Interview with Johnny Hickman, of Cracker

[Ed. note: this is a special guest post by friend and journalist Tara Nelson, who recently had the opportunity to talk with Hickman about the newest Cracker album, "Sunrise In The Land Of Milk And Honey," in Bellingham, Wash. Matthew Ward contributes.]

Q: Hi Johnny. It's funny, ever since your publicity agent said I'd be interviewing you, I had the song "What You're Missing" stuck in my head where you talk about helping start the band.
A: That's funny because it was just us kind of joking around and making fun of rap and telling our little story. David and I have been playing music together for more than 20 years but we've had more than 15 other members come and go so we were trying to explain that in that song.

Q: I saw Camper and Cracker when you guys played in Bellingham a couple years ago. What brings you back to the area – Glacier of all places, which has a population of 90, and lies in the middle of the Mount Baker Wilderness!? Don't you know there are bears here?
A: Well I've lived in wilderness areas before, although now I'm in Colorado so it's not exactly wilderness but it's pretty close to it. I guess it’s just about time we come back. In fact, we often look at the map and look at areas we haven’t been in awhile and check out new towns and sometimes we just go to one based on the advice on someone else. We’ve played in big cities and now it’s time to go off the beaten track a little bit. Every time we do that we find great little towns we fall in love with and put on the tour map in the future.

Q: You're entering your fourth decade as a musician. If you look back to the early ‘80s when you first got started with bands like the Box 'O Laffs and Camper Van Beethoven, did you have any idea that this was actually going to turn into a viable, long-term career?
A: Certainly not and every year that it does I feel lucky, but part of it is also hard work and perseverance. David and I both had bands in the ‘80s in southern California, or the Inland Empire, as so they call it, and we’ve both experienced varying degrees of success. We’ve been at it a long time and we have fathers and sons and mothers and daughters who have seen us. One thing we said to each other in the beginning is that bands break up over trivial bullshit and we said let’s stay the course go for the long-haul and we’ve managed to do that. We’ve never been a household word but we’ve been making a living and that’s great.

Q: What is Cracker Soul?
A: That’s a great question because it brings us back to the origin of the band. When we first started hanging out after Camper broke up, I had just come from Bakersfield, California. We had both been into Captain Beefheart, The Kinks, Pixies and bands like that and we started going through our CD collections and saw how much we shared. He turned me on to the Buzzcocks and I turned him on to X and the Dead Kennedies. At the same time we started going away from what was on the radio, which was, at the time, all hair rock and new wave, we went the opposite direction with the songs we were writing. They all had our characteristic humor but stylistically, they were going in a sort of folk and soul roots directions. We realized we were kind of like Creedence Clearwater Revival and bands like that which were mostly white guys singing with this kind of African American soul. We both grew up in the south, we were exposed to a lot of soul music and country and sort of made them mash together. For example, the song “Get Off This” is sort of like a band like Hot Chocolate or something. And then with “Mr. Wrong,” it’s one of those songs where I’m celebrating country music while I’m making fun of it.

Q: That song is so funny, it's one of my favorites.
A: When I was writing that, I thought it would make David laugh. And he liked it so much he wanted to sing it. It’s been a mainstay in the Cracker show ever since. I think that same character shows up a lot in our songs like with “How Can I Live Without You If It Means I Gotta Get A Job” about the sort of quintessential ne’er-do-well who somehow has redeeming qualities.

Q:We all know people like that.
A: Ha ha, yeah we do. Some of us are related to people like that.

Q: Cracker has been described as everything from soul to rock, alt-country, punk, psychedelia to roots and folk music. How would you describe it?
A: At the root of it, it’s just rock music. People have called us alt-rock godfathers and that’s a high compliment but it shows our age, it also shows the time we came up in. In some ways it doesn’t make sense because when I talk about Cracker music, we don’t really sound grunge or alternative even though we came up in that age of Nirvana and Alice In Chains. To me, we sound more like a cross between the Kinks and sometimes The Beatles and sometimes Led Zeppelin and Little Feat. We’re a hard band to categorize and record companies have had a hard time with that. David and I are kind of proud of that, we have no problem with that at all. All my favorite bands I grew up with were also hard to categorize. I don’t like being defined. Anytime anyone tries to define us, there are going to be holes in those definitions.

Q: What’s currently in your rotation?
A: Always Bob Dylan, Neil Young and the Rolling Stones. The Clash is always readily available. X is another one.

