ChooChooCharlie

Alan, I know in your world there is no distinction between facts and (Alan's) opinion, but as Caliber66 pointed out, you should really look into that. It would be impossible for me to care less about what you think about my opinions. In fact, after reading your posts, the only thing that could make me insecure about my taste in music is if you agreed with me.

Its abundantly clear you want to fight over a passing reference I made to an album that has nothing to do with this thread. I don't. I'd rather discuss Wilco's next album, and won't be responding to you on this thread anymore (unless you want to discuss Wilco's next album

I don't think it's coincidence that Nels Cline co-wrote YAMF, probably one of the top five Wilco songs of all time, IMHO.

Good point regarding Nels -- YAMF = easily my favorite SBS track.

And thanks for all the music, especially "Remember The Mountain Bed" - one of my favorite pieces of music ever.

I second that emotion. They say its your birthday, happy birthday to ya!

It has nothing to do with being a Wilco "fanboy." I merely don't like a band that everyone else seems to like, so it's reasonable to predict that I will enjoy the next album by a band I do like much more than any album by the other band.

Sarcasm. Humor. Not to be taken seriously. (This post has gone from a fun, sometimes even funny discussion of Wilco's next album to a very serious discussion of the merits of MMJ). Please see below from above post.

If that makes me a "fanboy" -- then guilty as charged (I don't think you did anything more to detract from your credibility than the use of the word "fanboy").

wow. how many albums have you heard this year. i loved Z, but Evil Urges was on of the albums that's already been deleted from my harddrive. Highly Suspicious might be the worst song i've heard this year. i think pitchfork is right on about this one. http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/reco...1074-evil-urges

 

unless you're just a fanboy, how can you say a bands worst album is the best of the year?

Damn. I leave for a Sunday, and this whole thread changes based off a quick reference I made to Evil Urges? Alan, the point of my brief post was to indicate my excitement for new Wilco music -- if you're looking to pick a fight over EU, there's an MMJ board on their site, and at least a few discussions on VC. I was referencing EU because of the new sounds it exposed me to (particularly the first 3 songs on the albums). MMJ and Wilco are similar to me in the regard that they often change direction significantly from album to album, which was the reason for the comparison. Its not surprising that someone who takes things like message boards and brief references to other albums so seriously doesn't like "Highly Supspicious". I don't think its all that serious of a song (IMO, the guts of EU is where the action is). As for your questions about my 2008 album consumption, I'm a voracious consumer of new music, have seen dozens of shows this year and purchased plenty of new music (my dad can also beat up your dad) -- and EU is easily in my top 5 this year, maybe number 1 (although my 3rd or 4th fav MMJ album overall -- and for the record, a band's "worst album" CAN be the best album of the year, if they're a really good band). To say "thats just wrong" about the aformentioned opinion is patently ridiculous. If that makes me a "fanboy" -- then guilty as charged (I don't think you did anything more to detract from your credibility than the use of the word "fanboy"). I'd answer more of your questions, but people below have said it as well as I could anyway:

Aren't opinions subjective? My grandmother loved Lawrence Welk, but I didn't lambaste her for having her own likes and dislikes.

All of the reviewers are in agreement? I guess Rolling Stone, Spin, Paste, EW, Billboard, etc. failed to get the memo about how all music critics are supposed to find Evil Urges to be a disappointment. (There might not be consensus--is there ever consensus?--but as far as I can tell, most critics think the album is pretty darn good.)

You can't point to the general critical reception as "proof" that the album sucks when, in truth, the general critical reception has been favorable to the album. (I'm not suggesting that the friendly press "proves" the album is successful, by the way. General critical opinion is just another set of opinions, open to discussion and debate. As for me, I'm not entirely sold on EU; it's certainly not my favorite MMJ.)

I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that I'll enjoy the next Wilco album ten times more than any My Morning Jacket album.

That's just wrong. Classic fanboy post.

that'd be cool. as long as it doesn't suck like Evil Urges.

if by "suck," you mean "one of the best albums of the year," then we're in complete agreement.

Conspicuously missing: 1993's Shaq Diesel. Transcendent. Sublime. Diesel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaq_Diesel

Alongside a plethora of other reasons -- anyone who has experienced the Nels Cline Singers knows firsthand that Mr. Cline is the opposite of pedestrian.

As for the next album -- much like Jacket's Evil Urges, I'm just looking forward to Jeff & co. taking me on a unique musical journey and exposing my ears to some tantalizing new sounds. I think people have a natural inclination to want to control the direction of their favorite bands. Perhaps subconsciously we all fancy ourselves vicarious producers at The Loft. We're not -- we have no control -- nor would I want any. Its more fun to ride a roller coaster when you don't know what the next turn brings.

At the end of the day, in JT I trust. You'd have lost a lot $$$ over the years betting against him.

