Gomo

I have a distinct memory of listening to Moving Walls on the day it came out while I was on vacation in Orlando. About 3 or 4 weeks before the world shut down for COVID. Guess I don't have a particularly good association with the album based on that. I like a few songs on it, but I think the album suffers a little from being too long. I'm still bitter we didn't get an album version of the original 20-minute demo of Something Like A Storm.

I still lurk on here. Check in every once in a while. It's been 5 years since an album at this point. It seems like one might be coming soon and I will welcome that. Not much else to say though. In the meantime, I've been discovering my love of ambient music. If you like that kind of thing, check out the music channel "Odd Behavior" on YouTube...good stuff, and one of the few of its kind NOT AI generated. Will keep checking here to see if there's any news on a new MG album. I won't be attending any upcoming shows, but I can live with that.

Wow actual news. It's been ages since an album release. Listening to Triage on the site now. Never heard him do a collab like this before. Pretty cool. I'm glad he's switching things up. Truthfully, I haven't listened to Matt a ton the past couple years, but I would be excited for a new album.

I was at the Joe's Pub show in 2013 and I have a different recollection of that bit. I remember him asking who in the audience was actually from NYC, born and raised, and how they felt about 9/11 as compared to everyone else who largely witnessed it from afar / on TV. He was making some point, but I don't recall that there was anything he said that was overtly offensive. As far as whatever he said at that concert recently, having not heard a word of it, I would just say I'm surprised he would feel the need to talk about that kind of stuff at a live show in 2022 when nobody asked and given his recent hiatus. I would think he'd want to just lay low and show extra appreciation to the people coming out to support him. Also, most people don't attend concerts to listen to that kind of stuff.

Wow! These are not shows I'd be able to go to but I'm....happy to see that they're happening. Imagine buying a ticket specifically just to heckle someone. There's gotta be better uses of income.

The problem is the Internet is a misinformation factory and politics, social media, and some "news" outlets have completely polarized people. Instead of a shared common goal of eradicating the virus by wearing masks and getting vaccinated, for too long both wearing masks and getting vaccinated became a political matter before a public health matter. There's no unity in our society.

In terms of new music being released, you never know. I noticed that Ryan Adams recently released two of the three albums he had originally planned for release back in 2019. They sat on the shelf for just about 2 years after he was blacklisted. I think they were being sold through his website. MG could do something similar. Probably would just need to invest in a better online store where you can download digital albums. Or maybe get on Bandcamp? Clarification: I didn't actually buy the albums that RA just released, btw. I just happened to look into it one day.

Thanks @patrickjnixon. Hollis has definite LOES vibes. I like how layered it sounds. A Corridor of Trees, not my favorite kind of track but I like the instrumentation. Lost And Found Kids, interesting to hear the vocals through like a phaser kind of effect. Liked the slow build to the electric guitar. Kinda wanna hear more ? ....

I checked out for a while and took a break from the music but I'm at the point where I would like to listen to MG's music again. I apparently missed the new material he shared. Didn't see it on his website when I looked today. I agree there won't be a Moving Walls tour ever. Gotta move on from it at this point.

Fair point. Tough spot indeed...

Scary tweet. I hope for everyone's sake there is a positive resolution to all this. To me the best case would be MG reaches out to whoever he should apologize to and does so genuinely. Also commit to getting some help and being a better person. That would be a positive example to set and allow some good to come from this. Less important: I've listened to a couple of MG's songs in the past couple weeks. Just a couple. I've found myself still appreciating the music and having a connection with it.

I think you can have a lot of personal demons and still be able to comment on some social justice stuff, like in Blue Skies Over Bad Lands. However, She's In It For The Money probably doesn't hold up too good.

hah. Thank you I think we all needed a little levity mixed in here. I can't help but keep thinking about the very vague premonition I had when the Sicily video came out. I kept thinking to myself "when has MG including his girlfriend / significant other in one of his works ever not been regretted later?" Just seemed odd to me at the time, and well...