Q: On the new Cracker album, Sunrise In The Land Of Milk And Honey, you duet with Patterson Hood of Drive-by Truckers on the song “Friends.” How did that end up happening? Are you guys friends or something?
A: Yeah, we are. I wrote that song about partnerships like David and I or Mic and Keith or Patterson and Mike Cooley, all are sort of classic musical partnerships. It’s a silly song, certainly, but it’s one that a lot more people have identified with than we thought would. I thought to myself two of the icons of alternative rock singing a song I wrote, that’s kind of a feather in my cap.

Q: And your song “Turn on, tune in, drop out with me” is based on the famous quote by Timothy Leary and suggests finding a meadow high up in the Cascades to disappear in. Do you have some sort of special allegiance to this region?
A: David wrote the lyrics to that one but I think the song is just roughly a sketch of him poking fun of some of his alarmist friends, talking about younger urban professionals in their minds planning to go out and live off the land. In one of the verses, they’re trying to decide on granite or tile in the gun nest. It’s quintessential Lowery humor and he’s poking fun of our generation which we all like to do and he’s picturing this couple who wants to go out and live off the land. It could be someone in any major city in Washington deciding to go out and build a commune and set up a teepee and bring guns. I mean, I don’t take lightly the people who look to the dark sides of the future but there’s a little humor in almost all we do, and there’s certainly a little humor in that song.

Q: One of the more interesting things you've done lately is to tour Iraq with Cracker. Is it true that the idea for this tour started with a Youtube video for Yalla Yalla that a soldier put together?
A: A little bit. It’s bits and pieces of Youtube videos that soldiers have posted and it has everything from battle to dancing, to joking around to rocking out to their favorite music, but we took out the sound and made them rock out to our music.
David got the idea when he happened to be at the Atlanta airport where a lot of troops go through on their way to and from Iraq and he overheard a lot of young soldiers saying Yalla Yalla, which is an Arabic word that basically means let’s get up and go, kind of like odelay, in Spanish. The song doesn’t take a stand one way or another on the war, it’s just sort of a sketch.
So he contacted soldiers on their blogs and in their correspondence he was inspired by all the bravado and machismo of young soldiers to write the lyrics. We tried to put ourselves in the minds of 22-year-old soldiers and the kinds of things they’re trying to do to distract themselves from the duties they’re there to perform.
At the end of the song it becomes all about sex and one-upping each other and a lot of ridiculous sexual connotations – things like “she rocked my world,” “she liked my anaconda,” and “she hollered yalla yalla.” It just becomes more ridiculous as the song goes on. But it’s true to form because that’s how guys that age talk to each other. That’s the way David writes. He writes more like a novelist than a song writer and he creates characters true to their own voice.

Q: What are the prospects for another new Camper record in the foreseeable future?
A: I think there’s talk of another one, I know in 2004, they released New Roman Times and I think they’re working on another one. I know David is also working on a solo album. We’ve all done solo projects but David’s never done one and I think it just struck him, he’s pretty close to getting it out. Probably sometime next year.
If we’re not working on the mother ship, Cracker, which is sort of the center of our world and affords us our bread, then we’re working on Camper or solo projects. We’re music 24/7 kinds of guys.



Cracker is performing in Glacier, Wash., on August 19th, for you Whatcom County luckies!
Cracker - What You're Missing.mp3

What David Berman has been up to for the past two years...

Last Sunday, a small room of maybe 50 people tops, were treated to an awesome lecture by former lead Silver Jew, David Berman. It was part of an Open City writing program. But really Berman spent two hours bashing his father, you know the evil PR guy who represents the interests of big tobacco, alcohol, tanning beds and anything with high fructose corn syrup and fights against MADD, the humane society and the minimum wage. Yeah, very evil. Berman described his father "as a man who prevents progress from happening" and hasn't spoken to him in over five years. More on the evilness here.

Sadly, Berman said he quit music because he felt his "father's world had subsumed his" and that culture and commerce intersect in really disturbing ways. Basically he hated playing festivals next to banners for beer promotion and other corporate things. I'm not sure I agree, but regardless he feels music can no longer be oppositional, which is why he got into it in the first place.

