Muzzle of Dan

If someone taped it and it gets uploaded, it will show up in the In A Future Age section of the board.  It's possibe - there were a few sources that popped up for the Hollywood Bowl show, as well as the Irvine Americanarama show.  It might take some time to appear though - or it may never appear.

Glad they didn't just choose the obvious tunes.  i don't know if Impossible Germany is Wiclo's "best" song - whatever that means..  I might be able to argue that I Am Trying To Break Your Heart is their "best" song - at least in my listening experience... I'm sure I could argue with myself if I thought about it a bit more.

Now I'm considering doing a Jazzmaster project with my dad, who is a very talented woodworker.  He's not getting any younger, and it'd be nice to have something that we built together that I can use for the rest of my life, and eventually pass down through the family (surely at least one of my nieces or nephews will be into guitars, right?).  I figure we can use the body of my Squier Jazzmaster as a template for a new body.  This will give us complete freedom of wood choice and paint/stain color.  I could get a neck and all the electronics and hardware elsewhere.   His name's Brad, so maybe I can get an artist friend to paint Brad-o-caster in a Fender-esque script on the headstock.

This is awesome. Please share pics of the process if this happens!

My band and I recorded our 2nd album this year back in April and we're getting ready to release it later this month.  Our first album was completely engineered, produced and mixed by me - this time our songs were all operating on such a higher level, I wanted to get a proper recording to give the tunes as much of a chance as possible to be heard.  Initially we recorded 2 songs at a studio in Glendale, CA where we got a really good rate for a few hours and I mixed/produced the first single myself and put it out back in February.  We had planned on recording the whole album there and self-mixing/producing again until they wouldn't give us the price break anymore and I decided that if I was gonna spend a good amount of money, I wanted to do it at a better studio with people who actually might care about the music we set out to make.  My brother plays in a great experimental/psychedelic rock band from Denver, CO and through him I ended up being introduced to Antoine Arvizu (incredible drummer, engineer for Sublime's 40 oz to Freedom album, engineer at Capitol Studios for a number of years and producer who's worked with Ryan Bingham, Free Moral Agents. Avi Buffalo and many more).  I chatted with Antoine about the record we wanted to make and our budget we were hoping to hit.  Our whole band went down to Long Beach to meet him and check out his space - The Compound Studio.  We all knew we wanted to record with him in that space.  It had such great mojo and so did Antoine.  He agred to work on our record and gave us 2 days to record, plus agreed to mix all our tracks.  We cut 5 songs in 2 days - mostly recorded live with vocals done separately and limited overdubs.  All the jam sections were all done live including any guitar or key solos.  We didn't go back and redo much.  We had worked on the songs and rehearsed them for a few months leading up to recording, so we were ready to play when the session came.  It was great getting to track altogether - guitar/bass/piano/drums - I think the energy of the tracks really benefited from the group vibe.  I've always liked that about A Ghost Is Born and the newer records where Wilco is just basically in the studio recording live and I knew I wanted us to be able to record our album that way.  I'm really glad we got into a situation where it was possible.  The only things we overdubbed ended up being organ parts (Hammond B-3 with a Leslie Cabinet!) and the acoustic guitar parts.  Once we got into mixing, I was just blown away by the work Antoine did with our tracks and even had him go back and re-mix the tracks I had mixed from the other studio.  He was just that good and I knew my mixes couldn't compete, so I didn't really mind spending extra at that point to make it happen.  The record was just so good to my ears that I couldn't help but do everything in my power to get it sounding it's best.  I ended up mastering the tracks and we are all super stoked to be putting this album out soon.  We headlined a psychedelic rock night at The Viper Room to kick off promotion for the album and released this track titled Feel Your way in advance of the gig...

SPIDERS!  So jealous.  I had been requesting the return of the electric version of Spiders over and over for LA... Glad they brought it back into the rotation even if I didn't get to see it.

The stack sounded pretty kick-butt at the Greek in LA.

I figured the cat was a staple at recent shows - funny to hear they just found it at a shop in the area before the show!  I snapped a photo but I seem to be having some trouble getting it into my post - I'll see if I can add it later.

This was a seriously great Wilco show.  It was so killer to hear Star Wars straight through.  It's an incredible record and it plays incredibly as a live piece too.  I feel very fortunate to have caught them before they stop playing the record all the way through, not to mention catching it on their 3rd night playing live it ever.  You Satellite - Wow.  It's great on the record but something else live.  Also Cold Slope/King Of You is super (maybe better than Red-Eyed/I Got You - maybe equally as good... hard to say better)  Random Name Generator is another standout - hard to say there were any of the new songs that didn't really work.  Where Do I Begin was a favorite of mine from the first listen and it kills live.  Jeff is so vulnerable and solid and then the jam just kills it.  Love the drum solo ending to show off Glenn's chops too.

All I can say is that this band is so fucking good.  Sure they played all the "hits," but all those songs sounded the best I've ever heard any of them.  I've seen Handshake Drugs at almost every show I've been to and tonight was easily the best version.  All the YHF songs were killer - played with almost a renewed energy (I've never heard a better version of HMD or ITMWLY).  IATTBYH was a serious standout of the night - another song I've seen a million times that just blew my face right off.