The statement was probably guided by a lawyer.

Thanks for sharing. Right now it's just kind of cathartic to read the thoughts of others and commiserate to some degree.

Thanks for the kind words. I didn't delve into podcasts about Ryan Adams but I did seek out a message board to see what other people were saying. Most fans were grappling with similar feelings as me. Some didn't take any of it too personally and said they would keep listening. That message board eventually shut down because I guess the owners stopped caring enough to maintain it and they felt people needed to move on. Ryan Adams had announced he was going to release three albums in 2019, which I was really excited about. Then it all went to shit so quickly. I guess it had been going to shit for years and I just didn't know it.

Yep and that's your right and I don't fault you for it. As someone said earlier in the thread, it probably comes down to a personal choice / threshold moving forward. As for RA & MG, yeah that is something huh? I love music. I've loved it my whole life. RA & MG have been so central to my music fandom. That's why right now I'm having a hard time just resolving to never listen to them again. I can't conclude that right now. That's why I'm just...taking a break. I'll see how I feel down the road. If others come to more immediate resolutions to ditch artists like this, I don't fault them. For me, I'm gonna wait and see.

I've been a fan of MG for 20 years now. His music has been a huge part of the soundtrack of my life, much like most of you. I've attended numerous concerts and met him a few times after shows. I even flew from here in the US twice to see him play live. I can't say I'm surprised about all this. Obviously it sucks the most for the people who have been directly personally affected. On a less important level, it also sucks for the loyal fans who have been "betrayed" as someone else in this thread put it. I agree with the idea that MG deserves an opportunity to share his side, but I don't know if he will. In my experience with PR crises, saying something right now, even if it's apologetic, will just open him up to more public criticism. The spotlight is very hot at the moment. In the interest of the continuation of his career, it might serve him better to lay low. Not condoning that, that's just how I see it. On the other hand, I remember MG said he was considering retiring around the time Moving Walls was released. I wonder if this will expedite that. I can't speak to being a victim or to the experiences of the victims. I acknowledge those experiences, but my relationship here is as a longtime fan, so that's where I have to speak from. So how do I process my feelings and relationship with the music? I'm not really thinking about future music right now. I don't think he'll be releasing anything for quite a while, if ever again. It's funny, when I first saw this pop up on The Bored a few days ago, I was on the train heading to work listening to the Something Like A Storm album. I actually had been listening to MG's albums all last week after not having listened to them in a pretty long time. My first thought upon seeing this thread was "here it is" because as I said, I wasn't surprised. But my second thought was, "was this week of listening to his music me saying goodbye?" My reaction last week when I saw this wasn't as stark as it was a couple of years ago, when Ryan Adams made headlines. A few years ago someone asked me who my Mount Rushmore of music would include. Matt Good and Ryan Adams were two of the four (Smashing Pumpkins and Yes were the other two). When Ryan Adams hit the news I was immediately deeply concerned and hurt. I basically took all his music and put it in a playlist at the bottom of my iTunes where I wouldn't see it too often, un-starred all my favorite tracks so they wouldn't pop up in top playlists or most played, and just kind of distanced myself from the music. I did that so I could take a break to process everything internally, and so I could see how I feel about the music down the road. I just needed that distance, but I wasn't ready to completely delete everything off of my iTunes. That said, I haven't returned to Ryan Adams' music since that news came out in 2019. Will I eventually? I still don't know yet. I feel similarly about MG right. I'm probably going to distance myself from the music for a while. Probably going to stick the music down at the bottom of iTunes and have it be there, but just not engage with it. I want to see how I feel down the road. I know how I feel now, which is sad. I guess having already gone through the Ryan Adams situation, I'm kind of just throwing my hands up saying "am I really going to toss out half the records on my shelf? am I really going to disown all of these creative works with such huge personal importance to me?" Maybe I will, maybe I won't, but I just can't decide right now. Maybe I'll decide on that 5 years from now. There's plenty of other music to listen to, plenty of new music to discover, and plenty of new artists I can establish connections with. I don't know, I'm just a music fan. I want to listen to music and not feel guilty about it. Right now I can't say that I wouldn't feel a little guilty. I'm gonna take a break from the music. I'll revisit it down the road and see how I feel. As for those who have been directly personally affected, I hope that sharing their experiences helps them in some way. And as for MG, I hope he tries to make things right, if there's a way to do that.

