Jeff Mccord
Those around Austin in the eighties heyday of what came to be cynically labeled the “New Sincerity” movement probably recall an omnipresent gawky kid thrusting his cassettes into their hands. If you got through the amateurish musical skills on DANIEL JOHNSTON’s homemade recordings, your patience was rewarded with some delightfully insightful pop songs. Johnston has had his ups and downs since then, but every year some notable artists stumble across his songs. Eighteen of them line up on THE LATE GREAT DANIEL JOHNSTON: DISCOVERED COVERED (Gammon), including Beck and Tom Waits, for a heartfelt and remarkably consistent tribute, the best salute to Johnston since Kathy McCarty’s Dead Dog’s Eyeball. A great place for the uninitiated to learn what all the fuss is about.
