brownie

45 minutes ago, jff said:

Hoo boy, that FB group is a doozy.  There seems to be some PTSD response going on there over the fact that there isn't 100% agreement that CC is a masterpiece.  Lots of words being put in the mouths of the people who aren't won over by the record.   There's constantly someone starting a new post lambasting the underwhelmed, refusing to let it go, and then acting as if it's the underwhelmed who won't shut up about it.  Basically calling people ignorant and other insults....trespassers, meathead rockers, "You think Wilco is unworthy of you", "You think Wilco OWES you something."  I have not seen that kind of behavior from the underwhelmed directed towards those who love the album. 

 

Very bizarre and thin skinned.  Like a cult.  It's gross.  When this group was highly active some years back, I don't recall it ever getting like that (not that we didn't have disagreements or arguments)...which is weird because web forums are more anonymous than FB, so you'd think it'd be easier to devolve into flame wars here than there.  But what do I know?  

 

I haven't been won over by the album yet.  I certainly may be at some point, and I hope I will be.  My general feeling is that Wilco has been operating in a much narrower range since Schmilco than what I prefer.  But, setting my personal opinion aside, I can still hear the quality of what they are doing within that narrow range.  There's tons of interesting playing from all members of the band.  But I feel that it requires more deep focused headphone listening to uncover it than it used to. And my tinnitus is easily set off by headphones, so I much prefer listening on home stereo or car speakers. So it's gotten somewhat difficult to fully enjoy their records. 

 

Thank you for indulging my little rant.  I always enjoy reading everyone's responses when a new album comes out, and I think I have found something to agree with in each review, whether it be pro or con.

 

But I will never, ever agree that "I went through hell on the way to hell" is a good lyric.  That line is a total stinker, especially from a guy who wrote a book about lyric writing.  THAT is my one hardened and immovable opinion about the record.  If you love that line, then OK, I think that is just fine.

I find it odd that there would be such heated discussion regarding masterpiece/non-masterpiece for an album that was released just four days ago.  I have only been able to listen to the album a few times because I did not have early access, and it was a busy holiday weekend.

What seems to be happening with me is that the album is slowly revealing itself to me over time.  There is no way I can have any opinion at all about it yet, let alone decide if it’s a masterpiece or not!

I spoke to two teachers today.  One who still works in the district I worked in ten years ago when Sandy Hook happened, where there was an emergency faculty meeting in the very early hours before school where everyone was distraught.  The other works in the district I retired from 7 months ago.

Both teachers told me their districts completely ignored the recent events in Texas.  I was shocked, although I probably shouldn’t be.  It did cement in my head that retiring from public education was a very good decision.  Best of luck to all the teachers here.  You will need it.

I was a teacher when Sandy Hook happened.  They called us all into school very early in the morning the next day for an emergency faculty meeting.  Everyone was beyond horrified and thought for sure it could never happen again.  Ten years later and here we are again.  I’m retired now, but am guessing there will be emergency faculty meetings again this morning.  

And, more local to me, where I go, and how I travel, there’s the man who was randomly shot dead on the subway in the Canal St. area of NYC while on his way to brunch on the other day.  

Ten people gunned down in a grocery store in Buffalo, NY just a few days before that.

Horrible. All of it.

These are things we all do: go to school/work, go to the grocery store, hop on a train.

I truly do not understand why these things continue to happen. They happen so frequently now there is no time to get over the latest one before the next one happens.  

I never heard of Kevin Morby until @kidsmokementioned him here some time ago.  I listened to this album today, which is the first time I ever listened to any of his music.  This is a very good album!

Dean Wareham

I see there are even substantial fees on the Solid Sound live stream tickets, e.g. $50 + $11.85 fee for a stream of the three Wilco shows.  I rolled my eyes.  Nope, not paying it.

$240 for a ticket before fees is pretty insane as well.  

So that’s a 21% add on fee.

I paid a 37% add on fee for a Kurt Vile ticket recently, and a 50% add on fee for a Calexico ticket. Face value of each were less than 15% of the face value of your Wilco ticket, but it’s the principle of the thing.

It’s all insane.

I’m pretty sure I’ve seen my last Wilco show.  I am priced out.

