more often?” I was immediately directed to get Heretic Pride.

Heretic Pride is without a doubt the place to start if you don’t like lo-fi (If you love lo-fi more then anything you may want to avoid this one at first). The use of strings is near perfect through-out but it suffers from a songwriting perspective as compared to his earlier stuff. I tend to lose focus about halfway through the album and really have trouble remembering how the later songs go. I could also do without the opener. “Sax Rohmer #1”. Its not that it is bad, it is just an inferior version of “Autoclave”: Same acoustic pattern, same vocal delivery, but the lyrical hook for “Autoclave” makes “Sax Rohmer #1” completely superfluous.

The highlights are what make this album worth it thought. Both the title track and “San Bernardino” are among my favorites Darnielle has ever written. “Heretic Pride” uses the upbeat music and vocal delivery as the perfect foil to the scene in the lyrics of the heretic being burned. “San Bernardino” is…just beautiful. The drawn-out and pizzicato strings, the rolling guitar, and the best lyrics on the record. It is a masterpiece. “New Zion” is the poppiest thing on the album, a great song to sway to, and full of stray guitar lines. “So Desperate” is a very simple song; nothing but guitar, voice, and some pizzicato strings. It is the perfect song to close the album on…

But wait a minute, THERE ARE SEVEN MORE SONGS!!! Well not for me there isn’t. I just lose all will to keep listening after “So Desperate”. Which really isn’t fair since at least one of these songs is the best on the album. “Lovecraft in Brooklyn” is just as good a song as my other favorites, and is one of the rare opportunities to really see Darnielle ROCK. But because I am done with the album by this point I don’t think of it as being off Heretic Pride. To me it like a single and not part of the whole.

So despite this album only keeping me interested half of the time I give it a good and hearty recommendation, if only because once you assimilate Heretic Pride you are ready to start reaching into the brilliant encyclopedia of songs by John Darnielle. But before we delve back lets take another step forward for the smooth transition between this and the older work.

Next time on So You Want to get into the Mountain Goats: Life of the World to Come

#43 Aerial Ballet

Best Song: One

1.) Daddy’s Song
2.) Good Old Desk
3.) Don’t Leave Me
4.) Mr. Richland’s Favorite Song
5.) Little Cowboy
6.) Together
7.) Everybody’s Talkin’
8.) I Said Good Bye to Me
9.) Little Cowboy (reprise)
10.) Mr. Tinker
11.) One
12.) The Weeping Willow
13.) Bath


Ah Harry Nilsson, one of my absolute favorites. Beyond creating amazing music, he was simply a fascinating person. He would follow up his biggest commercial hit with an album full of bluntness and profanity, only to follow that album with an album of Hollywood standards. A real anomaly in the music world it is nice to still feel his echo in some indie bands today.

Ariel Ballet starts with the very bouncy “Daddy’s Song” which immediately sets the tone for the first half of the album, with amazing vocal overlays that showcase Nilsson’s confidence in his voice. This is followed by the greatest ode to a piece of furniture ever “Good Old Desk”. Harry Nilsson once joked that the song was actually about the initials of the song, G.O.D; but had to constantly tell people that it was a joke. Another treat is “Mr. Richland’s Favorite Song” a story of a pop star that goes from famous to washed up but still loved. The vocal wah-wahs at the end are my favorite on the whole record. If you are wondering about the weird title on this one, well it has a simple explanation. Mr. Richland was a music publisher and this was his favorite song on the album.

“Little Cowboy” is actually a lullaby that Nilsson’s mother used to sing to him which it just sweet. “Together” is an anthemic song that serves as the side closer if you are listening to this on vinyl. Even with out that physical break, it still represents the end on the good times of the first half with its final line.

The second half start extremely strong one track that everyone probably knows already, a cover of Fred Neil’s “Everybody’s Talkin’”. There is no doubt that this is the definitive version of the song, the rollicking upbeat guitar is the perfect foil for the subtle darkness of the lyrics. “Mr. Tinker” is another story of a has-been but unlike the singer in “Mr. Richland’s Favorite Song” the tailor is no longer needed.

After the depression of “Mr. Tinker” we get treated to the greatest song about loneliness ever written. “One” is among the best songs Harry Nilsson ever wrote. The simplicity of the piano is what makes it. What is the perfect amount of notes to represent feeling lonely? Why one of course. It also has the most profound line on the record, “Two is just as bad as one it’s the loneliest number since the number one”; suggesting that it takes more then just being with someone to be happy. Unfortunatly we do get a small let down in the final track. “Bath” isn’t bad; it just feels like a fake Hollywoodish ending after all the depression of the second half. If you don’t mind tinkering with the artistic vision of an album I would suggest changing it on you MP3 player so “Bath” starts the album instead of ends it. This won’t be the last we here from Harry Nilsson, oh no. This is the first of four on the list.

