Bosco

It's just a few weeks away, sort of excited, but sort of sad for me. I've mentioned before that I'm a long time fan, I even had the pleasure of catching an Uncle Tupelo show in '91. My wife never really cared about them, until she finally "got it" at the Hartford show last spring (we've been together since '92). In the last year we did Solid Sound and a few Tweedy shows, we really bonded over Wilco, in a way it became "our" thing, I was excited to finally share such a significant part of my life with her. Two weeks ago she tells me it's over, she wants a divorce. So here's the deal, for SS this year we were going to bring the kids and friends of ours and their kids. The wife and I are are actually still friends (it's complicated) and when we told the kids 8, 9 & 12 about the divorce the very first question they asked (I'm not kidding) was "Are we still going to Wilcofest?" We've been trying to make that work for them, we even booked a third site at the Hidden Valley campgrounds, yesterday she tells me she's out, she can't do it. Well I can't do a weekend long camping/Rock festival alone with the kids, so they're out, now my friends are backing out too. Bottom line is I have 3 campsites and 5 tickets for Solid Sound. I'm still thinking of going, I'm sure it'll be an emotional thing for me, but at the same time it will be a clearing of my mind and a reclaiming of Tweedy/Wilco as "mine".

it is exactly like maths and science, it's not just like it, it is it. if it's possible to play a sound wave at a frequency that can make someone feel sick or give them a headache, which it is, it is therefore mathematically possible to put sound waves together to make people feel certain ways. therefore the ability to do that doesn't rely on the listener (well the listener with normal hearing - yet again you could say as some people have better hearing than other people they are therefore capable of hearing more in a piece of music than someone else)

 

what music do you listen to that break the rules of science and maths.

 

(this is a deja vue - i am sure last time i argued about this the idea that music is not maths was brought up - i don't think i changed the persons mind that time either)

Obviously music is math, but with math there is only one answer, music isn't like that, lots of stuff sounds good in music that shouldn't based on theory.

We'll just have to aggree to disagree, you can go on thinking music can only be good because it's technically correct, I'll continue to believe music is good if the listener thinks it's good, and sometimes for no other reason then they sing "I really F***ed it up this time" in the chorus.

No one has more knowledge of your opinion than you do. That's why you enlighten someone else when you share your opinion with them. "I know more now; I know that Lauren does not care for Nels' Ashes solo."

 

 

 

Then we shall go grab a burrito. With all the Wilco/UT/Jay stuff they play at Chipotle, I imagine we wouldn't have a hard time hearing a song we could agree on.

Mmmmm, burritos, just don't let them be those veggie burritos they sold in the parking lot at Dead shows, they were really bad.

Me: "I don't like Nels' Ashes solo at all."

You: "Why not?"

Me: "While it is technically proficient, it sounds completely void of the emotion that Jeff has played it with in the past, not to mention it sounds like something I would hear on a smooth jazz station."

You: "How very enlightening."

While I may not agree with the assessment, that is nicely put, and pretty much my point.

nobody has said that. all we are saying is that some people are more capable of telling what is good and bad based on their knowledge. it's simply saying everyone is not equal to judge what is good or bad about a given thing.

 

can i just get this right, what you're saying is that art has no intrinsic value at all? which is the nihilistic view on all that stuff.

I'm saying you don't need to having any knowledge what so ever to call a piece of art good or bad, because it's in the eyes or ears of the listener or viewer, education may allow you to appreciate or understand the complexities involved, but in the end a piece of art is good only if you personally believe it to be good, and no one else's opinion (informed or not) has any relevance. The notion that some people are more capable of telling what is good or bad is absurd to me. Art isn't like math or science, there is no right or wrong, you either think it's good or not.

Look at it this way, I've done sound for some of what I would call the worst bands in the world, guitars not in tune, singers out of key, drummers that can't even keep time, and yet they had huge followings, hundreds (and even thousands) in the crowd for every show, I know the band was technically awful, but I would never call them "bad", or try and tell their fans the band sucked.

We're not talking about the same thing here.

We are, but that's ok, I just disagree with the premise that art is only "good" if the so called artist uses proper technique and is critically acclaimed to be a genius.

There's a huge difference between "musical or artistic understanding", which is the phrase you quoted, and musical enjoyment.

 

Sometimes you might LIKE one thing better, but the other thing actually IS better.

 

You might enjoy looking at Thomas Kinkade's artwork more than you like looking at Salvador Dali's artwork. But that doesn't change the fact that Dali is a better artist than Thomas Kinkade.

