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QUOTE (skip @ May 30 2008, 09:15 AM)

Have you heard the ST demos?

 

He says he heard the Summerteeth demos in the post you quoted.

The question was rhetorical.

A couple of others mentioned a few items from a piece I found on-line (didn't write personally)....

I can see how YHF can be considered self-indulgent (but still an incredible artistic achievement). Not really Summerteeth. While there are a few noises on it, it's still mostly about the songs.

 

and

 

Recently reread Kot's book and in the descriptions of the masterly Tweedy and Bennett supposedly did on Summerteeth, I finally heard the demos and thought, "eh?

I love ST, but it wasn't much of a band playing on that one. It's a excellent example of what ProTools can do for you. Agreed - the songs were and are great, but that record, in my mind, was a Jeff and Jay Bennett studio experiment. Sure John and Ken "added" a few parts here and there. And in that process of adding layers, what was taken away? Not much in my opinion. Is there an editor in the house? Again... I love ST and wish we'd hear more songs from it on Wilco tours, but the songs are very dense - almost claustrophic. Perhaps hard to pull off live even.

Have you heard the ST demos? Definitely a lot less keys and synths. In the Kot book, didn't they (Tweedy and Bennett) mention that there was a conscience effort to cover up the dark lyrics?

Peace.

I found this write-up on another website. It provides a view of SBS from a different angle.

"Get Back" might've been an apt title for this return to rock n' roll. "Sky Blue Sky" is the sound of Jeff Tweedy getting over his hang-ups about wanting to be seen as unique and groundbreaking, and just writing and laying down what felt natural. He eschews the vague cut-and-paste language for heartfelt declarations of love to his wife, and jettisons the bleeps and bloops for honest-to-god rocking. At this point, Tweedy clearly feels comfortable handing over the reins to his more than capable band: Jeff Tweedy, John Stirratt, Nels Cline, Glenn Kotche, Pat Sansone, and Mikael Jorgensen will go down in history as one of the greatest assemblages of musicians since the heyday of The Who and Led Zeppelin. Each musician is a master at his respective instrument and this is one of the first times they've been allowed to let it all hang out, and thank god they did. "Sky Blue Sky" makes "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" and "Summerteeth" look like self-indulgent side projects. You want to hear Jeff Tweedy with some keyboards and a mixer, stick to those albums. THIS is Wilco.

This is my first time going GA for Wilco at a venue like this, so I was wondering when I should get to the venue. Did you guys have to camp out all day, or will I be fine if I show up a little before the doors open? I don't mind waiting at all if it means I can get a shot at a good spot in the first few rows.

Good questions...I heard someone say that the bar had a capacity of 150 and also we went on Thurs, rather than Satur. Not sure how a weekday might compare to a weekend...You might hang around on Delmar Blvd area and "watch the line." If you do go the bar, be sure to grab a menu for take out or bring some food w/ you. They do allow food to be brought in. We had a pizza delivered. Good luck and have fun!

My girlfirend and I went on Wednesday night - my fourth Wilco show and her first. Wow!! I knew this lineup was really special from seeing them on TV, hearing them on other formats live records, etc. But now after seeing them firsthand as a six piece, I'm in awe. Very tight. Outside of Summerteeth (Shot in the Arm) and the Mermaid records (CA Stars), each Wilco record was well represented. Figured with JT's dad in the house that we might hear hear more eariler stuff i.e., more rockin' songs from AM, Being There, and even a rare UT (New Madrid). He mentioned something like... 50 or 75 people in attendence with his dad. The bar up front opened around 5 PM, before the house opened at 6 PM, which allowed us to get in and get first pick of seats. We didn't experience the crowd issues that others have mentioned. From where we were sitting, people appeared to be respectful, even for the opening act. I'd never been to the Pageant before, and from what I could tell, there wasn't a bad seat in the house.

It was a great rock 'n roll show!!

It's about !@#$ing time!!

When you wish upon a star and it turns into a plane....

I'm hoping that with the lay off from touring (i.e., no shows until mid-march) that they'll record some new material for the next album. I recall reading somewhere that the next record wouldn't be far away.

How to Fight Loneliness is also in the movie Girl Interrupted.

Honestly I didn't know the ER was still on.

I know what I'll be doing Saturday night at 10!!

Ignoring the first record, I'd start w/ The Bends their most conventional record (I realize this may be a contradiction in terms when we're talking about Radiohead.) From there, I'd get OK Computer, where music media in general started to pay attention.

