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Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Jim Connelly's
Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Monday, January 15, 2007
Jesse Steichen's Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Friday, January 12, 2007
Bill Bentley's Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Tom Ridge's Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Thursday, January 4, 2007
Lee Templeton's Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Tuesday, January 2, 2007
Anthony Carew's 13 Fave Albums Of 2006
Monday, March 27, 2006
SXSW 2006: Finding Some Hope In Austin
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Letter From New Orleans
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Jennifer Przybylski's Fave Albums of 2005
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Music For Dwindling Days: Max Schaefer's Fave Recordings Of 2005
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Sean Fennessey's 'Best-Of' 2005
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Lori Miller Barrett's Fave Albums Of 2005
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Lee Templeton's Favorite Recordings of 2005
Thursday, January 5, 2006
Michael Lach - Old Soul Songs For A New World Order
Wednesday, January 4, 2006
Found In Translation — Emme Stone's Year In Music 2005
Tuesday, January 3, 2006
Dave Allen's 'Best-Of' 2005
Monday, January 2, 2006
Steve Gozdecki's Favorite Albums Of 2005
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Johnny Walker Black's Top 10 Of 2005
Monday, December 19, 2005
Neal Block's Favorite Recordings Of 2005
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Jenny Tatone's Year In Review
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Dave Renard's Fave Recordings Of 2005
Monday, December 12, 2005
Jennifer Kelly's Fave Recordings Of 2005
Thursday, December 8, 2005
Tom Ridge's Favorite Recordings Of 2005
Tuesday, December 6, 2005
Ben Gook's Beloved Albums Of 2005
Monday, December 5, 2005
Anthony Carew's Fave Albums Of 2005
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Prince, Spoon And The Magic Of The Dead Stop
Monday, September 12, 2005
The Truth About America
Monday, September 5, 2005
Tryin' To Wash Us Away
Monday, August 1, 2005
A Psyche-Folk Heat Wave In Western Massachusetts
Monday, July 18, 2005
Soggy But Happy At Glastonbury 2005
Monday, April 4, 2005
The SXSW Experience, Part 3: All Together Now
Friday, April 1, 2005
The SXSW Experience, Part 2: Dr. Dog's Happy Chords
Thursday, March 31, 2005
The SXSW Experience, Part 1: Waiting, Waiting And More Waiting
Friday, March 25, 2005
Final Day At SXSW's Charnel House
Monday, March 21, 2005
Day Three At SXSW
Saturday, March 19, 2005
Day Two In SXSW's Hall Of Mirrors
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Report #1: SXSW 2005 And Its Hall Of Mirrors
Monday, February 14, 2005
Matt Landry's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Wednesday, February 2, 2005
David Howie's 'Moments' From The Year 2004
Thursday, January 27, 2005
Lori Miller Barrett's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Thursday, January 20, 2005
Noah Bonaparte's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
Kevin John's Fave Albums Of 2004
Friday, January 14, 2005
Music For Those Nights: Max Schaefer's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Thursday, January 13, 2005
Dave Renard's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Neal Block's Top Ten Of 2004
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
Jenny Tatone's Fave Albums Of 2004
Monday, January 10, 2005
Wayne Robins' Top Ten Of 2004
Friday, January 7, 2005
Brian Orloff's Fave Albums Of 2004
Thursday, January 6, 2005
Johnny Walker (Black)'s Top 10 Of 2004
Wednesday, January 5, 2005
Jennifer Przybylski's Fave Albums (And Book) Of 2004
Tuesday, January 4, 2005
Mark Mordue's Fave Albums Of 2004
Monday, January 3, 2005
Lee Templeton's Fave Recordings Of 2004
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Friday, February 22, 2002
The Best Punk Folk Guy In Ames, Iowa
Neumu's Michael Goldberg writes: John Darnielle recorded most
of his latest album, All Hail West Texas, on a small Panasonic
boombox with built-in microphone that he bought at a Circuit City in
Montclair, Calif., in "1989 or '90" for less than $50. And if that
scares you, let me tell you you've got nothing to be scared about. It
sounds just fine. In fact, it sounds fantastic. John's album that is.
