the mountain goats / albums

714,501 plays
140 SHARES
230 FAVS
77 fans

- Bitter Melon Farm
- - 12,366 plays
  - 0 favs
  - 0 shares
The Mountain Goats
Released 2002

The Sign
02:28
871 plays

Star Dusting
02:15
604 plays

Going to Cleveland
03:07
585 plays

- Add to cart
- buy
- share

songs

- 1
- Noche del Guajolote
- 02:03
- 410 plays

- 2
- Going to Bangor
- 01:36
- 426 plays

- 3
- Against Agamemnon
- 02:10
- 511 plays

- 4
- Going to Cleveland
- 03:07
- 585 plays

- 5
- Early Spring
- 02:20
- 454 plays

- 6
- Historiography
- 02:53
- 508 plays

- 7
- No, I Can't
- 03:25
- 344 plays

- 8
- Alpha Desperation March
- 02:51
- 583 plays

- 9
- Going to Monaco
- 02:40
- 481 plays

- 10
- Star Dusting
- 02:15
- 604 plays

- 11
- Teenage World
- 02:27
- 544 plays

- 12
- Going to Santiago
- 02:27
- 407 plays

- 13
- Sail On
- 02:57
- 427 plays

- 14
- Black Molly
- 02:24
- 379 plays

- 15
- Rain Song
- 01:54
- 364 plays

- 16
- The Bad Doctor
- 03:39
- 581 plays

- 17
- Alpha Double Negative: Going to Catalina
- 02:43
- 331 plays

- 18
- Pure Intentions
- 02:14
- 384 plays

- 19
- The Lady from Shanghai
- 02:10
- 420 plays

- 20
- Pure Love
- 02:19
- 540 plays

- 21
- Song for an Old Friend
- 02:25
- 552 plays

- 22
- Snow Song
- 02:04
- 209 plays

- 23
- Faithless Bacchant Song
- 01:59
- 308 plays

- 24
- Short Song About the 10 Freeway
- 01:47
- 284 plays

- 25
- No, I Can't
- 03:36
- 431 plays

- 26
- Song for Dana Plato
- 01:54
- 428 plays

- 27
- The Sign
- 02:28
- 871 plays

album review

The second in the compilation series of compilation, singles, and tape-only efforts by John Darnielle and associated others, Bitter Melon Farm is a dream of a release, like its predecessor, Protein Source of the Future, almost effortlessly showing Darnielle's talent and his songs' worth. As with the first, the liner notes are as entertaining and thoughtful as the tunes themselves (his Spandau Ballet fetish continues, said band being mentioned not once but twice, the second time being his thought that the Transmissions to Horace tape should have just been a dubbed copy of True). Darnielle and acoustic guitar once more dominate the proceedings, and his ear for finding many attractive variations on that approach remains clear; consider the near-whine over the brisk run of "Against Agamemnon" versus the reflective, soft melancholy and remembrance of "Snow Song" and the soaring chorus on "Pure Intentions." Transmissions to Horace itself takes up ten songs out of 27 on the collection, and while Darnielle is a bit embarrassed over the praise that tape has received, it is a fine listen, topped off with a warm, lovely cover of the Commodores' "Sail On." Another cover concludes Bitter Melon Farm, a revamp of Ace of Base's early-'90s confection "The Sign" that helps demonstrate once again that those who scoff at songs for succeeding commercially could easily miss out on some beautiful art. More winners from the liner notes: talking about his first single, "Songs for Petronius": "I am aware of a few people who think this is as close to perfection as I've come. These are the same people who think that Suede was possibly the greatest band in the world when they were just playing in small clubs around London but became the worst band in the world as soon as they released their first single." ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide