yip / jump music

following viewing the documentary "the devil & daniel johnston", which was an amazingly well done documentary on singer/songwriter daniel johnston who i had not previously been very familiar with, i felt compelled to acquire some of his past works. following a few days of absorbing his material, i find a lot of his later work utterly impossible to listen to due to the heavy religious and delusional topical matter, but one of his first works "yip / jump music" proves to be an intimate (almost embarrassingly so at some points) raw experience, one that i am very happy to have discovered. the albums tracks consist of little more than a cheap sounding electric organ and his high pitched childish vocals and despite these musical limitations he manages to compose some of the more heartfelt and personal songs that i have heard in a long while. songs like "casper the friendly ghost" scream of a misunderstood youth stuggling with following his asperations when those around him are quick to label him as a failure in their eyes and societies. "speeding motorcyle" is one of the most perfectly constructed pop songs i have ever heard, lyrically beautiful in its simplicity. "chord organ blues" is my personal favorite on the album, with its frantic organ and lyrics revolving around a great uncertainty in his direction in life i just am helpless to sing along in my highest of pitches i can reach. this has quickly become one of my favorite lo-fi albums of all time.