Ghana is the third of three compilations of increasingly rare and difficult-to-track-down Mountain Goats songs that first saw the light of day on a blur of 7" EPs, cassettes, and compilation/fanzine appearances during the 1990s, and represents a sort of odds 'n' sods collection spanning 1991-98, from rudimentary (almost painfully so, in John Darnielle's eyes) to self-assured. It is the most diverse of the three compilations and not so coincidentally it's also the longest of the three, clocking in with 31 tracks and an hour and 8 minutes. There are two 4-song 7"s from 1995 represented here. Songs About Fire, originally released on the Cassiel label, features two songs with bassist Rachel Ware, the leaving-for-the-new-world tale of "Song for John Davis" (replete with Bible verse), and the ornery Dustbowl-evoking "Papagallo." The other 7" is Orange Raja, Blood Royal, a through-the-mail collaboration with New Zealand's Alastair Galbraith (originally released on the Walt label) that displays real sparks in the interplay between John and Alastair's voices as well as the melding of acoustic guitar and creaky violin. Of the 4 tracks, "Blood Royal" and "Raja Vocative" stand out as some of Ghana's best tracks. Also featured is the 6-song Taking the Dative cassette, originally released on the short-lived Car in Car Disco Product label in 1994. Dative is unadulterated lo-fi John-with-a-guitar with one Casio track; mungy, bracing, brief. Elsewise, you got: -The Mountain Goats' side of the Tropical Depression 7" with Furniture Huschle, originally released on Little Mafia in 1997. -The ode to Golden Boy peanuts in "Golden Boy," from the Object Lessons: Songs About Products CD (released on Inconspicuous in 1998). Reminder: there are no pan-Asian supermarkets in Hell. -A beautiful, honest-to-goodness John & Rachel love song in "Going to Port Washington," from The Wedding Record 7" (Walt, 1995) -The previously unreleased "Going to Kirby Sigston," from the unreleased Ajax compilation Hey Dan K. -"Leaving Home," from Cyanide Guilt Trip (Cactus Gum 7" compilation, 1996) -"Noctifer Birmingham," from Fast Forward 2 CD compilation (Brinkman, 1995) -An early Mountain Goats "Going to" song in "Going to Maine" (from the Shrimper cassette compilation Hard Core Acoustic, 1993) -The surprisingly affecting "The Last Day of Jimi Hendrix's Life" (from a 7" that came with Cool Beans! #4, 1995) -One of the earliest MG tracks ever in "Wild Palm City" (from the Shrimper cassette compilation Back to the Egg, Asshole, 1991) -Two songs that came with the German fanzine Goar in 1995 -The hilarious, uber-exuberant history lesson "The Anglo-Saxons," originally released on a KSPC LP compilation in 1995 -Two songs from the Corkscrewed cassette compilation, originally released on Theme Park in 1995 -"Please Come Home to Hamngatan," originally on the We'll Sail Out Far...Maybe a Little Too Far... compilation (Apartment, 1997) Phew. So, yes, 'tis a far-reaching and wide-ranging thing, as you can see. "Something for everyone," as they say.

Track listing: 1. Golden Boy 2. Pure Gold 3. Papagallo 4. Song for John Davis 5. Stars Around Her 6. Going to Port Washington (MP3) 7. Blood Royal 8. The Only Thing I Know 9. Raja Vocative 10. Hatha Hill 11. Going to Kirby Sigston 12. Please Come Home to Hamngatan 13. The Last Day of Jimi Hendrix's Life 14. Orange Ball of Peace 15. Standard Bitter Love Song #8 16. Chino Love Song 1979 17. Wrong! 18. Going to Jamaica 19. Alpha Gelida 20. Wild Palm City 21. The Anglo-Saxons 22. Flight 717: Going to Denmark 23. The Admonishing Song 24. Anti-Music Song 25. Going to Hungary 26. Earth Air Water Trees 27. Creature Song 28. Pure Sound 29. Noctifer Birmingham 30. Going to Maine 31. Leaving Home