Anyway he started work on a memoir, but then gave up on it. He was also in talks with HBO to create a television series about his father but he decided that was a bad idea since in his words "television normalizes the satanic" and the audience also always sympathizes with the anti-hero. I mean who doesn't love Tony Soprano. So basically we'd all fall in love with his father which defeats his mission entirely. Now he's completely broke but working on a documentary (again about his father). They also filmed his entire talk so you should be able to see it in some capacity, hopefully not too far in the future.

Best quote of the night: "When you're a writer, it's nice to have a dog or two around the office. Because you know they're not getting anywhere either."

I even got to talk to him afterward and thanked him for his awesome music and he gave me a hug, aww.

Random Rules (live 3/10/06) - The Silver Jews

Keyboard Cat's sophomore effort

I know Jess loves few things more than cats, especially dancing cats...



Clearly, Keyboard Cat has found a more accessible path for his music. Though the debut release was stripped down and intimate, this year's release shows Keyboard Cat growth, with a more diverse assortment of instruments, some interesting new beats, and finally lending some vocals to what was previously an instrumental only soundscape.

P4K

We're well into Summer, which means it's music festival time. If my luck holds, I'll be at Pitchfork all day this Saturday, so drop a comment if you'll be there, too. I'm looking for another pair of tickets, if anyone has a lead on one. See you there!

Young Fresh Fellows - Sittin' On A Pitchfork

Girl Talk Gossip!

Gregg dropped a note on Facebook today that a new, unnamed album will be out by the end of this year! I was unconvinced that anything could boot his last album, Feed The Animals, out of rotation and mashup favor, but this might just do it! Keep your ear to the rail for more info...

Girl Talk - Set it Off.mp3

Swinging London!

So I just got back from a whirlwind trip to London. I was technically there for educational purposes (I was taking a course on e-publishing), but between the tours of libraries, museums and other antiquities I managed to squeeze in a some time for music and music-oriented musings. Here are the highlights:

-I finally saw the Avett Brothers live. Of course it's only logical that my friends and I see a band that excels at crafting twangy Americana when travelling across the pond. This totally ruled for several reasons... A) the crowd was epically friendly and polite (a massive departure from the typical Brooklyn hipster scene I've apparently grown immune to) B) it only cost 10 pounds! (that's like 14 American dollars, a fraction of the price I'd pay to see them in the States, which is like over 30 bucks) C) in a venue a fraction of the size I'd see them here (they're scheduled to play the cavernous Radio City in October). Oh and naturally they sounded great, bounding with energy dressed to the nines in their vests and ties.

-Speaking of vests and ties, Harrods (while terribly overrated in my book) was having a 25% off sale on Etro clothing. For those of you who don't know, that's Mountain Goats' bassist Peter Peter Hughes favorite brand for tour wardrobing. And we can't really blame him despite the high price, the designs are so intricate and the fabric so sumptuous. In other words, I'll take any excuse to post this photo of his vest:

-Being able to identify Tube stops from song, i.e. Mornington Crescent and Waterloo Station. Shout out to Belle & Sebastian and the Kinks!

-Hearing Okkervil River's The Stage Names its ENTIRETY being played in an airport gift shop at Heathrow. Instead of waiting at the gate for my flight, I just loitered in the store and enjoyed hearing one of my favorite album's of 2008 being played in the most random of public spaces. I finally got up the nerve to thank the clerk behind the counter for playing it. We chatted about music for about 10 minutes and he even showed me The Hold Steady tattoo on his index finger, (basically just the words "the hold steady" in lowercase typewriter font). If you happen to find yourself in the HMV in Heathrow's terminal 4, tell the man behind the counter I say hi.

And now the only song I know that references both London AND Libraries:
Swinging London - The Magnetic Fields

“It’s going to be incredible. It’s going to probably blow people’s minds."

...That's what she said.

onethirtybpm.com just released yesterday this jewel that I have been waiting to hear for months: New Sufjan Stevens album!!

While they sort of dismiss his work on Songs for Christmas and The BQE (a big mistake, because it is even more well-done and epic compared to 2005's Illinoise) it sounds extremely promising. Many of the new songs were debuted during last fall's tour around the Northeast/Great Lakes region, so it's tremendously exciting to hear how they'll sound from a studio and months of Stevens' tinkering.

Here's a bit of info fresh from that tour if you want a peek into what to expect. Plus oodles of downloads!

While some are still bitching and moaning about the sabbaticals between albums and the whole "he has 48 states to go!", know that the state album project was intended as a joke, as publicity. the new album, as yet unnamed, has no state affiliation. (Unlike Songs for Christmas, which a few people know is actually supposed to be Vermont!)

