Now Here We Are Thirty Years Later
22 episodes - English - Latest episode: 5 months ago -A memoir in Mountain Goats songs, by Richard O'Brien. Each episode focuses on a year in my life from 1990 onwards through the lens of a song written or recorded that year by John Darnielle.
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
2009: 'Psalms 40:2'
December 21, 2023 00:22 - 31 minutes - 28.9 MBSin as hard as you can. Today's episode is about Shane MacGowan, growing up Catholic in England in the 90s, knocking a few teacups off the shelves, and 'the life of the spirit' in John Darnielle's work from 'Stable Boy Song' to 'Satanic Messiah.' It's 2009, and the song is 'Psalms 40:2.'
2008: 'Heretic Pride'
October 24, 2023 16:25 - 54 minutes - 50.3 MBWell, they come and pull me from my house. Today’s episode is about ‘Heretic Pride,’ monsters, pagans, ghost cowboys, how a comprehensive knowledge of unreleased Mountain Goats lyrics might come in handy when you least expect it, and a ‘large, eclectic crowd of gay people’ at the City Nightclub in 1986, enjoying ‘the best sound system in Portland & possibly the entire PNW.’ Show notes A lot of today’s episode is about what life was like for queer teenagers experiencing homelessness on the s...
2007: ‘From TG&Y’ (Live)
September 28, 2023 11:00 - 38 minutes - 35.1 MBMax Brod Hate Club. Today’s episode is about ‘From TG&Y,’ 2007, writer’s archives, the Mountain Goats fan forums, copying mean lyrics onto your school planner, and how to move a craftsman bungalow down the Santa Fe railroad in the dead of night. Show notes Interviews: Bill Meyer, ‘Goat Ease,’ Puncture, 1994: http://web.archive.org/web/19990427042719/http://mb1.musicblvd.com/cgi-bin/tw/288145857327820_105_4973 ‘The Mountain Goats Can’t Buy A Thrill,’ Puberty, 1993/4: https://web.archive.or...
2006: 'Maybe Sprout Wings'
August 31, 2023 11:01 - 32 minutes - 30.1 MBThe loneliest people in the whole wide world. Today's episode is about ‘Maybe Sprout Wings,’ Frankie Lymon, the ‘high lonesome sound’ of Appalachian folk music, and a depressive episode at the Trinity LABAN Centre. Show notes Interviews: Tom Lynch, ‘Only the Lonely: Mountain Goats man John Darnielle sings a sad story,’ New City Music, 2006: https://music.newcity.com/2006/09/14/only-the-lonely-mountain-goats-man-john-darnielle-sings-a-sad-story/ Andy Downing, ‘Mountain Goats' Darnielle open...
2005: 'Hast Thou Considered The Tetrapod?'
June 29, 2022 17:07 - 37 minutes - 86.2 MBDeep in the dream chamber. Today's episode is about 2005, the year I discovered The Sunset Tree: an album that changed my life. It also takes in Keats, Walter Benjamin, amateur Shakespeare productions in Rutland, and the Venerable Bede. Show notes Interviews: Puncture interview with Bill Meyer, 1994: http://web.archive.org/web/19990427042719/http://mb1.musicblvd.com/cgi-bin/tw/288145857327820_105_4973 Washington Post interview with Ivan Kreilkamp, 2004: https://www.washingtonpost.com/arc...
2004: 'Against Pollution'
May 19, 2022 16:46 - 15 minutes - 36.4 MB45 minutes in the pews, praying the Rosary. Today's episode is about 'Against Pollution,' Catholicism, ammonites, and spiritual 2004. Show notes Interviews Casual Magic podcast interview on John’s Hare Krishna years with Shivam Bhatt: https://casualmagic.libsyn.com/casual-magic-episode-31-mountain-goats Live shows Live at The 40 Watt Club, Athens, GA, on 2006-08-10: https://archive.org/details/tmg2006-08-10.flac16/tmg2006-08-10t18.flac Live at The Saturn, Birmingham, AL, on 2021-08-08:...
2003: 'Palmcorder Yajna'
April 29, 2022 08:44 - 43 minutes - 100 MBWhere they manufactured what I needed. The show is back with a double episode about 'Palmcorder Yajna,' 'Devil House,' a folder full of MSN Messenger chatlogs two decades old, and the unique awfulness of being 13 and online in West Deeping in 2003. *** Show notes Books Devil House, by John Darnielle. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2022. Interviews Believer interview with Daniel Handler, 2004: https://believermag.com/an-interview-with-john-darnielle/ Pitchfork interview with Tom Breihan, ...
