Reminders and Reverberations
March 3, 2023 11:35 AM Subscribe
The long-unavailable "New Asian Cinema" EP (1998) by the Mountain Goats has been made available on their Bandcamp. The band's three Yo-Yo Records EPs from 1998 to 2001 have never been available on major streaming services, and "New Asian Cinema" is the only one up on Bandcamp now.
John Darnielle's aversion to nostalgia and revisiting old work means they may never be repressed on any physical medium, so this link to five Mountain Goats songs from a transitional period in Darnielle's songwriting are the only way to hear these songs without doing hit-or-miss YouTube searches. I post because I know there are lots of Goat-heads in the MeFI world, and I do think the Yo-Yo EPs are an important missing link for a lot of listeners--it's largely unavailable work leading up to the "All Hail West Texas" moment, and of similar quality to that fan favorite.
Between this and De La Day, today is a good day for music online.
John Darnielle's aversion to nostalgia and revisiting old work means they may never be repressed on any physical medium, so this link to five Mountain Goats songs from a transitional period in Darnielle's songwriting are the only way to hear these songs without doing hit-or-miss YouTube searches. I post because I know there are lots of Goat-heads in the MeFI world, and I do think the Yo-Yo EPs are an important missing link for a lot of listeners--it's largely unavailable work leading up to the "All Hail West Texas" moment, and of similar quality to that fan favorite.
Between this and De La Day, today is a good day for music online.
This is amazing, thank you! I still love TMG, but the lo-fi era is my favorite, and I was beyond thrilled when they released Pierre Chuvin a few years back. This EP scratches that itch again for me.
posted by KGMoney at 12:40 PM on March 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by KGMoney at 12:40 PM on March 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
Bought it. Thanks for the reminder, hippybear!
posted by wenestvedt at 12:42 PM on March 3, 2023
posted by wenestvedt at 12:42 PM on March 3, 2023
Narakaloka is such a wonderful song.
posted by silentbicycle at 1:19 PM on March 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by silentbicycle at 1:19 PM on March 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
Possibly my most powerful hipster flex is that I own this on vinyl
posted by theodolite at 1:30 PM on March 3, 2023 [8 favorites]
posted by theodolite at 1:30 PM on March 3, 2023 [8 favorites]
theodolite that is amazing. I have tried to find it for years, all over the Internet. At some point didn't want to spend what I found it for, and now it's . . . like $500 if it's ever available.
posted by kensington314 at 1:38 PM on March 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by kensington314 at 1:38 PM on March 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
It looks like I paid $50 for it in 2010 - I guess I didn't realize how lucky I was. I'm not even much of a record collector, but this album is pretty special.
posted by theodolite at 1:53 PM on March 3, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by theodolite at 1:53 PM on March 3, 2023 [2 favorites]
This was the announcement on the MG email newsletter, which doesn't seem to be on the Bandcamp page:
posted by verstegan at 2:02 PM on March 3, 2023
In 1998 I had this vision to do three one-sided 12"s and call them the OLD MEDIA SERIES. I still like the idea of arbitrarily choosing a theme for titles and doing a group of releases that way. Does the future hold a series of four two-song 7"s called the SUBTYPES OF VOLTAGE-GATED SODIUM CHANNELS QUARTET, or perhaps three tapes, eventually housed by an attractive box free to those who’ve bought the set, under the banner of the SWAMP CYPRESS TRIAD? History remains unwritten, but the first volume of the Old Media Series, 'New Asian Cinema' is at last available digitally on Bandcamp. This EP, with its partners, is mainly in the spirit of the cassette releases — self-contained songs that tell stories about people living in haunted houses or getting ready to leap from tree to tree. Enjoy!These are pretty great songs -- thanks for posting!
posted by verstegan at 2:02 PM on March 3, 2023
These are great. 'Korean Bird Painting' is a particular gem.
My favorite obscure mountain goats song is Pinklon, which was on a Daytrotter session (kinda like tiny desk concerts before tiny desk concerts) and never released otherwise so far at I know. But it's a fantastic song, like a window into a more redemptive world.
posted by kaibutsu at 10:19 PM on March 3, 2023
My favorite obscure mountain goats song is Pinklon, which was on a Daytrotter session (kinda like tiny desk concerts before tiny desk concerts) and never released otherwise so far at I know. But it's a fantastic song, like a window into a more redemptive world.
posted by kaibutsu at 10:19 PM on March 3, 2023
Looks like Pinklon hasn't ever been played at concert either!
posted by vibratory manner of working at 10:34 PM on March 3, 2023
posted by vibratory manner of working at 10:34 PM on March 3, 2023
Here's the rest of that Daytrotter session; all great stuff.
Pinklon
Ethiopians
Red River Valley
Babylon Burning
And here's a somewhat later session from around when Transcendental Youth came out. I listened to each of these sets probably a hundred times...
posted by kaibutsu at 10:35 PM on March 3, 2023 [3 favorites]
Pinklon
Ethiopians
Red River Valley
Babylon Burning
And here's a somewhat later session from around when Transcendental Youth came out. I listened to each of these sets probably a hundred times...
posted by kaibutsu at 10:35 PM on March 3, 2023 [3 favorites]
It looks like I paid $50 for it in 2010
IIRC, it was a plain old $7-8 back in 1998. I still got it. ;) (Apparently I should have bought #2 and #3 too…)
posted by mrgrimm at 10:43 PM on March 5, 2023 [1 favorite]
IIRC, it was a plain old $7-8 back in 1998. I still got it. ;) (Apparently I should have bought #2 and #3 too…)
posted by mrgrimm at 10:43 PM on March 5, 2023 [1 favorite]
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posted by hippybear at 12:09 PM on March 3, 2023 [6 favorites]