By Brian Atkinson
January 04, 2007
ldquo;There are no two Daniel songs that sound alike, rdquo; said Yves Beauvais, who signed Daniel Johnston to Atlantic Records, in a 1994 interview. It rsquo;s true. Sure, raw honesty is a common thread in Johnston rsquo;s music, but his focus shifts seamlessly from hallucinatory philosophy ( ldquo;The Adventures of God as a Young Boy rdquo;) to romantic revenge ( ldquo;Blue Skies Will Haunt You Forever rdquo;) to (many times) depression ( ldquo;Going Down rdquo;).
A true cult hero of independent music ndash; Kurt Cobain famously championed Johnston, who suffers from bipolar disorder, as a favorite songwriter ndash; the debate over this mental health casualty long has been this: mere patient or mad prophet? A good case can be made for both. I Killed the Monster suggests the latter, and backs up the claim with forceful, passionate performances.
It's a follow up to 2004 rsquo;s The Late Great Daniel Johnston: Discovered Covered ndash; a higher profile tribute that featured the likes of Beck and Tom Waits ndash; but it captures Johnston rsquo;s essence more gracefully than its hat-tipping predecessor. Like Johnston himself, most contributing artists here are incredibly talented yet relatively unheralded voices that deserve a broader audience. Chalk one up for the underdog.
- Punk Turns 30: Punk's Guilty Pleasure
Sam BoyleWhat is punk rock's not-so-guilty pleasure? Country music. Yup. Consider The Dils, pictured above...who together with another bonafide punk, Alejandro Escovedo (The Nuns) formed Rank and File, a true progenitor of the country-punk genre...
- YouTube: Get it while it's hot - Los Angeles Times
Hun LeeTHE beautiful thing about a machine like YouTube, the video-hosting virtual megalopolis named "invention of the year" by Time magazine (though its birth dates from 2005), is its fundamental neutrality, the way the website wraps itself around the user and...
- The Shins Return with Fantastic "Phantom Limb"
Dwayne JenkingsNever liked the term critic. I much prefer seeking out what I like and expounding on what makes it so great. With that in mind, consider this list a holiday assortment of many great-to-pretty-great music I rsquo;m enjoying currently...
-
Dwayne Jenkings...
-
Ram Stone...
News RSS