lost highway

So I got up close to the stage before the show in Grand Junction. Unfortunately I would have to climb on to get the full setup, but Tweedy has definitely been trying new things, and moving stuff around. The thing that stumped me was he had two tiny little pedals. Normal pedal length but only two inches or so across. Both just a button and one knob. I also noticed he was using alot of pedals (I think all drive pedals) in tandem for his leads, probably to get an extra nasty tone. I laughed when he went into a lead and hit like three pedals for it, cocked his head a little and then turne

Nice to see them in such a small venue. Bought popcorn after Retribution Gospel Choir who were outstanding. The sound was good there, for some reason where I was sitting Tweedy's guitar was louder than ever, I could still hear Nels but he was more subtle on the volume register. Also I was sitting down, in the balcony for the first time at a Wilco show. Two nice changes in perspective from the other times. From the opening three I was loving it, I thought they were set to traverse the many corners of their catalog. As it worked out they ended up hitting only big, fun, rockers for the las

The thing to keep in mind with these puppies (not to deter you, I have put myself on to even more frivolous missions) is that they only have one knob. And that knob is so freaking big you can adjust it with your foot even if you're wearing boots. Not quite as elegant as an expression pedal, but it can be adjusted as you strum, pick, or windmill.

Awesome. Thanks for posting these. I guess the new album recording is really underway. Rumors are double-confirmed.

I heard it was awesome. Begin.

Well said.

I run a part time studio. I use my computer to record on. Right around the same time my roomate got the new fangled Mac (G5 at the time I think.....) my neighbor helped me build a computer. He did have a tower to give me, but other than that we ordered parts off of some website. My three hundred dollar computer has the same specs as my roomies which I think was around two grand. I can change/upgrade my pc with cheap parts myself and not void the warranty cause there is none. Mac makes great stuff. It costs a great amount. PC is the classic American example of DIY. At work I use Mac,

Why did they put in that lame disco beat on Part 2. That song seems like it's going to be the grand gesture of the album with its cool synth intro and eight minute build-song format, but those disco drums are so freakin 'The Killers' it's nauseating. And I love that drummer, he's part muppet too.

I think one of the most creatively damaging mythologies in American culture is that Poems and Songs are cloud like wisps that drift in from unknown places. Like a table they have architecture. Whether you understand it in terms, or in an intuitive sense these things have nuts and bolts. When you work with them you can feel them, rearrange them, construct them. Their logic is not at odds with their emotion. People who pedal that crap are just anti-intellectual.

From the Roots: Kids call theyself killers let they hammers do the talkin Don't even know the meaning of life, ain't seen a thing and you dream of floodin the scenery with, llello and greenery But for now, you stickin her with the heavy machinery Wonder how, you lift it up, be only 17 And like e'rybody he wanna shine, young brothers on the grind Holdin somethin in they spine, "Bowling for Columbine" Stressin to me how it's all about a dollar sign Dig the way you out of line, out of sight and out of mind Up against the clock and damn near out of time "The Tipping Point" has arrived, and that'

What line up was that. I definitely saw Mikael, but was it Leroy on the other side?

Black Star (Mos Def and Talib Kwali 99ish(?)). Best hip hop album ever. I love it . Every year I get addicted to it for a month. Just checked out the Blue Scholars. Also awesome. Philipino MC from Seattle rapping about the Reagan administration with a guy holding a music degree on the turn tables spinning jazzy keys and big beats. Hell yeah.

Well there are a few on the website that are not sold out, which is a rarity these days. But....being a Coloradoan myself, I know the cultural meccas of Grand Junction and Colorado Springs might be a little slower moving in the rock and roll world than Denver. But, I'm driving through the snowy Rockies to see them in GJ so I can assume someone else is.

Yeah it said the band was recording. The band. Recording. For a record. I think.....

The band.....mini-hiatus.....to record. Can I get a hell yeah?

Favorite Fairport Conv. albums? I will go on record with a strong lean towards Unhalfbricking. Still haven't heard the one named something like 'On Our Summer Holiday'. Lieg and Lief is good but Unhalfbricking seems to be the masterpiece.

Yeah I got a Fulltone Fulldrive 2 with my tax return. Easiest time of year to spen 180 bucks on a metal box with buttons.

I've got one. But I've also got two or three other overdrive/boost/fuzz pedals. It is very distinctinve. Not so much a chord pedal, works better with single notes and leads. But you can actually turn off the part of the effect that makes it so freaky and its a pretty warm overdrive. How to explain......its like a really gnarly fuzz where you hear high harmonics on top, but when you hold a note the high harmonics change making this sweeping tone over the sustaining fundamental of the note. Or in other words it goes "Byuuuggge, byuuuuge!" Very psychdelic Nuggets type of lead tone. If y

Interesting......... I guess that's true about Z it does kind of lose its thread. Maybe those guys just have a different sense of symmetry. Oceanman-your love for Ween puts your love for Evil Urges in a new light. I get why you get it. The other thing I love is that we still have bands that are important enough to so many people that any new release causes such passionate conversation. That's why I feel extra impatient for the follow up to SBS.

Oh I have it then. Now I want to find the Denny version and compare. Ah, the dorky ways I get through my day.

You are after all the Analogman. I don't think I remember Dead Landlord. Have to look through my records.

Wait what? What leaked?

Thats actually a Leonard Cohen song. You should check out the original it's equally awesome. Yeah, I don't like Fairport Convention without Sandy Denny except maybe the S/T. 'Who Knows Where the Time Goes?' has got to be so classic its a freaking standard. Great voice. I need to check out the Fortheringay album. Good call Analogman.

Yeah those guys operate under total secrecy sometimes (re-new DVD?). They (probably wisely) don't talk about an album much until they know it is done. And the members are all prolific in other projects so recording can mean alot of things. But it could mean new Wilco.........

One of the most helpful things for me happens away from the instrument. (This works better with a whole band) I like to think of sounds when I'm driving or walking. Sounds of certain songs that I really like, that have a unique approach. I then mimic this idea or approach. Not melody or chord progression just general arrangement style/dynamic/tempo. So if I am really feeling "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" I don't learn it. Instead I write a song in a minor key with arpeggios from one guitar and fuzzy leads from another. Keep it slower tempo with some heavy downbeats from the drums. U