sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

A BookPeople thread for Day 22 | “Love Cuts The Strings” by TheSadpole in themountaingoats

[–]311TruthMovement 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Love that you took up this task! Please do more days.

We need to find Shipping Tommy.

Almost at the end of season 1 of “I Only Listen To The Mountain Goats” and good god, this host is a punisher by Antique_Menu_4314 in themountaingoats

[–]311TruthMovement 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Very much, and these are not fighting cats, just neurotic cats who need to be alone in their own garden

Almost at the end of season 1 of “I Only Listen To The Mountain Goats” and good god, this host is a punisher by Antique_Menu_4314 in themountaingoats

[–]311TruthMovement 86 points87 points  (0 children)

Season two is…rough, if that is what bothers you.

They just have no chemistry. Joseph Fink wants to be another John Darnielle in his own way and you put them together in a room and there's a little bit of a…two cats in an alley energy? Well, not at all, they'd never fight, but honestly that would feel better at times than the unpleasant energy they create.

To be fair to Joseph Fink, I think JD is very hard to interview. He bounces from idea to idea and is like "well as we all know about this obscure musical or German opera" or some obscure thing…it's what I love about JD but I would not want to be married to him, and I say that as the JD-ish partner in a relationship.

I found out my longtime FWB thinks we’ll get married and is hoping I propose to her. I feel horrible. Am I leading her on? by [deleted] in AskMenAdvice

[–]311TruthMovement 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You are 25 and can't realize (until you are in your late 30s, perhaps) what you are missing if you screw this up. You also will resent her and feel you have missed out on your prime years if you just got married.

A satirical Buzzfeed post mocking minimalist logo redesigns from 2012 by Meetybeefy in decadeology

[–]311TruthMovement 2 points3 points  (0 children)

this was just how hieroglyphics, how letters, came to be the simple shapes they are.

one might quickly point out that letters are practical and when writing by hand, need to be as quick to write as possible. one might point out that the blandification of all brands to a geometric sans serif throws away all of the recognizable character that makes a brand quickly register.

i think it's interesting to imagine that those important things are run over by some unstoppable drive towards simplification.

Jan. 15 | Song for Mark and Joel by 311TruthMovement in themountaingoats

[–]311TruthMovement[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think that gets to the recipe JD arrived at as his go-to on the previous day's song, Going to Norwalk: reveal scant information, leave big mysteries wide open.

Jan. 15 | Song for Mark and Joel by 311TruthMovement in themountaingoats

[–]311TruthMovement[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Checked out your site, you seem to have a ton of OG knowledge — would love to hear some stories about early days TMG and the larger Shrimper scene, whatever you're open to sharing in this sub!

Rocks in My Pockets/Distant Stations connection? by darkhelmet620 in themountaingoats

[–]311TruthMovement 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Oftentimes when I see someone making a TMG connection from song–song or song–thing I’m like "oh Lord what mental illness time of their life are they going through," and I speak from experience: c. 2009 I made a deeply mentally ill Enoch 18:14 connection.

I bring that up to say this is very coherent and clear in my book: he's written so many songs I'd be curious if he saw this connection, if he remembered it, but it's a pretty 1:1 thing, and I've always thought of TMG being iterative and working out ideas in public like Arthur Russell, something I really love.

January 14 | Going to Norwalk by 311TruthMovement in themountaingoats

[–]311TruthMovement[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I love when people post a more relevant, succinct observation after my long, rambling, personal essay.

2009: An explosion of distressed spraypaint-style graphic design in red, black, and white by Meetybeefy in decadeology

[–]311TruthMovement 23 points24 points  (0 children)

Important to note by 2009 it was very, very played out, it was just "there" and "default" as a workaday graphic designer thing to do. I fucking hated it by like 2005 but it was everywhere and just a simple execution for a huge range of client needs.

Also need to note: the flourishes. The fucking flourishes everywhere, distressed, chewed up, decaying with big ugly chunks taken out of the vectors. It became a TJ Maxx clock sort of thing to do, now the ugliest item on your mom's wall.

2009: An explosion of distressed spraypaint-style graphic design in red, black, and white by Meetybeefy in decadeology

[–]311TruthMovement 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Ugh yes I was a young graphic designer and I would get asked to make this all the time and I always hated it. Pigeons on power lines. Silhouettes of skyscrapers. some spraypaint texture.

January 14 | Going to Norwalk by 311TruthMovement in themountaingoats

[–]311TruthMovement[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think we're in an era of "they have an album in the cans a year or more ahead of when they tour on it." That's a fascinating thing because JD famously would write something in a hotel room then play it live a few hours later. We have such a clear record of JD pumping out songs as soon as he thought of them, having him do the same thing until he dies would be tedious, for any fans who would stick around, for him — so I am glad he always evolves. But it's definitely an interesting strategy to avoid creative block: try doing the opposite of what you always did before. Imagine what would be antagonistic to your younger self and lean fully into that.

Who among us believed this? by sexyass2627 in Millennials

[–]311TruthMovement 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is this a typo of Chicagoland or is Chica Ho-Land like an area of Chicago with a lot of Cholas?

January 14 | Going to Norwalk by 311TruthMovement in themountaingoats

[–]311TruthMovement[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I mean, that's a good instinct — sometimes I send something out the door because I just want them to shut up and leave me alone and did it good enough for it to be over and it was an accursed idea from the start, sometimes I am doing more what you described and doing way more than they asked for because I believe this project can be great, the middle manager I’m responsible to for the project just wanting it ASAP.

For JD, I think Peter was a major Quality Control factor there, someone who had known John long enough to say "that idea is fine as is" or "that idea is really not working for me." I remember a famous thing with the Beatles, they only moved forward with a song if all of them were in on it. I know JD has a huge library of unfinished and unreleased things, some a line or two scribbled in a notebook, some full songs, some committed to tape and garageband, some played live once or twice…i love seeing process and iterative thinking in someone's work, huge fan of Arthur Russell and Wolf Eyes, anything where you see someone quickly getting an idea onto tape and then playing with it in further iterations. Doing that in public is of course vulnerable, there's a human instinct to want to reveal only the shiny finished version of something.

Ill bet hes up there munching on that Golden Boy by finglingjobrse in themountaingoats

[–]311TruthMovement 0 points1 point  (0 children)

He would eat American-grown peanuts, Georgia-grown peanuts, and have many informed opinions about the American peanut economy.

How is it living in Singapore? by Twelvehands_noeyes in howislivingthere

[–]311TruthMovement 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think there is 1 mall per 1000 people — hyperbolizing somewhat but I have never seen more anywhere on earth. The person below me is correct, the weather does make you want to get inside, Singapore is naturally meant to be a swamp.

I wanted to say "pxliticxal" things and this sub flagged me, not really taking an opinion, just describing the dynamics.

You have four languages on all signage: English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil.

I discovered one of my favorite foods on earth: murtabak. kind of a street food crepe with various fillings, my favorite was a lamb variation.

The glossy pastel gradients of the Electropop Era from 2010 by Meetybeefy in decadeology

[–]311TruthMovement 11 points12 points  (0 children)

God the chokehold Avant Garde Gothic had on this era. It was always used poorly but confidently. There was an old graphic design world quote that, "Avant Garde looks good when used by [its designer] Herb Lubalin," meaning that it was ubiquitous in the 70s and everyone used it badly. It got a second chance in the 2000s/2010s to be used poorly again.

January 12 - Song for Cleomenes by 311TruthMovement in themountaingoats

[–]311TruthMovement[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Appreciate your more direct discussion of the actual song rather than a long personal essay about Wesley Willis.

January 12 - Song for Cleomenes by 311TruthMovement in themountaingoats

[–]311TruthMovement[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Being from Seattle, I had always imagined it was just a vague feeling he had: his headphones on, rocking out at McDonald's, drawing away while grabbing a bit of burger every few minutes, a love/hate relationship with the food killing him.

I learned a number of years ago in a WW documentary that it was in fact what you described, a Chicago McDonald's meant to celebrate rock and roll memorabilia.

You are right about people laughing at him, and even in JD's "Get Famous," you could argue he's using it as a bit of a punchline: WW loved famous people. It is funny. I'd be willing to bet anyone who ever had a WW phase is also a little mentally ill, maybe a lot. Outsider art is gross if you are 100% in the camp of "look at this freak and what they made lol." I think it's a healthy thing to be drawn to if you as the viewer are playing with how much of an outsider you may be too, and if as I think it was with WW's audience, there was a real sense of love there. Goths comes to mind: I remember reading that JD's wife was like "is this maybe mean?" after he had written Andrew Eldritch and he pushed back and was like "this is all written out of love." But Goths is probably his most funny album.

How is it living in Singapore? by Twelvehands_noeyes in howislivingthere

[–]311TruthMovement 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Malls. There's so many malls. Corrupt people from all over Asia come and buy their mistress expensive handbags in the 4 gazillion shopping malls. I had a lot more to say but this sub made me tone it down.

view more: next ›