Livin' in New Orleans

My opinion on KT is that it does capture this raw energy of playing a fresh batch of songs from AGIB, before playing them over and over and gaining night to night comfortability...

However I honestly don't think the way the songs are played is that different from four years ago, so you aren't listening to that different of a band.

And yes, ALTWYS from KT ranks among the best. I love the Ashes one, but this version is so piercing and was more meaningful then... It might just be the sound from the different recordings, but it is so piercing, raw, and shrill in the best way..

Aren't the Pageant shows from a year or two ago? I thought he asked for pre-Nels stuff...

Yeah he did, but I was just responding to your post

For me, it's KT, then Ashes, then 930. For great pre-Nels boots, start here:

 

http://www.owlandbear.com/2009/05/26/download-jay-bennetts-best-shows

I would seriously look into the soundboard recordings of the three St. Louis shows... equal and even better at times than 9:30...

By the way, I can't decide which version of ALTWYS I like better: Ashes or KT... both awesome

i like a real crisp official audio. sue me.

As do I, but a soundboard recording is pretty darn official...I mean minus the band having it for download on the webstite... it is exactly the sound that was made on stage, basically a show that mixed itself. Like I said, there are some that I feel sound better than the 930 club recording that Wilco gave out...I don't think they sound as good as KT because they weren't mixed again and all, but the setlists are a lot better, and you get a complete show

Compilation-concert complain aside, I'll add that the cover art really [ahem] struck a chord with me as well. I found the bright white light/orb thing to be slightly mysterious and to me, it just represented a band that was white-hot, playing almost all new music that was powerful and vicious, yet also fragile and beautiful at the same time. While it's definitely not the same band that is heard now, I think there's a real electricity in the then-new songs and their raw, unrefined arrangements.

 

That being said, I think "Ashes of American Flags" on the DVD is better than the version on KT, although they're close. Same goes for "Wishful Thinking."

The DVD version of Ashes is the best that I have ever heard... I just think the idea and the image of them playing to an empty Cain's ballroom is very eerie and beautiful. The guitar solo, for me, sums up what the DVD is about.. it captures the essence of the fading Americana

With all of the quality soundboards (and heck, even awesome audience recordings) and DVDs of older shows available, what would you hope to gain from an official release?

I completely understand your opinions... I for one enjoy Nels' solo playing on Jeff's older songs, but then again, I didn't listen to much of the pre-Nels live tracks. And yeah, soundboard recordings are free, and they are just as good, if not better than official releases. (ie 930 club show that the band gave out)

I have owned it since the day of its release, and have never listened to it all the way through. I have listened to it when the tracks come up in shuffle on my Wilco playlist (which has all the releases and b-sides, but only my favorite bootleg audio); every time they do, I think, "Why on EARTH did I put this live track in my playlist?"

 

So, I guess it doesn't hold up very well for me.

Say Whaaaaaaaaaat?!

i'm sure he means the one you could download officially if you pre-ordered the Ashes of American Flags documentary. it is from 2008, i think, not sure which night.

 

-justin

That's the one.. and it is the second night of those shows.. The sound is good, but no KT. There are many soundboard recordings just like the 9:30 club show that are just as good and better. You guys should check out the webcast versions of the Pageant shows on Owl and Bear. Soundboard quality with awesome setlists.

I think it still holds up as their best live work, I had to comment because their cover of If All Men Are Truly Brothers has been popping up on my ipod lately and I have to admit what a great job they do on that song. Best versions of The Late Greats, Hell Is Chrome and a very nice Poor Places/Spiders transition as well.

Agreed..although I LOVE the version of the Late Greats from the "Ashes" DVD.. I am very biased towards NOLA though... however, BEST version of Spiders I have heard

I gotta say... the AGIB material is extremely good... even after hearing the band play it after 4 or 5 years... something about them playing it fresh off the album release made it so good

With all of the live recordings available, and the Ashes audio tracks, the 930 club show and such, how does Kicking Television hold up?

I'll take em live, studio, with a soup, or with a salad. A Ghost Is Born is (probably) my favorite Wilco album.

I put in Kicking Television today, after a long time of listening to various taped shows, the DVD tracks, and that 9:30 Club show that the band gave out, and I realized how great the renditions of the Ghost songs were on KT.... I mean... wow

I feel like that already happens. The other guys don't write lyrics, but they add instrumental parts based on their preferred sounds, and shit like that. And considering everyone in the band has non-Wilco projects going on too, it's not necessary for them all to contribute their own individual songs to a Wilco album.

