1992: 'No, I Can't.'

Now 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-darnielle-songs-for-pierre-chuvin-boombox?t=1622337736138

- Pitchfork article on the sound of the boombox: https://pitchfork.com/features/secondhands/9583-bleats-whines-and-other-awful-human-sounds-to-which-our-hearts-are-inexorably-tied/

- Link to purchase The Hound Chronicles/Hot Garden Stomp from Shrimper: https://midheaven.com/item/hound-chronicles-hot-garden-stomp-by-mountain-goats-2xcd

- The Annotated Mountain Goats page for 'The Hound Chronicles': http://web.archive.org/web/20201112012137/https:/kylebarbour.org/tmg/hound.html#credits

- And for the last boombox album (until 'Songs for Pierre Chuvin'), 'All Hail West Texas': http://web.archive.org/web/20200911212129/https://kylebarbour.org/tmg/ahwt.html#


- Bible Gateway link for Matthew 25:44-5: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2025%3A44-45&version=NIV

- Tune Glue interview: https://tuneglue.substack.com/p/004-john-darnielle-the-mountain-goats

- Peter Hughes relistens to all albums since 'Tallahassee' for NPR: https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2012/12/17/167467065/inside-listening-the-mountain-goats-bassist-assesses-his-own-bands-albums

- The Plastic Bertrand court case: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-10801347#:~:text=Musician%20Plastic%20Bertrand%20has%20apparently,a%20court%20case%20in%20Belgium.&text=On%20Wednesday%2C%20an%20expert%20linguist,accent%20used%20by%20the%20performer

- Podcast interview with Steven Hyden: https://omny.fm/shows/celebration-rock/celebration-rock-john-darnielle

- Our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/thirty_years_later/

- Can diamonds burn?: https://wtamu.edu/~cbaird/sq/2014/03/27/can-you-light-diamond-on-fire/#:~:text=Yes%2C%20diamond%20can%20be%20burned.&text=Pure%20diamond%20consists%20only%20of,combustion%20product%20was%20carbon%20dioxide

- Lateral tape motion: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0020768315001614

Books:

- Brian Eno, A Year With Swollen Appendices. Faber & Faber, 1996.
- Caroline Levine, Forms. Princeton University Press, 2015.