jakobnicholas

"Up" is my favorite post-Berry record. I think Stipe took Berry's leaving very hard and didn't know if/how to go on as R.E.M. The lyrics reflect that. The record is filled with lyrics and characters who are struggling, yet also is very hopeful. And musically, Buck and Mills really treaded into some new territory, usually in a fantastic way. I saw R.E.M. on the "Up" tour and it was fanastic.

"Reveal" is a bit under-rated...not great, but I think a very 'nice' summer record. "Around The Sun" is a bit of a trainwreck, though with many promising elements. "Accelerate" seemed forced to me. "Collapse Into Now" is very solid, though it still lacks the magic that has slowly dissolved over the past 15 years.

R.E.M. will likely always be my 2nd favorite band ever, behind the Beatles.

A quick Google search revealed an article titled, "It's The End Of The Band As We Know It".

I've a feeling the bad puns are gonna come steaming in like Box Cars.

Sounds like they'll never play together again. Like their recent albums or not, they were and still are a GREAT live band. I had hope I'd get to see them at least one more time.

I'll be real curious to see what Mike and Michael do musically in the future. Stipe's voice is one of a kind, so I hope we get to hear it again. Mills will likely start or join another band of some sort. Buck will likely continue the 50+ gigs that he seems to juggle.

Kinda expected, but still kind of a bummer.

I also think the wide-ranging styles on Being There blend together well,

That's it! To me, that nails why Being There is brilliant and great and Sky Blue Sky falls short.

The unconventional jams and sounds in some songs on Sky Blue Sky might fit wonderfully on other records, but for me they stand out like sore thumbs and ruin the vibe of SBS.

I believe that Sky Blue Sky was meant to be a recovery/acceptance/moving-forward record that had no studio trickery and was meant to sound natural and beautiful. I really like that this album was made and that Jeff/Wilco attempted a "pretty" record. I just wish it went further in that direction (One True Vine...a beautiful song...should been on the record in my opinion).

It sounds as if Jeff and the band feared making a record that was TOO soft and bland, so they added some "edgy" elements (noodling jam on Side With the Seeds, herky-jerky sounds on Shake It Off, the almost-silly wanky guitar and made-for-concert end jam on Walken, and the awkward drum/keyboard stops and starts on Hate It Here) to give the record more attitude or more fun. And that's a good thought by the band. But FOR ME, the specific arrangements and ideas for those songs just are not good.

If those handful of songs, for example, coulda had a sound like Outtasite Outtamind, Summerteeth (the song) or Standing O (maybe the most under-rated Whole Love song based on things I've read), I think Sky Blue Sky would sail smoothly start to finish. But as it is, the contrast in styles is too jarring for me. The album just sounds messy in parts.

Being There, some could argue, gets a little messy with Misunderstood, Kingpin and Dreamer In My Dreams. But I'd hugely disagree. Misunderstood is an alert to the listener of what's to come. Kingpin and Dreamer in My Dreams were placed on 2nd disc, and seem to fit the vibe of the more-loose sounding b-side-ish 2nd disc.

I Am Trying To Break Your Heart, for me, suffers a little bit because I've listened to it so many times.

But I'll always remember the first few times I heard it when I was hearing leaked mp3's many months before the cd release. Hearing the Big Star "Kangaroo"-like drums, guitar strum, mysterious lyrics and Jeff's delivery was like crack. I couldn't stop listening to it.

One Sunday Morning might be most likely new song to make a future list. Art of Almost doesn't seem to have the emotional lyrics of At Least That's What You Said, but for me it has the same attitude. I like it a lot.

PopMatters has a list of its top 10 Wilco songs (pre-The Whole Love). (http://www.popmatters.com/pm/post/148218-the-10-best-wilco-songs/P0)

I would have included an A.M. song (Dash 7 or Passenger Side). And I'd have included more than just 1 Summerteeth song (She's A Jar or Pieholden Suite). But I think it's a really solid list:

10. Far Far Away

9. Spiders

8. Poor Places

7. Handshake Drugs

6. At Least That's What You Said

5. I Am Trying To Break Your Heart

4. Misunderstood

3. Via Chicago

2. Ashes of American Flags

1. Radio Cure

On a side note, for those who've heard the new record, how many The Whole Love songs do you think might make a Wilco top 10 list years from now? I'd argue at least 1, maybe 2.

There's no issue but the one you invented.

Jeff's quote suggests it might be an issue for HIM. All I'm saying is that if it IS an issue for him, he shouldn't have included her name in the title. And if he hadn't, none of us would have cared at all and it would have affected our like or dislike of the record and the song ZERO.

This thread is about a specific song that has a person's name in the title. Dorks like me are curious about things like that. Besides Bob Dylan's Beard and Mermaid Avenue (which Jeff didn't write), it's rare to see a name in a song title.

