wilco the album is not bad too, yeah guess alpine static OTM
― dig me out requiem (Ross), Friday, 7 September 2018 16:04 (five years ago) link
“Passenger side” sounded pretty good in the bar a couple days ago
― calstars, Saturday, 8 September 2018 02:39 (five years ago) link
does anyone know the address (or maybe cross streets) of The Loft? not in a creepy way, i'm just curious where it is in town, really. what it's near, etc.
― alpine static, Monday, 17 September 2018 16:16 (five years ago) link
...tour manager Jason Tobias, who "handles" the Wilco loft. He says, "Not a lot of people know where it is exactly. The neighborhood allows the Loft to keep a low profile, which is essentially the desired effect. A few die-hard fans know and have been pretty cool with keeping it the secret it is intended to be."
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 17 September 2018 16:22 (five years ago) link
But the general neighborhood where it is, nah, there's not really anything there. Some good ethnic food nearby I guess. Asian and middle eastern, mostly.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 17 September 2018 16:26 (five years ago) link
fair enough!
Tweedy has played small benefits there, hasn't he? and haven't they given away a tour/visit as a prize? wonder if they make people sign NDAs.
― alpine static, Monday, 17 September 2018 16:31 (five years ago) link
oh, and thanks JiC
looking forward to tweedy's memoir
― in twelve parts (lamonti), Monday, 17 September 2018 17:20 (five years ago) link
^ same. can't think of too many musicians i'd rather read
― alpine static, Monday, 17 September 2018 18:03 (five years ago) link
Good new Tweedy song (album coming): https://pitchfork.com/news/jeff-tweedy-announces-new-album-warm-shares-song-some-birds-listen/
― growing up in publix (morrisp), Monday, 24 September 2018 17:34 (five years ago) link
this is good: http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episode-972-jeff-tweedy
― alpine static, Tuesday, 4 December 2018 18:05 (five years ago) link
anyone check out the album yet?
― galaxy brian (voodoo chili), Tuesday, 4 December 2018 19:04 (five years ago) link
I ran through it y'day; sounded good, tho pretty mellow
― underqualified backing vocalist (morrisp), Tuesday, 4 December 2018 19:05 (five years ago) link
anyone read the memoir? i hear good things, not into wilco but like the scene
― rip van wanko, Tuesday, 4 December 2018 19:07 (five years ago) link
I've listened to the new album a couple times. It's pleasant but nothing has really sunk in. Feeling ambivalent about it. By contrast I've really enjoyed the last two Wilco albums and still find myself going back to them.
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Tuesday, 4 December 2018 20:16 (five years ago) link
I listened to Tweedy on the Maron podcast and have been revisiting the Wilco catalogue. Thoughts: Being There was my 'one', my way in, buying it at record store in South West London from a guy with a fire in his eyes from seeing them the night before: it remains a ragged wreck of an album and I still love it; YHF, while full of holes (War on War, Heavy Metal Drummer), I wear in my soul - I'm all for hyperbole and this is their As I Lay Dying, their Moby Dick; I hadn't realised just how much A Ghost is Born had affected me - this was my first listen in toto in probably five years and that run from At Least to Wishful Thinking is astounding; Kicking Television is fucking incredible.
A.M is fine, but I can kinda take or leave it; Summer Teeth I need to persevere with. I've not really explored much beyond Sky Blue Sky. Maybe tomorrow. Bob Dylan's 49th Beard might have hit me hardest today. I wasn't expecting it.
Is the new Tweedy solo record worth a listen?
― Have the Rams stopped screaming yet, Lloris? (Chinaski), Saturday, 8 December 2018 21:44 (five years ago) link
I have met maybe a half dozen people from Bellevillie, Illinois in my life, even dated a girl who took me back there past the Still Feel Gone highway signs to meet the parents. Each one, within five minutes of the city's first mention in our first conversation, has told me the same piece of trivia: That Belleville's Main Street is longer than anywhere else's.
Chapter One of Tweedy's memoir? "The Longest Main Street in the World". Apparently, they ain't all just playing to type.
― ✈️✈️ (pplains), Friday, 28 December 2018 07:04 (five years ago) link
long Main Street in Belleville, yeah, but personally I think the World's Largest Ketchup Bottle in Collinsville wins "coolest -est" among cities of the Metro East
― alpine static, Friday, 28 December 2018 08:41 (five years ago) link
anyone here considering a trip to this:
https://wilcoskybluesky.com
― alpine static, Wednesday, 22 May 2019 07:31 (four years ago) link
No but I'm going to Solid Sound for the first time next month!
