Bitter Melon Farm

This is the second of a three-volume set that pulls together singles, cassette releases, and compilation tracks that never made it to a proper Mountain Goats album. (The other two sets are *Protein Source of the Future…Now!* and *Ghana*.) These collections represent some of John Darnielle\'s most unusual work alongside some lost gems. Many songs here are from the cassette-only release *Transmissions to Horace* and the vinyl EPs *Songs for Petronius* and *Songs for Peter Hughes*. Included are covers of \"The Sign\" by Ace of Base and \"Sail On\" by The Commodores, as well as several tracks from Darnielle\'s continuous \"Going To\" series, with Bangor, Cleveland, Monaco, and Santiago touched on here. \"Early Spring\" is an excellent example of the magic Darnielle can create with just his voice and a hastily strummed guitar. He gets up early for a 9:34 a.m. recording of \"No, I Can\'t\" (which also appears in a full-band version later in the collection) just before the touching \"Song for Dana Plato,\" about the *Diff\'rent Strokes* teen actress who later died from a prescription-drug overdose.

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