I'll just have to respectfully and whole heartedly disagree. Music and all art forms are there for appreciation, and should only be graded on your appreciation. I don't care how fast a guitar player can play, if it doesn't feel like to me it came from the heart, then it's crap, it may have been technically speaking the fastest and hardest riff to play known to man, that doesn't make it good or better then Syd Barret playing the same chord for a whole song.

the point about all this "not liking something straight off cos you haven't spent time listening to it" is all i really get annoyed about. if you're going to take that view then you also have to take the view that people who say they love the album straight away are also fallible to making errors on judging the quality of the music.

The problem being that some music is more involved and does take several listens to fully comprehend, so it can grow on you to the point where a song you didn't really care for on first listen becomes your favorite song after 10.

it's also the same as when people say "it's just your opinion that you don't like it, but everyone elses opinion on it is EQUALLY as valid" - that view of things, to me, makes everyone's opinion not have EQUALLY high value, it makes everyone's opinion have EQUALLY low value, or rather - no value at all.

Exactly, now you get it, no one else's opinion DOES mater, you shouldn't base your opinion on what other's opinions are, one of the reason's I hate award shows.

this is because it completely removes the element of knowledge and ability out of the equation, putting everyone on an equal playing field of musical or artistic understanding - and as we can assume that no human being can know absolutely everything about a given subject (here being music), it must follow that every human being must know nothing about the subject, if we are to all be equal.

And just when I thought you got it, damn. You don't NEED to be knowledgeable about music to enjoy it, it's either something you enjoy, or you don't, you don't need to know WHY, you do however need to be knowledgeable to PLAY music.

It also means your wife is wrong.

Now that's funny!

i can't see how anyone could ever get that passionate about the last 2 wilco albums. i don't think i've ever seen anyone on this board go off on a rant about the greatness of the last 2 wilco albums, because nobody really cares about them that much. it's normally "well i know they aren't as good as the other albums, but the band has moved on from that, i still like them blah blah blah"

She may not be in the board but my wife's favorite two albums ARE the last two, and by a long shot, nothing comes close. She loves Wilco, she loves Jeff and she LOVES the last two records. Just because you don't like them doesn't mean they are crap, it only means you don't like them.

Just remembered another drunk tool behind us comment haha. After We've Been Had, the guy behind us said "If that's on the new album, I'm totally going to get it"

Now that's funny, how did you contain your laughter!

It sure is. I love slotted headstocks - so classic.

 

How does it sound? Is it rosewood or mahogany?

She sounds sweet, very warm, plays real easy too. Heres some details:

• Revival 000 body shape
• Select Master Grade Red Spruce Top
• Select Master Grade East Indian Rosewood Back & Sides
• Ivoroid Body & Neck Binding
• Gold Pearl "Honeycomb" Position Markers
• "Flower & Bees" Headstock Inlay
• Bone Nut & Saddle

My newest baby just arrived today, this one being my holy grail of guitars, thought I had to share:

#4 of 25

Which will be joining the family:

And let's not forget these, being that I'm actually a drummer, well actually I made my career as a sound engineer, but I've been a drummer in bands:

thanks for the watermark on that photo. i was planning on stealing it and selling it to the masses.

 

i was sitting up front in portland and have to admit was totally annoyed by the multiple photographers who were shooting the first few songs of this show. as we know jeff solo shows are quiet intimate affairs and to have the first few songs marred by constant shutter clicks simply takes away from the music. not to mention the photographers jockeying for position, blocking the view of people who paid good money for their tickets. i am surprised jeff puts up with this bullsh*t. anyone can go buy an expensive camera and quality lens and make mint photos, but what the point? are we not there to listen to music? i had to ask one photographer repeatedly to move away from my seat - only to be shown a photo pass and plenty of attitude. some photographers know how to work a show 'invisibly' - the photo crew in portland did not.

 

message to wilco management..... do you really need multiple photographers for each show to take the same exact picture over and over? is getting another JT photo more important than the music which he is creating? i do not know who is actually in charge of doling out these passes, but are these photographers vetted? it seems anyone 'yahoo' who claims to be a photographer gets a photo pass. prefix magazine.... really? i can understand a real news outlet (local newspaper, etc...) wanting to get a shot for a review, but photo passes for a glorified blog.... please.

Kind of harsh don't you think? I think Josh takes great photos, I've even purchased some from him in the past. Photographers have been a part of concerts for like, well forever. Photographers are generally allowed to take pictures for a very limited time at a show, usually the first three songs, most photographers will tell you that isn't long enough, you think it's to long, sounds like it's just right then to me. There really aren't that many places you can take good photos at a show when you start getting into lighting and such, and most photographers are very conscious of the crowd.

