Chinese Apple

I'd like to see some sort of chart showing the relationship between the cost of Jeff's haircuts and the quality of his music.

I don't think "quality of music" is objectively quantifiable, but I think probably if we go by record sales as an indicator, then there should be a strong correlation between haircuts he can afford and high record sales.

I love Jeff Tweedy's hair. I love his hat. I love his music. I would gladly pay for his haircuts by buying more records, merchandise and seeing live shows.

Since much of the press/PR about his hairdresser mentions him, she likely benefits financially and professionally by association. Maybe he gets comped for his coiffure?

Jeff PAID for that haircut?

You, too, can request a "Jeff Tweedy" for under 65 dollars including tip.

"Bathsheba Nemerovski

http://www.chicagoma...e=2&siarticle=1 )

Do we have any hair stylists who can explain how he does it?

From an interview with "Hair on the Brain" in May 2010 http://www.haironthe...w-salon-owners/[/size]>

Sparrow is the new big-deal hair salon in Chicago. Owners Susan Flaga and Bathsheba Nemerovski opened the salon in a 120 year-old building in Logan Square, and they’ve gotten tons of attention ever since–the New York Times called Bathsheba one of Chicago’s best-kept secrets. Well, the secret is out. Sparrow has cultivated a devoted following, thanks to the duo’s low-maintenance cuts and natural-looking color. And Bathsheba cuts everyone’s hair from Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy to pre-teen blogging sensation, Tavi Gevinson.

...

HOTB: How did you wind up doing Jeff Tweedy’s hair?

Bathsheba: Jeff and his wife Susie have been friends of mine for years. I do the whole family’s hair.

I know what you say about reading more about the band than you are listening to it. Wonder whether it's something they are doing differently (new marketing /PR) or just me being in a different place in my life.

I made myself take a year sabbatical from my obsessive Wilco habit to finish a Masters, The "year" finished in September and I've been to five shows since. They were all amazing, and I even had the thrill of running into some of the band before/after the shows a couple of times without trying.

I feel like I'm just going through the motions, though. The Whole Love is terrific, but I'm not drowning in dopamine the way I used to.

I'm listening to Uncle Tupelo hoping it will help rekindle that consuming love I used to feel.

(null)

Sadly, Spotify is not available in Ireland. And apparently used CDs from the USA don't ship internationally due to warranty issues. (Attempt fail.) But I am happy with Anodyne today.

Plus, I've been taught to download and unpack/unzip. O brave new world!

I hope to pick up used copies when I visit Claremont next month. (Rhino Records! Yay!)

@Robby, the JT songs are on heavier rotation for me too at the moment, but I will probably get to the rest of them later. Thanks for posting your playlists. I think they will help: Uncle Tupelo 101.

The difference between Anodyne and AM is slight, if you take out Jay's vocal of course.

I see what you mean... I am liking it.

Thanks again everyone. I hope this will be the start of a new obsession.

Thanks, all. I should have known if I asked it here, eventually every album will get a vote! :-D

I think I will start with Anodyne.

@Analogman- I am a Mennonite when it comes to downloading music or torrents off the interwebs. But perhaps if you have time you can let me know where I can find UT albums to listen to for free?

Truth is, it's easier to spend money and have things sent to me. (Maybe this is also why I am broke.) I am a dork and plan to buy CDs rather than itunes download so I can look at the liner notes and have a tactile experience. (Not hip enough to own a turn table to avail of the upcoming UT rereleases and 7" boxed set.)

(null)

Why not just buy them all -

1) Cash-strapped after flying around Europe to see Wilco;

2) I may find Uncle Tupelo annoying, the way some Wilco fans dislike Billy Bragg;

3) I like spending time with one album at a time.

I'm hoping if I start at the right spot, I will acquire a taste and eventually buy them all.

If one were to start exploring Uncle Tupelo for the first time, after a decade of adoring Wilco (introduced by Billy Bragg via Mermaid Avenue), where should one begin?

In chronological order? Or reverse chronological order? At random? Or can anyone familiar with the UT catalogue recommend an album to start with?

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I had mixed feelings about the security at the Paris show.

I'm short and had just been to the show in Brussels, where there were clearly too many tall Dutch folks up at the front. I couldn't see anything but the top of Jeff Tweedy's head, which was a nice head with an apropos hat, but I'd like to have seen his gruff face when he said sarcastic things, like about early Wilco fans all being dead, etc.

In Paris I was glad that security didn't let the late-comers rush the stage when we had to get there early for our seats. On the other hand, the guy in front of me didn't deserve having a flashlight shone in his face for playing air guitar and dancing with his girl.

