This is fine.
There’s a handful of really really great tape labels out there, and one that is near and dear to our hearts is Lost Sound Tapes, run by Jon Manning. He’s done an incredible job of curating, and I almost always find myself in love with a handful of his releases each year, like Olivia’s World and Lisa Prank this year! So, I reached out and asked him to pop off with some of his favorite releases…and here we are. Enjoy!
You’d be forgiven for immediately thinking of Mountain Goats when you play this Spelling Reform, as the vocal tones are almost precisely Darnielle-esque. But, while I like that, I think you’d be selling the quality of this song a little short. There are moments when the song enjoys an upbeat folk aura, though the unleashing of a more rocking note kicks the song up a notch, creating a track that grabs your ears, musically and lyrically. Tons of promise in this tune, so I’m expecting bigger things from their album No One’s Ever Changed when it’s released on November 18th via Black Rd Records.
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A few weeks ago I was introduced to The Chairman Dances, and here I am fortunate enough to share a brand new track with you today. It’s another piece of literary pop, like a unique blend of Mountain Goats and Dent May. And, like all great pop tunes, it’s the texturing and careful touches that make the track; listen through this song for the fuzzy underbelly that leaves ample room for the vocals to really take off. Pop music needs more songwriters like this, both playful and thoughtful all at once. Next week you can grab their new effort Time Without Measure via Black Rd. Records!
Man, I owe a huge debt of gratitude to IPSML for pointing me in the direction of this great Austin band, The Late Joys. I don’t know where I’ve been hiding, or rather where this band’s been hiding, but apparently they’ve been making great tracks for quite some time. I mean, the track below is from a free EP that came out back in 2009, but the band hasn’t quit. They’ve got a slew of live recordings they’ve done recently you can also grab from them. For my two cents, the band sounds like a cross between Mountain Goats and Hollywood Gossip (a sorely missed Austin act). I’ll keep you up to date now that these guys are on my radar.
Download: The Late Joys – Everybody’s Going Away [MP3]
Well it seems like right about time for the Mountain Goats to continue their massive output of music with another new album this year. This year the band plans to release their whopping fourteenth album entitled Transcendental Youth on October 2nd via Merge Records. To preview the new album, the band has just let go of this new single “Cry For Judas” which you can of course stream or download below. As usual, the ATH boys will probably find room for this one on our year end lists.
[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/03-The-Mountain-Goats-Transcendental-Youth-Cry-for-Judas.mp3]Download: The Mountain Goats – Cry for Judas [MP3]
| Date | 1/19/12 |
|---|---|
| Location | Antones |
| Doors | 7pm |
| Tickets | Sold Out! |
Superb show going down on Thursday night at the legendary Antone’s downtown. Headliners Mountain Goats should be enough to get you there, but openers Nurses should convince you to get there early. I’m sure you could find some discount tickets on craigslist or via a scalpar as the show is sold out.
[audio: https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/The_Mountain_Goats_-_Damn_These_Vampires.mp3]Download: The Mountain Goats – Damn These Vampires [MP3]
ATH fave band The Mountain Goats posted new song “Tyler Lambert’s Grave” on their twitter page yesterday. It’s been made very clear that the track will in fact not be appearing on upcoming album All Eternals Deck due out March 29th on Merge. Mountain Goats leading man John Darnielle has said that the track is intended to preview the new direction of the band but didn’t quite fit in well with the other material. Hope this tides over you fans until March.
Download: The Mountain Goats – Tyler Lambert’s Grave [MP3]
In my mind, there aren’t many better wordsmiths in the indie world than John Darnielle. Now that he’s signed with Merge, it seems good things are in the future for us all. His new album with Extra Lens will be out on October 19th, titled Undercard. He’s also signed on to release the next Mountain Goats with the Carolina label, so we’ve got that to look forward to, right? And speaking of those Mountain Goats, they’re coming to Austin soon right? Try out the beautifully light “Only Existing Footage” from Undercard.
Download: The Extra Lens – Only Existing Footage [MP3]
| Date | 11/18/09 |
|---|---|
| Location | Antones |
| Doors | 8pm |
| Tickets | $16 from Frontgate |
You gotta know with this website that we’re going to talk about the Mountain Goats show when they stop through town. So take yourself over to Antones on Wednesday night which is where we would be if that GUK show wasn’t coming to town. Opening support will be provided by Final Fantasy and Larkin Grimm.
[audio: https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/02-genesis-3_23-1.mp3]Download: Mountain Goats – Genesis 3:23 [MP3]
So when we thought making an albums of the year post was hard, this one proved to be even harder. How do you take literally thousands of songs and narrow it down to the best 40 of the year? Not too sure how to answer that question, but we tried. Each of these songs scream 2008 in our ears. As evident by this list, the year in music was quite a good one and we had some tough choices to make. We’ve got some of the songs streaming for you or links to the song on youtube. Follow the jump to see if your favorite tune of the year made the list.
