John Darnielle @ Bowery Ballroom in March (NYC) (more by Ryan Barkan)

John Darnielle (aka The Mountain Goats) recently visited Chicago to perform at The Second City's Letters To Santa benefit, and while in town, managed to visit the A.V. Club as well. He performed the Hugh Martin and Ralph Blaine holiday classic "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas."

Wye Oak was in town the same day--they're pals--and Darnielle had the funny idea of singing the song directly to Jenn Wasner. Scheduling didn't work, so we put together a silly second version of this video, especially for you. [A.V. Club]

Continue reading "John Darnielle covered "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" @ A.V. Club; played The Second City (video)"

The Second City are hosting 24-hours of music and improv from the evening of Tuesday, December 6th through the evening of December 7th.

For a decade, The Second City has enlisted Chicago's best improvisers and their musical counterparts to create twenty-four consecutive hours of the best improvised live art you will see in the city. This unique event raises money and gives hope to disenfranchised Chicago families on Christmas day. This year's improvisation will be spearheaded by Second City alums TJ Jagadowski, Tim Baltz and Brendan Jennings.

Improvisational games, scenes and songs inspired by sleep deprivation will accompany performances by the following musical acts:

07:30pm - Jeff Tweedy - live from Minneapolis auctioning a private show
09:30pm - Nina Nastasia
Midnight - The Mountain Goats
03:00am - Jeff Parker
05:00am - Bonnie 'Prince' Billy
09:00am - Danielson
11:00am - Nora O'Connor
01:00pm - Robbie Fulks
03:00pm - Helen Money
05:00pm - The Blisters

You can also live stream the event, for a suggested PayPal donation of $20. All proceeds will go to Chicago families in need.

The Mountain Goats stopped by the A.V. Club in Chicago to take part in their "Undercover" series. The group chose to play the Jawbreaker anthem, "Boxcar."

When we heard from John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats that the band had chosen Jawbreaker's 1994 classic of punk-scene angst, "Boxcar," to cover for us, we were tickled. When they actually came in and played it, we were delighted.

Though the band-song pairing seems a little incongruous, it actually makes a lot of sense: Both Jawbreaker and The Mountain Goats were/are led by literate guys who like to put their feelings right out there, naked. It just so happens that this song is an indictment of the kind of holier-than-thou punk attitudes that Darnielle probably can't relate to personally. Which makes it all the more fun to see and hear him rock the lines: "You're not punk, and I'm telling everyone" and "One, two, three four, who's punk, what's the score?" [A.V. Club]

Check out the video below.

Continue reading "The Mountain Goats covered Jawbreaker @ A.V. Club"

The Mountain Goats @ Bowery Ballroom 3/30/2011 (more by Ryan Barkan)

today in Chicago
* Liam Finn, The Luyas @ Hideout
* The Mountain Goats, Megafaun @ the Vic
* Blair, Yellow Ostrich @ Andrew Rafacz Gallery
* Toro y Moi, Braids @ Empty Bottle (Late Show)
* Toro y Moi, Adventure @ Empty Bottle (Early Show)
* The Joy Formidable, Mona, The Lonely Forest @ Lincoln Hall
* The Builders and the Butchers, Damion Suomi and the Minor Prophets, Elliot Brood @ Schubas

What else?