Not necessary of course, but it would be a cool musical experiment.. I mean i'm sure a ton of that goes on in the loft and in private.. but a record like that would be pretty cool. I know they do similar things already, but I am talking each individual writing their own song and then bringing it to the others... I don't know, sometimes I wish I could play more instruments than I can hahahaha

I don't know how likely this is. It just seems unlikely at this point that Jeff will find himself with songs that he doesn't want the band to play with.

 

Some day, I hope he does release a very stripped down album. WTA is a pretty stripped album in the grand scheme of things, but I think an album of Jeff and a guitar would be pretty amazing.

My friend and I were talking, and we were thinking this:

An album in which each member of the band writes their own song for the record, depending on their musical style and tastes and primary instruments. (Jeff would sing of course.) There would be at least six of these songs unique to the individual band members. I think this would be cool, especially considering the collaboration that they enjoyed so much in New Zealand. I picture Nels writing an avant garde guitar song, with playing that reflects his personal tastes...and so on... just a thought.

I said this before, and I'll say it again. I would pay through the nose for a Tweedy solo record. Will it ever happen, yes. Will it happen anytime soon, probably not. I would love a 8-10 song album with folkish, sing a long tunes. Obviously there would be appearances by the rest of the band.

"The Pencil"

it must be called that....

I think an official live release right now is very out of this world, actually. Considering they just released Ashes, and they're still playing very similar setlists, the logic in releasing another live DVD is flawed, especially since the band knows how easily obtainable their show recordings are. If you want live versions of the new songs, they're out there.

 

I would love a new Loose Fur record...

I don't mean like a live album or downloadable tracks from a DVD... I mean like a bonus EP or something with a few live songs, as they did with AGIB and SBS

Also, what are the odds of a new Loose Fur record... I mean Jim O'Rourke is coming out with a new record, so he is not off the map by any means

New Loose Fur record?

One could only hope....

since lps are coming out and with their bonus cd's does that mean it's their first remastered attempt for st, bt and a.m. and do you think the cd's may sound alot better then they did when they came out in the 90's? hope i'm making sense here lol

it is a reissue...I don't know if that would translate to the CD even if it was a re-issue considering CD copies of these records are pretty available

There is of course always this period between records, and we have seen a few things happen during these times (Kicking Television, Ashes Of American Flags, etc.) I was wondering what you all thought might happen... I, for one, would love an official release of some of the new songs live...that doesn't seem too out of this world

Ghost is the best Wilco album and the songs are amazing live. First album w/ current lineup of band which plays their songs live basically the same way they were recorded. However, I believe the songs were made to be played live. I didn't get At Least That's What You Said the first 30 times I listened to Ghost. It was my least favorite song on the album. When I saw it live I woke up. Hell Is Chrome, same thing. Of the Wilco shows I've been to, Handshake Drugs gets the crowd going as much as any Wilco song. Theologians, Late Greats, Hummingbird, so many songs that give you goosebumps at a show. Best Wilco album, best live material.

Interesting. I agree here... Great songs put on an album, with the potential laid out to reach their full awesomeness live

I love this song... I even like the studio version, but live is where this song is the best...

I think that the version on Kicking Television is the best i've ever heard

Listen to the residency version with Andrew Bird. Breathtaking.

I do have that...very nice indeed. but the studio version's intro, with the first acoustic guitar part is just beautiful to me

Awesome. Totally awesome... I can't decide which is my favorite: Nels' black one with the red skull and crossbones, or John's with the nautical stuff

Deeper Down sounds really good on this - I like it a lot better than on the album.

Bull Black Nova was awesome

ALTWYS: Both... I love the studio version because it is all Jeff playing some brilliant guitar, and I just think about how he composed that solo and this period of Jeff playing lead guitar and improving. However, it is AWESOME live just because of how epic it is...

Hell Is Chrome: Studio

Spiders: Live, hands down

Muzzle Of Bees: Studio, just because I feel that the intro is much prettier on the studio album. It seems meant for the studio.

Hummingbird: Studio, because of the violins. Also, I love Jeff's stage antics during this song, but the focus isn't completely on the song when it is played.

Handshake Drugs: Live, by a narrow margin.. it is just so revamped and beefed up by three guitars and awesome solos. However, the studio version of the song was one of my first Wilco songs, and I am still in love with it for that reason...nice memories

Wishful Thinking: Studio (my favorite Wilco song of all time)

Company In My Back: Both... great song no matter what

I'm A Wheel: Both... pretty frickin awesome as an encore closer though

Theologians: Can't decide here...love the screaming vocals live, but the studio is excellent as well

Less Than You Think: uh......studio?

Late Greats: Live..not to say that the studio isn't great... again, one of my first Wilco songs