No shirt, no shoes, who cares?

Pass the cheesecake -- I just recently found out about this grand online documentary by Joe York on Oxford, Mississippi's late great Hoka Theatre, "Sorry We're Open." For anybody who ever passed through Oxpatch in the halcyon daze of the 1980s and 1990s, the Hoka was one of the best places in town to pull in for a spell; a highly ramshackle former cotton warehouse-turned-alternative movie theatre/hangout and restaurant, run in a charmingly relaxed fashion. Like many Oxonians I spent many a night there, eating cheesecake and checking out "Pulp Fiction" and "The Piano" for the first time, watching cowpunk bands and dealing with the er, temperamental projectionist Barton. York has made a swell short documentary that features many familiar Oxford faces and a salute to a now-closed, now-demolished piece of Oxford history. (It's hilarious to see my old editor/boss Chico interviewed credited as a "Hoka Archivist/Conservationist!") I've lived many a place and many a country, but in my memories Oxford is the friendliest place I ever called home. The Hoka was a big part of it. "I never felt bad at the Hoka," as Ole Miss's Sparky Reardon says.

• A wonderfully-written piece by Stephen Rodrick in New York magazine about Mountain Goats frontman John Darnielle and his extremely devoted fans, one of the best pieces of music writing I've seen in a while.

• Another excellent magazine article, this one about the late writer David Foster Wallace and the work he left behind. As good an answer we may get to the question of why he killed himself last year and a requiem for an extraordinary talent (plus welcome news of his final unfinished work "The Pale King," which will be released next year).

Concert review: The Mountain Goats, Auckland, December 17

...John Darnielle is the rockingest hyper-wordy acoustic-guitar geek in the music biz. The Mountain Goats frontman and his two-man band put on a fantastic show at the Kings Arms last night in Auckland, short but intense and often very funny. I've been a fan of the Goats (basically Darnielle and occasional collaborators) for several years now. He's one of the best songwriters in the business and I've long wanted to see him live. There's few singers that can manage the fragile intensity of Darnielle's songs -- Auckland crowds are usually a bit rowdy at gigs but the audience was hushed and reverent as John spun his tales of beat-down outcasts, lost loves and confused minds. They even handed back John's guitar pick when it fell!

John was in very good cheer, on the second-to-last date of a globetrotting tour, telling amusing monologues about Norwegian death metal and songwriting in Alaska. He started the set solo with his acoustic guitar (which he still managed to "shred" on as he pounded away at it), then during a terrific "In The Craters of the Moon," his nattily-dressed bass player Peter Hughes and drummer Jon Wurster joined him onstage, exploding the acoustic tune into a full-on band set. One thing I really loved about John is how un-self-conscious this former psychiatric nurse was on stage -- he doesn't exactly cut a rock-star figure, with his bowl haircut and glasses, but his sheer joy in his craft is contagious. He pulled goofy faces and banged away at that acoustic guitar like he wanted to be Hendrix.

It was marvelous to see the audience at the Kings Arms were such fans, and slightly surreal in the encore to have cheery group sing-alongs to two of the Goats' darkest tunes, "No Children" and "This Year" (which feature oddly uplifting choruses along the lines of "I hope you die / I hope we both die" or "I am going to make it through this year / if it kills me.") It's very hard to translate on the page how Darnielle's intense wheedling voice can make words like these seem life affirming, but somehow they do. After the last couple of weeks, it was pretty damned cathartic to sing along with the Mountain Goats.

If I had one caveat, it's that it was kind of a short show, just over 90 minutes maybe, but then again, it was a work night and the wife and I were both worn out and eager to hit the hay by midnight. It was a highly enjoyable show, so quality wins over quantity this time. Props also to a very good opening set by Kiwi band SideKickNick, who put on some quirky and energetic power pop. (I've seen a few wretched opening acts lately, so when I see one I dig it makes the whole night a little better.)

Below: "This Year," The Mountain Goats

Year in Review: My Top 10 CDs

...Wow, you know, for me 2008 was actually quite a fantastic year for new music. Some years I've had trouble picking a Top 5, but this year I nearly could have done a Top 20. As it is I had to make some painful arbitrary cuts. Acts I've loved for years such as REM and Beck put out swell new albums, but I also discovered a ton of excellent acts this year (many thanks to cool blogs*) -- like the Hold Steady, Wolf Parade, NZ's own Flight of the Conchords and She & Him.

The order of my Top 10 could easily shift given a change of mood, and there's still a couple of '08 albums I really want to hear but haven't had a chance yet. All that as a caveat, in my humble opinion you can't go wrong with any of these discs from the year that nearly was:

1. Hold Steady, "Stay Positive"
Anthemic, inspirational and literate good ol' rock 'n' roll, and a constant in the stereo/iPod all year long. Frontman Craig Finn is one of these dowdy rock poets you see every once in a while, worshipping at the altar of Costello and Springsteen, and on his band's fourth album, creating a rockin' record that never ignores the tough moments, but ultimately seems one hell of a life-affirming document. Swinging from singing about being too old for the "scene" to crooning about cult filmmaker John Cassavetes, Finn manages the tricky business of juggling knowing when to rock and when to go for the killer lyrical hook. A great album has layers, and I'm still digging down deep into this one.

