GOAT

[notallwhowander]

I don't remember which thread discussion of this band was buried in, so here is one easy to find.

Having a bit of extra time, I rolled into an actual brick-and-mortar record store, and lo-and-behold Goat was in stock. I picked up World Music, but demurred at getting Commune at the same time.

Primary selling points: Cool band mythology (some anonymous voodoo cult from Sweden), they perform masked & costumed, and lots of psychedelic fuzz-tone guitar.

@ Galstonbury


Drawbacks: I'm not getting much songcraft on World Music, which I get isn't their thing as much as creating the electronic-tribal vibe, and the vocals, at least on World Music, sounds a lot like the Go-Gos shouting at me.

I'd go to a show, definitely, if they ever get to California. But I think I'm still deciding about the music on the whole.

Opinions?

[Facelift]

I'm a fan of "World Music."

[JKL2000]

They should do a tour together with the Italian band Goad.

[Scrotum Scissor]

They're OK. Commune is quite good.

Their "voodoo cult'ish identity" is little but a staged gimmick and act of purported mystery, though - as with their (far duller and more overtly theatrical and clichéd) countrymen Ghost. At least a couple of the musicians involved are apparently also active with one or more projects on the Subliminal Sounds label.

[Morpheus]

I like the Japanese band Goat.

[notallwhowander]

They're OK. Commune is quite good.

Their "voodoo cult'ish identity" is little but a staged gimmick and act of purported mystery, though - as with their (far duller and more overtly theatrical and clichéd) countrymen Ghost. At least a couple of the musicians involved are apparently also active with one or more projects on the Subliminal Sounds label.

I'm not above appreciating a gimmick. I'm a big fan of The Residents and 3 Mustaphas 3, after all. Goat's mythology is about on par with them, except that the Rez have kept it going for a surprisingly long time.

[progholio]

I honestly know nothing about the mythology, i discovered them live and can tell you they are hypnotic and trippy as hell in concert. Commune is really good and World Music i like even better.

Here's a new single which hasn't quite grabbed me yet, hoping maybe the rest of the album will be a little heavier.

[mike_hunt]

I like World Music a lot. Commune was good too.

I'd really like to see them live. Hopefully they decide to tour outside of large festivals over here.

[JKL2000]

I like the Japanese band Goat.

I like Goatwhore.

[Nijinsky Hind]

I once had an lp by goat and sold it on ebay for 80 bucks. Never did play it. It had a 1800s circus art cover... .don't
remember the name of the album.

[spacefreak]

They came to my attention at their early stage with the Goatman single that copied the legendary Bathory debut "goat" cover. The overall gimmick (tribal/black metal mockery/fun/pagan ritualistic references) seemed to work in their benefit, as it was supported by credibly fitting music. World Music stood out as an excellent take on afro-tribal sounding psych rock with a kraut edge; one of the best albums of 2012 i.m.o. Commune, was not up to the standards of their debut; it sounded more restrained, lacking the raw off-the-hook/blow-your-mind that dominated World Music and had a cleaner production that eliminated the fun factor of the former. However the psych, otherwordly factor is still here.

Saw them live in October and they were great... Very tight, with a groovy/hypnotic rythm section and huge guitars. In times they could grab the audience and throw it into a trance-like state.

[spacefreak]

I like the Japanese band Goat.

Yep. They're good, though somewhat more berlin-techno influenced for my taste.

[Scrotum Scissor]

I'm not above appreciating a gimmick. I'm a big fan of The Residents and 3 Mustaphas 3, after all.

The Residents were and are a far more artistically legitimate play on performance mystery than anyone else after them in rock, and probably only surpassed by Beefheart, The Grateful Dead and Magma before them - all of whose work rested strongly on the synthesis of imagery, aesthetic dogma, creative vision and an apparent "mental mythology" as such, only enhanced by the frequent rumours of personal excesses and extremities of cultural transcendence.

[Joe F.]

I like World Music a lot. Commune was good too.

I'd really like to see them live. Hopefully they decide to tour outside of large festivals over here.

If over here is the US, then they did a fairly extensive tour here on the first album. I saw them in a small-ish (600) capacity club a couple of years ago.

[notallwhowander]

After starting this thread, I've listened to World Music more intensively, and it is growing on me. Nothing on the album beats the last track, with what I assume is some kind of harmonium. I still feel like the Go-Gos are shouting at me, but I'm rolling with it a bit better. I think picking up Commune is a good idea now.

[notallwhowander]

Scored a copy of Commune, and it is quite good. It blends more acoustic guitar into the mix, which changes up the pace a bit. I just need to figure out some of these lyrics.


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[Dana5140]

I quite like them, I first saw them on a youtube clip live, and then bought one of their CDs. They are similar to some of our local bands like Euforquestra, but a lot better (and out local bands are pretty darned good).

[notallwhowander]

I've circled back around to Goat in the last couple of days, and have been reading about them. Because it is difficult to make out all the lyrics, they do pose a delicious little problem of figuring out what they are all about.

For the interested I present two reviews of Commune. The first one, from Pitchfork, the reviewer really doesn't seem to get it. The second one, from Paste, the reviewer really does.

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/19829-goat-commune/

https://www.pastemagazine.com/articl...ne-review.html

Both like the music, but the attitude seems to break down over how they approach the high concept of the band. The Pitchforker takes a jaundiced view towards the band's mysticism, and sees it as something they'll need to get over. The Paster looks as the mysticism as addressing a basic human need, and sees no problem in it at all. As I read through a variety of reviews, the internet seems more Pitchfork than Paste.

[JKL2000]

If the songs aren't actually about goats that would be a deal breaker for me.

[notallwhowander]

Well, they could be. It's hard to tell what they've singing/chanting/yelling about half the time.

[notallwhowander]

So I've had the new album, Requiem, for a few days now. It's still settling in, but on first impressions: they explore more acoustic sounds in this one, so there isn't the constant background of heavy fuzz-laden guitar (by way of analogy, think of Led Zeppelin III or Tanz Der Lemminge, but for the GOAT sound). It brings the North/West African influences forward in a serious way. It also tones down the vocals, as they don't always have to yell to be heard. The focus is still on the groove, regardless of the instrumentation or amplification, and while this disc has a lot of short tracks, a number of them are instrumental grooves I can easily imagine being extended or incorporated into longer performance pieces.

To my ears, World Music and Commune sound birthed out of overly-long winter nights, whereas Requiem, with its spacious acoustic grooves and field recordings, sounds like it is birthed out of summer. The tribal vibe never quits, so it manages to be a significant expansion to the band's sound, but stays true to the high-concept. Still, if you are looking for the heavy, driving fuzz of World Music, this it is not.

[per anporth]

Requiem is the only one I know. Picked it up after hearing a track on Cerys's Sunday morning 6Music show.

For me, it's tucked in there with Crystal Fighters & Of Monsters & Men. I like it in the moment, & live, at a festival, it's pretty much perfect...

...but it doesn't linger long on the turntable.

[Mythos]

If the songs aren't actually about goats that would be a deal breaker for me.

That is bahhhhhhhhd....

[spacefreak]

Requiem did not do it for me. The music is in an interesting folkier direction but the songwriting is not that strong and memorable as in previous albums. I liked only half of the LP. It's a long distance from their debut masterpiece.

[Mascodagama]

Great live, very good first album, was disappointed by the second, haven't been inspired to hear the third.