B-SIDE #1 (1996: 'The Sign')

In 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 August, 1996: https://archive.org/details/tmg1996-03-20.flac16
Anders Ingram’s Big Bill Broonzy EP: https://andersingram.bandcamp.com/album/the-trouble-e-p
Salon interview: https://www.salon.com/2013/08/03/mountain_goats_john_darnielle_im_not_interested_in_back_in_the_day_we_are_always_in_the_present_moment/
‘Going to Alaska’ tab on themountaingoats.net: http://www.themountaingoats.net/wiki/doku.php?id=tabs:going_to_alaska
Alexandra Supper, ‘Listening for the hiss: lo-fi liner notes as curatorial practices.’ Popular Music, 37.2 (2018): https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/6BD7476E537B63017D99B7167DFDFE7B/S0261143018000041a.pdf/div-class-title-listening-for-the-hiss-lo-fi-liner-notes-as-curatorial-practices-div.pdf
Books:
Bert O. States, Infinite Reckonings in Little Rooms: On The Phenomenology of Theater. University of California Press, 1987.