Mountain Goats' "West Texas" Gets an Expansion

Merge Records last week reissued a pivotal album by lo-fi folk outfit the Mountain Goats with a bevy of bonus tracks. The group's 2002 effort, All Hail West Texas, remains one of the group's most treasured recordings.

the Mountain Goats, initially the nom de folk of singer/songwriter/guitarist John Darnielle but now a fluid ensemble built around him, have existed since the early 1990s, in the form of largely low-fidelity, quickly-assembled, urgent records. All Hail West Texas, released on the small Emperor Jones label, remains one of the most beloved albums in the Mountain Goats' canon. At once, it treads familiar ground (it's the last in the band's discography to have been recorded solely onto a Panasonic boombox) while approaching new territory (Darnielle began to spin conceptual character sketches on record). From West Texas, the Mountain Goats would enjoy success on the 4AD and Merge labels, where they continue to reside (their most recent album being 2012's Transcendental Youth).

The reissued All Hail West Texas features seven extra tracks from the original "sessions" that birthed the album, sourced from surviving cassettes and transferred to analog tape like the original album. Darnielle also contributes a 1,800-word essay on the history of the album. The reissue is available on CD (packaged in a digipak) or LP (the original album, packaged in a new gatefold design, with the expanded presentation available as a packed-in digital download), and can be purchased now, after the jump.

All Hail West Texas: Expanded Edition (originally released as Emperor Jones EJ41-CD, 2002 - reissued Merge MRG-481, 2013)

Amazon U.S.: CD / LP

The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton
Fall of the Star High School Running Back
Color in Your Cheeks
Jenny
Fault Lines
Balance
Pink and Blue
Riches and Wonders
The Mess Inside
Jeff Davis County Blues
Distant Stations
Blues in Dallas
Source Decay
Absolute Lithops Effect
Hardpan Song *
Answering the Phone *
Indonesia *
Midland *
Jenny (Alternate) *
Tape Travel is Lonely *
Waco *

* previously unreleased bonus track

Mike Duquette

Mike Duquette (Founder) was fascinated with catalog music ever since he was a teenager. A 2009 graduate of Seton Hall University with a B.A. in journalism, Mike paired his profession with his passion through The Second Disc, one of the first sites to focus on all reissue labels great and small. His passion for reissues turned into a career, holding positions at Legacy Recordings and Rhino Records and contributing to Allmusic, Discogs, City Pages, Ultimate Classic Rock and Mondo Records, for whom he penned liner notes for his favorite piece of music: John Williams' Oscar-winning score to 'E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.' Born and raised in New Jersey, Mike lives in Astoria, Queens with his wife, a cat named Ravioli, twin daughters and a large yet tasteful collection of music.

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