Technically an Uncle Tupelo song, so it is technically a cover. Even if Jeff wrote it.

Wilco doesn't really do 'Gun' (last time was in '97), so the only time its played is when Jeff does it. Even though Jeff solo isn't Tupelo, I don't think that qualifies as a cover b/c he wrote it. I love Gun though, and wish the band would do it -- cover or no.

Didn't they do Any Major Dude for a movie soundtrack? I would love to see that live. Also, I think Wilco could do a great job covering the Band or some of the Dylan/Band material. Jeff and John could both do well with any of the Rick Danko vocals. Ferdinand the Imposter anyone?

Yeah -- for Me, Myself, and Irene soundtrack. Definitely agree about some Band covers, as I am not above nostalgic covers. Goes back to the Stirratt as Danko convo. Wilco doing 'Chest Fever' would be sweeeeeet.

Alright, so in watching the webcast from lola of Wilco, I was SO amazed to see them play "It's Just That Simple"

 

I forgot how great of a voice John has.

 

So here's the question...

 

Does he remind anyone else of Rick Danko from the Band? Great voice, great bass playing, and mysteriousness about him.

 

Some of those shots while he was singing reminded me so much of the Last Waltz.

 

I'm really glad they did that. John is a great band member and yet another reason to love Wilco.

fer sure. i've always thought that -- even similar mannerisms and facial expressions.

what a fun set. i saw Rage instead. really tough call, but just couldn't pass up Rage. i was hoping to come home and not see a set that made me truly remorseful.......

...my view on Tweedy specifically was that he played a nice line between "rock deity" (i.e Neil Young) and somone who's 40 and has a wife and kids. Guys like Dylan and Neil Young expect everyone to bow down and have never had anyone shrink their giant heads (as seen here), while Tweedy seems generally easygoing and down to earth for somone who is a popular rock musician.

 

I see a lot of these icons as just people with overblown egos (Pete freaking Townshend, Bob Dylan--the most condescending egomaniac to ever become a popular American) who are pretending like they never got old and became (for the most part) irrelevant. These guys aren't gods. Most of them aren't even that bright (Neil Young, for instance, ate weed sauteed in honey--go figure). They just happen to make music. It's their job, like somone's job is an accountant, or a clerk....

 

Otherwise, I think it's weird that people want to complain about new pop music sucking or etc-- they're not willing to embrace anything new.

I think its weird when people complain about new or old pop music sucking -- that is, if they enjoy pop music.

Hey, its bizarre to me when people get persoanlly insulted about other people's opinions concerning music/art, but you seem to be concerned more with persona than subjective musical opinions ("shrink giant heads" "overblown egos" "condescending egomaniac"). I also think its ironic you blame the media and "hyperbole" for inflating the legacies of revered musicians, when it appears your loathing for these artists is based, not so much on the music, as on that very same public attention you blame for the general positive consensus. Other than ambiguously criticizing "performance" you haven't named any specific reasons as to why you "hate" Neil Young, "Pete freaking Townshend," and other's music -- other than the aforementioned superficial distinctions about their public persona (and if it were merely personality you wanted to criticize, then I wouldn't start with Neil Young, who -- even if you personally dislike his music -- personifies artistic integrity, or whatever the opposite of 'selling out' is anyway). Yes, Jeff Tweedy is more accessible and interesting to me personally because he lives a few miles away, leads a relatively normal existence, and isn't propelled to godlike levels in Hollywood movies (Dylan) and other media. But that doesn't make his music better. Just like I'm Not There didn't make Dylan's music any worse (especially when Tweedy did "Simple Twist of Fate" on the soundtrack but I digress).

You essentially blame perpetual, unquestioning status quo for overrating the musicians that you "hate." Ironically, it seems that if you stripped that music of your own preconceived notions about the artist's legendary reputation, you would have little to hate about it (given the lack of specific criticism about the actual tunes). Relieved of that burden, maybe then you could be free to experience what many people on this board have been sharing: that the artistic brilliance of Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Pete Townshend etc., has been the catalyst for the creation of transcendent moments in people's lives -- moments that no "clerk" or "accountant" could possibly make. That's why art is inherently different than what I do for a living -- and, in my opinion, more important.

I was just at Short's Brewing in Michigan and they played the whole Summerteeth album while I drank my beer sampler.

Wow. Pretty sure that's what heaven is. Conversely, I'm in hell studying for the bar right now, and when I read that I got so jealous I felt like I was going to puke.

Apparently I am wrong. I still have my doubts that it will happen.

Sounds like you'll have doubts till you hear the first chord on Day 1 of Residency '09. I've learned not to doubt JT (I think I learned that when AGIB followed YHF).

Heck, with the price of gas increasing their tour overhead costs, they ought do like Levon Helm and buy a barn out in the country somewhere and have fans come to them.