Kid A, in my mind, is an electronic record - devoid of guitars. It's probably too esoteric for someone not familar w/ the band. Looking that their catalog in retrospect, on Kid A and then on, you see/hear a lot of electronic based tunes, which seem more like Thom Yorke solo projects than Radiohead as a band. Just my opinion.

I've heard this might be its last tour.

I really hope this isn't the case...but I can understand that life on the road (i.e., being gone for long periods of time) can be a challenge. Literally and figuratively... there's only one Nels Cline.

Nothing lasts forever. Let's enjoy it while we can.

I have it somewhere on an old CDR.... Bennett and Bach start it out on guitar and keys and Coomer follows suit a la Keith Moon. When the lyrics come in, the band seemlessly switches to Outta Site. Oh well, that won't help the conversion issues. During that same show, they also morphed How to Fight Loneliness into Hotel AZ.

Very cool.

Almost as good as Shake It Off DVD IMO.

While flipping thru the channels this AM, I hear The Thanks I Get. I think...no, it can't be...I flip back a channnel or two to a VW commerical.

Pretty cool.

Hummmm....it didn't work. Any suggestions?

Honestly, the "mixed" reviews don't bother me. Hell, the same thing happened after Being There, Summerteeth, YHF, etc... The alt-country purists didn't care for that and now the indie crowd doesn't like this...It just comes w/ the territory of being progressive. Some will get it and others won't.

IMO - writing direct songs about hope, being not afraid, etc. takes more...guts. There's nothing to hind behind.

I have no idea, but it's not this first Wilco song to be "misspelled."

Off the top of my head - Pot Kettle Black and Walken - are two others.

Less Than You Think

lyrics thanks to www.bemydemon.org

Standard tuning, no capo. I highly recommend that you play along with the boot to get a feel for timing and chord changes.

A - x02220

D - x00232

E - 022100

C#m - x46654

Bm - x24432

A D

It's almost gone

D A

The night is dissolving

A D

In a cup God lifts

D A

To toast the lightning

A D

Lightly tapping

D A

High pictures hung

D A

D E

And your spine starts to shine

A D

You shiver at your soul

D

A face so clear and climbing

D E

Punctures a hole

A

In the sky

D

So you can see

C#m

For yourself

Bm

If you don't believe me

A

There's so much less

D A

To this than you think

A D

Your mind's a machine

D A

It's deadly and dull

D

It's never been still and its will

D A

Has never been free

A D

Lightly tapping

D A

High pictures hung

D A

D E

Your spine starts to shine

A D

You shiver at your soul

D

A face so clear and climbing

D E

Punctures a hole

A

In the sky

D

So you can see

C#m

For yourself

Bm

if you don't believe me

A

There's so much less

D A

To this than you think

Small note: while the strumming is mostly straightforward, there is the occasional hammer-on on the D chord particularly in the D to A transition between verses:

E |-2--------------|

G |-3---------3----|

B |-2--------2-2---|

A |-0--2-h-4-------|

D |-0--------------|

E |----------------|

Very cool!!

Any liner notes, writing credit info, etc.?

To qualify, for "Wilco studio" records only (i.e., no KT and no MA I or MA II)...

This could change but for today I'm going w/

BT

YHF

SBS

AGIB

ST

AM

I know I'm preaching to the choir...

1. Great lyrics, songwriting, & musicianship

2. They great live

3. They make unbelieveable studio records

4. They change their sound w/ each record

5. They make albums in a CD/MP3 age

6. They release records for their fans to hear 2.5 months before the scheduled release date

Am I missing anything?

In attempting to predict what the next Wilco record will sound like...one can 1) throw darts at a board or 2) refer to the last song on the previous Wilco record. Stay with me on this...it works some of the time. Here's two examples....

"The Late Greats" on AGIB (sounded like a lost track from AM sessions) and "Comment" on Kicking TV (very soulful)...SBS has more soul elements that any other Wilco record and several of the songs on SBS have AM or BT era similarities. Hummm...very interesting....

"In a Future Age" on ST & "Someday Some Morning Sometime" from MAII contained different sounds and textures (read somewhere about a "delayphone" being used)...which followed w/ YHF. Humm...You may have something there.

Paul Westerberg...but who knows

If history repeats itself...SKS will be an enhanced CD with links to Wilcoword. About a year after SBS is released, the band will post a handful of songs on the website for free downloads (assuming you purchased SBS).

They did that w/ the last two records.