Where I thought it was just a venue with over zealous security (btw it was a fancy-pants venue with roman statues and fake palm

trees, etc), my Parisian friend and host also seemed to blame it on her own culture. "You are not allowed to have fun in France," she said dramatically.

I thought actually that her reaction of criticizing her own was quintessentially French! I love French films for their similar way of exaggerated comment on society, where minutia and details represent something larger, as though it was all metaphor. You know?

Anyway, love Wilco. Never a bad show. I always come home euphoric.

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So magically delicious.

Boy that's a lot of disappointment!

1.3 billion and counting....

Ok, so I do have some contacts in the entertainment/art/media world in the Greater China region, and I was fantasizing about Wilco doing an Asian tour when I visited with some friends there last summer. (Yes, they roll their eyes at me and say that I talk about Wilco the way a born again Christian talks about Jesus.) They like Wilco too, partly because it is a prerequisite for our friendship, but they told me frankly that unless Wilco was actually Air Supply, or makes a few karaoke-friendly videos, it would be a hard sell.

My people disappoint me. :-(

Maybe a blog post doesn't count as foreign press but... representin'. Here is a post by a music promoter in China, from 2009 when Wilco considered a stop in Beijing.

http://www.douban.com/note/54295308/

I did a quick translation, below the original text. (I am a professional . My stellar resume available on request. PM me if you require Chinese-English translations.)

环境,音乐.WILCO乐团4月日本.

[Environment, Music, Wilco, Japan, April]

2009-12-22 15:08:12

在北京,在上海, 人们活的那么快,那么累,那么的重, 大家又如何有时间去欣赏和体会那么好听的FOLK歌曲呢? FEIST 多亏了一首1234, 才有那么多内地人知道她.

[People's lives are so hectic, exhausting and heavily burdened in cities like Beijing and Shanghai. When does anyone have time to listen to folk music? The only reason Feist is known in China is because of her one song "1, 2, 3, 4."]

其余的像MY MORNING JACKET , WILCO , GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS , SUFJAN STEVEN 什么的好听的音乐团和音乐人的歌曲大家怎么能有心情去欣赏呢?

[Who could ever get into the right mood to enjoy songs by great bands and musicians like My Morning Jacket, Wilco, Great Lake Swimmers, Sufjan Stevens, etc.]

从最初,其实就是环境决定一切. WILCO 要去日本了在4月. 他们的AGENT问我, 可不可以加中国一站, 我说, WILCO到北京能来600人,而且是买票进来的, 就是成功了. GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS都要陪大钱了, 还有什么心思做WILCO , 太贵了.

[From the start, our environment dictates everything. Wilco will be going to Japan in April, and their agent approached me to ask whether they could add a stop in China. I said it would be a huge success if 600 people show up to see Wilco -- and that would be 600 that actually buy tickets to come. We lost money on Great Lake Swimmers. I am in no mood to tackle Wilco. Too expensive.]

很可笑, 北京1000多万人的城市, 最后如果一场演出票能卖过700张就已经是大赞了! 而且票又不能卖贵. 大家都很累, 最后没有了激情, 还会继续坚持吗? 还好我们还年轻.至少现在还年轻.

[it's laughable, in a city of more than 10 million like Beijing, selling 700 tickets for a show would be considered a huge success. And you can't price the tickets too high. At the end of the day, everyone is worn out, they run out of passion. Who would continue? It's a good thing we are still young, or at least still young for now.]

民谣真算了, 中国没人听欧美的民谣. 又是一堆老外在买票.

[Folk music is a waste of time here. No one in China appreciates European or American folk music. It'll be another bunch of foreigners buying tickets for the show.]

上次JOSE G 听说卖了700张票, 一线的FOLK 音乐人呀, 在愚公移山80%是外国人那天, 我们11月份做AU REVOIR SIMONE 在愚公移山, 卖了600多张票, 当天里面700人, 80%是老外, 大家都在想2010年难道还这样下去吗? 北京1500万人口呀.

[i heard that Jose Gonzales sold about 700 tickets when he came, and he is considered a top billing artist. Again, 80 percent were foreigners that day. When we did "Au Revoir Simone" at [/color]Yugong Yishan Live House* in November, we sold over 600 tickets. There were about 700 in the audience and 80 percent of them were foreigners. Everyone wondered whether we would go on like this in 2010. Beijing has a population of 15 million! ]

WILCO 去日本, 艺人都说来, 但是人家不会来,如果你没钱请人家. 著名的艺人给你个友情价,都还是高的很. 不能怪人家, 人家是凭这个吃饭的, 凭什么自己过来免费演? 不能怪人家.

[Wilco will be going to Japan. Artists say they will come, but they won't come if you don't have money to get them here. When famous acts give you a "friendship price", it is still a high price. You can't blame them. They have to make a living. They are not going to perform for free.]

