Wilco - The Whole Love

(Not a parody--I've just spent some time under the hood with IGAF, figuring out how that engine hums!)

(And apologies for the big hijack. I streamed The Whole Love on NPR earlier this week. I liked not knowing when one track ended and the next began.)

Haha, fair enough, clemenza - I misread you and thought you were resorting to "if millions of ppl like it it must be good." Didn't seem like your kind of argument.

Honestly, though, it's a terrible terrible song. Putting it in a category with "Wedding Bell Blues" is definitely smdh territory.

Good--I'm sometimes not sure when I'm on ILM. I'm an aging homebody with three left feet, so I really like your stuff about dancing.

I love "I Gotta Feeling" more than "ABC," more even than "I Want You Back." True story. (But not more than "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart" or "Wedding Bell Blues.")

last night when i got IGF stuck in my head because of this thread i remembered fergie's "i know we'll have a ball" section and was like oh damn this song totally has more than one hook, it's so well constructed, fuck what those guys were saying

I'm totally sympathetic, per aero's example, to what kids like and why they like it. But as with food, I find the quality of what they like, generally speaking, directly disproportional to how much they like it. For example, the shittier the microwave pizza, the more the kids like it, no doubt due to all the extra fat, salt and stuff, and lack of complexity. Labor for a couple of days on an awesome dough, homemade sauce and fresh seasonings/toppings, and you'll have a barely touched dinner. I've exposed my kids to all manner of music, from "Music for Airports" through Iron Maiden, but I know what's made the biggest impression on my older one is the mix my friend made for her aerobics workout, which she used to play in the car driving my daughter back from gymnastics.

For example, the shittier the microwave pizza, the more the kids like it, no doubt due to all the extra fat, salt and stuff, and lack of complexity.

"I Gotta Feeling" is the equivalent of a homemade pizza then, with all the strange, wonderful things you'd add.

Josh: I hope you can appreciate that the idea that Iron Maiden is more complex than "I Gotta Feeling" is as baffling to someone like me as the appeal of "I Gotta Feeling" is to you. The older I get, the more I realize that arguing taste is a dead end.

Not arguing tastes, as such. Just noting how my own personal tastes are not aligned with that of many six-year olds I've met.

Not saying Iron Maiden or "Music for Airports" are better than BEP in this case. Just that there's too much abstract stuff going on for little brains to grasp. Not complex as a complement, just literally less repetition, more parts. Sometimes to their detriment. Kids can't process that shit. Again, that's not a diss. It just seems to be true from my perspective.

By the way, you guys ever heard "Bananaphone?" It's a jam.

And come on, "I Gotta Feeling," like it or not, is totally microwave pizza. Sometimes microwave pizza hits the spot. Especially if you're little and don't like food of different colors touching one another.

;)

one sunday morning is really lovely

also standing o sounds vaguely like a supergrass song??

This album is bookended by two of their best ever songs imo. So much so that so far it's hard to get past them and listen properly to the rest.

Funny that they recently covered Nick Lowe, because some of the poppier stuff in the middle reminded me a bit of him. But the skronky guitar reminds me a lot of the Pixies.

I finished listening to this for the first time (I'm not a big Wilco fan but I like a few of their songs)

I'm going to say Dud - I could barely keep my ears open. But I can easily picture a bunch of Kaputt fans loving this

hmm, how is kaputt similar to this?

musical scale/note selection. less than inspiring vocals. soft rock opus type stuff

nah.

first track and last track are cool, don't know about much in between.

This.

I wonder how anyone can call this soft rock. The guitar playing is more scuzzed and abrasive than the band has been in years, and while the rhythm section is similarly more slick, I don't see how anyone can listen to Kotche/Stirratt and not be impressed.

I noticed some very talented playing but nothing grooved with me. "Soft rock" wasn't meant to be a bad thing. Some tracks weren't soft rock in a traditional sense but they still made me sleepy.

last track is quite good, but also too repetitive.

just listened to this for the first time. i really liked it, seemed much better than their last album. i love Sky Blue Sky so it has a ways to go to be better than that for me.

The autopilot of W(TA) really lowered the bar to ankle level, so new one's a huge relief.

Saw them in Nashville for work. Very different sets each night, but Art of Almost and One Sunday Morning both nights, both sounding great. And I'm not really a big guitar solo guy but Nels Cline's solo during Impossible Germany was ridiculous. This line-up is so tight now.

Heard "I Might" on the radio yesterday--excellent. The backing track has such an unusual '60s feel.

Finally bought this today after much dithering - really adore the opening track, predictably, but wish the stuff in the middle, as elegant and well played and composed as it is, was a bit more akin to it. The songwriting of the middl stretch is growing on me, though.

http://ph.cdn.photos.upi.com/slideshow/lbox/885f0d8037a935c26de5e192763b7d5e/La-Russa.jpg

Jeff Tweedy retired today!

and i know that i won't be the last, cold captain tied to the mast

Saw most of the minor league park set last night. I suspect I'm in the minority, but I really wish Nels would just sit a couple of songs out. Or that someone would tell him that it's OK no to constantly noodle-noodle over everything.

Haven't seen them recently, but I think I'm pretty much ready to vehemently disagree with you there.

How was that for a venue? It seemed like a fun show idea.

It was OK. Ticket window seemed a bit overwhelmed, and traffic was predictably slow getting in, but the vibe was nice even if the band's bro contingent was in beyond full effect. Posters sucked, surprisingly.

I just don't like Nels in this context. Don't like his tone, don't like his solos, don't like "Impossible Germany" ...

They can do better than this:

http://c961031.r31.cf2.rackcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/07.08.12-Geneva-Nate-Duval-350x466.jpg

Yes they can, decent idea with horrible execution. Heh, I love "Impossible Germany" and his tone.

does tweedy play much lead these days? i kinda dug it when he started stretching out on guitar in the pre-Nels days.

I just don't like Nels in this context. Don't like his tone, don't like his solos, don't like "Impossible Germany" ...

lol that's prob my favorite Wilco song

It might be my favorite Wilco song ... title.

Not a lot of Jeff skronk, though I dig it when he does.

this album is really good, which is surprising as ive never really liked any of their post-YHF stuff which i found boring and meandering. this is the wilco sound i missed listening to.

It's because they started doing power pop again. They were good at that. Wish they would do more of it

I wish they will do more of One Sunday Morning.

^^^this

i wish Jim O'rourke will rejoin them

This is their best album since YHF.

It's because they started doing power pop again

its not just power pop though, the mellow songs really hit the spot. "whole love" and "one sunday morning" make a great ending to the album.

if someone told me this was their favorite wilco record i'd be like yeah that's legit

the title track is SO good

it's my favorite post-YHF one at least

Not my favourite Wilco record, but the bookends are probably my two favourite Wilco songs. I don't think they could ever top One Sunday Morning

They're the well-publicised tracks though. I wonder how the tracks in between hold up

the bookend epics are fantastic yeah, some of their very best. the rest is a step in the right direction generally - it's nice to hear them in a more power-pop mood again - but a bit inconsistent.

just realised what "born alone" reminds me of is the horse race music from ocarina of time of all things.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=am6FTMRa_M4