| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
| Pitchfork Media | 8.5/10 [2] |
| Splendid (ezine) | (favorable) [3] |
The Coroner's Gambit is the fifth studio album by the Mountain Goats, released on October 17, 2000 by Absolutely Kosher Records. Several songs from this album, including The Coroner's Gambit, Bluejays and Cardinals, and Shadow Song, were written about Rozz Williams, who ended his life two years before the release of the album, and was a personal friend of John Darnielle.[4][5] In some live versions, he will reference Williams by first name.[6]
Recording
The album is mostly John Darnielle and his acoustic guitar, but it has sparse auxiliary instrumentation as well. Most of the songs were recorded on John's Panasonic RX-FT500 boom box, but due to either mechanical failure or desire for clearer sound quality, he used a 4-track recording machine for some tracks.
Track listing
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Jaipur" | 3:13 |
| 2. | "Elijah" | 3:07 |
| 3. | "Trick Mirror" | 2:40 |
| 4. | "Island Garden Song" | 2:27 |
| 5. | "The Coroner's Gambit" | 2:55 |
| 6. | "Baboon" | 2:16 |
| 7. | "Scotch Grove" | 1:37 |
| 8. | "Horseradish Road" | 2:28 |
| 9. | "Family Happiness" | 2:57 |
| 10. | "Onions" | 2:15 |
| 11. | "Bluejays and Cardinals" | 3:03 |
| 12. | "Shadow Song" | 2:45 |
| 13. | "There Will Be No Divorce" | 2:51 |
| 14. | "Insurance Fraud #2" | 3:02 |
| 15. | "The Alphonse Mambo" | 2:44 |
| 16. | "We Were Patriots" | 2:40 |
| Total length: | 43:00 | |
Personnel
- John Darnielle - vocals, guitar, production
References
- ^ https://www.allmusic.com/album/r504016
- ^ http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/5453-the-coroners-gambit/
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2005-03-14. Retrieved 2005-03-20.
- ^ http://kylebarbour.org/tmg/coroner.html#fnref:rozz
- ^ http://www.mountain-goats.com/forums/read.php?2,70498
- ^ https://archive.org/details/tmg2005-05-04.flac16