Plus, think of it this way: his three greatest, most solid albums are Seven Swans, Illinoise, and The BQE. Those three all took about two years of studio work. Instead of badgering him for more songs, know that with a long timeline we get even BETTER songs. So hold onto your hat(s), and in the meantime, check out the interview with Bryce Dessner of The National, and the video of Sufjan sneakily performing live with them on Letterman a few weeks ago.



Random songs!
Sufjan Stevens - Too Much Love.mp3 NEW!
Sufjan Stevens - Year of Our Lord.mp3
Sufjan Stevens - Majesty Snowbird.mp3 LIVE DANCEY VERSION!
Sufjan Stevens - Age of Adz.mp3 NEW!
Sufjan Stevens - Super Sexy Woman.mp3 LIVE!
Sufjan Stevens - All Delighted People.mp3 NEW!
Sufjan Stevens - Impossible Souls.mp3 NEW!
Sufjan Stevens - Toilet Paper Dolls .mp3 STORY!

it r mah birfday, prezentz now plz kthx

Happy birthday to me!
Here's a gift for YOU:

Sondre Lerche - Happy Birthday Girl.mp3

Why I love the Love Language (and why you should too)

The Love Language is by far and away the most underrated band on Merge Records. While well-deserved I'm kinda sick of Spoon and the Arcade Fire getting all the love (how bout their upcoming Madison Square Garden gig, eh?). Last year, I wrote at length about their debut self-titled album which is a lo-fi folk lover's paradise that vacillates wildly between upbeat, orchestral party pop and morning-after melancholia with ramshackle glee. But my love has been renewed after 1. hearing their upcoming album and 2. seeing them in the live.

First off, Stuart McLamb's croon expands tenfold on stage. Without the fuzz of the tape-recorder its given ample room to fly off the stage and into your ears. His vocal prowess lends the songs a new found emotional heft, one that leaves you swooning as a result. The arrangements are also given room to breathe so there's an extra energy to the music.



In other words this is a band who could write a textbook on how to win me over. All other bands take note: Step 1. Write pitch-perfect songs 2. Compile said songs into an album and title it LIBRARIES (I am currently getting a Masters in Library Science). 3. Make ultra cute t-shirts with purple cats on them (OMG I LOVE CATS!!).

But the BEST news of all is that you can stream their ENTIRE upcoming album, the aforementioned Libraries on Merge's website and then buy it on July 13.

Oh and while we're out it download these goodies:
Lalita - The Love Language
Heart to Tell - The Love Language

What I love in 2010 (so far)

I'm still alive!

Apologies for all but leaving our belov'd blog behind while I ran away to culinary school in Montpelier, Vermont and then home to Seattle, but now that life has some pauses I intend to fully make good with the MP3s and such! So let's find a basic starting point: What're the fresh and ripe picking for ears this season?

Some might say I've taken a turn to the dark side with a newfound affinity for pop, or could it be that suddenly there's actually good pop music out there? Lady Gaga's endlessly changing looks and enviable stage productions take already awesome songs and elevate them further. From personal experience, The Fame Monster is an excellent album to cook or bake to.
Lady Gaga - So Happy I Could Die.mp3

"Broken Bells, sounds like the guy from the Shins with a DJ." Close, it's the Shins' James Mercer with Brian Burton of Danger Mouse. Local station KEXP made a good point: After listening to the album, wait 2 hours, then try to sing one of the songs. You can't, because they completely lack hooks of any kind. The Shins' least-poppy songs are still poppier than anything from BB but don't categorize them with artists like Fiery Furnaces just yet. They hold their own musically and deserve multiple listens. Here's the first track off the album:
Broken Bells - The High Road.mp3

Considering most of my preferred viewing fare is along the lines of Breaking Bad and The X-Files, Glee is a wonderfully refreshing change. The musical dramedy's impeccable attention to detail, the incredibly talented cast, and fresh writing make this show a true gem.
Glee taught me two things: 1, the influence of Bollywood supports the idea that culture doesn't (and shouldn't) move strictly from west to east, and 2, that in recession times people cut back on the serifs and flourishes of life but that singing and dancing will always be popular. Glee does it right with a healthy dose of snark. If you like cover songs as much as we do, then this is a bandwagon you should definitely get on.
Glee - Total Eclipse of the Heart.mp3 (Bonnie Tyler cover)
Glee - Poker Face.mp3 (acoustic Lady Gaga cover... aw yeah)