I was in the pit right in front of Jeff.  It was really aweosme to be in that spot and get to hear Jeff's guitar work (literally) right in my face.  The rhythm section of the band was really apparent and present where I was standing and I have so much more of an appreciation for them as a whole than ever before.  John is the man - sick, sick bass lines all night long.  Glenn is a master - his playing is so dynamic and delicate - and obviously super fierce when he means to be.  I really found a great appreciation for all the great guitar work Pat brings to the mix as well.

Being so close to Jeff/John for Via Chicago allowed me to experience that tune in a whole new light - where I'm usually on Nels side or a bit further back, and usually getting caught up in the craziness that ensues throughout - it was kind of magical and intimate to experience how solid and solemn Jeff and John perform that song.  It was like I was with them in the calm, steacy eye of the hurricane that is Via Chicago.  It really was like magic.  That's the best word I can come up with to describe it.

Dawned On Me is such a good song.  I love it so much.

As many have mentioned - Impossible Germany was smooooookin.  Nels was seriously in the zone - really nice to hear lots of Pat/Jeff on that one too from where I was standing.

Getting It's Just That Simple AND We've Been Had in the acoustic set was just the cherry on top.  I had been requesting the crap out of both - so thanks to the Wilcos for paying attention and delivering.  Misunderstood was stellar in the acoustic format - love, love, love John's harmonies on that version.  This version of War On War was probably the best version of that song I have ever heard live.

If the band is coming anywhere remotely near you in the future, you need to go see them.  They just keep getting better and better and right now they're playing is very tight and fresh sounding - even on old standards you have probably heard a million times. 

More later, but I'll just start my thoughts by saying this was probably one of the best Wilco shows I've ever attended.  So much fun.  Star Wars live is incredible.  The band was really on last night.  Lots of great playing.  Lots of energy and joy.

Do you think the full album performance of Star Wars will continue in LA tomorrow? Would love to witness this with my own eyes/ears!

Crossing my fingers for it!

Search Whispery Kiss in all the forums - there has been a few lengthy discussions about this tune.  I think everyone just refers to it as Whispery Kiss...

I enjoy Pat's work during the verses in Impossible Germany more than Nels' slot.

 

Nels' sheer athleticism and dexterity in the IG solo is certainly fun to watch but creatively he has better outlets in wilco tunes, in my opinion. (Ashes of American Flags, ALTWYS accompaniment, Side with the Seeds...)

Nels KILLS Ashes.  The first time I ever heard the live version on Kicking Television, it was like my whole world was changed.

From what I've seen on Twitter, looks like they came out with Star Wars.

Awesome.  Bodes well moving forward!

Waiting to see if playing the whole album becomes a trend...  Fingers crossed it continues at this show and then over into LA!

It's a great piece of work - the video from Pitchfork was incredible.  The album is so good.

Did anyone catch the Rogers Waters set? Sounds like it was a one-of-a-kind event.

There are some videos up on youtube.

I want an option/choice for "play 'Star Wars' from start to finish!" !! Like at the Pitchfork Fest!!

I've just been going through and requesting every song off Star Wars for the LA show at the Greek - hopefully they'll get the point...

Seriously - is he from outer space?  Why is he so much better than every other guitar player?  I must have heard a few hundred different versions of Impossible Germany and everyone is different and the next more amazing than the previous.  I was just watching the video of the Pitchfork show and I was just blown away all over again by Nels' creativity and skill.  His musical sensibilities are just on a different plane of being than most other musicians - almost all of whom are out there just playing the same old stuff.  Nels blows them all out of the water.

Finally just getting around to watching this. Holy shit, wow. Hope they do the album in LA.

Apparently My Morning Jacket is playing backing band to Roger Waters.  If you're going, don't miss out on that.  Lucky...

My quick take: I like the album, and I love the fact that Wilco is both able to make albums like this and albums like The Whole Love. Star Wars is jagged, fuzzy and jarring. The Whole Love is lush, warm and poppy. I can't really rank one vs. the other and I don't consider one style "better" than the other — I think the versatility Wilco shows in nailing both is the most impressive thing of all.

Well said!

Crossing my fingers and toes that they open the show at the Greek in LA by playing the new album front to back. The more I listen the better it gets. If I could see them do this whole album in its entirety I honestly wouldn't miss getting the 20th Anniversaru-type set list that's been going around. Seeing some of those old tunes would be great but seeing this new record live would be a revelation.

Damn - stream won't rewind before the middle of Wilco's set.

Listening again in headphones.  SO GOOD.

Anybody else getting a very strong Pavement vibe from "Cold Slope"? There's something distinctly Malkmus-y about the chorus, especially.

Yup.

March 30, 2015.

Touche!  Good call.

I thought the same thing! Half of these songs could be on The White Album, which coming from me is a huge compliment.

Favorites so far:

Taste The Ceiling

Pickled Ginger

Cold Slope

Magnetized

The White Album is specifically what came to mind for me - maybe a little Magical Mystery too - specificaly Magnetized (feels like some of the psychedelic vibe of Magical Mystery mixed with the psychedelic rootsiness of something like "I've Got A Feeling"  or "Dig A Pony" from Let It Be - which I guess technically came from the same-ish sessions as The White Album...)