2002: 'No Children'
November 29, 2021 18:32 - 39 minutes - 90.6 MBOh Christ, it's those awful Alpha people again. The final instalment in this season is a double episode on 'No Children,' taking in the Offspring, the difference between a divorce and burning a house down, and the things we can't let go of until they let go of us. Show notes 06/22/13 Live show at Bottletree in Birmingham, AL, with banter leading up to ‘Alpha Chum Gatherer’: https://archive.org/details/mountaingoats2013-06-22.flac16/mountaingoats2013-06-22t11.flac BBC News article on gra...
2001: 'Riches and Wonders'
November 02, 2021 18:04 - 21 minutes - 19.9 MBI want to go home, but I am home. Today's episode is about 2001, and the song 'Riches and Wonders.' It looks at millennial housing insecurity, playground insults, bad landlords, and the predations of the Colo mice. Show notes 06-17-2007 Zoop live set, featuring ‘Cobscook Bay’ and ‘Leaving Home’: https://archive.org/details/tmg2007-06-17.Zoop 09-08-2021 City Winery, NYC live banter before ‘Genesis 3:23,’ featuring discussions of revisiting old homes and the mice of Colo: https://archive.or...
2000: 'Cobscook Bay'
October 11, 2021 19:52 - 21 minutes - 19.9 MBI put the pieces all together, but I don't know what they mean. It's the year 2000, I'm writing mean things about my classmates in a homemade newspaper, and you're falling off that cliff somewhere in California, which I've never seen. Today's episode looks at 'Cobscook Bay,' Robert Aickman, and Rozz Williams, and has a content note for suicidal ideation. Show notes John’s introductory comments before the first live performance of ‘Cobscook Bay,’ https://archive.org/details/tmg2007-06-17.Zo...
1999: 'You're in Maya'
September 28, 2021 11:39 - 21 minutes - 20.1 MBIt's 1999, and John Darnielle is trying something new. Today's episode looks at 'You're in Maya,' taking in twin high maintenance machines, bad dreams about driving, language loss, and 'the Lord Śrī Krishna’s grace.' 1/27/99 live set at the Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro, NC, featuring the first known performance of ‘You’re in Maya’: https://archive.org/details/tmg1999-01-27.aud.128mp3/tmg1999-01-27t07.mp3 10/9/99 live set in Amsterdam where the song’s autobiographical nature is discussed: https:...
1998: 'Golden Boy'
September 06, 2021 17:06 - 22 minutes - 20.3 MBYou must try to lead a good life. What that means will depend on your, and John Darnielle's, opinion on the following: St. Augustine, the distribution of prasadam at a Krishna-catered wedding, the history of diet culture, and those magnificent peanuts from Singapore. Show notes The Annotated Mountain Goats page, gathering many of John’s own reflections on ‘Golden Boy’: http://web.archive.org/web/20200920010914/https:/kylebarbour.org/tmg/ghana.html#fnref:goldenjohn Beer Frame zine: http://...
1997: 'Twin Human Highway Flares'
August 10, 2021 13:55 - 22 minutes - 51.7 MBArguing with the Twitter avatar of Paste's Matt Mitchell about his 'Full Force Galesburg' review. This episode runs from Antigone to Otis the Aardvark, by way of Roman re-enactors and the Romantic sublime, as I try to make sense of the snapshots of a 90s childhood. Show notes Matt Mitchell’s thoughtful and not actually objectionable ranking of the studio albums for Paste: https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/the-mountain-goats/the-mountain-goats-albums-ranked/ Liner notes to Full Force Gal...
B-SIDE #1 (1996: 'The Sign')
August 03, 2021 16:12 - 18 minutes - 16.8 MBIn our very first B-side, which follows on from the ‘1996’ episode looking at ‘The Sign’ - a staple of the Mountain Goats live set, originally written by Ace of Base - I’m taking a deeper dive into the idea of covers and authenticity, with my Panasonic RX-FT500 boombox in tow. Topics discussed include room sound, angry mastering engineers, and the challenges of working with live animals onstage. *Show notes* 1996 live recording of ‘The Sign,’ at the Knitting Factory in New York on the 30th...
