So I'm compulsive about signing up for new things and then not using them. Over the more than two decades that blogging has been a thing I've probably made more

So I'm compulsive about signing up for new things and then not using them. Over the more than two decades that blogging has been a thing I've probably made more than twenty and not used them because there's something terrifying about the blank feed that could be anything. I always

Old soldiers are one of the most fun literary tropes. Someone who was promising, and then good, and then great, and is now... this. Someone who has the skills but

Old soldiers are one of the most fun literary tropes. Someone who was promising, and then good, and then great, and is now... this. Someone who has the skills but might now lack the finer points of the conditioning. Someone with all the dirty tricks but not the elasticity to

I don't know, man. This is a lovely little song, and Waylon Jennings always felt like one of those people who was a benefit to the world in his existence.

I don't know, man. This is a lovely little song, and Waylon Jennings always felt like one of those people who was a benefit to the world in his existence. Despite living in the South I've never been a real country guy, but the more of it sounds like Waylon

So this is the mundanity of heroic fantasy album, so if course we get a Boris Vallejo name check in this story about marking time until the world gets to

So this is the mundanity of heroic fantasy album, so if course we get a Boris Vallejo name check in this story about marking time until the world gets to feel real again. This feels like a sibling song to Up The Wolves, where time has taken the fury of

I mean, all of this is fiction. Even songs about real life are fictional in order to fit with the format of being a song. But this especially. It's a

I mean, all of this is fiction. Even songs about real life are fictional in order to fit with the format of being a song. But this especially. It's a small odd fantasy pulp gem, someone in trouble who is trying all their usual sleuthing tricks to get out of

I'm Leaving You is one of the five themes that Elvis Costello said the writers of popular music have available to them, and while the majority of Mountain Goats songs

I'm Leaving You is one of the five themes that Elvis Costello said the writers of popular music have available to them, and while the majority of Mountain Goats songs fit into his fifth category (I Believe In Something), this is very much an I'm leaving you song, if you

Wow, we're a long way from this. There is such difference between the odd experiments of these early EPs and the significantly more ambitious exploration of later albums. Which isn't

Wow, we're a long way from this. There is such difference between the odd experiments of these early EPs and the significantly more ambitious exploration of later albums. Which isn't to say that one is better or worse than the other. Sometimes the simple execution of an idea makes it

Everything in this song, from orchestration to lyrics, feels like a start. Where music and lyrics differ is in the nature of the beginning. The echoing choral nature of the

Everything in this song, from orchestration to lyrics, feels like a start. Where music and lyrics differ is in the nature of the beginning. The echoing choral nature of the music creates an impression of dawn, of a spiritual beginning, like a warrior in the highlands finishing his prayers before

As calypsos about dark magic go, this is certainly one of the better ones. Another Mountain Goats rarity, and one that shows both its past and its future. Bleak lyrics

As calypsos about dark magic go, this is certainly one of the better ones. Another Mountain Goats rarity, and one that shows both its past and its future. Bleak lyrics with a cheerful beat is basically the Mountain Goats stock in trade and this is a lovely example, but it

The only recording of this song is done as a live fundraiser for abortion funds. There's something mildly depressing about it as it was made 8 years ago back when

The only recording of this song is done as a live fundraiser for abortion funds. There's something mildly depressing about it as it was made 8 years ago back when abortion was still a protected right. The song is a small delight of acapella folk magic, trying to capture the

There's no recording of this one. It's included in the book as a this is how far we've come, and I might as well use it for that purpose. Four

There's no recording of this one. It's included in the book as a this is how far we've come, and I might as well use it for that purpose. Four months ago: Coming up on the end of May I was still trying to adjust to life post-secondment. My wife

You can tell we're approaching the end of the month as we have the themed rarities. This one is a weird vinyl-only disco demo that's about exactly what it says

You can tell we're approaching the end of the month as we have the themed rarities. This one is a weird vinyl-only disco demo that's about exactly what it says in the title. Imagine being so prolific as a songwriter and performer that 365 songs isn't enough to recount everything

It still tickles me that an album called Goths that is about goths is so strongly and pleasantly easy listening. THis is pleasant like a cup of milky coffee, but

It still tickles me that an album called Goths that is about goths is so strongly and pleasantly easy listening. THis is pleasant like a cup of milky coffee, but I'm tired and it's been a long weekend. It has DNA in common with The Ballad Of Chavo Guerrero, and

There's a curious thing in some forms of storytelling where the apex is the end. Where you struggle to make it, and then the act of making it is the

There's a curious thing in some forms of storytelling where the apex is the end. Where you struggle to make it, and then the act of making it is the end. This is a song about a goth band who know that signing to a major label is when what

It took a while for me to get this song. It got in its own way a little, and it wasn't until I was reading the lyrics in the book

It took a while for me to get this song. It got in its own way a little, and it wasn't until I was reading the lyrics in the book that this ballad to the people who were adjacent to fame really clicked. Oh, I thought. This song is about

This is a song about the passing of musical legacies, of the hot current thing becoming a thing of the past. And interestingly this is a concept that I think

This is a song about the passing of musical legacies, of the hot current thing becoming a thing of the past. And interestingly this is a concept that I think is slowly fading away. Whatever else one might say about the way music works or doesn't work in the modern

One of the most wonderful things about music is that it's universal and regional at the same time. This is a delight of a sing about the different ways that

One of the most wonderful things about music is that it's universal and regional at the same time. This is a delight of a sing about the different ways that people are goths in different places, combining influences, cargo culting success, and how surroundings make the local version of the

I'll confess that the orchestration of this isn't quite for me. it's too chaotic and robs itself of the clarity that I love from Mountain Goats songs. However, the theme

I'll confess that the orchestration of this isn't quite for me. it's too chaotic and robs itself of the clarity that I love from Mountain Goats songs. However, the theme is spot on. This to me is about identity and identification. The not quite correct thing that people say about

I feel unfair thinking of songs in this as The Real Shit, but every now and then a Mountain Goats song stuck with me hard and I can't stop going

I feel unfair thinking of songs in this as The Real Shit, but every now and then a Mountain Goats song stuck with me hard and I can't stop going back to it. This song is a perfect encapsulation of the feeling if listening to miserable songs to escape your

Something weirdly suitable about my birthday song being an anthem to being fucked up and in trouble, but in a curiously good way. This is one of the things John

Something weirdly suitable about my birthday song being an anthem to being fucked up and in trouble, but in a curiously good way. This is one of the things John does best, I think. Vignettes in miniature of perfectly realised moments in lives. Not good moments, not moments that anyone