Transcendental Youth

Transcendental Youth
Studio album by
the Mountain Goats
ReleasedOctober 2, 2012
Recorded2012
GenreIndie rock
Length39:10
LabelMerge
ProducerBrandon Eggleston
The Mountain Goats chronology
All Eternals Deck
(2011) 		Transcendental Youth
(2012) 		Beat the Champ
(2015)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.5/10[1]
Metacritic81/100[2]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Alternative Press[4]
American Songwriter[5]
The A.V. ClubB+[6]
MSN Music (Expert Witness)A[7]
NME7/10[8]
Pitchfork7.8/10[9]
Rolling Stone[10]
Spin8/10[11]
Uncut8/10[12]

Transcendental Youth is the fourteenth studio album by the Mountain Goats. The album focuses on outcasts, recluses, the mentally ill, and others struggling in ordinary society.[13] The album is loosely unified around a group of people living in Washington state.[13] At least one character is confirmed to be recurring from All Hail West Texas, an earlier album.[13]

Several songs were performed in concert with a capella quartet Anonymous 4 and featured arrangements by long-time friend Owen Pallett.[14][15] However, Anonymous 4 and Owen Pallett do not appear on the official studio album. This is the first Mountain Goats album to prominently feature a horn section, contributed and arranged by fellow musician Matthew E. White, who opened for the band on their 2012 tour.[16]

The first 1,000 preorders of the album came with a bonus 7",[17] containing demos for the songs "Steal Smoked Fish" on Side A, and "In the Shadow of the Western Hills," which was originally written for the album, on Side B.

  1. ^ "Transcendental Youth by The Mountain Goats reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  2. ^ "Reviews for Transcendental Youth by The Mountain Goats". Metacritic. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
  3. ^ Thomas, Fred. "Transcendental Youth – The Mountain Goats". AllMusic. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
  4. ^ "The Mountain Goats: Transcendental Youth". Alternative Press (292): 92. November 2012.
  5. ^ Weiss, Dan (October 8, 2012). "The Mountain Goats: Transcendental Youth". American Songwriter. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  6. ^ Wild, Matt (October 2, 2012). "The Mountain Goats: Transcendental Youth". The A.V. Club. Retrieved October 5, 2012.
  7. ^ Christgau, Robert (November 6, 2012). "The Mountain Goats/Ned Sublette". MSN Music. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  8. ^ Murphy, Kurt (October 12, 2012). "The Mountain Goats – 'Transcendental Youth'". NME. Archived from the original on November 10, 2012. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  9. ^ Zoladz, Lindsay (October 2, 2012). "The Mountain Goats: Transcendental Youth". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
  10. ^ Rosen, Jody (October 5, 2012). "Transcendental Youth". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  11. ^ Harris, Keith (October 4, 2012). "The Mountain Goats, 'Transcendental Youth' (Merge)". Spin. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
  12. ^ "The Mountain Goats: Transcendental Youth". Uncut (186): 79. November 2012.
  13. ^ a b c Swiatecki, Chad. Mountain Goats' John Darnielle Discusses the 'Satan Record'. Rolling Stone, January 20, 2012.
  14. ^ Hudson, Alex. John Darnielle to Unveil New Mountain Goats Project with Some Help from Owen Pallett. Exclaim.ca, November 16, 2011.
  15. ^ Darnielle, John (November 27, 2011). "Twitter post". Twitter.com. Retrieved May 23, 2013.
  16. ^ Hilleary, Mike (July 31, 2012). "The Mountain Goats Announce Tour". Under the Radar. Retrieved May 23, 2013.
  17. ^ Darnielle, John (2012-07-25), "Cry for Judas". Retrieved 2013-07-28.