Three dollars and 63 cents

The way I've been interpreting it, the speaker in the song knows his wife/girlfriend isn't coming back, but he can't come right out and say it until the end of the song. His use of "my" instead of "our" is a hint that he's building up to finally admitting his realization, even though he doesn't want to. I'm glad I'm not the only one who listens to the lyrics that closely!

Maybe the real question is why does Al Gore hate Wilco? I'd guess their appearance at the Kongsberg Jazz Festival has probably been in the works for quite awhile. It might have simply been a scheduling conflict. Besides, Wilco in a stadium with the likes of Bon Jovi? That would make me cry.

Wilco got better with Being There. A.M. isn't my favorite Wilco album, but I wouldn't completely write it off, either.

I'm not sure if Best Buy charges for installations, but be careful of hidden fees. At Circuit City, I got free installation on any stereo over $100, but what they weren't at all up front about was that I'd have to pay a $75 installation fee for an iPod adapter (which was already $50). That's why I went with a more expensive stereo that's iPod ready. Had I not done research ahead of time, they'd have ripped me off. This is the stereo I got. I'm happy with it so far, both for CDs and my iPod: http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Sony-In-Das...roductDetail.do

A few days this week, not long after I turned on my computer I got an error message saying there was a problem and Last.fm Helper had to close. I sent an error report each time, thinking maybe there was an update I'd missed or something, but nothing came up. My iTunes with the Last.fm plugin has been working fine, though, and I didn't get the error message today.

She's definitely not my favorite--her vocals pale in comparison to the others' musical abilities--but I do like what she brings to some songs, like Scarlet Begonias and Fire on the Mountain, as well as a very nice version of The Weather Report Suite I have, I think from 1974. I think a lot of the reason that era appeals to me most is also that I like those setlists best. Part of what I love about the Dead is the different eras and the different line-ups they had. That makes it tough for someone to start listening to them, too, though, because there's just so much to choose from.

My favorite version of the band was the one with Keith and Donna Godchaux (1975-79). Dick's Picks Vol. 7 and 10 are from this era, and they're two of my favorites. Any version of Scarlet Begonias--> Fire On the Mountain with Donna on backup vocals is a very, very good thing. I second others' suggestions for Workingman's Dead and American Beauty. I like American Beauty slightly more for tracks like Brokedown Palace and Box of Rain, but I think Workingman's Dead is a little more consistent. Both are short, fantastic albums. If you're interested in the late 70s and 80s Dead, the Arista Year

I'm 28.

Thanks for posting this. The link from Wilco's site was still to John's podcast when I checked yesterday. I've just started getting into Nels' non-Wilco work, and this is a great sampler. I've been really enjoying a few of the tracks off of The Giant Pin lately, and I just got the new Nels Cline Singers album. It's been a long time since a musician's work has blown me away as much as his work has.

I voted for You Are My Face and Shake It Off. I love how the tempo changes and the guitar kicks up in the middle of them. Either Way is my favorite song on the album, but these are the two tracks that best showcase Nels' playing.

I don't mind the VW commercials. It's nice to hear a little Wilco when I least expect it. I was in the kitchen washing dishes the other night on a commercial break from something I was watching, and I loved turning off the water and hearing a snippet of Sky Blue Sky.

One of my friends and her husband recently went on their honeymoon to Costa Rica. She said it was extremely affordable and beautiful. They'd originally thought about Hawaii, but then they realized what they would've spent for a few days in Hawaii could last them over a week in Costa Rica. It sounds like they had a great trip. Congrats!

^ I agree. As much as I'm enjoying the album, I think I'd get bored with the band if they continued with this lighter sound. I really liked some of the new songs live, but they worked well early in the set, when it was still light out. After the sun went down, I would've been disappointed by a lot of mellow songs.

I got an iTrip when I first got my iPod, and I hated it. It was very staticky, and it was impractical for trips, since I kept having to try to find different stations. I just had a tape deck in my car for a long time, and the tapes to get a discman or iPod to play in the car wouldn't work in it. Earlier this year I had a new stereo installed in my car, and I decided to go with a Sony that comes with an iPod cable in addition to the auxiliary jack. I chose this over just getting one with an auxiliary jack because my iPod doesn't have great battery life anymore, and I like that the cable charges

I'd wear a t-shirt with that statement on it.

