learnhowtosteer

Summerteeth is more Beach Boys than Beatles. SBS and W(TA) are both pretty Beatley.

isn't 'learn a rooster' a loose fur song? just kidding.

i heard that song--"we're just friends"--live in 1999 in NYC. it was awesome. jeff just sang without playing guitar, and it was super-powerful. a cherished wilco memory . . .

Oh, I don't know . . . I think there are some balls in that song and they do begin to approach the wall toward the end.

And, btw, while on the subject of Lynyrd Skynyrd, dare I say that "One Wing," in its progression from ballad to balls-to-the-wall rock bears more than a passing resemblance to "Free Bird"? I'm just sayin' . . .

Fair enough, everyone has their own preferences and Wilco certainly has a diverse enough catalog to endear itself to listeners with a variety of tastes. Although I would point out that the "mulleted Skynyrdesque" aspect of Wilco is an aspect of their music that has been around as long if not longer than the "subversive pop" quality that some of their material has. "Monday" is as rawk as they come-- it has more greasy stomp in it than "Gimme Three Steps." Summerteeth and YHF are brilliant, no doubt, both of them are definitely high points in the band's body of work. But there is definitel

I don't know . . . "Wilco will love you, baby"? That doesn't strike me as especially interesting or complex. I will grant you that some of the subject matter on W(TA) is more oblique. But that doesn't make it interesting. "Impossible Germany, unlikely Japan"? "Side With the Seeds"? Hardly generic, I think.

Yeah, but I am talking about the performance, not the composition. Radio Cures is a Tweedy / Bennett song, I think. But it still comes off as very Jeff-focused.

Deeper Down is cool, I will grant you that. But it really is just a Jeff Tweedy song with some cool atmospherics. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. But it isn't what this group of musicians does best. For the cool, atmospheric, moodier Tweedy tunes, I'll take Radio Cures, or Reservations, or even Wishful Thinking before Deeper Down. It's like a different category of Wilco song to me. It's hardly a band performance.

Well, I think Sky Blue Sky is a much better SOUNDING album than W(TA). It has a much warmer, less compressed quality to it. You also get a feeling for the interaction between the members of the band, which is not there on W(TA). On W(TA), the musicians sound a tad disconnected from one another. And the best thing about this particular lineup of Wilco is the interaction between the musicians, particularly Glenn and Nels. For that reason, Sky Blue Sky is, I think, the best thing that THIS version of Wilco has recorded. Which is not to say it's a perfect album or anything. I am not a fan of Le

The tune is about migraines I think. He talks about puking and being forcibly slowed down. His body being taken over by an alien force (company in my back, steady rush). That's my guess.

The Band-- "The Band"

I can't think of any Wilco fan I know who doesn't also love "Being There." Maybe some Uncle Tupelo fans hate it. But not Wilco fans. For most hardcore Wilco folks "Being There"(moreso than A.M.) was what turned them on to the band. I can't think of any real Wilco fans who dislike "Being There."

Glenn may have played his toothbrush for all I know . . . The thing is, most of the drums on W(TA) sound like . . . drums. Which isn't, in and of itself a bad thing. I love Glenn's playing on Sky Blue Sky--I think it complements Jeff's lyrics perfectly. But there is something that is not quite congruent between the words and the music on W(TA). On Sky Blue Sky, you can tell that they are all really listening to each other, playing off of Jeff's words and each other's notes. On W(TA) the music doesn't really illuminate Jeff's lyrics. At its worst, like on 'Country Disappeared,' everyone j

It's not just about being floored by something like that incredible opening in IATTBYH (though that is undeniably awesome). It's not about "complex percussion" either. If I want complex percussion, I'll listen to Neil Peart. It's about sonic inventiveness. All the wacky sounds, the chimes, the beating on garbage cans, throwing instruments down a flight of stairs. That's what makes Kotche special, I think. And when that's not there, I think Jeff's songs suffer. On the issue of lyrics vs. melody, I have to say, the wonderful thing about Wilco to me has always been the marriage between soni

I see your points, but what you are saying also underscores my point--he changes up the lyrics and keeps the SAME MELODY. Whereas a younger, less lazy Wilco would have varied up the melody a little bit and made the song truly special. They were so brilliant at one point in their introduction of little melodic and sonic variances halfway through their songs. Whereas the W(TA)songs just plod along with little variation. All that happens to spice things up are random little licks from Nels Cline. And that is not a good use for a musician of Nels' brilliance. Same goes for Kotche, by the way

Really? What is it about the tune that appeals to you? I find it really repetitive and also derivative of previous Tweedy melody lines, like "On and On and On."

"I'll Fight" is another tune that suffers from lack of melody. Just a one-note sledgehammer. Pretty painful. And this from the group that did "How to Fight Loneliness," which is in the same key and has a lot of musical similarity. Except "How to Fight Loneliness" has a much more discernible melody and the song actually takes you somewhere, instead of singing "I'll fight, I'll fight, I'll fight" over and over again.

Agreed. "You Never Know" sounds like ELO without the magnetism and charisma of Jeff Lynne.

The problem with W(TA) is not with the lyrics. It's with the melodies--or, more properly put, the lack of melody. Besides all of Jay Bennett's sonic trickery, I think Bennett more importantly gave Tweedy's melodies some shape. Without a strong songwriting collaborator, Jeff's melodies are lazy and formless. That, I think, is the problem with "Country Disappeared." It has no real melody. He's just kind of whispering. And the thing is, melody is part of what made early Wilco so awesome--think "Reservations," "Candyfloss," "I'm Always in Love," "Shot in the Arm," "Outta Mind (Outta Site)," "Mi

you ought to check out 'chaos and creation in the backyard' from 2005. Nigel Godrich produced. it is beautiful stuff, not your usual sappy mccartney fare.

What about Ringo's 'Sentimental Journey'?

(1) 4/20/1999, Irving Plaza, New York-- Tweedy, Bennett, Stirratt, Bach and Coomer (2) 11/9/1999, Beacon Theater, New York (opening for Richard Thompson)-- Tweedy, Bennett, Stirratt, Bach and Coomer (3) 9/28/2001, Town Hall, New York-- Tweedy, Stirratt, Bach, Kotche (4) 4/26/2002, Bowery Ballroom, New York-- Tweedy, Stirratt, Bach, Kotche (and Jorgensen off-stage?)--This was an INCREDIBLE show. Perhaps the best I've seen. (5) August 6, 2006, Lollapalooza, Grant Park, Chicago-- Tweedy, Stirratt, Kotche, Jorgensen, Sansone, Kline

Nels' harmonized lead guitar lines are DIRECTLY lifted from My Sweet Lord. Very intentional, I would think. Otherwise, the song has a completely different melody, chord changes, etc.

Re: the production, I actually think it does sound pretty labored. Jeff's voice is double-tracked more than on recent albums. Nels' guitar often seems to swoop in out of nowhere--my understanding is that Nels wasn't in New Zealand, and you can actually HEAR that he wasn't there. His guitar sounds disembodied, like he's just on a different wavelength. Overall, it seems like a situation where they kept tinkering because the basic tracks weren't up to snuff. I remember Jay Bennett once saying that Wilco recording sessions tend to transition "rather slyly" from demo sessions to actual album ses