The Mountain Goats’ John Darnielle is one of the many who are fascinated by the “pay what you want” philosophy that many artists have been adopting over the last year. Darnielle has just posted Satanic Messiash, a new Mountain Goats EP containing four original compositions. Fans have the choice of downloading the EP in AAC (256 kbps), AIFF, FLAC, or MP3 (320 kbps) format. It is also up to them whether or not they choose to donate any money to Darnielle for the songs. For the record, I gave $3 to avoid feeling guilty. John is a good guy and these are great songs. I’d donate more, but I don’t have a legitimate job at the moment. In comparison to the recent Heretic Pride, Satanic Messiah is much more stripped down. Darnielle performed the songs himself and recorded them over the summer with the extraordinary Scott Solter at Baucom Road Studios in North Carolina. If you are interested in obtaining a physical copy of Satanic Messiah, 665 copies (Darnielle is keeping copy #666) have been pressed on a double 7″. Most will be sold on the Goats’ upcoming fall tour, but Darnielle reports that Beggars should have a limited amount available online.

The Mountain Goats will be at the 9:30 Club on November 6th with Kaki King. Darnielle will also reportedly be selling a vinyl EP that he collaborated on with King.

Satanic Messiah
1. Sarcofago Live
2. Wizard Buys a Hat
3. Satanic Messiah
4. Gojam Province 1968