It's all VERY trivial, and does nothing to change the fact that I love listening to it.

My intent is not to start a political back-and-forth. I lean right on many issues, but have NEVER let that get in the way of enjoying good music, books or films.

Jeff said, " I don’t know her very well, but I have met her and her boyfriend, and I’m a little nervous about that song now because I’m hoping that it will be taken in good spirits. Having met her only once, though, I will say that I know her better than I know her work even. It’s really more about the meeting of her boyfriend, and I had a really poignant moment over dinner with him one time, so I thought it was cool to reflect that in the song. Even though now I’m really sad that I’m going to have to skirt around this for the next year."

Jeff could have EASILY avoided any issues by simply not including the parenthesized parts of the title. But maybe there IS a good reason for it.

Ghost of Electricity made a good point saying, "maybe it was to pin it to reality, letting the listener know that it is based on a true story, as they say." That makes decent sense.

A Girl And A Monkey made 2 excellent points: "I thought using her name was maybe a comment on the irony of having meaningful conversations with someone that you barely know and can't even remember their name afterwards. Or maybe it's about how a person who has a close relationship with someone who has some amount of fame is often referred to by their relationship to that person and not as an individual themselves. ex. Jane Smiley's boyfriend rather than Bob Jones." Nice ideas, both.

Reading those responses makes me re-think my feeling about it, especially the idea of having a meaningful conversation with someone you don't know and forget the name of later. I still think it's odd to mention her specifically in a song title, but I can "get" it now....I think.

My original comment about how the song could be about Jane's boyfriend dumping Ms. Smiley had nothing to do with her looks, but just the thought of having to listen to her at dinner or in the car. Her opinions seem very strong and quite opposite of mine. I'm sure she's a very caring and nice person. But some of her opinions would irritate me greatly. I wonder if there'd be more comments on this song title if it were titled "(For Michael Savage's Limo Driver")?

Woulda been easy for Jeff Tweedy to leave off "Smiley" or just reference the guy's first name. I'm curious to why he felt the need to title the song like he did.

1. Tweedy admits to not knowing her or her writing much at all, so I doubt his desire was to boost her popularity.

2. She has no relevance to the gorgeous song's lyrics or story.

3. Tweedy must expect that some fans of the band, like myself, would be curious who she was. In just minutes on Google, I found out she's not only a successful (and very good, it seems) novel writer but also someone who writes numerous essays and opinion pieces for left-leaning websites. She seems to despise the political right and has a view on religion that I happen to strongly disagree with.

Is this a big deal? No. Will it stop me and other Wilco fans from buying their disc and seeing them live in December? No.

But it's odd.

REALLY a nice-sounding song. Something about the vibe of the music that feels good listening to.

I didn't know who Jane Smiley was before seeing the Wilco song title. Now that I know a little about her, I'm surprised the songs isn't about a man figuring out to tell his girlfriend he wants to see someone else.

I only listened to the weekend stream once.

LOVED tracks 1 and 2. Really phenomenal and impressive stuff by the band. And I really want to hear track 12 again. Has a very nice vibe.

The rest I'm not sure.

Some of Jeff's lyrics and high-pitched, soulful vocal stylings at times sounded a bit too precious (Sunloathe for example), but most of Whole Love sounded exciting musically. Sounds like a record that will reveal good things on multiple listens. Dawned On Me and Born Alone sounded like okay pop, maybe nothing more.

There does seem to be a consensus on the top 4 (YHF, AGIB, BT, ST) and the bottom 3 (AM, SBS, WTA).  Of course, I think that speaks more to the magical run Wilco was on during those 4 albums as opposed to any perceived severe drop-off in overall quality of the other three.

The run between Being There and YHF truly was magical. Add in the Mermaid discs, the YHF demos, the More Like the Moon EP. Really incredible stuff.

"In Evening Air" impressed me last year. Now I anticipate "On The Water", out in October. They combine 80's synths and sounds with a Jack Black meets Tom Waits meets Billy Idol vocalist. They've added many tour dates that go into November and seem like an almost must-see.

You can get a good taste of the band from the Amoeba records website, and a recent small set on KEXP where they play a few songs off "On The Water". Good stuff.

http://www.amoeba.com/live-shows/videos/future-islands.html

http://www.kexp.org/live/liveperformance.aspx?rId=33593

Solitaire, Bull Black Nova and One Wing are GREAT. My Country Disappeared is very good. The rest, to me, is pretty mediocre for Wilco.

And I'm sticking up for Leave Me Like You Found Me. I like everything about it...one of the stand-out tracks on Sky Blue Sky.

