Been meaning to post this for ages.

Some time ago I was honoured to be asked to be guest-editor/curator of the marvellous Twitter account @thelostrecord and post a top ten of my favourite band the Mountain Goats.

As I tend to do with these things, I've just copied the original tweets, and I hope you enjoy the tunes...

So here we go, get ready for some treats from the man The New Yorker called "America's best non-hip-hop lyricist" Mr John Darnielle #tMG10

Before we get to the #tMG10, a couple of the "Big Hits" to get out of the way. 

tMG have a cycle of Going to... songs & here's the seminal Going To Georgia 

Next, from wonderful The Sunset Tree LP, the uplifting This Year. A live singalong favourite

Another with a proper video, from the beautifully fragile Get Lonely LP, Woke Up New 

One here which didn't quite make it into the #tMG10 but that means a lot to me personally 1 John 4:16 

So off we go with the @maffrj "Completely-subjective-definitive-Mountain-Goats-top-10-no-returns" #tMG10

#tMG10 10: Heretic Pride isn't my favourite tMG album by some way, but Autoclave is a cracking tune 

While I'm thinking about Heretic Pride, here's a glorious live version of San Bernadino from Manchester Academy 2011 

#tMG10 9: From The Sunset Tree, an LP about Darnielle's relationship with his abusive step-father, Love Love Love 

#tMG10 8:"Bill Gates will singlehandedly spearhead the Heaven 17 revival" Cubs In Five always brings a smile to my face 

#tMG10 7: Snow Crush Killing Song 

#tMG10 6: Twin Human Highway Flares

Halfway through the @maffrj #tMG10 so we'll have a break with a few covers & oddities that I didn't feel right including in the 10.



Next, from Darnielle's side project The Extra Glenns here's Baltimore #tMG10

From Black Pear Tree tMG's collaboration with Kaki King "Thank You Mario But Our Princess Is In Another Castle" #tMG10 

Before we kick back off, an amazing cover of Trembling Blue Stars' Sometimes I Still Feel The Bruise #tMG10 

#tMG10 5: There Will Be No Divorce "If I ever want to drive myself insane, all I have to do is watch you breathing" 

#tMG10 4: A room full of people singing "Hail Satan" to The Best Ever Death Metal Band In Denton is the most fun thing 

#tMG10 3: How beautiful can a song about 2 alcoholics called International Small Arms Traffic Blues be? This beautiful 

#tMG10 2: The 1st @mountain_goats track I ever heard, from the stunning Tallahassee LP, the other Big Hit, No Children 

The #tMG10 #1 was also #1 in my list of my all-time favourite tracks so if you know me & if you've been paying attention this will be no surprise.

#tMG10 1: From the opening "She came in on the red-eye to Dallas Fort Worth" Color In Your Cheeks = shivers down my spine 

So there you go, my (current) top 10 @mountain_goats songs. Just have to thank @eifion for being a 4AD nut & buying Tallahassee in 2002.

Matt's written a new blog post - that must mean he's made another list...

Yes, you guessed it, another Twitter-inspired list. Books this time.

I think over the years I've mistaken reading a lot for being well-read seeing as how I appear to have read very few acknowledged classics. 

I stuck to novels, meaning Julian Cope's Head On/Repossessed autobiography missed out, and also left out children's books, meaning Dr Seuss's Green Eggs And Ham is sadly ignored.

I did consider including Graphic Novels just so that I could put Art Spiegelman's Maus in there, but decided against it.

So here it is, a list of 15 books that I like. Comments just copied from the original tweets...



15 DBC Pierre - Vernon God Little. Bought on a whim for a holiday read and was blown away. By the book, the weather was fine.

14 Patrick Süskind - Perfume: The Story Of A Murder. You wouldn't think a story about smells would work so perfectly.

13 Haruki Murakami - Norwegian Wood. Maybe I was just swayed by the fancy edition I had but I'm pretty sure it was the story.

12 Mark Haddon - The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time. Ingeniously written. I love a concept like this...

11 Kurt Vonnegut - Slaughterhouse-Five. You know this surely?

10 Iain Banks - The Wasp Factory. Even though I guessed the ending I still loved it. Should really read more of his.

9 Nick Hornby - High Fidelity. From back when music lists didn't give me a cold sweat! Need to re-read to reignite the spark.

8 Donna Tartt - The Secret History. A murder mystery where they tell you the ending at the start. Brilliantly written.

7 Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett - Good Omens. I love Pratchett but here Gaiman brings out the best in him.

6 Douglas Coupland - Microserfs. Coupland tends to disappoint me, especially recently, but this one's a peach.

5 JD Salinger - The Catcher In The Rye. An obvious one I guess. I read it at the right age, which I'm sure helps.

4 Jonathan Safran Foer - Everything Is Illuminated. This book is so clever, so thoughtful, so happy/sad, so funny. Perfect.

3 Irvine Welsh - Trainspotting. I remember cramming this in before I saw the film. Wasn't a problem - couldn't put it down.

2 Douglas Adams - The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy. Laugh-out-loud funny and SO FAR ahead of its time. Genius.

1 Harper Lee - To Kill A Mockingbird. The only thing that made O level EngLit bearable. Really haven't got the words for it.