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MrMilk

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Posts posted by MrMilk

    Wilco Sydney (Marrickville) 2/5/10

    in After The Show

    Posted

    Hey guys, I was there last nite, awesome nite. Really diverse setlist, it's the 5th time I've seen them and I think I counted 11 songs that I'd never heard them play before!

     

    Anyways, to answer some questions:

     

    Yes they did play Kicking TV (holy shit)

    Yes they did play Laminated Cat in an electrified way (holy shit)

    Yes they did play Outtasite straight after I Got You (holy shit)

    Yes they did play the Being There version of Sunken Treasure (holy shit)

     

    Once I get my brain together and finish a day of work urgh I'll report back on more

     

    Mike

    Sky Blue Sky

    in Just A Fan

    Posted

    Haha yes I'm sure we've all written these thoughts before, but heck we love this band so why not go back into the rabbit hole? :P

     

    Like many I feel that Sky Blue Sky is a memento of the time. It reminds me of my experiences of mid-2007, and I think the album's wistful feel really helps to make that connection. I'm not sure if for example Summerteeth (with its blaring keyboards) was my soundtrack in that time that I would be able to make the same connection. (Although I think Summerteeth is great.) SBS really is what it is and reflects a moment (for Jeff, the band and the listener). Where YHF (still my fave probably) is an incredible album of tunes meshed with bizarre sounds, I think SBS is an album of tunes meshed with feelings. But maybe my feelings about the records also reflect what was happening to me when the records came out.

     

    I do think that SBS the album is a little up and down:

     

    Classics: YAMF, Impossible Germany

    Near-Classics: Seeds, OnOnOn

    Good: Hate It Here, Either Way, What Light, Walken, Please Be Patient

    Meh: SBS, Leave Me Like

    Stinkers: Shake It Off

     

    - I always hated Shake It Off (it's a serious momentum killer on the record and in concert).

    - SBS the song never did it for me either, just seems really lightweight. It's even worse that it's sandwiched between the heavyweights Germany and Seeds.

    - Hate It Here has incredible energy live but for me hasn't aged very well. I loved it when the record first came out but now it seems too cheesy.

    - I also loved Seeds when the record first came out and thought that it was the best song on the record. But it too hasn't aged as well for me. I still think it's a near-classic but I think it's a rung below YAMF and Impossible Germany perhaps because structurally it's pretty generic (Verse Verse Breakdown Verse Breakdown). Having said that it is still an amazing song and the breakdowns are probably the best moments on the record.

    - YAMF and Impossible Germany are just fucking off the hook. When you hear those songs you know that this Jeff and the band have still "got it".

    - OnOnOn surprised me. I heard some early bootlegs and I was pretty underwhelmed. I was nigh-on devastated that it was the last song on the record - I feel you really have to put one of your best songs in that position. I was sad to think that OnOnOn was shaping up to be one of their best songs. However, the performance on record is very moving, particularly in the instrumental break. I had the fortune of seeing them play this song live in Amsterdam and it was even more powerful. Live John sings in unison with Jeff in the last verse and it just sends shivers up your spine.

    - Rest of the album is pretty much "good" or "meh".

     

    So overall I think it's a good album with some classics on there. I don't think we should complain too much :)

     

    And a new record and DVD to come out in the space of 6 months. That's fantastic!

     

    Mike

    Favorite Phrases

    in Just A Fan

    Posted

    I'm tryin' to get over a girl so right now Tweedy's love/lost love lyrics are hitting me hardest:

     

    "I've got reservations about so many things, but not about you."

     

    "Embracing the situation

    Is our only chance to be free

    I

    Sky Blue Sky - The Grower Thread

    in Just A Fan

    Posted

    I'm one of the fans who's not been floored by SBS. I'm continuing to listen to it quite a bit, and there are individual tracks/moments that definitely strike me as genius, but the whole of it has yet to really connect. I don't agree with those who critique it as "safe" or, as I think Pitchfork put it, "dad rock," though I think I can see where that perception comes from -- SBS is plenty experimental structurally, but fairly straightforward sonically. That is, songs like "You Are My Face" and "Impossible Germany" have tons of Wilco idiosycracies, but it's all in the chord progressions, countermelodies, rhythms, etc. We're used to hearing this experimentation more in the arrangement and production, I'd say -- "Misunderstood" and "Via Chicago" being two examples that jump immediately to mind, both being fairly straightforward as far as songwriting but offering mindblowingly unexpected and thrilling takes in how those songs are delivered. What makes YHF such a deeply affecting album for me isn't just the quality of Jeff's songwriting but the unique and moving way that the three chords of "IATTBYH" are constructed to expand and wander and build...

