Daniel Johnston

[GoodToMyBaby]

I've been listening to some of his albums on Spotify, i like him in small doses.  Does he have fans on this board?

[meltedwhiskeyinmyhand]

I've been listening to some of his albums on Spotify, i like him in small doses.  Does he have fans on this board?

I like some of his stuff. You ought to check out the documentary about him, The Devil verses Danile Johnson, its great and really gives some insite to the reoccurring themes in his writing.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qtFPOxDMs4

[Aum Bop Diddit]

I enjoy Johnston as an artist to a point -- he is amazing I'd say but listening beyond a certain point is tough.  "Love You"/"Adult Child" Brian Wilson without the chops, if you will.  The mentioned documentary "The Devil and Daniel Johnston" I consider a must-see.  A brilliant piece of documentary filmmaking in its own right that put the artist in the best possible context to appreciate, to my mind.

[hypehat]

Consider me a massive, massive fan.

Definitely agree on watching the doc. If you find yourself struggling with the dodgy performances/tape hiss/bouts of insanity of the albums themselves (I did at first), I'd suggest picking up a compilation of covers - The Late Great Daniel Johnston is a good start with his best work done well.

My personal favourite is Yip! Jump Music or 1990. Has anyone got Space Ducks yet?

[Lowbacca]

Has anyone got Space Ducks yet?

Yes. The DJ songs on it are pretty good (the Space Ducks Theme is awesome). The contributions from other artists are okay as well, nothing special though (new tracks from Fruit Bats and Eleanor Friedberger are good).

Check out the comic book as well! It's hilarious.

[GoodToMyBaby]

I have checked out the doc.  It's amazing how much of his life was fillmed.

[onkster]

I'm still holding out for that next great Johnston reunion: Daniel and Bruce!

[Lookit]

I absolutely love Daniel: I haven't listened to everything, but he's an incredible pop songwriter. I was lucky enough to see him live a few years back with Teenage Fanclub backing him up, and he was in top form. I do appreciate that his recordings/musicianship are pretty hard for some people to see past, and I second Hypehat's recommendation for the 'Late, Great Daniel Johnston' tribute album. If you still can't see the brilliance of his songwriting in that setting, well...

The mentioned documentary "The Devil and Daniel Johnston" I consider a must-see.  A brilliant piece of documentary filmmaking in its own right that put the artist in the best possible context to appreciate, to my mind.

What's amazing about that film is that there is actually footage of events like the NY Sonic Youth episode. I also love that it doesn't glorify his illness: it shows it warts and all, and how devastating it has been to him, his family and others.

[rn57]

I thought I'd mentioned here that in the Devil documentary, Dan'l J talks about how he's been getting into Brian and the BBs' music (after being obsessed by the Beatles for pretty much all of his time making music). But it doesn't look like I got around to that.

Daniel's birthday is Jan. 22. Probably a good thing it's nowhere close to Bruce's. Having them celebrate anything together might be asking for trouble.