WILCO来可不是预售票100元钱的票了. GREAT LAKE SWIMEMRS是无法和WILCO相提并论呀,目前来说, 但是也是加拿大的一线民谣团呀. 然后都没什么人认,全是老外在买票. 我说的是现实,众为朋友. 还是那句话, WILCO只是你和我,还有一些喜欢WILCO的人,知道WILCO的份量, 其余的人真是对牛弹琴.

[if Wilco came, it won't be 100 RMB a ticket. Great Lake Swimmers can't be mentioned in the same breath as Wilco, but they are still a top shelf Canadian band. In the end it was still only foreigners buying tickets. I am talking about realities, my beloved readers. It's the same old story. Only people like you and me, and those who like Wilco, realize the importance of a band like Wilco. To the rest of the population you might as well be 'playing lute to water buffalo.' ]

* A famous Beijing venue for indie music

Does anyone know if the Paris show is seated or general admission?

A certain drummer told me 'Dublin, March' after a certain gig in Tilburg recently. But what would he know?

When that certain drummer said the same to me after London, I so wanted to believe him and drink the kool-aid, but deep down in my heart of hearts, a little voice told me: "I bet he says that to all the girls."

You kid, but in actual fact Jeff Tweedy is a bonafide "charismatic religious leader". According to Nels Cline, "the Reverend Tweedy" was recently ordained (by mail order from the Universal Life Church) and was the officiant at the Cline-Honda nuptials where Yoko Ono and Rufus Wainwright were in attendance.

Can't see this on Facebook - would you like to share more info?

It was among the comments to the London setlist. The Wilco Facebook person had written: "Dublin and Australia in 2012." But I see that they've since deleted that setlist and posted another instead for both nights, and all of the comments that went with it. Maybe it won't happen after all.

No. That guy wasn't security. Security had black uniforms and wore ID badges.

I wondered if he was chaperoning his daughter or something -- he was a bit weird the way he stood sideways for the entire show and wore a trench coat. My friend and I joked that he might have been a flasher waiting for a moment.

A few of us saw Glenn Kotche after the second Roundhouse show and lobbied (again) for Dublin. Wilco have skipped Dublin on the last three European tours. He said they will likely come in March or May. But I wonder if he was just saying that...

I take this back! Plans for a Dublin show for 2012 were confirmed yesterday on Wilco's Facebook page by Wilco. (The old adage: "If it's posted on Facebook, it must be true.") Yay!

Glenn Kotche is so unbelievably kind. He is truly a superstar. One basks in his presence.

wish they would come to Dublin

A few of us saw Glenn Kotche after the second Roundhouse show and lobbied (again) for Dublin. Wilco have skipped Dublin on the last three European tours. He said they will likely come in March or May. But I wonder if he was just saying that... How much say does the band really have on where they stop on tour?

 

"In an interview in the new Relevant Magazine, Jeff Tweedy says that the song is told fromt he point of view of a Civil War soldier who was paid to fight as a substitute for a wealthy man (a common practice.) He's now about to die and is writing to the man who paid him to fight. Tweedy also said this song was written without judgment either on the speaker or the man who paid him."

We as a nation also send our working class kids into battlefields by promising them a better financial future. The armed forces recruit heavily from among the poor.

I didn't like this song as much as the others on the album initially, but it quickly became a favorite. (Clearly not the buxom blonde getting all the attention at the party, but the wallflower who turns out to be much more interesting!). I love the clever rhymes, and love love love the wonderful alliteration in "through war's waters I will wade" -- all those W's in a row makes it almost onomatopoeic, and fits the meaning perfectly!

It would be cool if, instead of walking anywhere, all six Wikcos ride on Segways.

As a rookie reporter starting out, I was given an "exclusive interview" with MM Randy Savage when he toured Asia the mid 1990s.

Randy wanted to talk about his failed career as a baseball player in the minor leagues. He told me major league ball was his big dream growing up, and that he worked his ass off trying to get there, but wasn't going anywhere. When the wrestling opportunity came up, he found a success he hadn't planned on. He said he saw himself as a role model and wanted kids to know that you might fail at what you set out to do, but you can still succeed at plan B.

Even though he was dressed in a neon green and electric pink cowboy outfit, I thought his message was poignant and wrote it up as earnestly as only a rookie reporter could. When it came out in print the next morning, the editors (one of whom is now AP bureau chief in Bejing) thought I was being ironic, and slapped me on the back for my wry sense of humor. :-( They said the piece was terrific, so I laughed along. I was subsequently promoted to weekend editor. I still think about that interview as somehow a pivotal moment.

Sniff. Very sad that he is gone. A lovely lovely man.