1 hour ago, chuckrh said:

Before I had to retire I started work @ 5:00 AM. It seriously cramped my style! In some cases it wasn't worth going to bed before work.

I just didn’t go to many shows for 20 years before I retired.  When I was younger and had a corporate job, I could pull it off, but older and teaching? I did it a couple of times early on, and quickly learned “no way.”. Now I have eight shows coming up over the next six months, most of which are on a school night, so if I was still teaching, I wouldn’t have been able to go!

1 hour ago, kidsmoke said:

The missing never really stops,does it?

No, it doesn’t.  My mom died 16 years ago, and I still miss her.  We were best friends as well as mother and daughter, and did all kinds of things together. I could have used her shoulder to lean on these past few crazy years.

6 hours ago, kidsmoke said:

This is a really good one.

 

https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/music/a39875586/jeff-tweedy-wilco-cruel-country-interview/

That really is a terrific interview.  Thanks so much for posting!

5 hours ago, kidsmoke said:

Somebody recommend a currently-in-theaters movie?

Pretty much anything but porn will be considered. I'm bored & need out. What should I spend (too much) money on? 

I thought the new Nicolas Cage movie, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, was hilarious.  

49 minutes ago, chuckrh said:

I know what you mean. The presale was confusing. I ended up paying a bit under $100 a ticket for decent ADA seats. first 10 rows were $300. Bob Dylan was even more money. between those 2 I've pretty much blown the concert budget. i did get tickets for Isobel Campbell in a tiny club for $20. bargain! i've instituted a new policy. i'm not going to see "legacy" acts anymore. i need decent & recent material before i'm going to shell out. I'm also pretty much avoiding the special summer shows at wineries & such. they're all more expensive & the crowds obnoxious. wine, picnics, group hugs: bleh! all this being said, go get you some Neil Finn tickets! he doesn't come around often & he has never disappointed me. I even shelled out for Fleetwood Mac with him & Mike Campbell. if those 2 hadn't been involved i wouldn't have gone. it was worth it. Neil is 1 of my top 5 favorite artists ever. I saw some pictures from the start of the Who tour. Pete looked bored, I don't know why he's doing it. Daltrey just looks & sounds old. a lot of my old faves are gone now like David Bowie & Tom Petty. I did buy Roger Waters tickets before the pandemic but he's promising new material & something new & unique with the presentation. his last tour was stunning. I'm sure this will be the last time with him, same with Bob Dylan. if Bob hadn't unleashed Rough & Rowdy Ways, I wouldn't have bothered. the bulk of the show this tour is that record. I'm good with that. 

I have seen Neil Finn many times.  I have traveled the world to see him! But I’m not crazy about Dreamers Are Waiting, or about the current incarnation of the band.  I have tickets to 6 other upcoming concerts this year, all $25-$60 total including fees.

I have always had a close seat for a Neil Finn show, but $315+fees is insane.  That’s more than 3X what I paid for first 10 rows in the same theater when Crowded House last came through 12 years ago.  I also don’t want to spend $90-$100 for a lousy seat.  It’s a dilemma.  

16 minutes ago, chuckrh said:

Got my Crowded House tickets. Nice seats.

My Finn concert buddy and I are still waffling about going because of the absolutely insane NYC prices.  We’ve looked at two pre-sales in two days and still haven’t pulled the trigger.  I guess we’ll decide tomorrow.

9 hours ago, Beltmann said:

Has film discourse really devolved to, you must think "Everything Everywhere All at Once" is a perfect masterpiece or you hate art? Only slightly less exhausting than reading online reactions to the sci-fi black comedy is the experience of watching the movie, which I found simultaneously exhilarating and deflating. There’s no question that this fiercely original movie should be widely celebrated, but set aside for a moment the wild comic invention, the philosophical musings, the rich romanticism, and Michelle Yeoh’s shaded, career-defining performance as a Chinese-American who harnesses the ability to leap between parallel universes. To my eyes, the film is somewhat plagued by an affliction common to stories about the multiverse: By presenting incalculable new realities, the proceedings become drained of emotional investment; after all, if there are unlimited universes, and unlimited versions of me, what difference does it make if this universe or this me perishes? We still live on, infinitely, as if existence has an inexhaustible number of reset buttons. (As a viewer, if the protagonist I’m watching fails, I can rest easy in the knowledge that there’s another universe where that same mission succeeds.) Ironically, the movie’s most euphoric element--the winking absurdist humor that is the hallmark of its directors--often contributes to the overarching sense of weightlessness.

