''The Coroner's Gambit'' is the fifth studio album by

the Mountain Goats The Mountain Goats are a United States band formed in Claremont, California, Claremont, California, by singer-songwriter John Darnielle. The band is currently based in Durham, North Carolina, Durham, North Carolina. For many years, the sole me ...

, released on October 17, 2000, by

Absolutely Kosher Records Absolutely Kosher Records is an independent California-based record label founded in 1998 in San Francisco by Cory Brown. The label moved to Berkeley in 2002 and then to Emeryville in October 2006 when it partnered with Misra Records for 3 years ...

. Several songs from this album, including "The Coroner's Gambit", "Bluejays and Cardinals", and "Shadow Song", were written about

Rozz Williams Rozz Williams (born Roger Alan Painter; November 6, 1963 – April 1, 1998) was an American singer and songwriter known for his work with the bands Christian Death, Shadow Project (with musician Eva O), and the industrial project Premature E ...

, who ended his life two years before the release of the album, and was a personal friend of John Darnielle. In some live versions, he will reference Williams by first name.

Recording

The album is mostly

John Darnielle John Darnielle (; born March 16, 1967) is an American musician and novelist best known as the primary, and originally sole, member of the American band The Mountain Goats, for which he is the writer, composer, guitarist, pianist, and vocalist. H ...

and his

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

, but it has sparse auxiliary instrumentation as well. Most of the songs were recorded on John's Panasonic RX-FT500

boom box A boombox is a transistorized portable music player featuring one or two cassette tape players/recorders and AM/FM radio, generally with a carrying handle. Beginning in the mid-1990s, a CD player was often included. Sound is delivered throu ...

, but due to either mechanical failure or desire for clearer sound quality, he used a 4-track recording machine for some tracks.

Track listing

Personnel

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

References

External links

Complete lyrics to the album
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coroner's Gambit, The 2000 albums The Mountain Goats albums