Shake it Off" is an excellent song.  Sure, it's kind of grating, but that dissonance is one of the things we like about the band, right?  This is Exhibit A for those who say SBS is just too bland, just not adventurous enough.

Of course this is all very subjective.

But to me, Loose Fur's "Wreckroom" is an example of a train-wreck of a song that is beautiful and wonderful, while "Shake it Off" is just an irritating train-wreck.

I like that Sky Blue Sky is personal and hopeful, and that it seemed to very much reflect some of the struggles Tweedy was dealing with at the time. Anybody who's ever been thrown for a loop and/or into a funk for any reason can surely relate to a LOT of this record.

I sense that some Wilco fans are turned off by its sometimes "wussy-ish" or adult-contemporary sound and lyrics. And I can understand that. But MY gripe with Sky Blue Sky is that Wilco didn't go ALL THE WAY in making a soulful, hopeful, beautiful record.

I agree with Shakespeare that Tracks 1-5 are fantastic....maybe as good as any opening 5 songs in the band's history. These seem to be what Jeff and the band were aiming for. And I also agree that "On and On and On" is on par with the first 5 songs. To me, the song encapsulizes the spirit of Sky Blue Sky.

"Patient With Me" isn't a favorite of mine, but I think it fits on the record. As does "Leave Me Like You Find Me", which I happen to like a LOT (I know there's lots of haters for this song, but you all are wrong...ha). "What Light" is a bit corny, but I think it also fits onto Sky Blue Sky.

To me, 3 songs absolutely ruin Sky Blue Sky:

- Shake It Off: I despise the song. I despise it's choppiness and Jeff's vocal. The song sounds SO remote from what I feel the aim of this record was to be and what it presented us with on the first 5 tracks. "Shake It Off" sounds like Jeff and the band wanting to be loose and spontaneous and fun, but instead it brings the record to a screeching, annoying halt.

- Hate It Here: This just should never have made the record. The lryics are throw-away. And twice the song comes to a "Shake It Off"-like halt with Jeff screaming the song title with stupid drum thumps and piano fills and a dorky electric guitar riff. Nels...er, nails on chalkboard.

- Walken: Not a fan of the lyrics. And like the 2 songs above, seems to purposely try to veer off the course that Sky Blue Sky aimed to be on. The closing jam, which I imagine the band thought was really groovy and cool and rockin', sounds forced and lame and makes my hair curl.

WHAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ON THE ALBUM:

- One True Vine: I'm clueless why Jeff chose not to put this on the record. Great song.

- Let's Fight: This song has never been officially released, but the heard live versions I've heard are great. It rocks quite a bit and would offset the slower songs.

I miss the days of seemingly everybody not being able to hear a record until release day. It was like a holiday when R.E.M. had a new album on the shelves. Part of me thinks Wilco wants to build up that anticipation.

But in today's world that's impossible. It will leak widespread soon, and Wilco will be forced to stream at least a good portion of it on their website. I remember Jeff saying he doesn't like the thought of internet hacks deciding when his music gets heard. Once it's out, he'd just assume WILCO be the ones who put it out for everybody....at least that way they can encourage listeners to pre-order the record and/or merchandise.

"I Might" is VERY encouraging. It has a fun, loose sound all-around, including Jeff's delivery. Kinda makes me think of Bull Black Nova but not as dark.

The other 2 new songs I've heard (both acoustic) put off a LITTLE bit of the kinda-corny-ish-but-maybe-not, kinda-purposely-arty-farty-and-overly-sensitive-and-world-knowing-lyrics, not-"Dad rock"-but-I-understand-why-people-say-that vibe that occassionally showed up on the last 2 records. But I have a good feeling overall about what it will sound like.

1. Summerteeth

2. Being There

3. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

4. A.M.

5. AGIB

6. Sky Blue Sky

7. Wilco (The Album)

Streams can be found FOW's Facebook site and Minnesota's 89.3. The album will be in stores Aug. 2nd.

Fans of Fountains of Wayne won't be disappointed. It's pretty much like all FOW records: full of well-written pop songs that makes you feel good when listening to it. I sense a more mature and/or melancholy tone in the record...mostly from the lryics. And the music is less "power pop", stripping out some of the guitars and synthesizers. The record is largely mid-tempo, but it works for me because of the songwriting. Songs like "Action Hero", "Cold Comfort Flowers" and "Road Song" have a melancholy vibe but all have cleverness in the music and/or lyrics.

Not sure how I'd rank it with older FOW records. Hard to top their self-titled debut or Utopia Parkway. Think I might like it more than Traffic & Weather, but not sure it tops Welcome Interstate Managers.

Wilco fans might notice "Acela" has a similar drum-and-piano beat to "I Can't Stand It".

Been listening to the NPR stream a few times the last few days. Really liking it and WILL be buying the disc next week.

