"But The Things You Do For Love Are Going To Come Back To You One By One"

Aesop Rock feat. John Darnielle - Coffee:


As many of you who read this blog with any amount of regularity may know, I'm pretty heavily obsessed with the Mountain Goats, and on Tuesday, I finally got a chance to see them live. Ever since I heard the Coroner's Gambit, The Mountain Goat's 2000 release, I was hooked. John Darnielle's hilarious awkwardly worded lyrics reminding me of me, his voice sounding all too much like that of Jim Henson's (to me at least), who, like many other people, was an integral part of my childhood, and the inventive topics and stories he sang about all gave him an easy access card to my heart, one that has not been revoked, and probably won't be for quite some time. John Darnielle and his posse coming to Denver has been loooong awaited.

This show really introduced me to an unknown aspect of why I enjoy The Mountain Goat's music: John Darnielle lives in an entirely different world than me, and has for some time. Not only because he's a self-made rock star, but in how he (seems to) see the world. This really comes through in his songs, which frequently just take one section of time from someone's life, and describes everything around that situation, often times without directly addressing the true topic of the song. And this boy's done this for more 500 songs. He takes such interest in small fragments of stories, and fleshes them out giving even the smallest detail previously-unforeseen importance. Best lyricist of our time. Period.

The Bowerbirds opened, and I really don't have very much to say about them. They didn't seem very confident, and the music seemed to be lacking because of it (and because of other reason). But they were inventive, and you could tell they were having a good time. I'd heard their album prior to the show, but it didn't really stick out to me as much as I had hoped it would. I do think that if they added a little more depth to their music, more life, then it might have been more fun. Maybe next time. Here are a few of their more lively tracks:

The Bowerbirds - In Our Talons
The Bowerbirds - My Oldest Memory
The Bowerbirds - Dark Horse

I did happen to record The Mountain Goats' whole set on Tuesday, and, while it's not the best quality, I think it's rather fitting, because John Darnielle's lo-fi stuff is what seems to be the foundation of his fame. But for those of you who don't want just the lo-fi stuff, here's some b-sides that are really pretty good quality:

The Mountain Goats - Collapsing Stars
The Mountain Goats - Attention All Pickpockets (feat. Kimya Dawson)
The Mountain Goats - Butter Teeth
The Mountain Goats - New Chevrolet In Flames

(Because John Darnielle isn't too keen on his new material leaking, in demo form or bootleg form, I'm not going to host the recordings I have of his new songs. Chances are that when you do hear them, they'll be of better quality than what my little recording device can pump out.)

Band: The Mountain Goats
Date: 2007-11-06
Venue: The Hi-Dive, Denver, CO

Intro/tuning
Wild Sage
Hast Thou Considered the Tetrapod?
Craters In The Moon (New)
Banter
You Or Your Memory
Young Caesar 2000
September 15th, 1983 (New)
Maybe Sprout Wings
Banter
Love Craft In Brooklyn (New)
Dance Music
Going to Georgia
We Were Patriots
See America Right
Encore Cheering + Banter
No Children
This Year
House Guest (Nothing Painted Blue Cover)

One of the best shows of the year. Not the best I don't think, but definitely up there.