1996: 'The Sign (Live)'
July 28, 2021 21:07 - 18 minutes - 17 MBA lot of stars. In this episode, I celebrate my sixth birthday in the West Deeping village hall, and John Darnielle comes up with a series of dance moves. Featuring discussion of covers, authenticity, and young Kurt Cobain. Show notes 2001 interview with Space City Rock, discussing live performance changes and popular culture: http://www.spacecityrock.com/2001/03/15/heavy-metal-ephemera-and-popular-culture-a-chat-with-the-mountain-goats/ John’s ‘Five Favorite Mountain Goats Characters’ for...
1995: 'The Recognition Scene'
July 10, 2021 12:28 - 19 minutes - 17.4 MBA book of maps. In this week's episode, it's 1995 and I'm in the stocks for some reason. Meanwhile, John Darnielle is finishing up college and expanding his horizons. Featuring discussion of ISKCON, John Berryman, translating Seneca, the Throgs' Neck Bridge, and what the hell there is to do in South Lincolnshire anyway. Show notes Links to sources mentioned in the episode: Darnielle’s comments on the Throgs’ Neck Bridge: https://themountaingoats.fandom.com/wiki/Going_to_Port_Washington Re...
1994: 'Grendel's Mother'
June 28, 2021 20:18 - 17 minutes - 16.1 MBI will carry you home in my teeth. Two decades before the release of 'Dark in Here,' this episode features another song for singing in caves: 'Grendel's Mother.' I also discuss Peter Coviello's 'Long Players,' Toni Morrison, the 1970s conversation pit aesthetic of my reception classroom, and a self-eviscerating live take on 'Going to Georgia.' Show notes On the ‘more-than-human’: https://www.ideabooks.nl/9789083015293-more-than-human The Magenta Bat4 bat detector: https://shopping.rspb.or...
1993: 'Going to Cleveland'
June 15, 2021 19:35 - 14 minutes - 13.2 MBThe Mountain Goats get productive. In this episode, it's 1993 and John Darnielle is reading Sophocles, writing prolifically, and recording immediately. Over in England, I'm reading the names of dinosaurs over my grandmother's shoulder. Topics include: self-belief, grace, the Wedding Present, and the Southern California divorce rate. Show notes: ‘John On Process #2,’ discussing unfinished songs from 1993-4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yH0DnQFgyGc John’s interview with Acoustic Guitar Ma...
1992: 'No, I Can't.'
May 31, 2021 21:40 - 13 minutes - 12.4 MBNow I have everything I need. In this episode, it's 1992, and John Darnielle has everything he needs (flowers; some books; a Panasonic boombox). Meanwhile, I've got a cake for my birthday in the shape of a tractor. Topics include: electrical equipment, design theory, Christian socialism, and Brian Eno on why we're drawn to the 'sound of failure.' Web links mentioned in the episode: - NPR piece on 'Songs for Pierre Chuvin': https://www.npr.org/2020/04/10/831191549/the-mountain-goats-john-dar...
1991: ‘Running Away With What Freud Said'
May 24, 2021 19:04 - 10 minutes - 24.8 MBNew flowers, cold comfort. In this episode, John Darnielle wakes up after a Portland blackout with a click in his hip, and Richard learns to sit up straight. Topics include: Graham Greene the 'Catholic atheist,' biographers and their subjects, 'confessional' music, and this year's worst 'Jeopardy!' guest host, Dr. Oz. Links to articles mentioned in this episode: - Graham Greene obituary: https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/00/02/20/specials/greene-obit.html - Peter Green on '...
1990: ‘Going to Alaska'
May 17, 2021 18:23 - 10 minutes - 9.26 MBA young man slips a poem under a doormat. In this episode, a baby is born during the knock-out stages of the Italia 90 football World Cup, and John Darnielle experiments with setting some words to music. Topics include Romantic poet and farm labourer John Clare, dramatic monologues, and trying to become a new person. Links to articles mentioned in this episode: - Pop Matters interview: https://www.popmatters.com/searching-for-john-darnielle-2495 776481.html - John discusses his Norwalk apa...
Introduction: 'Soudoire Valley Song'
May 10, 2021 18:44 - 10 minutes - 9.44 MBListen now (10 mins) | The grass grows up.