You could say — and you would not be wrong — that I'm not
the most unbiased fellow around when it comes to John Darnielle (who releases albums under the name "The Mountain Goats"). I
have written, not so long ago (last June, to be exact), that he is
"one of the best rock critics in the world." And that wasn't the end
of it. I actually went on to say that John was even better than that.
Anyway, now I must tell you that having spent some time today with
All Hail West Texas (and, fairly recently, with The Extra
Glenns' very fine album Martial Arts Weekend, John's
collaboration with Frank Bruno), that John also makes damn good
albums. Great albums. All Hail West Texas is full of moving,
funny, emotional, serious, real music. Your heart just might break,
listening to some of these songs.
You could say that perhaps I have a vested interest in John, since he
occasionally writes album reviews and other things for Neumu. So I
want to get that out of the way right now. If I didn't really dig
John's album, I just wouldn't write about it. I find it almost
impossible these days to write about anything that doesn't move me in
some way.
John first came to my attention when a mutual friend suggested that
John just might be interested in writing some album reviews for
Neumu. Turned out he was interested. And when I read a few of his
published pieces, I was knocked out. I've read rock criticism for a
long, long time, and I was blown away by John's writing, which was
personal, amusing, took unexpected turns, and always hit the
bulls-eye of whatever he was writing about.
Thus it's not so surprising that if I dug John's writing, I would
also be taken by his songwriting. Turns out he's got one of those
distinctive, idiosyncratic voices that sound like no one else. He's a
"singer" in the same way that Bob Dylan or Paul Westerberg or Loudon
Wainwright III is — the impression you get is that this is a
real guy, singing the songs. No bullshit.
If John were U2, and the record company guys were sitting around
trying to figure out the first single, they'd for sure come up with
"The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton" — one of the best
song titles in ages, of course, but also a really catchy song. I
mean, Blink 182 could probably power-punk it into a hit. Well, except
for that chorus, which likely wouldn't go over big on the Clear
Channel stations. But we'll come back to that later.
You may feel like crying listening to "Color in Your Cheeks." I think
it's about people coming to America, but I don't know. It's really
more about how John sings the words. Part of one verse goes like
this: "They came in by the dozens, walking and crawling/ Some were
bright-eyed, some were dead on their feet... / When they finally made
it here/ It was the least that we could do/ To make our welcome
clear." And then he moves into the chorus, singing it in such a
gracious way: "Come on in/ We haven't slept for weeks/ Drink some of
this/ This will put color in your cheeks." Then he just plays the
chord progression a few times.
You could listen to "Color in Your Cheeks" for days and not have it
all figured out. You could lay your own interpretations on it. You
could just dig the way John sings his words. Or just dig the words,
the way they sound, the way they rhyme. Or the music, the imperfect
way John plays the chords, and the mood those chords cast on you.
"Come on in/ We haven't slept for weeks/ Drink some of this/ This
will put color in your cheeks." Wow!
So there you have it. Lo-fi. Unique voice that is about as far from
slick as you can get. Rough guitar playing. Amazing lyrics. Amazing
melodies. And so intense. Probably one of the ten best albums that
will be released this year. Maybe top five.
But back to "The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton," which is in
part about Cyrus, who dreams of stardom for his band, and instead
gets sent to "the school where they told him he'd never be famous."
The final verse goes like this: "When you punish a person for
dreaming his dream/ Don't expect him to thank or forgive you/ The
best ever death metal band out of Denton will, in time, both outpace
and outlive you." And about that chorus. It goes like this: "Hail
Satan! Hail Satan, tonight. Hail Satan. Hail Hail."
The InsiderOne Daily
Report appears on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 9 AM PST, except when it doesn't.
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