Brandon Flowers: Flamingo

Best Song: Swallow It

1. Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas
2. Only the Young
3. Hard Enough
4. Jilted Lovers and Broken Hearts
5. Playing With Fire
6. Was It Something I Said?
7. Magdalena
8. Crossfire
9. On the Floor
10. Swallow It

Deluxe Edition
11. The Clock Was Tickin'
12. Jacksonville
13. I Came Here to Get Over You
14. Right Behind You

Looking at his recent output, it is increasingly impossible to pin Brandon Flowers as the guy who wrote that good but not great song “Somebody Told Me” that launched The Killers into the public eye. He is one of the few songwriters today who seems to understand what is working the best for him at any given moment. You can map a clear evolution from Hot Fuss to Sam’s Town through songs like the title track on the latter. Then through the song “Read My Mind” you can see the beginnings of Day & Age. And once you get there you get Flamingo.

Flamingo makes one thing clear; picking up a Brandon Flowers solo record is going to be just like picking up a Tom Petty solo album. The only real difference is the lack of band members to balance out personal tastes. So while Tom Petty without the Heartbreakers goes full Dylan, Brandon Flowers without The Killers goes full New Order.

Now this may not be a popular opinion but I think this would be a great direction to take The Killers in, and for one reason. Day & Age was without a doubt The Killers best on a song by song basis, but as an album it has trouble. You just get lost amoungst the spaciness of it all. Flamingo, on the other hand, has the cohesion of Sam’s Town with a sound closer to Day & Age.

The opening track “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” is a great start and firmly sets the tone, this is an American album. And this doesn’t sit well with some people, usually the same people who hated Sam’s Town. The sound is so very from British bands (except the couple of countryish elements) so how dare he, a Las Vegas born man, incorporate his own experience into the music. Yeah I don’t find this opinion at all valid. There is no longer a split between US and UK sounds. There hasn’t been for a long time.

After “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” we have another highlight. Hell I could just go through and name every song since everyone is a highlight. Instead I am only going to mention a few. “Only the Young” is the song I would probably use to introduce people to the album. It is a very poopy slow burning song. The absolute best song is the closer “Swallow It”. A meditative song about taking your time and not trying to do to much at once. If there is one songs the rest of The Killers wished they had tied to the name my guess is it would be this one.

Now I know Deluxe Editions of albums can be tricky business, some are worthless and some are priceless. Flamingo falls neatly into the latter. Seriously I can’t imagine not have these songs on this album. “I Came Here To Get Over You” could practically BE a New Order song and “Jacksonville” sounds like an elctronicfied Joy Division track. The best of them is “The Clock was Tickin’”. It is a great country song in fact if more country songs sounded like this then country wouldn’t get such a bad reputation from mainstream listeners.

So Final Verdict on the ablum is a big and hearty Thumbs Up!

So You Want to get Into...Frank Zappa

In this new feature I will advice new listeners how to beginning listening to difficult artist to get into. And I am not starting small. Frank Zappa has one of the most difficult discographies in all of rock music. Scratch that all of music in general.

Unlike British invasion bands whose difficulty usually derives from American basteradization of albums, Zappa’s difficulty is from the pure size of his discography. I doubt there is a single person out there who has heard all of Zappa’s studio and live albums, including the man himself due to a surplus of posthumous releases.

Once we get past the size we come to the next problem: the content. Zappa will follow a completely instrumental experimental album with an album of doo-wop. It can be really frustrating for fans of either as they dig deeper. I know a few people whose Zappa journey went like this “Oh Zappa he is the jazz-fusion guy I like his stuff…what is this doo-wop shit?”

Now one more thing before we get to my actual suggestions for albums (told you I didn’t start small). If you are easily offended by foul language, dirty humor, political incorrectness and general smuttiness then turn back now. Beyond maybe the song “Joe’s Garage” Zappa is not the man for you and I just saved you from getting offended by a dead man.

So now those I haven’t scared away lets begin…

…with a three part rock opera. The album “Joe’s Garage” may seem intimidating at first but two things make it accessible. First is the music is relatively simple for Zappa. Second the plot is extremely easy to follow for a rock opera. The title track even gets some radio play which is fitting since it is the best song from the album. “Catholic Girls” and “Fembot In A Wet T-Shirt” are two other standouts with the rest of the album being of equal quality.

From “Joe’s Garage” the next album on your list should be either “We’re Only In It For The Money” or “You Are What You Is”. Both are Zappa’s masterpieces. Both have great social commentary with some amazing music. “We’re Only In It For The Money” is Frank Zappa’s lampooning 60’s culture especially the hippie counter-culture. Best song there are “What’s the Ugliest Part of Your Body?” and “Take Your Clothes Off When You Dane”. “You Are What You Is” is basically one big standout being my personal favorite Zappa album. Pay special attention to the title track and “The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing”.

From here you are on your own. When ever you pick up a new Zappa album you are playing the lottery. As a helpful hint I like “Sheik Yerbouti” and “Freak Out!” but would avoid “Lumpy Gravy”