May 12, 2005
Friedlander Playing With Darnielle Amid Mountain Goat Mania
Congrats to Erik Friedlander. He has just completed a hugely successful five-date NE swing opening for the Mountain Goats. (He also joined the group on stage for three or four songs.) Erik's contributions to their latest album, The Sunset Tree, have garnered mentions in the likes of the Boston Herald and Billboard who wrote, "There is an undertone of sadness here, often amplified by Friedlander's cello in the timeliest of spots." Publications like The New Yorker are calling this the Mountain Goats' best album to date. (Brassland's Alec Hanley Bemis got into the act in a long rant on Coolfer.com blog.)
We'd like to give Erik some credit for helping frontman John Darnielle and his associates to raise their game. On May 14th, you can hear Erik appearing with the rest of the group on NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday with Linda Wertheimer. Here are schedules and stations as well as a page where the show will be archived.
Finally, Mountain Goats' co-conspirator, John Vanderslice, just gave an exclusive interview to PitchforkMedia.com in which he reveals Erik's substantive contributions to his new album, Pixel Revolt, which will be released on Barsuk on August 23rd.
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