2. Cat Power, "Jukebox"
I know, an album of cover tunes? But nobody does covers like Cat Power, who takes a song and massages it into her own blood. Her takes on tunes by Hank Williams, Frank Sinatra and Billie Holiday are grooving, sultry and utterly her own. I'd have to say she's my favorite singer performing these days. Seeing her live back in March performing these songs was one of the year's highlights.

3. Wolf Parade, "At Mount Zoomer"
Broody, swirling and strange, the second album by this Canadian group is also kind of beautiful because (or in spite of) all the left turns. Sometimes it feels as if a few songs have been squashed together into one. It's got the grandeur of their mates Arcade Fire but sometimes also reminds me of The Doors without the boozy pretension. There's an urgency to it all that keeps the tunes in your head.

4. The Mountain Goats, "Heretic Pride"
I'm finally going to see them live this Wednesday, and I'm psyched. John Darnielle is one of "low-fi" pop's best writers, cunning with a turn of phrase and a fine eye for detail. He started out with boom-box recordings that were faint, tinny and strangely absorbing, but expands into a full band here with glorious results.

5. TV On The Radio, "Dear Science"
This one's on everyone's top 10 lists this year. Am I being a dork by saying I've been into them since 2004? I am so cool. Anyway, TV On The Radio abandons their more prickly side for a bit more mainstream sound, but their industrial-strength doo-wop punk-soul is still hugely compelling stuff, backed up by the dueling vocalists, dense instrumentation, and a state of mind that unerringly captures the confused, battered yet optimistic post-Bush, pre-Obama mindset of the world today.

6. Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds, "Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!"
The Australian high priest of weird doom and gloom, back with a roaring album of lust and temptation and sprawling story-rant lyrics. Like hearing a deranged preacher yelling at you in the subway, but backed by a garage band so propulsively cool you can't help but listen. If that doesn't sound like a recommendation, you don't know Nick Cave.

7. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, "Real Emotional Trash"
Combines the quirky whimsy of his old band Pavement with long, groovy psychedelic guitar jams, like a mash-up of Guided by Voices and Television. Wonderfully loopy and unexpectedly emotional, it's the best he's done since Pavement broke up and a terrific guitar record. Put it on, turn it up and stare off into space.

8. Bob Dylan, "The Bootleg Series Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs"
Strictly speaking, not "new" music but what a revelation of material from Bob's work of the last two decades. Gorgeously packaged alternate versions, unreleased songs and live tracks -- it's like getting a couple of new Dylan albums this year! I don't know if three versions of "Mississippi" were needed but "Red River Shore" is a sheer classic and just about justifies the album on its own. Dylan never really "finishes" a song and this look at his sketchbook is fascinating. (Now when do we get an official "Basement Tapes," dagnabit?)

9. Liam Finn, "I'll Be Lightning"
OK, this is a technicality, because it actually came out in New Zealand in 2007, but was released in America in 2008 and I bought it in 2008, so thppppptt. Liam, the Kiwi son of the great Neil Finn of Crowded House, crafts honey-sweet tunes that combine the House's melancholy beauty with a ramshackle, fuzzed-out charm. He's a one-man band, playing nearly every single instrument on this dense album (see him live, it's great how he recreates the sound). It's one of the more promising "famous musical kids" discs I've heard, and grows on me more with each listen.

10. Calexico, "Carried To Dust."
Moody Tex-Mex Americana rambles along through one of this Arizona band's best albums. It's the kind of music you listen to while driving through red dirt and ever-setting sunsets. There's a genuine warmth to Calexico's work, which is like soundtracks for epic western movies that never quite existed. In terms of evoking a mood, these guys are hard to beat.

The almost-tops, tied for #11:
Ryan Adams, "Cardinology," Jenny Lewis, "Acid Tongue," She & Him, "Vol. 1," Elvis Costello and the Imposters, "Momufuku," Beck, "Modern Guilt," REM, "Accelerate."

Best live show:
Tough call as Wilco, Sonic Youth and Cat Power all delivered most excellent Auckland shows, but the massive Big Day Out back in January squished Arcade Fire, Spoon, LCD Soundsystem, Bjork, Liam Finn and Billy Bragg into one hell of a day, so that gets the nod. One of my all-time great musical memories -- here's hoping Neil Young, TV on the Radio and Prodigy can deliver a fitting follow-up next month!

(*As always, go to Largehearted Boy for the coolest dang wrap-up of just about every blog in the universe's Top 10 lists!)