Now that hipsters have decided to move on from the 80's to the 90's, I'm hoping for a revival of some of my favorite artists from that decade. 20 years ago, Jeff Buckley worked on his first fledgling recordings: the Babylon Dungeon Demos and an album with Captain Beefheart guitarist Gary Lucas. Here're two songs from that time:
Jeff Buckley - All Flowers in Time Bend Towards the Sun.mp3 (Rare, high-quality studio recording with Elizabeth Fraser of Cocteau Twins)
Jeff Buckley - Unforgiven.mp3 (aka Last Goodbye, this early version is from the Babylon Dungeon Demos)

I love Stephin Merritt. It's too bad that he's a gay 40-something smoker with a tiny dog named Irving Berlin; otherwise, we'd be perfect for each other. I love his lyrics, his gravelly voice, his depressing demeanor and deadpan, dry wit. His straightforwardness in even titling songs is a nice balanced reflection opposing the previous album, Distortion, which was electronica artfully obscuring music. In Realism we have a reprieve, where Mr. Merritt steps away from the keyboard and sits down with his fellow bandmates to bring songs back to their raw element. Even the cover art is almost meta-literal about this. It's one of the best Magnetic Fields albums in some time.
The Magnetic Fields - The Dada Polka.mp3

The classic 1988 punk album Beelzebubba contains the same raw anger and youth passion as albums from a decade before, but with more toxic under-sink solutions (sniffing glue, drinking bleach, smoking banana peels) and hilariously ill-informed attempts to woo through song. Without being overly grating, this energetic album is totally awesome as a soundtrack to working or grocery shopping.
The Dead Milkmen - Born to Love Volcanoes.mp3

I was lucky enough to attend the Mountain Goats show @ Doug Fir Lounge in Portland, Oregon on May 30. It was a bit rough in production but very full of love. JD lived only blocks from the venue at one time, with mixed but intense memories that he shared with the crowd in a high-energy "hometown" show They ran through a nice selection of favorites. JD attempted a new song from the "Going to" series, "Going to Brazil," but he couldn't remember the lyrics so we only got the first line and he moved on to "Going to Bogotá."
Only about a half-dozen pictures of the show are on flickr, from one guy, and nothing you haven't seen before. Tons more are of the Sasquatch festival, which I suspect might be due (in part) to JD complaining in Portland about how there's nothing worse than one really serious guy in the front trying to hold a phone up the entire time. JD said if you're in the mental health field, you just immediately get the urge to help, like "oh you look so sad" and you need to fix them... but mostly it's annoying.
Aand if you don't already have a copy, know tMG have and listen to Hi, We're Not the Mountain Goats, with proceeds going to the purchase of a goat from Farm Sanctuary.
the Mountain Goats - Going to Bogotá.mp3

Sure, I could try to justify why I bother with this bubblegum teen-pop at all. Like cheap candy and butterflies, this 16-year old pop star provides absolutely nothing of value or substance, but is always an immensely entertaining draw nonetheless. Who says guilty pleasures should be guilty? S/He who is without New Kids on the Block or Beatles(!) fandom, cast the first comment.
Justin Bieber - Common Denominator.mp3

Yes, yes I know:

Consider this offering of Mashups an olive branch:

Life's a Bitch, Loser (Nas vs. Beck).mp3
Ghost Beasties (Ghostbusters Theme vs. Beastie Boys).mp3
Seasons Of Juice (Chambaland vs. Rent).mp3
The XX Gon' Give It To Ya (DMX vs. The XX).mp3
Tipsy In The Sun (Weezer vs. J-Kwon).mp3
Tik Tok Seattle (Ke$ha vs. Owl City).mp3
Heartbreaker Baby (Justin Bieber vs. MSTRKRFT).mp3

Thought So!

Thought So craft the kind of music rarely heard from New York buzz bands. You know the kind -sparkling alt-country. The kind of music that's twangy yet still polished but not overly-produced. It's refreshingly untrendy americana much in the vain of the Avett Brothers or old school Wilco. In other words it's the kind of music we here at the Volume Knob rather enjoy. They only have one EP so far but bodes well for their musical future. Take a listen for yourself and stream the tunes at their MySpace page (hey what do you know, MySpace is still good for something!).

