Coming off of the two strongest, most fully realized -- and most harrowing -- albums of his career, in particular The Sunset Tree, which helped bring him to the attention of a larger audience, John Darnielle (who's somewhat better known as the Mountain Goats) took something of a career digression with a record that, while retaining the production clarity and expanded instrumental palette of his 4AD output to date, marked a clear withdrawal, if not in quality, certainly in scope, from its phenomenal predecessors. Thematically at least, Get Lonely is the sparest, bleakest record in the Mountain Goats' discography. Much was made of the unprecedentedly autobiographical content of The Sunset Tree and We Shall All Be Healed, and it is true that they conveyed a sustained emotional potency that was largely new to Darnielle's repertory, but both contained so many lyrical loose ends, disjointed perspectives, and ambiguous imagery that it was difficult if not impossible to glean any consistent context in them, let alone a coherent through-line. Get Lonely, on the other hand, is practically monotonous in its lyrical focus. Every one of its songs features a first-person narrator in a state of desolation, near-desperation, solitude (always), and grappling, more or less explicitly, with the psychic effects of recent loss: extreme listlessness, emotional paralysis, intermittent attempts at deterministic redirection; nightmarish delirium. In most of them, almost nothing happens; the plot of "Wild Sage" consists of its protagonist leaving the house, walking outside, falling down by the side of the highway, and lying there. Sometimes he can't even leave the house. It's a break-up album -- an almost uncharacteristically straightforward conceit for Darnielle -- the chronicle of a person dealing (or attempting to deal, at least on his best days) with loneliness, grief, and the pangs of memory. Whether or not it's a literal chronicle of a period in Darnielle's life (he had, at the time of its release, been married for many years) is irrelevant; forgiving a slight turn for the phantasmagoric towards the end of the album (before its ultimate, resigned submersion into the Atlantic in the graceful, serene "In Corolla,"). It's hard to deny the fundamental, emotional truth contained in these songs, especially as it's conveyed in his uninflected, almost painfully restrained delivery. It's not all unrelentingly somber -- "Half Dead" and "Woke Up New" strive for a sort of resolute pragmatism, with musical backing that could almost be described as sprightly, though their plain and plaintive lyrics ultimately belie their hummable ditty-like choruses. And the churning, jazzy percussion of "New Monster Avenue" and rass band swagger of "If You See Light" provide welcome instrumental relief that befits their fanciful, imagistic lyrical tone. But these are almost necessary respites, since at its darkest and starkest, which is much of the time -- particularly on the central quartet of the shell-shocked title track, the spirit-haunted "Maybe Sprout Wings," the hallucinatory "Moon Over Goldsboro," and the agitated "In the Hidden Places," Get Lonely is nothing short of devastating. These songs may be primarily built around uncomplicated acoustic guitar parts (with judicious instrumental embellishments), but they're a far cry from the rudimentary lo-fi zeal and nervous energy of Darnielle's early years -- he's become significantly more sophisticated since then, as a composer, a writer, and an observer of the human condition, and this is in many ways his most mature work to date.
I wrote a lengthier review of this album, but I think one sentence will suffice.On the most recent offering from The Mountain Goats:When the cello kicks in, that's the lowest of the gut-wrenching malaise. We shall all be mopey.(for those who are not fans of brevity, more in comments)
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The Mountain Goats’ new album, “Get Lonely,” is about the aftermath of a relationship. I don’t know if the songs on this album are fiction or fact, or fiction based on fact. What I do know is that the emotions in these songs ring true. Mountain Goats' John Darnielle (right) and Peter Hughes (left).“Woke Up New” is one of the best songs from an album that doesn’t have a bad one. “Wo
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....and you will know my name is the Lord, when I lay my vengeance upon thee.....What does that have to do with the song I'm posting? Nothing... but the Lord sure is giving us here in the Boston area some funky weather. It just went from sunny to grey to green to greenish grey with rain to what appears to be a little brightening.... nope, false alarm, there's some lightning and just heard/rea...
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4:09 and I’m on the 7th floor of the tallest building on this stretch of Wilshire, overlooking a tar-park filled with imperiled plaster animals. From the nearest window you can see the air is thick with smoke, most likely from fires extinguished; the very sign of a problem solved now plagues the city-proper. Three hours ago I had a hot dog on the patio at the modern art museum. I listened to th.
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New album from the Mountain Goats, Get Lonely (4AD), will be out August 21. I've been listening to the advance obsessively since Friday morning and it tops The Sunset Tree, which is really saying something. I'll be writing more about this soon. But keep an eye out for this album. John Darnielle is one or our best songwriters.
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I wrote a lengthier review of this album, but I think one sentence will suffice.On the most recent offering from The Mountain Goats:When the cello kicks in, that's the lowest of the gut-wrenching malaise. We shall all be mopey.(for those who are not fans of brevity, more in comments)
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Yeah.Fighting with James is good and all but this time it is an empty victory.
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The album hasn't even dropped yet, and I already know all the words to the song "Woke Up New" from the music video that I've watched about ten times in the past day and a half. I think it's because the message it sends meshes exactly perfect with my life now. Anyways, here's the clipYes, it's already been on Mog. But whatever. Enjoy : )
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First of all, The Mountain Goats free show at Amoeba SF on August 22! Good things come on that day. Ratatat and The Mountain Goats new cds are out, this free set at Amoeba, lots of good KALX hours from office, only one more week until Arrested Development Season 3...Apparently there is this new thing happening on that day called "Sessions at Amoeba" where Amoeba and YouTube collaborate to creat...
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Yes, i'm still loving the hypeM.Some nice updates. I no longer see a really easy way to pull hyped content out of my IE cache (like you can do for streamed windows media stuff). Of course it's still possible to add hyped stuff to your local mp3 collection, but hopefully by making it harder they've decreased the likelihood of legal action. My favorite update is that you can customize your dashb...
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Biggest news: Mountain Goats are coming to Milwaukee! http://www.pabsttheater.org/mountaingoats.htmlIn other news:. Based on first listen, the new Ben Harper rocks! his best new music in 10 years!. In heavy rotation: M.Ward, Damien Rice, Pavement re-issues.... I did 4days of backpacking in Yosemite. It was awesome.
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Each year, as August wanes, I begin looking for the record that will be my autumnal soundtrack. It takes something special to fill this void. For three months, the angle of the sun makes memory tangible. Colors turn warmer. The air grows colder. Smells of the decaying natural world permeate, and yet somehow bring comfort. Maybe it's only the lingering aftershocks of student life, but fall opens...
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I was worried about this album. I thought the new Mountain Goats album couldn't compare with the last one: "The Sunset Tree". For the most part, I was correct. Yet "Get Lonely" is good. If it had come out before "Tallahasee" it would have been great. Since I know the heights John Darnielle can reach when he wants to, though, I am saddened when he doesn't quite get there. He does...
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This is the first video from the new Mountain Goats album "Get Lonely". It is, as things always are with The 'Goats, truly lovely and beautiful and wise and heartbreaking and right and true. Go get it.
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warm night air, constant interaction, a smile to be seen everywhere.it is summer, youth is still hanging on.share the most with everyone who'll be there.
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| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
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| 1 Wild Sage |
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| 2 New Monster Avenue |
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| 3 Half Dead |
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| 4 Get Lonely |
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| 5 Maybe Sprout Wings |
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| 6 Moon Over Goldsboro |
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| 7 In the Hidden Places |
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| 8 Song for Lonely Giants |
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| 9 Woke Up New |
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| 10 If You See Light |
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| 11 Cobra Tattoo |
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| 12 In Corolla |
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Click to purchase…
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 "Get Lonely")
