Let’s talk music. At the end of October there is a new record being released by the Mountain Goats called GETTING INTO KNIVES. Some may, or may not know/care, that I think that they are the bee’s knees. A friend said I should listen to them; this would have been back in 2010 or 2011 and I momentarily thought my pal was being strange. We were both into field recordings at the time so there was certainly a little part of me that thought I would be clicking play on a nigh operatic recording of literal mountain goats bellows echoing calls off mountain walls.
The first song I listened to was called Damn These Vampires from the MERGE RECORDS Spring Sampler 2011. I remember, at the time, being in the basement of a mortgage company. There is something eerily ironic when I consider that you can trace when my musical interests splintered to being relegated to the basement of a mortgage company. This while the country was barely getting by because of lecherous financiers sucking the lifeblood out of the country. Not for hunger, mind you, but for excess. For things they don’t need or want, but just because they can. So, it is a little fitting that I listened to Damn These Vampires. It might be fair to say this was one of the triggers that sent me back to college to earn a degree to, literally, climb out of the basement into a new career, but maybe not, that is a heavy weight to hoist onto a song.
So, in October they have a new record and please trust that I squirted the pheromones of the marketing possibilities of this microblog for a review copy, but I have no expectations.
As an irrelevant policy I try to stay as ignorant of any artistic endeavor until I can consume it in its entirety. Lo, I am a weak-willed lover. So far, the band has released two singles, As Many Candles as Possible and Get Famous. The later may share some commonality with Damn These Vampires, but I am often opinionated and frequently wrong.
The musical progression of the band in the last ten years is audibly evident. The addition of Matty “Bones” Douglas has added a whole universe of depth to, both, their studio records as well as their live shows. His addition vies for your focus with these two new songs. My opinion of the two songs is rather biased, if you haven’t noticed, I don’t write about anything that I don’t care for. Maybe this means I am not a very good critic, but that is alright with me, someone else can shit on whatever they’d like, I’d rather prepare a good meal. The closest comparison that I can make two the sounds of these two songs would be Scary Monsters… era Bowie. The absence of saxophone fills in everyday life is not something I was ever expecting to notice. The drumming of Jon Wurster continues to be inspiring for this inspiring drummer. Peter Hughes keeps everyone in order, but the song writing of John Darnielle continues to be the driving force on the tracks released. Together they are like a Voltron of indie, intellectual, pop.
Scary Monsters…, mind you, is a soundtrack to a pinnacle of my life. The Friday I was getting married I had a NEED to listen to the record. As you might imagine, the CD, one of those old RYKO editions with the greenish case, was packed and waiting to move in with my bride to be. This need radiated like a beacon and led me to a Best Buy where I bought a second copy. This, mind you, was in the days before you could call upon the powers most holy and immediately listen to any song at will. This s just an illustration of the inherent value a comparison with Scary Monsters… is in my estimation.
There aren’t too many albums that I pre-order these days, but I snatched this one up immediately. Now I must wait, patiently. This has never been a problem for me, he says in debt from not wanting to wait for things.
In other news I am working on an essay on Solid Metal Nightmares – The Films of Shinya Tsukamoto and I needed a break because I am also reading NIGHTMARE MOVIES by Kim Newman and it is making me feel like I am a hack who needs to step things up on this home away from everything.