deepseacatfish

Very safe list on their parts. Califone, though is very conspicuously absent. Surprised it didn't get at least an honorable mention.

I like the album a lot, the restraint in the instrumentation is very refreshing to my ears. It's a little overhyped yeah, but go figure.

Just saw this, kind of gives me an Os Mutantes vibe (like it was an outtake/b-side for something). Don't know if I'm totally sold on it, but it's definitely a cool little track.

Not very!

I'm only 40/50 on US states. Briefly made it into Canada, been to Iceland, Germany, France, and Switzerland. That's it!

I listened to Phil Collins during 2009, true story.

All great lists of course...the one inclusion that has gone right over my head this year has been the Animal Collective album. Every magazine has given it top of the pile and it appears here quite a lot too. I dunno, it just passes me right by.

I'm pretty skeptical of its place at the top of lists, but clearly it's resonating with a lot of people. I find it interesting in parts but not wholly engaging or as brilliantly creative as many people seem to.

1. Neko Case-Middle Cylcone

2. Grizzly Bear-Veckatimest

3. Califone-All My Friends Are Funeral Singers

4. Yo La Tengo-Popular Songs

5. Wilco-Wilco (The Album)

6. Phoenix-Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

7. The XX-XX

8. Jim O'Rourke-The Visitor

9. Sonic Youth-The Eternal

10. Bowerbirds-Upper Air

11. Nels Cline-Coward

12. Passion Pit-Manners

13. Tortoise-Beacons of the Ancestorship

14. Andrew Bird-Noble Beast/Useless Creatures

15. On Fillmore-Extended Vacation

16. Tyondai Braxton-Central Market

17. Animal Collective-Merriweather Post Pavilion

18. Decemberists-The Hazards of Love

19. 7 Worlds Collide-The Sun Came Out

20. Pronto-All Is Golden

Sir Stewart, you're spot on. "The Long And Winding Road" was the most 'ruined' of the songs, in my opinion. Ridiculously cheesy and overproduced...which is a shame, because it's a great song!

I'm listening to the entire box again today from start to finish (on Beatles for Sale now). Just plain awesome.

deepseacatfish now has a song up.

It's the first song on the station here:

http://iacmusic.com/stationGen.aspx?stationID=7104

 

More to come, I hope.

Excellent thanks!

Okay, I think I set up a song on a page, see if this link is it: My link

It makes no difference to me whether or not Wilco wins any/anymore Grammys.

Hey fantastic Wilco friends, I just uploaded a couple new tracks to my music site and would love for anyone to check them out. They both are going to be appearing on an album of mine coming out in the early parts of 2010. For those who missed the boat the first time around my last album (which came out earlier this year) is still available ($4+$2 shipping) and you can listen to any of those tracks on my site too.

Anyway, I'd really appreciate it if you took a listen and/or were willing to provide any feedback/criticism.

Link: The Noble Octopus

The new tracks are "Pacific House" and "Positively Precious"

1. Too Far Apart

2. Dash 7

3. Sunken Treasure

4. Monday

5. Shot In the Arm

6. Via Chicago

7. Pot Kettle Black

8. I Am Trying to Break Your Heart

9. Poor Places

10. Muzzle of Bees

11. Spiders (Kidsmoke)

12. Impossible Germany

13. On and On and On

14. Bull Black Nova

15. Wilco (the song)

I certainly enjoy Uncle Tupelo, but to be honest unless Jay and Jeff were both really stoked about it I can't imagine a reunion would be anything more than a messy, half-hearted disappointment. It might be fun if they did a one-off reunion deal...but I'd rather keep Wilco and Son Volt working in their respective worlds than see those two guys try and recreate something that was once awesome...but probably wouldn't be as fun (or comfortable for them).

Rock on Wilcos!

If I had to pick 10 I'd go with:

Wilco

Califone

Ryan Adams

Calexico

Sonic Youth

Broken Social Scene

Radiohead

Sigur Ros

The Sea and Cake

Neko Case

I'd also be equally happy with switching in:

Beck

Yo La Tengo

Spoon

The Hold Steady

The New Pornographers

Seriously the next album is gonna be great, I hear they're replacing Glenn Kotche with Phil Collins.

Does a consensus matter? Is it just interesting? What does matter?

In my mind consensus doesn't matter, sure it creates musical canons, record sales, clips on remember the (insert decade) shows, whatever...but when it comes down to it really the only thing that matters is whether or not the musicians involved see their music as worth making. There's the quote from the extras of I Am Trying to Break Your Heart that goes something like "the band doesn't care whether they sell 500,000 or 500 copies as long as they can bring one home themselves," and from all I can tell Wilco and Jeff most of all are happy musically with what they're doing (live and in studio). Yeah I would without question say that for me Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is the most interesting and compelling album they've made, but I still enjoy much if not all of what they've done before and since that album. As a musician I've never sold 100 albums, I've never made huge sums of money on a gig, but I still find it endlessly rewarding and worthwhile to keep playing and recording music. So yeah, in the end it's really about the band. No reason we shouldn't or can't continue to debate the musical/artistic/cultural/superficial/etc. merits of any albums/groups, but in my mind for the most part forget the canons, the "best of" lists, etc. (they're all useful tools in their own way) listen to what you like and play how you feel.

Seeing as I was born in 1986 I can't really say I had any knowledge of the college rock scene until it was no longer. That said, it's a really tough call between REM and Sonic Youth for me.

Looks like an excellent lineup. I'd love to make it to one of these and/or a living room show one year or another!

Well what are your top picks?

Good for you and your kid.

My picks:

1. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

2. Summerteeth

3. Being There

4. A Ghost is Born

5. Wilco (The Album)

6. A.M.

7. Sky Blue Sky

The Tortoise box set is really awesome, very similarly the Low box set is great.

I think the Tortoise box is unfortunately out of print for those who don't have it. The Low set is expensive online, but I picked it up at one of their live shows for $20, so if you see them live, definitely worth looking for.

I like albums too, but why disparage the single? Why can't a song stand on its own?

Nothing wrong with singles, I just happen to think they are incomplete works. Though, to be fair a lot of artists do center their entire careers around singles, so in that sense they may almost be more representative for certain groups. Even so, I much prefer albums and their narrative to singles.