Daniel Johnston - The indie rock and folk-pop genius here with a backup band. Ok, so it's really weird hearing Daniel Johnston with a full band. It sort of takes away from the beautiful emotion and truth of his lyrics and the raw simplicity of his earlier recordings. Although, it's not too overproduced and his greatness still shines through on most songs. It's not too cleaned up and polished and the music remains raw and intimate. Now that he's in his 40s he has lost that little kid voice and his vocals are much deeper and scratchier. Most songs are about lost love and rejection but there are a few that are just fun. I highly recommend this.
My Picks: 2, 4, 6, 7, 10, 14, 15 Katie P. 11/15/01

1) Midtempo with acoustic strumming. Then drums come in with twangy electric guitar. Cute and sweet. Ends with crickets.
2) Starts with crickets and slow piano. Sad vocals about a girl at a funeral. Very sweet and sad. Instruments are pretty minimal which is nice. Then all of a sudden it turns into a goofy funk song for the last 1:30. Whoa. Fades out and then his voice comes back in at the end.
3) Piano that rambles all over the place. Slow midtempo. Crickets in the background still. Dreamy quality to whole thing since the instruments seem to float around in space. The last 1:30 seconds it all seems to come together in chord progressions of 6. Fades out to his voice looped. Ends and then fades back in again to piano.
4) Uptempo and bouncy. Happy and fun with sad lyrics. Breaks of slow parts here and there.
5) Slow bass to start and then some piano and other strings (which could be keyboards). Very moody. Slow and plodding. Fades out and then his voice (maybe recorded on an answering machine).
6) Starts out with him belching. Then a cute midtempo song. Acoustic guitar and great lyrics that incorporate "every breath you take" by the Police. Ends with flushing of toilet and then nothing for last 10 sec.
7) Midtempo piano that has a fun bounce. Guitar and drums added too. This is really fun. Gets a little crazy and disorganized at the end. Last 30 sec. are as if someone walked into a room with Daniel Johnston performing.
8) Midtempo drag. Electric guitar. Funny lyrics, but kinda creepy too. Crickets for the last 10 sec.
9) Midtempo heartbreak song. Some accordion in there too. Becomes sort of dreamy and playful for the chorus. Ends at 30 sec. and fades back in with far away vocals.
10) Fades in slowly to a lounge feel. Heh! This is funny. Vocals are scraggly like an old musician. Nice intro and then you find out what it would be like if Daniel Johnston was a rock legend playing in front of stadium-sized crowds. Wow! This is weird but it also kind of rocks. Ends abruptly.
11) Bouncy midtempo. Nice handclaps. Near the end it gets a little loose and busy and then comes together to a broadway sounding end. Last 15 sec. is another blurb from Daniel.
12) Midtempo bounce again. Really sad lyrics about being rejected.
13) Starts with drums then rock guitar comes in. Then acoustic is added. Midtempo and very poppy. Simple but cute. Slows at the end.
14) Slow midtempo drag. Piano, guitar, drums, and organ. Bluesy feel. Sad lyrics. Nice raw emotion that seems like his life story.
15) Piano. Midtempo. Sad lyrics but this really feels a lot like his older stuff. Wow, beautiful.