That -- I would quit my job for.

How about just opening the loft once a week??

 

LouieB

Love it. By the way, where is the loft? LB, I heard you give out the address.

I like Thank You. Listened to this album yesterday again. It's getting better with every listen. Seeing them in August!

EU is definitely a grower (along with their other albums except Z). Except 'Aluminum Park' -- an eargasm on first listen.

how about impossible germany in taco bell? right before don't come easy by ringo starr.

"Impossible Burrito -- Unlikely real meat..."

Sorry.

Sec Walkin and Thank You are the (pretty) filler on the otherwise outstanding Evil Urges. Can't wait for October in Chicago.

Although not exactly out and about -- heard my favorite band on my favorite T.V. show: 'Hoodoo Voodoo' on The Wire. Wilco on The Wire -- truly weird.

i read it in a Dylan biography years ago. but its on wikipedia, so it must be true!

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Waltz

 

 

Neil Diamond was next, introducing his "Dry Your Eyes" by saying, "I'm only gonna do one song, but I'm gonna do it good." Diamond had been invited to perform by Robertson, who wanted the songwriters of Tin Pan Alley to be represented. Robertson had also produced Diamond's album Beautiful Noise the same year and co-wrote "Dry Your Eyes," which during the concert he hailed as a "great song." Diamond's appearance was not popular with all of the other performers. Levon Helm was critical of the inclusion of Diamond, not discerning any musical connection to The Band, as was Ronnie Wood, who stated in an 1980s interview, "None of us could understand what he was doing there." Dylan also apparently held him in low esteem: Reportedly, when Diamond came off stage he remarked to Dylan, "You'll have to be pretty good to follow me", to which Dylan responded, "What do I have to do, go on stage and fall asleep?"

Thanks for that. A part of me on the inside will never stop laughing.

Some Fav's (other than the obligatory Waltz)

Cocksucker Blues (Stones)

Bittersweet Motel (Phish)

End of the Century (Ramones)

The Future is Unwritten (Joe Strummer)

Don't Look Back (Dylan)

No Direction Home (Dylan)

Okonokos (My Morning Jacket)

If I Should Fall From Grace (Shane McGowan of The Pogues)

Amazing Journey - The Story of The Who

Making this list has got me all nostalgic. Man I love great music doc's. Music Confession: sometimes it takes a visual element to pull me into a band's music (and/or interview's that enlighten their perspective). Without Bittersweet Motel or IATTBYH, it would've taken me much longer to get into two of my now favorite bands, Phish and Wilco.

Dylan has like 30 songs that are way better than any Tweedy songs imo. BUT Dylan also has like 400 songs that are just terrible where as Tweedy doesn't have any terrible songs if you ask me.

I don't think this is even close (yet) either, but that is a really good point (although it still doesn't make it close).

Also, if we're talking straight lyrics, I'll take Guthrie's Mountain Bed against anything by Mr. Tweedy or Dylan (insert Jon Stewart's: "no disrespect" comment in comically thick NY accent).

The fact that it would be about a 20 to 1 margin if this were on any other band's message board.

well said.

I actually find RR's stories in Waltz very interesting, and his demeanor charismatic. Also, if he hadn't broken up The Band then, Danko and Manuel probably would've died much sooner than they did. IMHO, it was a tragically brave choice (even if RR loves RR quite a bit and that had something to do with it as well).

i actually dig the Neil Diamond song more than the Van Morrison stuff

 

come dry your eyes

Deliciously pretentious tune -- I can never tell if I love it cause its funny or b/c its kinda good.

Chest Fever (I hate when the Method cuts off in the movie just as it's about to rock).

i love the backstage story when Neil diamond went up to Dylan and said "top that!"... Dylan's response was "what? fall asleep on stage"

I pray to God that happened. Please elaborate or link if possible. Interesting, b/c ND just became oldest artist w/a #1 album, beating out.....Dylan. Top that!

Just saw them tonight at Matyrs and was blown away. As always, Nels was gracious after the show.

I really wasn't expecting as much as I saw and heard. What an amazing drummer. The energy makes me very excited for the possibilities of the next Wilco album.

Pictures from Morgan's party and the show. (new camera - still learning it - some blurry pics)

 

Thank you Morgan, Erin, and Wendy and Edie.

Thanks for the stories and the pics -- I remain appropriately jealous again this year. Anyone know who is with Sue in picture 87 above? I've seen her with Sue at 3 or 4 shows now (took requests at the Vic solo show '07 for ex.) and was wondering her role

need to get something with Mountain Bed on there.

AMEN.

I don't think so. The first two nights definitely were NOT filmed.

There were camera's filming the Res shows, although I'm not sure how extensive or consistently. Its kind of a blur now, but I was there all for all five and saw occasional filming.