I have the 20 minute Something Like A Storm as an mp3. I have no problem sharing it through the proper channels. It's still one of my favorite tracks Matt has done. Was kinda sad when none of it made it into the album version. Another rarity I haven't seen mentioned in this thread is Bad Pennies. Uploaded without fanfare to Matt's myspace page, sometime between 2004 - 2006....he described it as a joke song and quickly deleted it. I think he said he was just needed to quickly host it somewhere online to send it to someone for a laugh. I still have the mp3 of that too. For a joke song it's pretty great! One more I thought of. We Are A Place. I think elements of that became Non Populus.

Arrows is probably my favorite MG album of that decade. I really like the cohesiveness of it. Just all seems to fit together. Close second is Lights because every time I listen to it it transports me back to a very special time in my life (the first year I dated my eventual wife). Wish I would have gotten Arrows on vinyl.

Cool! I like it. I love atmospheric stuff like this.

Bummer but everyone's taking a hit right now. When major sports leagues start suspending play everything else has to fall in line. You don't want to be singled out as the one venue that stayed open and became a breeding ground. Matt and his team obviously are doing the right thing. I would imagine this fall is gonna be a very busy time for many people since that's when they're going to try to reschedule a lot of stuff.

Thank you for the new album, Matt! Congrats on the release. And thanks for the insights. The point about the value placed on the Da Vinci painting vs. the works of Mozart was really interesting. Had never thought of it that way. I've connected with all kinds of music throughout my life, and in turn I have personally placed way more value on music. That is to say I've spent way more money on music than visual art, but more importantly I've felt deeper emotional connections with music than any other creative work. The thought actually crossed my mind recently that you might consider retiring soon (just based on your general feelings about the music bizz that you've shared throughout your career). I selfishly hope that doesn't happen yet, but in the end "Life's for the Living" so enjoy it however you must. But before any of that I'll see you at the NYC show April 18th. Can't wait.

Yeah I figure with more people moving toward streaming that companies will just get tired of the added cost of providing MP3 files with vinyls and just get rid of that courtesy. I'm still a dinosaur that uses a finely curated iPod though so I still pay for downloads here and there, and I like to support artists especially on Bandcamp. For now I paid for digital Moving Walls and will maybe eventually get the vinyl. But I'm moving into a new apt in a few weeks so gotta conserve funds.

I dunno, upon second listen I think people are being a little harsh. I guess my only criticism would be I'd like to hear more range in his vocals throughout the album. But like I said even if all the songs sound similar, to me this is more of a successful album concept than Chaotic Neutral (and there are plenty of great songs on that album including one of his best ever Cold Water). I've always felt like Chaotic Neutral and Something Like A Storm are just kind of a hodgepodge of songs thrown together (I think I'm still salty that the awesome 20 minute demo was scrapped and replaced with something that isn't in the same league). Moving Walls feels like all the songs belong together. I also disagree with the idea that these "don't sound like Matthew Good songs." That's kind of a weird criticism in my opinion. Artists should always be putting a new spin on their sound. When listening to this album I hear familiar moments with new twists which is a natural progression of course. One of my favorite albums is Adore by Smashing Pumpkins. I don't think you could say any of those songs sound like their prior work, but it's pretty great. Emu, no albums since Vancouver? That's rough. Lights was eccentric and I get not liking that. Arrows was pretty accessible though and I feel like it holds up well.