The guiding voice and often the only voice (writer, composer, guitarist, pianist, and vocalist) behind the low-fi rock of the Mountain Goats, John Darnielle today is an acclaimed author whose early autobiographic rock songs turned into bizarre lovecraftian poetry and extended narratives and great acts of empathic projection into the inner lives of his protagonists. 1991 to 1994 Cassette Mumbling If there’s a criticism of John, it’s his voice. It’s too mumbly. His early recordings bore that out. The poetry is all there, the lyrics, but if you were to hear it you would be able to pick out the … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: The Mountain Goats

Although music is very important to me, I rarely bring it up on the Avocado. For one, I don’t know that I’ve listened to much of anything that anyone else here has. There’s the Beatles and the Stones, and then a smash cut to Indie (or independent) very white liberal 90s-current rock, which I like mostly for the rhyme schemes. After a bout of depression in 2006-2010, music, and music acquisition, kept me going. I liked hunting down and sifting through vast quantities of music to find the one song I really liked from an unknown band. Traditional hipster behavior, … Continue reading Artist Spotlight: The Capstan Shafts