"Laid back" & "beautiful" is how I'd describe it now. Haven't absorbed it fully yet, but has a nice cohesiveness sound start to finish.

 

Goner With A Souvenir

Lil Wallet Picture

The Ocean Cliff Clearing

Faithful Shooter

Ariel Ramirez

4am

Jewelbomb

When Love Is Gone

Julia Miller

Fater

Town

Blue & Wonder

A Chance Counsel

Firsts

A Goodbye Rye

Numbered

Coursed

Emily Sparks

Boys, The Night Will Bury You

The Tether and The Tie

Song of 27

The Last Ride

Elizabeth Childers

Once

Pretty good list, though way heavy on "Since" in my opinion.

I'd include a couple songs off "Impasse"...an album that many seem to think is one of his inferior records. "Impasse" was made by Buckner at his home, playing all instruments, including synthesizers, except for his wife on drums. 'Loaded at the Wrong Door', 'And The Clouds Have Lied' and 'Count Me In On This One' would all be suitable for a Buckner "Best Of."

Also, Buckner has a great tune on a Bloodshot compilation. It's called 'Do You Wanna Go Somewhere'.

Nice inclusion of 'The Last Ride'.....one of Buckner's absolute best. "Bloomed" has other greats like '22' and 'Six Years'. It's impossible to chop Buckner down to just 24 songs.

This is a dude that I hope one day people will look at his body of work and crap their pants. Devtion and Doubt, Since, The Hill! what a run!

I agree. I think Impasse ranks up there as well. And Bloomed has some incredible stuff on it.

Most of it his obscure-ness is likely because of his loner personality. He usually performs solo....or with a lone person like Anders Parker. Because of his great voice, delivery, songs and guitar-playing, he's worth seeing live. But imagine how incredible a Buckner show would be with the guys from Calexico (who helped flesh out 'Devotion' and 'Hill") or if he could have access to the guys in Wilco for a few weeks to play his songs live.

Buckner will get his due someday, even it's triggered by a tribute cd to him decades from now after he dies.

Buckner's next album finally gets a release date! August 2nd.

Merge Records has a blurb on the 9-song record (below). They used to have an mp3 of Track 01 "Traitor", but now do not. Aquarium Drunkard has it (link below). Anybody who likes Buckner will LOVE the new song I think.

Since 2006’s Meadow, fans of Richard Buckner have been clamoring for new material and wondering what was keeping their hero from releasing the new songs he would perform on the road. Well, it’s a long story!

First, there was the score to a film that never happened. Then there was a brief brush with the law over a headless corpse in a burned-out car that had all eyes in Buckner’s small hometown in upstate New York turned toward him and his long-suffering truck. Shortly after a move to a safer, less popular corpse dumping ground, the death of his tape machine led to yet another reboot. After Richard called in pedal steel and percussion players and put new mixes on his laptop, his new “safer” place was burglarized. Goodbye, laptop.

Buckner says: “Eventually, the recording machine was resuscitated and some of the material was recovered. Cracks were patched. Parts were redundantly re-invented. Commas were moved. Insinuations were re-insinuated until the last percussive breaths of those final OCD utterances were expelled like the final heaves of bile, wept-out long after the climactic drama had faded to a somber, blurry moment of truth and voilà!, the record was done, or, let us be clear, abandoned like the charred shell of a car with a nice stereo.”

http://www.aquariumdrunkard.com/2011/05/03/richard-buckner-traitor/

Rank your favorite 5 albums that have major contributions from Jeff Tweedy and/or Jay Farrar. 3 Honorable Mentions are allowed.

1) March, 1992 - Uncle Tupelo

2) Summerteeth - Wilco

3) Still Feel Gone - Uncle Tupelo

4) Being There - Wilco

5) Trace - Son Volt

HM) Anodyne - Unlce Tupelo

HM) Down By The Old Mainstream - Golden Smog

HM) Down With Wilco - Minus 5

Interesting, since there isn't a song on Go-Go Boots a tenth as good as Never Gonna Change, Lookout Mountain, or Goddamn Lonely Love. Of course, any song from Go-Go Boots, if placed on The Dirty South or Decoration Day, would instantly be the worst song on its new album.

I'm not gonna rip on Decoration Day or Dirty South. I think they're both really good records.

I happen to think Go-Go Boots DOES have some great songs (Used To Be a Cop is one), but it's more the overall vibe and feel to the whole album that I think makes it great. It's much more laid-back than the great DBT records of the past, but I don't think that should automatically make it inferior. Hood's in top form lyrically. Cooley's maybe written better songs in the past, but his 3 old-country-sounding songs fit Go-Go Boots perfectly. Shonna's 2 songs blend in well also....her vocals "Where's Eddie" are incredible.