Daniel Johnston

Texas-based Daniel Johnston has been releasing endearingly unrefined music to the public since he began unleashing home-recorded cassette tapes in 1980. Much of his cult following stemmed from these tapes as well as from the MTV coverage he received during the mid '80s. The finished results of Johnston's Lo-Fi tomfoolery have been covered by such seminal Indie Rock goblins as Sonic Youth, Nirvana, Yo La Tengo, Butthole Surfers and Half Japanese to name a few. Johnston's vivacious pop songs are usually laden with chiming guitar, clunky keyboards, distant rhythms, and a sometimes sinister, sometimes child-like perspective on life. Unlike his contemporaries (such as Lou Barlow), Johnston often seems too lost in his own Syd Barret-like condition to write jaded and cynical songs.