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Basil II

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Posts posted by Basil II

    Why is there such disappointment over Wilco(The Album)?

    in Just A Fan

    Posted

    I like all the albums. I don't think W(TA) is terrible, or that SBS is boring. But...

     

    ...like all songwriters, Mr. Tweedy needs an editor, a springboard, whatever you want to call it. Bennett was a check and balance through YHF. Perhaps Jeff had something to prove of AGIB (because of Jay's exit), which provided an accountability on the songwriting and production. Like a lot of great songwriters who achieve a certain status, they create a band, and indeed a life, where there is no one left to tell them "no".

     

    I think the more mainstream, almost syrupy songwriting of "I'll Fight" and "You and I" could have been offset by some rougher production. They seem almost pedestrian and the arrangement exposes the weakness of the songwriting. "My Darling" is a song of a similar ilk, yet because of the arrangement and instrumentation, it creates an ethereal atmosphere that detract (in a good way) from the almost insipid lyric.

     

    Being a songwriter, I can say that you can't really help what you write. Most of the time, it just happens: you don't choose the song. But, the question is, what songs do you let through the gate, and what songs do trash?

     

    Check out both versions of "Spiders (Kidsmoke)". There really isn't to much going on with the actual melody: an "A" part, four lines of simple melody, and cryptic lyric, a "B" part that doesn't appear until the end, but there still isn't much going on there: a melody confined to four notes, and no "lift", and no real chorus. And yet, and I totally dig both versions of the song, as do most of you, from what I can discern. But the arrangements in both versions aren't mainstream pop. One is Krautrock, the other folk. Both are a little polarizing, in the best possible way: it forces you to react. I think the disappointment in some of W(TA) is that it doesn't challenge the listener, and most Wilco fans want the challenge. I don't have to react to "You and I". I can listen to it while I do the dishes. And maybe that's the problem.

     

     

     

    this is the best bit of "what's wrong with Wilco" response I've read in a loooong time....

     

    -Robert

    Why is there such disappointment over Wilco(The Album)?

    in Just A Fan

    Posted

    For me, I'm just not connected with the band in its current state. I remember listening to Kicking Television and thinking, this just isn't the Wilco I fell in love with. Don't get me wrong, I'm still a huge fan and loved SBS and wore W(TA)out when it came out, but at the end of the day it is too ..............something, too.....just so. I blame the lineup. Too much talent can become predictable. I'll take Jeff's songwriting, Jay B's sloppy quirkiness anyday over the current polished noodling.

     

    I agree with this sentiment exactly.....

     

    -Robert

    The Time Has Come

    in Just A Fan

    Posted

    Bullshit. Jay would schedule a tour right before the induction, Jeff would perform a solo set of UT songs, and Jay would grant a magazine interview 20 years later whining about how Jeff tried to sleep with his wife directly after the performance while Jay was clueless in Topeka. And then he'd write a song about it called Topeka Orion. It would probably have sitar.

     

     

    yep,,,,,,,,,"Topeka Orion"??? someone may jus' jump on that.....

     

    -Robert

    Next Wilco Album

    in Just A Fan

    Posted

    Songwriting trumps any sound direction for me, if the songs are compelling enough at this point they have the lineup to pull off almost any direction they want to go in. I haven't really loved the last two albums in the way I liked the earlier stuff, but Califone has done a great job of scratching my YHF-AGIB itches.

     

    --Mike

     

    What Mike said.....add Calexico and FDOM to teh Califone list.

     

    -Robert

    The first songs that come up when you hit "Random"

    in Someone Else's Song

    Posted

    -Moment in the Sun : Clem Snide

     

    -Like a Rollling Stone : Bob Dylan

     

    -Old Man : Neil Young "Live at Massey Hall-'71"

     

    -It Can Happen To You : Yes "Alternate Take"

     

    -Dance of the Dream Man : Angelo Badlementi {Twin Peaks Soundtrack)

     

    -It'll Never Happen Again : Tim Hardin

     

    -All I Really Want To Do : The Byrds {Dylan Cover}

     

    -Rocky Mountain Suite (Cold Nights In Canada) : John Denver

     

    -Personal Jesus (Holier Than Thou Version) : Depeche Mode

     

    -Bagful Of Money : The Byrds

     

     

    -Robert

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