Shakespeare In The Alley

On Wilco's Facebook page they have a picture of Jeff and Tommy Stinson together, saying he visited the Loft during the Replacements stay in Chicago. This just got me dreaming. . . I wonder if there's any chance of a Wilco tour with the Replacements opening. Would that be a dream or what???

seriously?

a band like the replacements isnt gonna reunite after all these years to be an opener

i could see wilco opening for the 'mats, but vice versa is just absurd, and i love wilco

sometimes you just want a cheap buzz and dont give a shit about taste. its not complicated.

anyway, havent heard too many 2013 albums but ive liked these a lot:

queens - like clockwork

nick cave - push the sky away

deafheaven - sunbather

cian ciaran - they are nothing without us

janelle monae - electric lady

and not a new album but im listening to the reissue of dbt's alabama ass whuppin and liking it a lot

im a big de la soul fan too. theyre definitely more lighthearted than tribe, but the beats are unreal. brilliant sampling

cant really go wrong with any of the early de la albums but 3 feet high and rising is the best for me.

classic album. 

also check out digable planets' blowout comb. i only recently discovered that one myself but it nails that smooth jazz rap vibe i loved about the low end theory. the rapping isn't as badass as q-tip but the beats are so good

id add pretty much any roots album to that list too. They've alway had a jazzy edge but the past few records have been darker and really awesome. one of my favorite bands going at the moment

band is ok enough but i wouldnt pay them any mind whatsoever if it wasnt one third of wilco.

john's one wilco song does more for me than anything the autumn defense has ever done

no way

but i do owe that album a lot for turning me onto some great metal bands. im still very much an amateur metal fan, but a lot of the stuff i dig most i only bought cuz i recognized the name of a signer from probot, which i only bought cuz im an unabashed grohl fanboy. for writing and playing all the music, its amazing how many different sounds he hit on with probot.

anyway, hes proven to be a pretty great collaborator, so this could somehow work, but its all baseless speculation so whatever

I would love a collaboration.  Grohl is hugely talented.

yup

would be cool to see how heavy wilco could get

lullabies

r

(clockwork)

deaf

queens

era

clockwork is too young to really rank, but this is where i see it ending up for me

one of the best bands going today. love all these albums

no way, smooth sailing is one of my favorites 

i guess joshs falsetto is a love it or hate it deal but i think that song rules

What's your beef with Braun, as opposed to the 20 other guys?

you need to ask?

i dont really care either way, but the guy finds a loophole to get out of a failed drug test, then shows up in this shit a year later? the only one on that list easier to root against in all this is a-rod

No brainer is overstated. But I do not think it is controversial to raise the issue specific to Ortiz.

 

If Sosa were still hitting .421 in 2013, I would feel the same way.

its not controversial to raise the issue solely cuz a guy is kinda old and still kinda good? come on now. 

if ortiz has been tested like he claims he has been, theres no basis for this whatsoever, and accusing him anyway is terrible.

Shame what happened to the As a few days ago. MLB umpire are a thick-headed bunch. MLB needs to do what the NHL does and have a central office where "experts" review close calls like that in real time. An objective person/persons that can review tape and give a quick response when warranted. That was a horseshit way to lose a game they potentially could have won.

just saw this for the first time. unbelievable

im all for maintaining the "human element" to some extent, but when you have video review basically limited to this scenario and this scenario only and you still fuck it up? no excuse. if a tv crew can produce decisive footage theres no reason the umps couldnt see the same shot

i think the article was a bit over the top, but i also think it is a no brainer that ortiz is cheating somehow.  

 

and i have a lot of friends from the dominican republic.

but why is it a no brainer?

if its such a no brainer why is the league consistently failing to catch him via testing?

i think dylan just tours all the time cuz he has nothing else to do. 

and the avoiding contact with people doest surprise me either. he's just an odd dude, always has been. take that away and the dylan legend isnt quite as captivating in my opinion.

Sadly , there's no way Bob alone can rise to the occasion, given the state of his voice. My bet is that his "progeny" (Jeff and Jim) will join him onstage for the last hour, to help out with vocals. I think Bob must recognize the limitations of his vocals these days.

it seems like every time dylan tours its with an opening band that i assume will join in on vocals for a it of bobs set. 

never happens.

not saying it wont here, just that id be shocked.

seems like too many big name acts to be a minor league stadium tour

all three of them could fill (or come damn close) those places on their own
 

if true though, im there

youre making it sound like the band's taking some huge risk here. they get to play with a band they all presumably love, make whats likely still a pretty hefty sum, and play to a bigger crowd than they usually would. seems like the ultimate win/win situation to me. obviously wilcos not in a position where they need to go on tours as an opener to expand their fanbase, but when the rolling stones call, can you really say no?

because a cumulative average speaks for every single pitcher in the league

look, im not saying any pitcher is gonna hit as well as an average position player would, but there are plenty of good hitting pitchers (mostly the younger ones that arent as many years removed from being position players as well) out there. whether it's a sac bunt or a solid hit, i do enjoy when pitchers help themselves out. it's a disappearing pleasure for sure (i would say the DH will hit the NL within the next decade) but still something i love about national league baseball.

watching opening day when kershaw shut out the giants and hit the game winning home run was fucking awesome

im all for protecting pitchers (hell i even supported shutting strasburg down) but keeping them off the field on offense to prevent injuries is ridiculous. one of the coolest things about baseball to me is that you play both sides of the game, and that includes pitchers hitting. 

ok?

to be fair even AL managers have acknowledged that the NL game is a more complex one to manage in many ways cuz theres no dh. not that theres no strategy in the AL, just that the NL is a different beast entirely.

maybe im spoiled by watching a great hitting DC pitching staff, but the idea that pitchers are guaranteed outs is way off.

yeah, whether you think charging the mound should be banned (though doing it tends to get you a suspension so really it already is banned) or not that was dumb.

but the lack of a dh does make for so much more strategy as an nl manager. you cant just take out a pitcher whenever you want, you have to consider batting order, available pinch hitters, etc. it is inherently more complex. plus theres nothing as awesome as a pitcher helping himself out with a clutch hit. the argument about al teams being at a disadvantage when their pitchers are forced to hit or their dh forced to field or sit is bullshit. is it so ridiculous to expect baseball players to be all around baseball players?

but regardless, the dh will almost surely make it's way to the nl soon, which is a real shame imo.

thats what i love about it

dylan sounds plenty angry in 66 but something about the before the flood era does it even more for me. i can see why some people dislike the whole shout the end of every line thing, but i love it

before the flood is great

i think i like it even more than the 1966 dylan/the band shows

im aware, yes

theyve also been known to bring back and rework songs and that one always felt more like a tweedy solo demo than a finished wilco song. i like the song quite a bit so i hoped theyd make it something even greater for a future album or something