Press
There’s a full electronic press kit with photos, mp3s and an extensive bio right here: View Jonathan Coulton’s EPK
The Metaverse Messenger (Newspaper in Second Life) September 2006
A giant squid. Zombies. Mad scientists. Kenesaw Mountain Landis, the first commissioner of Major League Baseball, and of course, half-pony, half-monkey monsters. What do they all have in common? They’re all song topics of folk-alt rock singer-songwriter Jonathan Coulton, who performed live this past Thursday in Second Life to a large, energized crowd. Coulton’s concert makes him just the latest full-time, real-life musician to perform in Second Life.
The Washington Post Express May 2006
Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Coulton is an artist for our techie times. The Contributing Troubadour for Popular Science magazine has won a cult following among the digerati. His Thing a Week podcast delivers a new song–arranged and recorded in his Brooklyn home studio–every Friday. Coulton’s folky, white-bread cover of “Baby Got Back†got the buzz going, and the hilarious yet touching original “Code Monkey†capitalized on it by laying bare the proud, pitiful lives of lonely programmers everywhere. Last Friday’s offering, “Tom Cruise Crazy,†rehumanizes the aging star after the awkwardest year of his life. This Friday, Coulton makes a rare live solo appearance at Jammin’ Java, where he opens for Paul and Storm.
Popular Science September 2005
Last February, PopSci added a new name to its list of contributors: Jonathan Coulton, Contributing Troubadour. So who is this guy, and what is he doing to earn that unique title? With Our Bodies, Ourselves, Our Cybernetic Arms, we are pleased to provide the answers to both of those questions, and many more.
Full Article (and Soundtrack!)
Popular Science January 2004
Jonathan Coulton is a professional software writer and sometime recreational robot-builder who happens to be an extremely funny songwriter. His songs scan a vast, weird range of subjects with the sort of wit, edge and self- deprecation heard in vintage Loudon Wainwright III or They Might Be Giants, or in newer bands like Fountains of Wayne — but he’s funnier than any of them.
From Esquire May 2004 “9 Most Remarkable Things This Month”
5. Springiest Lyrics: “And I said / Ooh ooh child, I’ll bring a blanket and I promise I will brush the ants off / Ooh ooh child, you’re gonna like it when we’re taking each other’s pants off / Outside / Cause it’s the first of May, first of May / Outdoor fucking starts today.” –From “First of May,” on Jonathan Coulton’s silly new record, Smoking Monkey
From Actual Fans on the Actual Internet
Best…geek music…ever. Whatever you are doing, stop doing it, and go check out singer-songwriter Jonathan Coulton. He played at the conference we were just at. We got his EP. We listened to it about ten times on the way home today. We’re downloading his other CD from iTunes now. He writes quirky, funny, poignant geek folk. There’s a song on the EP from the POV of a giant squid, and one from the POV of an alienated kid who builds a robot army, and (the best) one from the POV of an evil genius which is so wrong it’s right (there’s this line about a monkey — no, no, I can’t explain, you just have to listen to it) and which I love in ways I can’t explain in words. It makes me laugh hysterically even while tears are welling up in my eyes. Several of his songs are available for free download, under a Creative Commons license. One of them is “Skullcrusher Mountain,” my new favorite song. Go listen! And then go to iTunes and buy his albums, because he rules.
…a truly heartbreaking song by Jonathan Coulton about oceanic self-loathing. That is, if you can find a giant squid heartbreaking, which I grant you is a stretch. “Did the stars come out?” the mollusk sings. “Did the world spin round? Does it matter that much when you’re ten miles down?
This song is freaking AWESOME. Genius. I think Jonathan Coulton has really captured what it’s like to be an evil overlord in love. Er, I mean.. what it must be like. I mean, I surely wouldn’t know… ’cause I’m not an evil overlord. Honest. Well, I’m certainly not an overlord and you can’t prove otherwise.