Sky Blue Sky really seems to be a love it or hate it album from what I've read from the critics and from listeners. Personally, I love it. I was lukewarm about the second half of the album at first, but over the last few weeks, I've been playing it a lot and really growing to appreciate the album as a whole. It's not my favorite Wilco album, but I do think it's my favorite album of 2007, and I think it's miles better than Easy Tiger. Ryan Adams and Jeff Tweedy are both incredible songwriters. What this article fails to acknowledge, though, is how different they are as songwriters. There's so

Car Wheels On A Gravel Road is one of my top 5 favorite albums. I've wrecked my copy of it by taking it so many places and getting my friends to listen to it. I need to pick up another copy, but I'm trying to track down the deluxe edition. I also really like her self-titled album, which is just packed with great songs. The albums since Car Wheels have been a little inconsistent in my opinion. Essence is such a raw, haunting track--definitely one of my favorites by her--but I don't think the rest of the album lives up to it. I haven't gotten a chance to buy West yet, though I do like what I've

That's how I feel about the album, too. I had it on this afternoon and found it didn't hold my attention the way many of his other albums did the first few times I heard them. There weren't any songs I hated, but there weren't any I was in a hurry to listen to again right away. In fact, I let iTunes play through Heartbreaker and Gold, then listened to some Whiskeytown. That said, mediocre Ryan Adams is still worlds better than the best of many artists. Who knows; maybe this one will grow on me some more.

^ I got it from Netflix. It was a great documentary, but not something I think I'd want to watch enough to make it worth buying.

I'd argue that he's one of the best producers in the music business. I'm most familiar with his work with U2, but I also believe that Wrecking Ball was the album that relaunched Emmylou Harris's career. I don't know his own music too well, but I know he wrote the score for the recent Pixies documentary LoudQUIETloud: A Film About the Pixies. His sparse, almost haunting acoustic music in the background of some scenes is such a contrast to the performance footage, but it perfectly captures how the four band members feel about one another now. There's also a bonus featurette about Lanois and his

I was still in town for Dylan on Tuesday, too. His show was great, probably the best of all the times I've seen him, but there was a much different vibe in the crowd than there was for the Wilco show. Maybe it had something to do with the heat, but everybody around me was cranky. I ended up moving around a lot to get to a spot where I could see and wasn't near anyone rude. Driving home today, I listened to Sky Blue Sky almost the whole way, a three and a half hour trip. Hearing the new songs live made me really love the album, even though I'd been a little lukewarm about it up to now. Most o

Another great show this year. I think I liked last year's show at the Pines a little better, but I think that's because it was my first Wilco show and I was so excited. I really enjoyed some of the songs I hadn't heard before, especially Poor Places. I also really liked Spiders this year, even though it's never been one of my favorites before. I was so happy they opened with Either Way! I didn't think they'd play it, so I was thrilled to hear those first notes of it at the start of the show. My friends and I were about halfway back right in the middle. I was glad to break in my new camera at

I'm driving up to Northampton tomorrow and will be in town long enough to catch Dylan, too. I was going to try to head up to the Vermont show from there, but it's just not in my budget right now. I'm hoping they come back east in the fall or winter so I can catch them again. There's plenty of things to do in the Northampton/Amherst/Holyoke area. I lived up there for most of the summer a few years ago, and I never got bored. With so many colleges around, there are lots of museums that are free or have very affordable admission. You should have no problem finding plenty to do Monday and during

Last year's show at the Pines, as a zip file: http://www.sendspace.com/file/fi7q5w

I'm so glad it's looking like it's only going to be in the 70s on Sunday. I'm going to be seeing Bob Dylan at the Pines on Tuesday, and it's supposed to be 93. Ugh. I'll probably be in the back near the soundboard like I was last year. Usually that would be a lousy spot, but the Pines is so small that there's not a bad spot anywhere. We're closer to the beer line that way, and since my friend's friends are bringing their kids (they're 8 and 11 and have seen Wilco more times than I have!) they'll have some room to play. I'm starting to get excited. Last year's show was so good that I have hig