Merge to reissue The Mountain Goats album All Hail West Texas

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Merge will reissue The Mountain Goats 2002 album All Hail West Texas in the UK on the 5th August 2013.

The last of the “all-home-recordings albums” by the Mountain Goats and the only one about which that claim is true, All Hail West Texas was originally released as a free-standing compact disc on the late, lamented Emperor Jones. That was about a decade ago. The songs were originally transferred from the cassettes onto which they were recorded to 1/4″ reels at Tiny Telephone by Alex Newport, who also played in Fudge Tunnel.  John got really excited when he realized his tapes were being EQ’d by the guy from Fudge Tunnel.

Remastered from those reels, along with 7 unearthed songs from the two surviving contemporaneous cassettes, All Hail West Texas stands as the peak of The Mountain Goats’ home recording era, a time people like to refer to as “when John Darnielle had his four-track,” except John did not actually use a four-track.  He used the condenser mic of a Panasonic boombox and there was no overdubbing.  All songs recorded on the day they were written, usually within minutes of the actual composition. Highlights include “Jenny,” “Fall of the Star High School Running Back,” and “The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton,” a song which has compelled audiences around the globe to yell “Hail Satan,” and to mean it.

Package art features a newly penned 1,800-word essay by John detailing his songwriting and recording process for the album.

Read John Darnielle’s words about the album HERE

And do read Mat Fraction‘s essay on the record HERE

The Mountain Goats have also just announced a DUO tour.  You can catch two of the Mountain Goats – John Darnielle and Peter Hughes  later this year in Europe and the UK.  Drummer Jon Wurster is sitting out this tour to focus on his definitive study of Peter Criss’s vocal performances.Monday 7th October – Bristol, St Georges Church
Tuesday 8th October – London, Union Chapel
Wednesday 9th October – Manchester, Royal Northern College of Music
Thursday 10th October –  Glasgow, Arches
Saturday 12th October – Belgium, Handelsbeurs
Sunday 13th October – Amsterdam NL, People’s Place
Monday 14th October – Cologne Germany, D Luxor
Wednesday 15th October – Paris, France, La Gaite Lyrique
Friday 18th October – Madrid Spain, venue TBC
Saturday 19th October – Barcelona Spain, Caprichos de Apolo
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