About 61 results
https://miscellany.pckt.blog/march-4-that-hippolytine-feeling-6uewkgj · 4 Mar 2026
Ah, a bad recording in a very different way than other ones. This is a radio recording of a live show, complete with proper radio hiss, and is one of the only versions of this absolute ramp of a song. It's about love and guns and youth and death and God an...
https://miscellany.pckt.blog/march-3-nine-black-poppies-1wg78wv · 3 Mar 2026
A chaotic descent of a sing, frantic chords and a low low riff on loose strings. This is a jangly open chord burst of burning paranoia, all signifiers and urgency. There's a couple of versions of this, each from a confused and paranoid narrator to an unnam...
https://miscellany.pckt.blog/march-2-pure-money-865knwy · 2 Mar 2026
Ich weiß nicht, warum dieses Lied mit einer Frau beginnt, die Deutsch spricht. This becomes a soothing soft keyboard song with the smallest hint of menace in it. An odd late night sound with a vocal that seems like it's trying not to be heard in another r...
https://miscellany.pckt.blog/march-1-cubs-in-five-r548uz7 · 1 Mar 2026
I don't know why, but listening to this I found myself thinking of Walt Whitman and Wallace Stevens. Something about the intersection of the universal and timeless and the immediate. This is a cynical song about hope. About the wonderful things we wish for...
https://miscellany.pckt.blog/february-29-song-for-roger-maris-s28pz85 · 1 Mar 2026
Yes, this day doesn't exist this year, but this song does. Well, kind of. This is an unreleased song that exists largely in bootlegs. The particular version I heard was a 1999 bootleg from CBGBs, which displays probably more passion than skill. I've also l...
https://miscellany.pckt.blog/february-28-cold-milk-bottle-ptzyfky · 28 Feb 2026
A burst of jangly energy here, covering a song that functions as an inverse love song. That feeling of having your day darken simply by someone's existence making itself known. I'm always fascinated by anti-romance in songs. The feeling of strong passion a...
https://miscellany.pckt.blog/february-22-orange-ball-of-pain-pt95fky · 22 Feb 2026
And welcome back to folk territory. The guitar and vocals are soft and meditative storytelling, allowing the lyrics to perform a one-two punch of undermining and then reinforcing. Let's not beat around the bush: this song is built around a pun. And as with...
https://miscellany.pckt.blog/february-21-full-flower-1wka8wv · 21 Feb 2026
Folks, I don't want to freak you out, but I just heard an electric guitar. And multi-instrumentation. We're onto a new album here with new production standards. We are a long way from the rumble grumble of John's tape recorder and a lot closer to, well, in...
https://miscellany.pckt.blog/february-19-duke-ellington-218jbg2 · 19 Feb 2026
A mainstay of all eras of the Mountain Goats is the song as a sketch. A small set of details spelling out something very specific, with the potential for universality through the small details. Here, we're getting even more specific than usual and looking ...
https://miscellany.pckt.blog/february-18-the-only-thing-i-know-h9s8t4e · 18 Feb 2026
This is an interesting time for production on Mountain Goats songs, as they move between solo and multi-instrumental and between tape recorder and studio. Sometimes this works very well, as with Song For Dana Plato. Other times... OK, that feels unfair. I ...