The Mountain Goats

Standing alongside Robert Pollard as one of America's most prolific singer-songwriters, John Darnielle has a vast collection of staunchly lo-fi recordings behind him and, if the world is fair, nothing but success in front of him.

Though The Mountain Goats have been through many permutations since the early 90s, the sound is definitely defined through Darnielle's nasal bleat, a spare acoustic guitar and impassioned and unrivalled lyricism. The man who writes "the most remarkable thing about you standing in the doorway is that it is you and you are standing in the doorway" is a man to be treasured.

His last three albums on 4ad (Tallahassee, 2002, We Shall All Be Healed, 2004 and The Sunset Tree, 2005) have been amongst his most warmly received, The Sunset Tree especially - an album that finds Darnielle shifting away from characters towards his own life, most notably his abusive stepfather. The results are vividly affecting and should only serve to elevate Darnielle to the audience he deserves.