     

    Anyway, SBS seems to do almost exactly the opposite. The band has put as much detail and effort into the tracks as ever, but now that's all focused within the songs themselves, and the delivery of those songs is what I think strikes some people as Eagle-esque, or whatever. I think personally I am still trying to get my brain around this new Wilco sound, but that doesn't mean SBS won't grow on me, and I certainly give Tweedy and company credit for continuing to play in new territory record after record.

     

    That is the most insightful analysis of SBS that I've read. Thank you.

    Amsterdam.........?

    in After The Show

    Posted

    I did indeed hit a Wifi drought, Dunja.

     

    But have no fear, the setlist from last night's final club show on the Euro tour was as follows:

     

    Either Way

    You Are My Face

    IATTBYH

    Handshake Drugs

    War on War (w/A Shot in the Arm false start)

    Impossible Germany

    Sky Blue Sky

    At Least That's What You Said

    A Shot in the Arm

    Side With The Seeds

    Via Chicago

    Shake It Off

    Jesus, etc.

    Walken

    I'm The Man Who Loves You

    ---------------------------------

    On and On and On

    Pot Kettle Black

    Poor Places>

    Spiders (Kidsmoke)

    ----------------------------------

    Misunderstood

    The Late Greats

    I'm A Wheel

     

    Thanks for confirming the setlist, but i'm 100% certain they played Hummingbird after I'm The Man Who Loves You, pre-encore.

     

    Loved the Jeff dance, although it wasn't as flamboyant as I've seen it on vids floating around the internet...

    Amsterdam.........?

    in After The Show

    Posted

    Wow last night was amazing, just unbelievably good.

     

    First time i've ever seen them live... they just kept going and going and taking me to new planes of existence. Wow.

     

    I can't write too much because unfortunately I have an exam to do in three hours (!)... but here's a rough setlist. I remember the first few and the last songs, and the rest are a jumble. But I'm 99% certain i've written down all 23 songs.

     

    Hopefully there's a boot of this gig...

     

    Either Way

    You Are My Face

    I am trying to break your heart

    Handshake Drugs

    ... memory blur...

    I'm the man who loves you

    Hummingbird

    --encore break--

    On and On and On

    Pot Kettle Black (HOLY FUCK)

    Poor Places

    Spiders

    --Encore break--

    Misunderstood

    Late Greats

    I'm A Wheel

     

    The other songs were:

     

    War on War

    Sky Blue Sky

    Via Chicago

    Shake It Off

    Impossible Germany

    Shot in the Arm

    Jesus, etc.

    Walken

    Side with the Seeds

    At least that's what you said

    Video Interview w/Glenn on Undercover

    in Just A Fan

    Posted

    Hey

     

    This is a pretty good Australian music news site. If you read some of the news posts the writing can be really cynical at times, which is great!

     

    Oh and here's the link for the video interview. I've watched half so far and it's quite extensive, and the interviewer is knowledgeable. Glenn also says he's looking forward to playing songs like YAMF, Side with the Seeds and Either Way.

     

    Cheers

     

    Mike

     

    http://www.undercover.com.au/Video.aspx?ch...p;clipid=881854

    Which shows on I Am Trying To Break Your Heart

    in Just A Fan

    Posted · Edited by MrMilk

    Hey guys,

     

    Does anyone know which gigs are featured on I Am Trying To Break Your Heart?

     

    I'm fairly certain the Tweedy solo stuff is from Great American Music Hall, San Fran 8 March 2001.

     

    And I've narrowed down the Wilco post-Jay stuff to The Fillmore, San Fran 2 or 3 December 2001.

     

    Any help would be appreciated.

     

    Cheers

    Mike

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