Year in Music 2008 midterm report

It's halfway through the year more or less, and while I still buy lots of those strange archaic shiny things called CDs, I haven't been buying a ton of new music (oddly, I've been filling in gaps in things like the Rolling Stones' classic 1960s work and my newfound Scott Walker obsession). But of what I've picked up from this year so far, here's what I'm digging the most:

Beck, "Modern Guilt." Just got this last week and I've listened to it a dozen times already, so that's a good sign it'll be in my year-end favorites. Beck teams with DJ Dangermouse for a trippy, psychedelic disc that's my favorite Beck since "Sea Change." It's got a gloomy undertone like that fine album, but leavened here by some addictive beat-heavy production and Beck's most emotionally forthright tunes in a while. The marvelous "Gamma Ray" sounds like a shoulda-been 60s dance craze and "Chemtrails" is a hazy, slow-building epic.

Elvis Costello, "Momofuku." Quick-tongued and angry like the best of Costello's work, "Momofuku" is a good-natured jam that boasts some terrific songwriting and a sense of enthusiastic fun that makes it worthwhile for any Elvis fan. It's as carefree as 2004's "The Delivery Man" but more polished lyrically than that one, although it lacks the sonic inventiveness of his last real masterpiece, 2002's "When I Was Cruel." But it's a fine set of songs -- "American Gangster Time" particularly is spot-on, and it's great to see Elvis at 50 still making music with a point to it.

The Mountain Goats, "Heretic Pride". I wrote about how much I dig the Mountain Goats before, and this squawky gem of an album is one of John Darnielle's most professional releases yet – fuller sounding than his earlier bare-bones guitar-and-boombox albums. The raw and urgent indie ethos is here but this is his most mainstream sounding album, with orchestration that enhances rather than detracts from Darnielle's goaty bleat of a voice. "Sax Rohmer #1" and "Autoclave" are eccentric little statements about love and loss that still feel like anthems to me. Great stuff.

Cat Power, "Jukebox." Of course, I saw her perform much of this album in a terrific live show back in March and while it's an album of mostly cover tunes, it's not a stretch to say this is one of Chan Marshall's most personal set of songs. In paying homage to the artists she loves like Bob Dylan, Hank Williams and Aretha Franklin she unveils something sacred about herself. And man, that amped-up version of her own "Metal Heart" is just a stunner. Crackling bluesy alt-rock and Chan's voice has never been sexier or stronger.

...And while I wouldn't call it great, one disc I think has been rather unfairly panned is Scarlett Johansson's "Anywhere I Lay My Head", a collection of Tom Waits cover songs. Now, does she sound like Tom Waits? Not at all. Can she sing? Well, not technically, but her deep moan of a voice does remind me a bit of Nico and old Sinead O'Connor. The production by TV on the Radio's David Sitek is really heavy to cover up the thin voice, but put it all together and it's a nicely moody little album, kind of fractured fairytale lullabies with a dreamy, gauzy tone. It's far more idiosyncratic and interesting than most actress-turned-musician CD releases, and I've found myself frequently playing it as kind of mellow late-night background music. Its biggest flaw is that as a Tom Waits tribute, it falls far short of the original material's growly majesty and sounds more like a 20-year-old girl reciting poetry to herself in her bedroom. But still, not as bad as all that really.

Music you should dig: The Mountain Goats

One of my favorite bands I've discovered in the last five years or so are the wonderful Mountain Goats. Singer John Darnielle is one of the most unique voices in the business, kind of like a combination of Bob Dylan, Robyn Hitchcock and a guy you see mumbling poems to himself in the back of the bus. The Mountain Goats are basically Darnielle with a handful of buddies; the band started off with Darnielle recording low-fi confessional acoustic rambles on a guitar on a boom box, and he's since moved into lusher fuller sounds with his more recent albums. His reedy quiver of a voice might catch you off guard, but he draws you in with his elaborate tableaus of monsters, freaks and lovable skateboarding losers, painting even the most ordinary of scenes with a kind of gangly beauty.

None less an authority than The Guardian calls him one of the best lyricists in music today, and it's hard to argue. He's funny, heartbreaking and does maddeningly brilliant turns of phrase. One of my favorites is the early tune "The Best Ever Death Metal Band In Denton":

The best ever death metal band out of denton
were a couple of guys, who'd been friends since grade school.
one was named cyrus, and the other was jeff.
and they practiced twice a week in jeff's bedroom.

The best ever death metal band out of denton
never settled on a name.
but the top three contenders, after weeks of debate,
were satan's fingers, and the killers, and the hospital bombers.

This is a band with song titles like "Linda Blair Was Born Innocent," "Game Shows Touch Our Lives," "International Small Arms Traffic Blues" and "The Fall Of The Star High School Running Back."

Which brings me to the reason for my post, checking out the new Mountain Goats video! This video just blows me away - I rarely watch music videos anymore in the post-MTV era, but it shows you can still do something creative with a very lyrics-based performer. Enjoy "Sax Rohmer #1" from the new Mountain Goats disc "Heretic Pride":


Best of all, the Mountain Goats are coming to Auckland for a show in April, and you can bet the wife and I will be there in the front row. Go Goats!