LouieB

I plan to hit up the New Apartment Lounge on December 28. Any of those VCers I know or those I don't know who want to meet there it would be pretty coo....Bob, Paul, Samorama, Kris, Phil, Allison, Rachel, etc. The address is 504 East 75th Street. I highly suggest NOT taking putlic transportation down there, but there is plenty of street parking. Getting there arly will help getting a seat, but then again Wilco fans rarely need seats. Quite honestly Von is not what he used to be (he isn't bad or anything and he is approaching 90), but the scene is still intersting and this type of jam is

Back to Andrew Bird....he was incredible at 4th Pres last night. What a great concert. He stayed completely away from his "hits" and did new songs, old songs and some improv, including playing with Jeff Parker and Nora O'Connor. LouieB

All of those classic gospel groups sure could kick ass. They knew how to rock (and swing) better than any of your average indie rockers that is for sure. The Proper Box set has serveral of these groups on it. Check it out. LouieB

Sad day. He outlived Zappa. I was lucky enough to see him one time. LouieB

Oh you mean the man with SDD (Swing Deficit Disorder)?? Every time they play Chicago on XRT it drives me nuts. For a guy with such a musical background he seems to have no idea what syncpation is. I guess I should listen to his new album (if someone GAVE me a copy), because I really want to know if he is still as non-swinging as ever. LouieB

Did anyone see any of Andrew's Chicago shows this week? I guess I should look on the other forum. LouieB

There have to be some dogs in there, the guy made hundreds of recordings.... LouieB

Compare her early and mid career material to her more recent stuff. He songs were great and covered by other artists. Now she sounds whinney and her songs just aren't that great. It happens. She has had a nice long career. Mostly I just really don't like her voice anymore. LouieB

No one has gotten more annoying in the course of their career than Lucinda. I totally agree. She was a great singer songwriter who has just gotten ridiculous. LouieB

I wanted to follow-up on the Fisk Jubilee Singers set from Archeophone. I have finally listened to the first disk and it is pretty amazing the sound they got out of these old reordings. Plus the historical material in the book is extremely comprehensive. Admittedly this material is probably only intersting to folks who want some deep background on this very early group; there is some redundancy because they recorded for several different companies, but if you want to know about the roots of American religious music (pre-gospel) it is some pretty exciting stuff. And it is up for a Grammy.

Chris and Heather's Country Calendar show sure was fun this weekend at Fitzgeralds. So were the Flat Five the night before. Not exactly country. LouieB

I love this Proper Box set.... Meanwhile I am listening to in beautiful mono and gazing at the cover and what Michigan Avenue looked like when I was 10 and long before I got here. LouieB

Wow, Wilco can't put out an album fast enough for this crowd. W(TA) while not my favorite Wilco album just isn't that bad. I don't like the cover that much, but what the fuck does that have to do with anything. And SBS is a very good album. In the course of a long recording career, artists are going to have ebbs and flows. It used to be recording artists put out two or three albums a year. Not so anymore, we have to wait years for something people are going to dis. Meahwhile Jeff isn't going to give a shit. He and his band sell out shows all over the world and sell plenty of records, new

He can't make records with John, comb his hair or dance? I don't see him overplaying either. There was a time when I think he underplayed if anything. I know some folks are so fond of Pat, but he gives the band a bit of visual flair. LouieB

Kick Sansone where? Out of the band? Actually Pat has gotten significantly better at what he does since joining the band. Meanwhile Nels is a touring guitarist. Nothing wrong with that. He gets to do what he wants, and as you point out sell lots more records to all of us who weren't aquainted with his music before he jointed the band, and make some decent money. Not only that he does add something to mix, but his style of music isn't what Wilco does, so he does kind of have to fit in. Ultimately this is Jeff's band. He apparently likes the way it is. So I guess everyone gets to take it

This is the line-up Jeff likes, including Nels. This is the line-up Jeff is going to stick with unless someone quits or Jeff disbands the whole thing. They are capable of anything Jeff wants to do. They are going to make plenty of great music and plenty of great records. Maybe (or maybe not) the future material will not be as striking as the material from the past, but I think it will be special none the less. (and as always, it can't come soon enough...) LouieB

I have been giving the Box Tops second album a few spins lately. LouieB

Nah, I suppose not, but touring on the heels of reissuing old material kind of is. But then again both the Pixies and Pavement have made a good living do this in recent years. No reason for the Jayhawks not to cash in as well. I am all in favor of this too. Doesn't bother me at all. LouieB

Agreed...Rainy Day Music is great. The other two...not so much. Anyway I guess it is good for the fans that the Jayhawks have become a nostalgia act. Worse things could happen. I am looking forward to these shows. LouieB

I wish the Kronos Quartet would record the piece they commissioned from him. Any word on that? LouieB

Blue Earth may be my least favorite Jayhawks album. Some of it is really unlistenable (to me...) so three more tracks won't make me rebuy it. But if you don't have it, certainly get it in that configuration. I am getting intrested in the other more recent reissues though, since I like them a whole lot. It appears the non-Olsen albums are out of print though . LouieB

Blue Earth is still available (so says Amazon) in the reissue. Both new and used copies are available. LouieB

He is a great showman. If anyone is in the Chicago area, he is part of Robbie Fulks' band and their end of year show is always a hoot. I guess Dave Max Crawford is also on this album. Again my kids are grown so buying this isn't much of an option, although I do have some young neices now, so I may pick it up for them. Louie B

Can someone tell me what LMLYFM is? Sorry I am not hip enough to know. Or else I just am not going to spend the time to figure it out. And just for the record, I am not so fond of W(ta) either but Sky Blue Sky is pretty good. No musician is going to make great recordings every time out. LouieB

Actually if you count the part of Thursday I helpe load in LPs I guess I did three days. Actually Pfork is two and a half days. It starts late afternoon on Friday and runs through Sunday. LouieB