lost highway

I feel like Lotti deserves a TV show, or at least some Funny or Die sketches.

Yeah, I kind of got caught up in the Sukierae part of the conversation. As for the voice: I became a serious fan of Wilco watching the IATTBYH documentary. One scene in particular affected me, which was towards the start they're doing vocals at the loft (I want to say it was for Poor Places) and you get up close during that part of the process. As a huge music fan, and aspiring singer I was struck by how relaxed and effortless he sounded. His delivery was so dang unadorned with none of the "singer voice" theatricality of so much of the music I had listened to. It made the abstract, poet

My thought is that these songs are going to grow and so far (with maybe an exception for Diamond Light) they're better as NOT Wilco songs. The stripped down treatment and some of what Jeff was kidding about his "limited" skills on some of the arrangements give them their appeal. Maybe some of these tunes with all of the finesse the 6 members of Wilco have could have been polished into sounding a little ho hum. This could leave some creative space for Wilco to take on more of the contemplative, weird, tense, dark or explosive material they produce so well and not so much of the laid back stuff.

Also, the first Alkaline Trio album did the whole heart-on-its-sleeve, adolescent woes feeling really well (I find their subsequent work disastrous).

Cloud Nothings- they tend to have more aggro albums overall (in a way that I enjoy) but they've put one or two poppy gems on their last two records that are total, standout, mixtape songs to me. Jawbreaker- best pop punk band ever for my money. Of course like any great band when you think about it, they don't really fit into their genre. Also the first Jets to Brazil (same singer/songwriter) album is fantastic, the subsequent ones are more mixed with some Beatlesesque gems for sure. For power pop I always end up getting the whole obscure, record collector thing- it's fun to think

... complete with makeshift cardboard box/gum pack drum kit AND Lucius. http://www.npr.org/event/music/338016630/tweedy-and-son-take-to-the-tunnels-friends-in-tow?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=nprmusic&utm_term=music&utm_content=20140807 Also, as the "found percussion" kit demonstrates. Spencer may be his father's son, but he's also Kotche's protege.

Summer Noon sounded great. High as Hello might be the first one of these tunes that really does nothing for me. It might grow on me, but it just sounds plodding, vaguely funky and not a lot of great melodies to remember.

Very nice. My expectations for this record have been steadily rising with each leaked single.

I'd say that's a little Pollyanna of you. At least in the recent Iraq quagmire I would say that Bush never understood which shows how daft and easy to manipulate he was, but Cheney knew exactly what the costs and consequences could be. That demonstrates what a sociopath he is. I think Obama understands, and makes some pretty serious ethical compromises, yet his understanding is what has slowed his hand and infuriated the hawks.

Good point, both parties have had their hawks and their isolationists.

I think a lot of the tension in these conversations come from the psychological weight (and sometimes lack thereof) of the concept of war. I think both sides of the political spectrum like to state that they dislike war, would rather it not happen, and believe in finding every other solution possible before resorting to it. Yet, one side is always so quick to jump to it. There is a strong bias among a certain set of Americans about using the military to solve problems. I have stated before that I believe this is the lasting effect of our involvement in WWII, which had a way of defining o

Yeah, I think at this point it's pretty much a non-partisan consensus to say that this is a fucked up situation with frighteningly massive implications. Where you go from there is where it gets political.

All hail President Hixter!

Let's not forget that Cold War I was a time when military spending cranked up at the same time as Reganomics put the trickle-down theory into popularity. Both Thatcher and Regan had massive percentages of their working class going hungry waiting for jobs and they cut social services. We spent billions on weapons we never used, AND taxes went up. That is a very disingenous version of the Republican program. It didn't help, and it was a half-baked, phony kind of right-wing approach that GWB continued in spite of the more libertarian and leftist voices lampooning it. What is horribly absen

Yep.

Very nice. This one made me think the pre-order in exchange for weekly downloads was worth it. I'm hearing the comparisons people are making, I'd also add Cat Stevens to it. Sometimes you just want to rock so soft!

For the record, I'd call that x20032 a Gmaj7, but it's kind of a cool weird voicing.

AM - I Thought I Held You BT - Say You Miss Me ST - Can't Stand It YHF - I'm The Man Who Loves You AGIB - Less Than You Think (but I still really like it) SBS - Walken WTA - You Never Know TWL - Open Mind

So it's already a winner for you

How does someone writing for a major publication get away with "where you believe everything what he says." Also "the American Thom York"? That could maybe be a productive analogy if you unpack it for five or six paragraphs, but otherwise why freaking bother? I think it was ol' Bill Shakespeare who said "Comparisons are odious."

I think appreciation for it is partly based on expectation. If you look at it as something that's supposed to matter as much as a new Wilco record (depending on your views) that could make it hard to stack up. But, if you look at it as a new "Wilco related" project then you stack it against the Autumn Defense, recent Golden Smog tracks featuring Tweedy, 7 Worlds Collide etc. There are great odds and ends in that list, but as a listener I can be more forgiving, and just kind of see what curiosities await. It's like you have your stack of inarguable CLASSICS by the Talking Heads. Then, Dav

Yeah, I'm also a teacher. My phone/facebook etc. is dead to me during work hours. I think with our impression of the workforce: we see what surrounds us, and we interpret it how it serves our particular views.

No, not defensive at all. It's good for people to get joy out of something someone worked hard on. I think the song is a grower for me. A couple more listens had my toe tapping and enjoying what was a very intentional minimalism in the harmony/melody department. As for the video.... it's less important anyways.

Some people at office jobs do that because they can and they're earning more money than people in 'the Greatest Generation'. It sounds like you haven't hung out with public school teachers, or blue collar migrant workers much- two different forms of intense ass busting. Good point.

Also of note, if you preorder any version of the album you get to download a song a week from it for the next 8 weeks.