 

I guess I’ll hand over my cinephile badge now.
 

 

I saw this on Friday. It’s definitely worth seeing, but it’s so fast-paced and exhausting that you don’t have time to think about anything, and it’s difficult to form attachments to any character.  I wouldn’t say I found it deflating, but when I left the theater, I couldn’t say for sure whether I liked it or not.  As time has passed, I’m leaning more towards saying I liked it.  Michelle Yeoh was the best thing about it.  She was mesmerizing.  And Jamie Lee Curtis was unexpectedly hilarious!

48 minutes ago, remphish1 said:

Buddy Guy 

85 years old!  Have a great time.  

I am resurrecting this ancient thread to tell anyone who loved pre-Garden Ruin Calexico to listen to Sinner’s Shrine by Dean Owens.  Calexico is the band.  It sounds like old Calexico, but with a different lead singer, who’s not that far from what Joey Burns sounds like, and Joey sings backing vox on many songs.

This album hit me from out of left field, and I think I’m going to have a hard time finding a better album this year.  It’s like the Calexico I loved has been reborn on this album.

1 hour ago, remphish1 said:

Tame Impala 

Have a great time and let me know how the show(s) are!  

I was so disappointed when they only scheduled shows in Brooklyn this time.  

6 hours ago, brownie said:

I’m expecting them to be kind of like The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, but with an Indian twist.  I really don’t know what to expect.  But it gets me out of the house.  

This was really great, by the way.  Their records do not do them justice at all.

42 minutes ago, remphish1 said:

Don’t know them I’ll look them up! Enjoy 😎

I’m expecting them to be kind of like The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, but with an Indian twist.  I really don’t know what to expect.  But it gets me out of the house.  

Red Baraat

The situation in Ukraine is horrible.  I’m not ignoring it, but I can’t talk about it.

This is just one contemporaneous terrible thing too many for me.  I am only checking the news once a day at this point because I just can’t take nothing but bad news any more, after two years of nothing but bad news.

I hope Putin is brought to justice soon, but that is as much as I can say. 

It’s been a long time since someone posted in this thread!

I have been listening to Kurt on and off for the past few months and his music just keeps growing on me. I like the laid back vibe, and the songs are pretty strong,  I will probably buy a ticket for one of his upcoming NYC shows.

If I had to choose from the 6 films I’ve seen of the nominees for Best Picture, I would definitely choose Belfast.  I thought it was great. I mostly saw it as a character study of a family just trying to live their lives.  

6 hours ago, Yaz Rock said:

Yes, they are a significant leap up in price. At least for the good seats. Upper levels was 60-something dollars which came out to 82 with fees. I justified it by the fact it the venue is the Palace Theater and I love those old ornate venues, and I've never been to the Palace. And that they are special YHF shows. I did balk at seeing Jeff solo in Brooklyn this past summer because of those prices.

Similarly at least one other big name artist I follow raised their prices considerably since the last time around. This seems to be the new normal, unfortunately.

Yes, that was the ticket I had in my cart: $65 face, $85 total with fees for the balcony.  Tickets way down front were $175 before fees.

There are shows I’d be willing to pay that price for a balcony seat.  For a combination of reasons, this wasn’t one of them.  I am not generally a fan of shows that focus on one album, or play an album its entirety, so that was part of it.

11 hours ago, Yaz Rock said:

I am shocked at how easy it was to get tickets to the NY shows. Last time I got Wilco tix through TM, the tickets disappeared from the seating chart before I could even put them in my cart. Even 45-60 minutes after on-sale, plenty of seats, and some good seats, were still available. Perhaps not everybody is ready yet for big indoor shows. Maybe 4 shows was too much for NY. Perhaps the one-day-prior announcement wasn't enough time for out-of-towners to make travel plans (didn't tours used to be announced a week or more before ticket sales??).

Or perhaps, the ticket prices were too high.  They were for me.  I had a ticket in my cart, and ultimately decided I wasn’t willing to pay that much, so I released it.