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Wednesday, 22 May 2019 14:23 (four years ago) link
I was driving around the other day when "Via Chicago" came on the radio. Of course the song is great, but I didn't totally recognize it as the version I knew, so figured it was a live version, or some other session. I Shazam it and it comes up the usual "Via Chicago." Hmm, I think, that can't be right, so I do it again, and get the same result. It turns out it'd been so long since I actually listened to "Summerteeth" and the studio version that I just didn't recognize it. Listening to "Summerteeth" right now it's more clear than ever that the band really, really lost something when it fired Jay Bennett. I mean, that's old news, and obviously Tweedy has remained a good and sometimes interesting songwriter, and the band long ago coalesced into something consistently solid, especially as a live act. But Bennett brought something to the band, or at least helped shape what Tweedy and the band did, that brought it to another level. Like, there are a lot of things at play, but I couldn't imagine Wilco playing a show without touching on songs from "Being There" or Summerteeth." The stuff is just too good, even after all this time. I guess in retrospect, "YHF" was more of a transitional album rather than a peak many made it out to be, with plenty of Bennett but also showing off the first full taste of Tweedy's more ascetic aesthetic. Tweedy and the band have remained good, but I don't think anything post "YHF" is in competition to supplant any of those Bennett albums as the band's best.
Anyway, no news here, just thinking about stuff.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 9 June 2021 00:16 (two years ago) link
i think a big part of what made YHF so great was tweedy, bennett and o'rourke all firing on full cylinders with the arrangements, despite the bennett/tweedy tensions they really ended up with great results there. it's a real shame the creative & personal differences between bennett & tweedy lead to tweedy firing bennett, so much colour was gone from the band's arrangements after bennett was fired, and his songwriting contributions were really missed too.
still kinda strange that they've never quite managed to make an album that captures how great they became as a live band either. like there's been the occasional moment where they get there on record in their current post-AGIB incarnation but never for anywhere near a whole album.
with "via chicago", it's one they really transform live with it getting even more chaotic etc., the studio version's great but it's even better live
― ufo, Wednesday, 9 June 2021 00:39 (two years ago) link
yeah they are so much better live nowcould definitely go with another live album
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 9 June 2021 00:52 (two years ago) link
yeah kicking television is one of their very best releases & while it covers their strongest material there's still plenty of gems since then that have become live staples ("impossible germany" etc.) that would be great to have on a new live album
― ufo, Wednesday, 9 June 2021 01:00 (two years ago) link
yeah I feel like "Impossible Germany" has turned into their "Dark Star"
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 9 June 2021 01:23 (two years ago) link
last time I saw them was a very cute moment when Nels was going absolutely apeshit during IG and Tweedy looked at the crowd, shaking his head and laughing, then pointed at Nels with his thumb like "Can you believe this guy?"
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 9 June 2021 01:25 (two years ago) link
can y'all recommend a good boot
― intern at pelican brief consulting (Simon H.), Wednesday, 9 June 2021 01:25 (two years ago) link
I do not but that's a good idea
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 9 June 2021 01:31 (two years ago) link
That's actually a good question. I've seen them a bunch, but all the most memorable ones were up to and including behind YHF. Since then the band has been remarkably consistent live. My favorite was a stand they did here for five nights where over the course of the week they played every song they'd ever recorded to date, including the one from the Sponge Bob movie. I saw a great Golden Smog set back in ... 1998? That was when Tweedy/Wilco was still in rock and tumble shambling mode.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 9 June 2021 01:47 (two years ago) link
This was a great one I saw:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7pY6UPPbVQ
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 9 June 2021 01:48 (two years ago) link
from videos ive seen the yhf tour was their weakest, due to the transitional lineup where tweedy was the only guitarist
― ufo, Wednesday, 9 June 2021 01:58 (two years ago) link
That wasn't my experience, those shows were pretty intense, iirc. Plus Leroy Bach played guitar, too. Definitely transitional, though.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 9 June 2021 02:37 (two years ago) link
^^I saw the Austin date on the first leg of that tour. The band brought it (and The Handsome Family on that show is one of my all-time opening act memories), but there was so much going on feelings-wise: YHF was still in limbo, 9/11 was only a couple weeks old, and those combined facts almost led them to cancel the tour. The decision not too, the band later said, is why they're still around today.
