This just got personal. The Moutain Goats. So much to be said, and so much time to say it in. I first heard TMG in the beginning of my senior year of high school. It was perfect timing. I was immediately drawn in by the lyrical complexity and beauty of frontman John Darnielle's writing. He has the ability to weave novel-like stories seamlessly into song and paint such vivid pictures with the fewest words. Usually when I tell people that my favorite band is the Mountain Goats (closely tied with The Smiths/Morrissey), I'm met with blank stares. Then I try to play them a few of my favorite tracks or a few of their most popular songs ("No Children", "This Year", etc) and people usually tell me that I like sad music or that I must be a sad person. Maybe that's true (it's definitely true), but in this case I think there is something to be said for the artistry of song writing. Telling a story, whether it's literal, figurative or just a series of emotional stimuli, is never an easy task and becomes even more complex when set to music. John Darnielle is a sniper-like raconteur with his sights set firmly on the soft spot of my heart. No matter what type of emotion is your default setting, sadness, anger, joy, lust, fear, elation, there is a Mountain Goats song for you.
This playlist is a selection of some of my favorite Mountain Goats songs. They are not in order of preference or chronology but arranged in a way to create a panoramic view of an artists career, which spans the past 20 years. Ranging from the earliest recordings done by John on his boombox, to the blaring horn arrangements of their newest album Transcendental Youth. Instead of artists names, which would get redundant, I'll just put what album each track is from. Please, enjoy.
1. Going to Georgia - Zopilote Machine
2. Cry for Judas - Transcendental Youth
3. Palmcorder Yajna - We Shall All Be Healed
4. Hast Thou Considered the Tetrapod - The Sunset Tree
5. If You See Light - Get Lonely
6. Alpha Omega - Protein Source of the Future...Now!
7. Game Shows Touch Out Lives - Tallahassee
8. Damn These Vampires - All Eternals Deck
9. Dinu Lipatti's Bones - The Sunset Tree
10. Isaiah 45:23 - The Life Of The World To Come
11. Steal Smoked Fish - "Steal Smoked Fish" (Single)
12. Love Cuts the Strings - Protein Source of the Future...Now!
13. Transcendental Youth - Transcendental Youth
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