Daniel Johnston - 1990- Artistic Vice

This vinyl reissue from Universal Records features two of Daniel Johnston's one of a kind releases in one Double Gatefold package. Daniel Johnston has spent the last 20 or so years exposing his heartrending tales of unrequited love, cosmic mishaps, and existential torment to an ever-growing international cult audience. Initiates, including a healthy number of discerning musicians and critics, have hailed him as an American original in the style of bluesman Robert Johnson and country legend Hank Williams.

When several albums of Daniel's homemade recordings appeared in the late '80s, it created a significant buzz in music circles. Studio owner Mark Kramer was quickly on the scene, bringing Daniel to his own Shimmy-Disc label for his fine album 1990. 1990 is a collection of extremely polished and staggeringly honest odes to love, comic book heroes and music. Steve Shelley and Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth accompany Johnston on “Spirit World Rising,” but most of the set finds Daniel alone at the piano or guitar. His version of Lennon and McCartney's “Got To Get You Into My Life” has never been covered with this degree of conviction, streamlined down to its essential rhythmic core.

Artistic Vice was the first album on which Daniel Johnston fronted a band. The record is a testament to Daniel's own innate musicality that the songs lend themselves so perfectly to the casual accompaniment heard here. They can shift easily from quiet country balladry to punkish rave ups. As always, his songs are direct, honest, hookladen and imminently coverable.

Daniel Johnston 1990 And Artistic Vice Track Listing

1990 - Side A
1. Devil Town
2. Spirit World Rising
3. Held The Hand
4. Lord Give Me Hope
5. Some Things Last A Long Time
6. Tears Stupid Tears
7. Don’t Play Cards With Satan
8. True Love Will Find You In The End
9. Got To Get You Into My Life
10. Careless Soul
11. Funeral Home
12. Softly And Tenderly