― blue whales on ambient (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 9 June 2021 03:35 (two years ago) link
Would love to get recommendations on good live boots, too. (Paging Tyler..)Having said that, this 2011 show in the Netherlands was streamed professionally and I love it. Beautifully shot. The opening song from that stream is on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4GWGSndpagI captured the audio back then and burned it to cdr, I'll try to find it! Can't recall if the encore is on it though, seems like too much to burn to one cd..Setlist:One Sunday MorningPoor PlacesArt of AlmostI MightI Am Trying to Break Your HeartOne WingBull Black NovaBlack MoonImpossible GermanyBorn AloneJesus, Etc.Capitol CityHandshake DrugsDawned on MeHummingbirdWhole LoveA Shot in the ArmEncore:Via ChicagoCalifornia StarsWar on WarStanding OI'm a WheelI'm the Man Who Loves YouMondayOuttasite (Outta Mind)
― willem, Wednesday, 9 June 2021 04:00 (two years ago) link
Found the cdr. One single 64 minute track, so I'm sure the encore's not included, sadly. I'll look for the audio file on my old laptop so I can upload.
Listening now. Dear god, the synths/keys on "Art of Almost", Carl Craig should've remixed this a la "Revelee"... and the finale, it shreds!
― willem, Wednesday, 9 June 2021 05:11 (two years ago) link
Tweedy's written a ton of great songs, but there's a case to be made for "California Stars" as the one that's steadily climbing toward standard status. Case in point:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPmnrivfJWk
Isn't there a thread for artists whose best or best known song is a cover? This isn't quite that, but it is curious that one of Tweedy's best is a song written with Jay Bennett based on words from Woody Guthrie in at least passive collaboration with Billy Bragg.
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 8 January 2022 19:16 (two years ago) link
say what
― calstars, Saturday, 8 January 2022 19:22 (two years ago) link
thought this revival was going to be about them going ahead with their Sky Blue Sky festival with Omicron peaking. all-inclusive at Hard Rock Riviera Maya. crazy.
― bulb after bulb, Saturday, 8 January 2022 19:23 (two years ago) link
I’ve been digging “she don’t have to see you” though the chorus makes no sense Golden smog stuff is fun
― calstars, Saturday, 8 January 2022 19:26 (two years ago) link
xxxp the very first time I saw Wilco, I didn't know their music well enough to know "California Stars," but when they played it, Tweedy told everyone to sing along, assuming everyone would know it. (It was the only time he asked our audience to sing along during that show.) Barely anyone did, so then he joked, "maybe your parents know the words?"
― birdistheword, Saturday, 8 January 2022 19:50 (two years ago) link
not sure about 'california stars' being the most well-known thing, but i do agree it's a definite catalogue highlight.
that's an interesting thought though: what will be wilco's legacy tune?
("california stars" the current #2 on their spotify most-played; "jesus, etc." in the top spot by quite a ways)
― wolfman jack kerouac, the nonviolent unabomber. (Austin), Saturday, 8 January 2022 20:38 (two years ago) link
Smooth jazz drummer
― calstars, Saturday, 8 January 2022 21:20 (two years ago) link
*percussionist
― calstars, Saturday, 8 January 2022 21:22 (two years ago) link
I think when Bob Seger covered this it kinda cemented it as a standard. Tune-wise it's a very Seger song - seemed inevitable that he'd hit it up at some point. Or maybe Seger has a way of making every song he covers (Busload of Faith, etc.) sound like a Seger song.
― henry s, Saturday, 8 January 2022 21:38 (two years ago) link
lol bob seger sux
― wolfman jack kerouac, the nonviolent unabomber. (Austin), Saturday, 8 January 2022 22:02 (two years ago) link
Like a fuckin’ rock
― calstars, Saturday, 8 January 2022 22:22 (two years ago) link
"California Stars" walked so "Wagon Wheel" could run.
― Precious, Grace, Hill & Beard LTD. (C. Grisso/McCain), Saturday, 8 January 2022 22:25 (two years ago) link
In all seriousness, "California Stars" was the song that got me into Wilco, a band I was aware of, but hadn't actually heard yet. I heard it one afternoon after school on our local Pacifica station, made sure I heard the DJ announce it, and then put Mermaid Avenue on my Xmas list, which Santa delivered. A few months later, Summerteeth dropped, which I picked up week of release (at Borders!) and then worked backwards.
The thing that nobody talks about but really makes the Mermaid Ave. take of "California Stars" work is the absolutely Gorgeous steel part by Corey Harris. I'd bet that's where a lot of people my age (almost 40) fell in love with steel guitar.
― Precious, Grace, Hill & Beard LTD. (C. Grisso/McCain), Saturday, 8 January 2022 22:47 (two years ago) link
maybe your parents like Bob Seger?
― henry s, Saturday, 8 January 2022 23:47 (two years ago) link
― concentrating on Rationality (the book) (will), Saturday, 8 January 2022 23:54 (two years ago) link