Moon Colony Bloodbath

Moon Colony Bloodbath
EP by the Mountain Goats and John Vanderslice
Released	2009
Label	Cadmean Dawn

Moon Colony Bloodbath, is an EP released while on tour in 2009. It was recorded by John Darnielle and John Vanderslice, with a cover art collage by Michael Pajon. According to Darnielle, "Some of the songs have something to do with a loose rock opera/'concept album' idea about organ harvesting colonies on the moon and the employees thereof, who spent their off months living in secluded opulence in remote American locations. Concepts like this are actually more fun when you abandon them but leave their traces kicking around, so that’s what we did.”^[1] Bobby Beausoleil, who is serving a life sentence for murder and has association with the Manson "family", is the subject of a lyric on the track 'Scorpio Rising'. Bobby Beausoleil was also to be the star of the movie 'Lucifer Rising', the title of another song on the record.

The EP was initially produced in a limited vinyl run of 1000 and sold during their "Gone Primitive" tour. No plans for wider distribution have been announced.^[2]

Track listing

1. "Surrounded" - 2:21
2. "Lucifer Rising" - 2:48
3. "Satori In Denver" - 2:35
4. "Scorpio Rising" - 2:30
5. "Sudden Oak Death" - 3:16
6. "Columns Pillars Steps" - 2:31
7. "Emerging" - 2:54

Reception

Science fiction blog io9 listed Moon Colony Bloodbath as #88 in their list "100 Albums Every Science Fiction and Fantasy Fan Should Listen To."^[3]

According to io9's Charlie Anders, Moon Colony Bloodbath is "well worth tracking down. It starts with a gorgeously melancholy song with the lyric 'Let me die surrounded by machines,' and ends with the singer left alive after the Satanic massacre on the Moon, wearing a suit that keeps him warm but starving. Totally intense, and as bleak as the Moon itself."^[3]

References