Video: Father John Misty -- “Date Night”

Directed by Chad VanGaalen. From God’s Favorite Customer, out now on Sub Pop.

This video from Strand of Oaks freaked me the fuck out when we posted it last year. In the best possible way, of course. But freaky just the same. To say animator Chad VanGaalen has a way with imagery is to say it’s crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide, unless you put one grunch (but the eggplant) over there.

“Date Night” is my favorite track off of Father John Misty’s new album, God’s Favorite Customer. It’s two and a half minutes of free association mumbo jumbo that turns me on. The accompanying video is just as kooky and two times more colorful. There’s a cat licking its butthole.

I love the acoustic guitar tone and the “woo hoos” that make it sound as if this were done in three takes, max. It’s not over-thought. It’s not slick. But it’s such a great little stew of the things I love about FJM that it gives me hope that he hasn’t completely lost his humor. Or his mojo.

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Video: Father John Misty -- “God’s Favorite Customer”

Directed by Emma Tillman. From God’s Favorite Customer, out now on Sub Pop.

Another bummer from Papa John Misery.

I’m out here testing the maxim
That all good things have to stop
The bar closes at 5
But the big man is just opening shop

Once again, Tillman’s voice sounds great and the song is pretty but the lyrics are lamenting a period when he was “all bug-eyed and babbling” and separated from the woman he loves. Or, as it’s stated in the press release, “being caught between the vertigo of heartbreak and the manic throes of freedom.”

Of course, he’s reflecting on that experience with disgust. Which is not fun. Why does Tillman fear fun now? He might as well drop the “Misty” persona and resume recording as “J. Tillman” if he’s going to be this humorless and self-lacerating…

Maybe it’s time for a change. Maybe the “Misty” thing has peaked anyway. Look at his first-week sales history:

• Fear Fun: 4,000 sold (May 2012)
• Honeybear: 28,000 sold (February 2015)
• Pure Comedy: 33,000 pure album sales (35,000 equivalent album units) (April 2017)
• Customer: 19,000 sold (22,000 equivalent album units) (June 2018)

Maybe he’s overdue to gobble up some mushrooms, climb a tree, and contemplate the absurdity of his life again. It worked last time. Stop being so serious. Time to drown old Neil down on the beach one more time.

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Video: Father John Misty -- “Please Don’t Die”

Directed by Chris Hopewell. From God’s Favorite Customer, out today on Sub Pop.

In which our hero descends into the depths of depravity, desolation, and self-destruction only to be ultimately rescued by his angelic wife. The end.

One more cryptic message thinking that I might end it
Oh God, you must have woken up to me saying that it’s all too much
I’ll take it easy with the morbid stuff

Please do. Somebody take away this guy’s piano. We’ve had enough piano ballads. More like Elton John Misty. (I just made that up and I was super proud of myself until I googled it and realized a bunch of people on twitter have already thought of it. Oh well.)

Father John Misty: web, amazon, apple, spotify, wiki.

Video: Father John Misty -- “Mr. Tillman”

From God’s Favorite Customer, out June 1 on Sub Pop.

Apparently Josh Tillman was not satisfied with the fan-made videos for this song created after he posted the audio with some silly green screen footage. Now he’s gone and made a professional new video with special effects and everything! It’s appropriately ominous to match the disoriented tone of the song.

He’s also announced that “Mr. Tillman” is indeed from his fourth album, God’s Favorite Customer, due on June 1. Unlike with his previous records, there’s no rambling self-penned press release this time, just a standard one. It was produced by Tillman and recorded with Jonathan Rado, Dave Cerminara, and Trevor Spencer and was “written largely in New York between Summer 2016 and Winter 2017.” This is the first FJM LP that Jonathan Wilson did not produce. From the three songs released so far, there doesn’t seem to be too much of a sonic disparity from his prior work. Hear for yourself, below…

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Continue reading New Father John Misty video: Mr. Tillman →

Audio: Father John Misty -- “Mr. Tillman”

Sub Pop did not respond to our inquiry about whether this was a standalone single, or if it is a preview of the fourth FJM album. So who knows? Not sure anybody even cares about albums anymore. Regardless: new Father John Misty.

“Mr. Tillman” is another entry in Mr. Tillman’s collection of self-referential, image hyperconscious, persona-mocking songs.

Mr. Tillman, good to see you again
There’s a few outstanding charges just before we check you in
Let’s see here, you left your passport in the mini fridge
And a message with the desk says here the picture isn’t his
And oh just a reminder about our policy
Don’t leave your mattress in the rain if you sleep on the balcony

I’m happy to see he’s being funny again. I prefer these kinds of themes over his “the world is stupid and I need to overcompensate for my lack of education” songs. Degenerate wastoids are far more entertaining than self-righteous street preachers.

Ordinarily, we haven’t been posting audio-only streams, and we probably wouldn’t have posted this one except that the final minute of this video features some hilarious green screen footage of Tillman bumbling around some stock photo stills. And if that isn’t enough for you he’s provided the uncut silent footage for you to remix your own video. Which several people already have…to varying degrees of imagination and artfulness.

Father John Misty: web, amazon, apple, spotify, wiki.

Continue reading New Father John Misty song: Mr. Tillman →

Video: Father John Misty -- “Things It Would Have Been Helpful To Know Before The Revolution”

From Pure Comedy, out now on Sub Pop.

While we’re all thinking about nuclear armageddon and waking up every morning to check to see if Guam still exists on the map, FJM treats us to a little glimpse of our post-apocalyptic future where the ravaged planet is littered with protest signs, skeletons, and abandoned iPhones. Good morning, beautiful!

“Things It Would Have Been Helpful To Know” is a piano ballad with gorgeous strings and horn arrangements (by Jacob Cartwright and James King, respectively) that works as an effective background to Tillman’s snarky descriptions of an unplugged life. “My social life is now quite a bit less hectic / The nightlife and the protests are pretty scarce.” “The obscene injunction to enjoy life disappears as in a dream.” “We all get a bit restless with no one advertising to us constantly.”

This all reminds me of the great Hugh Brown Shu spoken word piece, “A Real Talk Show,” where the little girl with no arms and no legs confronts the narrator who has attempted to force Geraldo to dig beneath the surface. “If it’s so bad, Mister Hugh Brown Shu, why don’t you end it all right now, huh? You’ve got the gun. It’s all pain, it’s all anger, oh it’s so terrible! So why don’t you just shove that piece in your mouth and end it all? Do us all a favor: get rid of yourself! Do you think you’re helping us by walking in here? What are you, some maverick agent of truth?”

I think about that a lot in these days of constant commentary and outrage porn. Josh Tillman likes to point out how shallow our lives are. But as the little girl with no arms and no legs says, “To what ends? Yes, the show’s shallow. Of course it’s shallow. That’s why we watch it. Wow, what a fucking crusader you are!”

Father John Misty is the crusader we deserve.

Father John Misty: web, amazon, apple, spotify, wiki.