Golden Smoghead

That plus the previous post have convinced me to drop some of my ever-weakening-against-the-Euro dolla billz on an album or two, thanks for the input. Yeah he definitely didn't shine at all, after that first song (the one I quoted). M Ward really upstaged him, though I thought the songs with the MMJ guy really dragged (not an MMJ fan, so that's probably part of it -- I know it's shallow, but ALLLL that vocal reverb just kills me).

I am not up to my eyeballs in UT, frankly, but I find Anodyne just terrific. Edit to add: the nicest compliment I've ever gotten was that one of my songs sounds like a lost Anodyne track. The guy was wrong, but still a day-improving thing to have said to you.

I had never even heard of Conor Oberst / Bright Eyes until my TiVo caught him on ACL last year. I have a hard time hating anybody who pens words like, "everything I made is trite, and cheap and a waste of paint, of tape, of time." That's really interesting -- because if sincere, it's the fear / insecurity / deep belief of every artist. And if it's a sarcastic reference to all the mean things said about him, then bully for that too. In any event, I was mildly entertained and like someone else said, more power to him. ... not that that performance led to me go out and listen to anything e

Sorry if this sounds obvious or insulting or something, but I really have used the hell out of openmikes, they have a search widget where you input your zip code and a radius you are interested in... Best part is definitely the posts / reviews. Occasionally I disagree with the other people, but by and large you can get a sense for what a particular open mic is like.

NPR definitely loves Wilco. This makes me vaguely uneasy, kind of like how I feel when I notice that all my favorite TV shows have commercials for term life insurance and adult sanitary napkins.

Ah, now I see where you're going... I have definitely been at parties, barbecues, etc where someone picked up a guitar and started playing pop music from when my peer group was in high school /college (the opening notes to "The Sweater Song" by Weezer, for example, always seem to crop up). But pop music from when I was in high school was frankly not that great... Sure, I'm OK with hearing "Hey Jealousy" every now and then, but really it's perceived as kinda douchebaggy to just start belting out some Counting Crows or something, by and large. Sublime comes up pretty often and that's OK for

I'm sure RA was being totally serious here. Like remember his song dissing Ulysses S. Grant, those two ended up having to take it to an arm-wrestling match. Grant's corpse won. (The Shit

Wow thanks a lot! Audio quality is pretty fantastic, and I love this tune. I had never heard anything other than the Anodyne version. Stupid question: how did they mic the banjo? It sounds great. Looks like there is some kind of pickup inside the resonator? Also it's kinda weird for me to see Max Johnston playing with Wilco -- I am one of the guys who'd heard them on radio during the Being There years but didn't really latch on until YHF. So anyway, I associate Max much more with the Gourds, so it's just cool to see him up there.

Louie I usually agree with everything you say on here, and I like your taste in music immensely. However your cover grief here is kinda unfounded. I am not kidding, check for yourself, half of Gillian Welch's wikipedia entry is a list of all the people who have covered her songs. She is 41 years old. And it's not like it's all one song that everyone liked. List includes: Jimmy Buffet Emmylou Harris Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Trisha Yearwood Kathy Mattea Allison Kraus Joan Baez Glen Phillips (Toad the Wet Sprocket dude) Etc. And Ben Harper not getting more covers is a crying shame if y

I don't buy this at all. Guitar Town came out in 1986, but I think Earle did his best work within the last ten years (The Mountain, Jerusalem, The Revolution Starts now). I'd say the same for Lucinda Williams and even Tom Waits, but I suppose those are judgment calls / personal taste. So when you say "songwriters from the last decade" I guess you mean "songwriters who only showed up within the last ten years." I dunno if that's really fair. Yes, some songwriters were brilliant as they stepped from the womb (Dylan, Springsteen, Cohen, Nick Drake), but I would say that with a few exceptions

I'm going to have to disagree. In particular, I think Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams, and Bruce Springsteen are examples of contemporary songwriters who are great artisans, approach it like the craft it is, and take it seriously. You don't necessarily have to LIKE everything they do, but to say that the craft has gone downhill is something I just don't agree with. However, in other parts of your post you allude to the industry -- to me, the industry is distinct from the question of whether or not there are great songwriters out there plugging away at it. Also I am curious as to what you wou

These guys showed up at my local open mic last night for a 30-minute set (lead singer / guitar player and pedal steel only)... Pretty good stuff! I like more "out front" or "singing" vocals, but very pretty melodies etc. Lyrics were pretty standard where I could make them out, but I would think their full-band show would be pretty good. They mentioned they're putting out a new album in September.

I disagree with that sentiment. And frankly, does American Idol really represent any generation?? I haven't looked into it, but most of the people I know who watch it are mom and dad couch-potatoes (not that I don't resemble that demo myself). I think kids these days have taste in music that is A-OK, by and large. I don't think the previous musical generation -- the one that sponsored Hair Bands or going further back, 70s Lovin' Spoonful bullshit -- has any room to talk.

Woodie Guthrie Alex Chilton Dan Tyminski (plays in Union Station) Mark Knopfler Nick Drake Blind Lemon Jefferson (intentionally trying to interject some non-shredders into this thread, I'll admit)

Meant the red one, sorry. Thanks for the answer!

Sorry, yeah. I think of an iPod as just a hard drive, I'm referring to the iTunes downloads.

me too. Wikipedia has this: Although Island neither expected nor wanted a third album, Drake approached Wood in October 1971 to begin work on what would be his final release. The sessions took place over two nights, with only Drake and his engineer present in the studio. The bleak songs of Pink Moon are short, and the eleven-track album lasts only 28 minutes, a length described by Wood as "just about right. You really wouldn't want it to be any longer." Drake had expressed dissatisfaction with the sound of Bryter Layter, and believed that the string, brass and saxophone arrangements had r

Hey congrats Todd! Sounds like a lot of fun. Make the most of the opportunity, and please let us hear at least some teaser clips of what you come up with. I like the tunes you've put up here since I joined, would be interested in how you make out in the studio. I'd be up for contributing some bluegrass / old timey guitar or banjo lines but DC and Chicago are simply "too... far apart."

I don't own an iPod b/c I think they sound like ass. That said, I totally agree with bjorn that eventually they will not, since as memory gets cheaper and cheaper there is just no cause for the undue compression. And I definitely do NOT consider myself an audiophile. I just think the iTunes versions sound so much worse that I am still the guy at work with (literally) 80 CDs all over the place. What's ironic is that I am a songwriter doing the myspace thing to get my songs out there, and generally b/c of the file-size restriction, I have to compress my songs beyond what iTunes does. Yes,

Slightly OT, but what year is that SG that Tweedy plays? I have an early-60s Gibson Les Paul that looks very similar.

I thought the Shins' first album (Oh, Inverted World or something) was mostly recorded on that dude's laptop, in his basement, and he played most of the parts.

Maybe he's talking about the black guitar in picture 08 here? http://wilcoworld.net/photos/index.php

Eels. Seriously people, Railroad Man segues into Hell is Chrome or something. I just think it's different enough to be cool, but still the same vein being drawn on.

I would argue that the resurgence of bluegrass-related music can be seen as a new iteration of alt.country ... Personally I think there has always been a market for other-than-Nashville country music. Nashville is so saccharine, so pop, that as far back as you want to look (trucker music in the 60s, Willie and Waylon's Outlaw stuff in the 70s and 80s, Steve Earle in the 80s) there are people with country-western musical sensibilities out there making a living by trying to subvert the Nashville scene. I think the alt.country guys tapped into some of that anti-Nashville-ism but like that art