keeprighton2

A few top tracks: Friendly Fires - 'Paris' Foals - 'Red Sock Pugie' MGMT - Time To Pretend' Elbow - 'One Day Like This'

Look, Billy got the MA thing off the ground and Wilco were his backing band of choice. Then it all went tits up. Jeff didn't like being treated like the poor relation in the collaboration and they fell out. Billy wanted to tour it but Jeff didn't for the above reason. Billy still says some nice stuff about Wilco, Jeff thinks Billy is a c***. This I know, from a first hand source.

For a highly politicised songwriter his 'love' songs are pretty great. I defy anyone not to love 'Greetings to The New Brunette'. One of my favourite songs, killer melody, touching lyrics. By the way, has anyone heard Frank Turner yet? Being compared alot to Billy Bragg. Saw him at Glastonbury, he has alot of passion especially when he plays live and a growing cult following. 'Sleep Is For The Week' is well worth a listen and I love the opening track on his new album 'Love Ire and Song' a great track called 'I Knew Prufrock Before He Got Famous'. Check it out.

Mykonos would be up there but for those who are not aware the second half of the song is a note for note ripoff of Neil Young's 'Ohio'

Can't believe you've listed those. When You Wake Up... is one of their finer moments IMO, and Less Than You Think I just skip before the drone starts. The live versions from 2002/3 are lovely. Hotel Arizona top five not bottom five. In a Future Age top ten not bottom five. And for those who listed Pieholden, get real! A beauty.

Anyone catch the Mercury Music prize on the BBC? Elbow won it, rightfully I'd say for 'The Seldom Seen Kid', beating the other nine nominees including Radiohead, British Sea Power etc. Nice to see Rachel Unthank and the Winterset get some recognition for their album 'The Bairns', real English folk from the north east, though I'll take a bet that any of you Americans will not understand a word of the dialect!

It's because he's lost his edge. The previous albums were mostly better than SBS. So sounds like next one will be as bland as SBS. Opens up the argument about the best music coming from dark places, rather than happy ones. Right now in his life, happy = bland, right? When he was down he turned out corker after corker.

Was taped, by W, spoke to him while he was setting up.

'monkey'? is that what us Limeys might call 'knob'? Bit like John Lydon doing his famous 'faggot' drawl at the Pistols final show at the Longhorn Ballroom in Texas. In blighty a 'faggot' is a large ball of meat that your mum mgiht have served you with peas and potatoes (if you were unlucky), while a 'fag' belongs in a packet of Lucky Strikes. Limey... Hotel.... Foxtrot.

Have been listening to the latter two shows of your picks courtesy of our friends at the OwlandBear and they are a fascinating listen, particularly the pre-release versions of AGIB material. At a time when bands are making the bulk of their money from playing live rather than studio recordings, much of the material on this great site really does sort the men out from the boys - if Wilco ever needed to persuade the paying public to attend their shows, casting an ear across these live recordings should do the trick - a fantastic showcase and testimony to the magic of the stage. What better way

Don't let that put you off. I went along not having heard anything from AD before and came away with their self-titled CD bought from the back of the room on a little table. I asked John which one to go for, there were three I think, and he pointed me in that direction. Been listening to it today, very laid back and I thought (much like Wilco) that the material comes across much better live. If you get along you'll find Pat's input very interesting, quite different from the dude doing the windmilling and pulling all those guitar shapes with Wilco. Quality musicians in any setting. Definitely

Great to see John and Pat doing their thing - first time I've seen them and didn't realise Pat had such a great voice, very soulful. First time too at the Railway in Winchester, tiny venue at the back of a nice pub, and brought back memories of many of the small venues around the country that seem to have shut down over the years, eg The Old Trout in Windsor (RIP) Only 40-50 punters in attendance, (Winchester really is off the circuit but all the better for that, very refeshing) appreciative crowd and an excellent reception too for Liam Hayes. Great to see all the acts on the bill watching

A question- what sense does it make for a festival to bring over Wilco for 1 european gig, they're equipment etc and only have them play for an hr ? Seemed ridiculous to me they're set was so short. Had a chat with Pat at the Winchester Autumn Defense gig. He said they were using borrowed equipment etc at Electric Picnic so it wasn't a major operation and for that reason none of them felt they were at their best.

The new MMJ songs sound much better live. Have a listen to their show in Austin at SXSW which is up on etree in quality (NPR recording). Sec Walkin sounds really lovely live as does most of the stuff there, about 8 songs from the new album. Personally I prefer Sec Walkin to Walken, sorry. Touch Me I'm Going To Scream pt 2 esp sounds ace, nice bit of electronica thrown in.

Ho ho. Just enlightening our American friends who may not be used to encountering Fall fans! Actually they're a weird bunch - saw the Fall recently in Oxford and met several of the contrary buggers - if they're not listening to The Fall it's usually something like difficult jazz or obscure classical. Obviously.

I can tell you from having seen them theyre even better live than on record. The singing/harmonies is the highlight, very much their signature. Nothing like MMJ live who rock WAY harder, this lot are much more pastoral.

They have an EP out too called 'Sun Giant' which was was actually recorded AFTER the album but was released before it a few weeks ago. Every bit as good as the album (the songs are more recent) - I think you can hear a couple of them 'Mykonos' and 'English House' on their my space. Their gig this week at London University is a sellout.

Caught them last night, first gig in UK I think, in a small venue in Hoxton Square in London. Like most of the 200-300 people crammed in there couldn't believe how accomplished they were. Just a shortish set ahead of their upcoming tour but truly memorable. Amazing vocal harmonies, very much the signature of the show, very CSN and Y, Beach Boys, Simon and Garfunkel, very retro sounding with a touch of the alt-folk/country bands like Band Of Horses and MMJ's Jim James thrown in. Classic American music in short. Was with a cynical Fall fan who I dragged along and even he was gobsmacked. 'Myk

My fav expecially as it's fantastic quality is the soundboard/audio matrix from Troutdale, Oregon last August. Astonishingly good.

Just get yourelf an audio capture programme - ie one that records any sounds that come through your computer and you're done. That's what I did - just press record and go. Simple and sounds great!

So why do the Wilco webcasts sound so good? (I assume they're simply a patch from the board) No lack of bass/guitars whatever - and the vocals are just fine, you can even hear the audience!

Surely the sound going through the soundboard is the same as what comes out of the speakers!? It's just recorded at source without outside interference.

I think that's a bit hard on Moe. I am not convinced either way on this but I will say I will take a soundboard over audience anyday. There are some bands that don't do themselves justice in the recording studio when compared to live output, and Wilco is a good example. I find myself listening to their live output almost always over the studio recorded stuff, though much of that is down to the fact that they have got better and better on the road and the songs that were recorded some time ago sound much better now live than they did then. But when I listen to the live material I DO want