Oh and if you live around NY, be sure to catch them at the Mercury Lounge June 11.

Every Eventually - Thought Somp3

CRAZY GIRL!

Here's (half) a new Of Montreal song to get kick off your weekend. Gotta love Kevin Barnes spoken word interludes.

Iron Man has really good taste in music

Hey look, the characters in Iron Man quote the Mountain Goats almost as much as we do!

Not so easy to Google

The Sleigh Bells album, Treats, is finally out! You can get it on iTunes for a whopping $6.90. Go, do, right away! Stream some of it here, on their Myspace. It's really, really good, and I'm not big on Electronica, which is not to say that I'm not enjoying the new LCD Soundsystem album, This is Happening, also out yesterday, and available at the Buy More ... I mean the Buy'n'Large ... I mean the Best Buy for $7.99.

This is what happens when all of one's local records stores go out of business. One has to buy on the Internets and at the Big Boxes. It's strange to me how the Big Boxes are filling the niche. One can only hope that the artists are making some small pittance out of my purchases. If anyone knows of a good analysis of the state of the recording industry today, feel free to point me to it. Touring is probably still king, followed by direct internet sales, maybe? Hmm ...

Narcissistic confession time

Sometimes I buy albums for all the wrong reasons. Instead of buying that album my friend enthusiastically and perpetually recommends or buying the EP from that stellar opening band, I buy the album that has that song that's titled after my name.

I'll admit that's what initially piqued my interest in Avi Buffalo's debut self-titled album. But it wasn't just the beautifully titled track 5 "Jessica". It's that it was sandwiched between track 4 "Five Little Sluts" and track 6 "Summer Cum". Oooh "DIRTY!" was my first reaction. I wondered how my name played into all the sexual sexiness of it all. And thus I plunked down ten bucks for one of the most deceptive listens I've found in a while.

First of all, I was expecting something loud, fast and downright filthy, but what I found was light, acoustic and lovely. Nearly downright dainty. I'm talking shimmering harmonies, mellow melodies, some Grizzly Bear-esque atmospherics and a dash of old-school Wilco twang. Of course this is sort of weird juxtaposition when the lyrics refer to the stains of bodily fluids and "shady deals regarding money and girls". Okay so maybe it's dirtier than I thought. Listen for yourself:

Summer Cum - Avi Buffalo
Jessica - Avi Buffalo

And here's the video for one of their best songs, "What's In It For?":

"The enemy is everywhere!"

I'm not sure what else I can say about Titus Andronicus' stellar album The Monitor that hasn't already been said. It's about the Civil War as much as it is about New Jersey as much as it's about disaffected youth. That is to say it is about a lot of BIG things. That is also to say it's gonna take a lot of listens before I can unpack it all.

But that's a beautiful thing, because it sounds about as big as the subject matter it covers. Not in an overblown way though, more like an out-of-breath way. There might as well not even be a track listing because every song just sort of ramshackle-y unravels, verse piled on verse, and spills into the next, but in the best possible way. It kind of sounds like a much punkier, more youthful version of The Hold Steady, with all the Springsteen worship to boot. (Check out the lyrics in epic opener "A More Perfect Union", "tramps like us, baby we were born to die!") In other words, it's the sound of something exciting looking forward and looking back.

A More Perfect Union - Titus Andronicus

First of May!

This is a Spring anthem of sorts. I won't give anything away, but let's just say its dedicated to all the horny college kids out there. It's a damn beautiful day so grab the one you love (or just the one you think is really hot) and start making out on the quad.

"His smile is like a baby bunny sniffing a flower"

Hipster Kitty is right. The more we talk about it, the less stigma there is. That being said, I have nothing to say for myself. Quod Scripsi Scripsi.

Justin Bieber - Up.mp3

Record Store Day 2010

Just a reminder: today is Record Store Day 2010! Swing by your local independent record store and pick up some goodies, like the Mountain Goats' "Life of the World to Come" DVD which is also released today. Only 1,500 copies were made, and distributed throughout the U.S., so call and visit to snag a copy!

Here's my personal favorite track off the latest album by the same name:
the Mountain Goats - 1 John 4:16.mp3

Glee!

Ah yeah, it's that time again. Today is going to be an all-Glee mix at work. While you're Enjoying Sue Sylvester's spoof of Madonna's iconic "Vogue" video, check out some fantastic amateur tributes to the show. I present to you Seattle's Glee Flash Mob!