The Mountain Goats' John Darnielle lists favorite albums of 2021, announces 'Devil House' book tour

The Mountain Goats had a busy 2021, releasing a new album, Dark In Here, right on the heels of 2020’s Getting Into Knives and Songs for Pierre Chuvin, and returning to the road on tour. Frontman John Darnielle also announced a new novel, Devil House, due out January 25, and he’s now revealed dates for an early 2022 book tour surrounding its release. It beings with a Brooklyn launch event being put on by Books Are Magic at St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church on January 24, where he’ll appear in conversation with author Grady Hendrix (The Final Girl Support Group, Horrorstör, etc). and Tickets are on sale now.

There’s a second NYC event on the day the book comes out, at The Strand on January 25, and tickets are on sale for that, as well. The tour then continues with in-person and virtual stops in Cambridge, Washington DC, Los Angeles (Skylight Books on January 31), Seattle, San Francisco, Denver, St. Louis, and more. See all dates below.

Darnielle has also shared his list of favorite albums of 2021, via Merge. “This list indicates the I-seem-to-be-coming-back-to-this-one records from my year; not listed are the Mixcloud & Soundcloud feeds & Internet radio stations that form an increasingly important part of my listening: The Lot Radio, WFMU, Hearts of Space, Karl Kenyatta’s Mixcloud, NTS Radio,” he writes. “It also is short on the stuff I bought from Bandcamp — which is a lot of stuff, and which I listen to on my runs, shout out to the Garmin 645, but which has a radio-like ephemerality for me. Ephemerality or no, some of that stuff was as big for me as anything on this list: Pye Corner Audio, the Bannoffee Pies label. Cuneiform’s 5-dollar specials, which reliably unearth amazing music I’d missed. I spent more time listening to Prokofiev’s Piano Sonatas than to anything on this list except maybe the Sarah Jarosz album, I’d wager, but the recordings themselves were a decade old. These are difficult times but at least we have music; thank God for music!!” Read his list below.

JOHN DARNIELLE’S FAVORITE ALBUMS OF 2021 (via)
Dreamwell, Modern Grotesque (which we listed as one of 15 Great Screamo Albums from 2021)
Diskantores, Hollandse Fragmenten
Spire, Temple of Khronos
Crystal Viper, The Cult
Wardruna, Kvitravn
OSS & The Orb, Enter the Kettle
Kauan, Ice Fleet
Frozen Crown, Winterbane
Ruins of Beverast, The Thule Grimoires
Naoko Sakata, Dancing Spirits
Altin Gun, Yol
Sarah Jarosz, Blue Heron Suite
Thy Catafalque, Vadak
Jon Dwyer et al, Moon-Drenched
Arooj Aftab, Vulture Prince
NIKARA, NIKARA presents Black Wall Street
Circuit des Yeux, -io
Jaubi, Nafs at Peace
Zeynep Bastik, Zeynodisco
Asphyx, Necroceros
Temperance, Diamanti
At the Gates, The Nightmare of Being

JOHN DARNIELLE DEVIL HOUSE 2022 BOOK TOUR

• Monday, January 24th, 7:00pm ET Brooklyn, NY Books Are Magic @ St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church Launch Event, in conversation with Grady Hendrix
• Tuesday, January 25th, 7:00pm ET New York, NY The Strand Book Store
• Wednesday, January 26th, 6:00pm ET Cambridge, MA Harvard Book Store @ the Brattle Theatre
• Friday, January 28th, 8:00pm ET Washington, DC Politics and Prose
• Monday, January 31st, 7:30pm PT Los Angeles, CA Skylight Books
• Tuesday, February 1st, 7:30pm PT Seattle, WA Town Hall Seattle and Third Place Books In conversation with Luke Burbank
• Wednesday, February 2nd, 7:00pm PT San Francisco, CA Green Apple Books @ The Dairy In conversation with Annalee Newitz
• Friday, February 4th, 7:00pm MT Denver, CO Tattered Cover, Colfax Ave
• Sunday, February 6th, 1:00pm CT Wichita, KS Watermark Books
• Monday, February 7th, 7:00pm CT Tulsa, OK Booksmart Tulsa @ Duet Jazz Club In conversation with Jeff Martin
• Tuesday, February 8th, 7:00pm CT St. Louis, MO Left Bank Books @ the Ethical Society of St. Louis In conversation with G’Ra Asim
• Wednesday, February 9th, 8:00pm MT Boise, ID Morrison Center With Josh Ritter