Who the hell do you think you are to declare which media outlets are "real" or not, such arrogance, I mean really, like WOW. Only makes me wonder why that photographer showed you attitude, he obviously didn't realize he was dealing with the most important person in the theater that night.

I loved the show, and personally I'm not that into sing a longs at solo acoustic shows, I paid to hear Jeff, not a bunch of out of tune drunks that don't know the words. I was sitting the row in front of the blue eyed taper, it was a very funny exchange, however it made the drunk women behind us a little jealous and she then needed to yell out the whole show "we saw Mavis last night.", no one cares that you saw Mavis, and after the 50th time you should have realized Jeff didn't care either. As much as I love that he interacts with the crowd and it makes each show unique, it does encourage obnoxiousness.

I think it was - somebody correct me if I'm wrong - "Yeah, the news is in - we're experimenting with making crappy records."

That's close, but I don't believe that was it. Something tells me that "crap" is rather subjective, and I don't believe that Jeff would release a record he considers "crap", but I may be wrong.

But WTA is 11 songs and it's only five minutes longer than TKOL. Eight song tracklist isn't a bad thing at all. I don't really like TKOL, but it's certainly not because it's "only" eight songs.

 

I'd personally love an extremely succinct album from Wilco, especially if they continue in their current vein. Trim SBS and WTA down to the 37 minute area and you have much better albums.

I have to disagree, I love The King Of Limbs. At first listen I was a little disappointed, it's very short, and on the surface it sounds like a techno album, but there is just so much going on there that there is no way to absorb it in just a few listens, this is one deep and trippy record. I would put Give Up the Ghost and Separator up there with any of Radiohead's best songs, and an awesome 1-2 punch to close out the record. It could have been worse, imagine an album full of Harry Patch songs.

What a bummer. Finally bid on a Tony Bruno Underground 30 amp on ebay that has been up with no action for about 2 months. Somebody shows up in the final seconds and snipes it from me for $50 more. Well played you SOB, whoever you are.

Sorry for your loss. That's how I always do it, last second, put in the highest bid I'm willing to go, that way if I get out bid I can't be tempted to increase my bid "just one more time".

I just picked up a used Fender Super Champ XD for a pretty good price.

 

Just thought I'd share my awesome new find.

That's what I have, I love the amp, it's got balls even at a low volume, for the price you really can't beat it.

Awesome, Wilco Friday and Saturday, however no Tweedy set? And now no Sonic Youth.

And in the new site, when you go to photos, you see my wife and I in the Glenn photo.

Fooling around with the website's search feature I found what appears to be the lineup with and without Sonic Youth. SPOILERS AHEAD:

 

http://solidsoundfes...ith-sonic-youth

http://solidsoundfes...-no-sonic-youth

Awesome, Wilco Friday and Saturday, however no Tweedy set? And now no Sonic Youth.

I need to sell my Gibson F-25. I love the guitar, just need to sell it to fund some other things. I bought the guitar after seeing Tweedy play it at a show. I love the look, some people hate it. Here's the link with pictures and a full description if you are intersted: http://www.acousticg...ad.php?t=177187

I've been checking your guitar out over there for a while (a few weeks at least), I've been tempted, I love the sound, I'm just not down with the look, sorry. That's a guitar I'd love to have as a second.

Full disclosure: this is my photo. Lest there be accusations of self-promotion , I don't own/sell Lakland Basses (actually, John Pirruccello from Autumn Defense does):

 

 

BETTER LINK:

http://digital.premierguitar.com/pre...u1=friend#pg46

Awesome! Nice pic, great ad, congrats!

I was wondering if there was an accurate listing of the equipment the band uses, currently and in the past, mostly interested in Jeff's guitars. I would have figured it would be here, and probably pinned, I just couldn't find it, not for lack of trying. I did however find this one, just not so sure of it's accuracy.

Guitar Geek Chat

Something like the book "Grateful Dead Gear - The Band's Instruments, Sound Systems, and Recording Sessions, From 1965 to 1995" would be great, but that's just a pipe dream.

On a different note I'm interested in those smaller bodied 12 fret guitars Jeff plays, I'm more use to the sound and feel of a dread, any ideas on a cheaper but still decent sounding OOO 12 fret, I don't really feel like taking the plunge on a Breedlove or Santa Cruz without knowing I'm even comfortable with one?

I'm pretty sure Tweedy was an odd bird growing up a hardcore punk fan in small-town Illinois. There was a funny bit in "Learning How to Die" about him and Farrar showing up to jock parties in high school, decked out in their flannel and long hair, hijacking the stereo to put on Black Flag and then getting kicked out...

One of my favorite parts of the book because I use to do the exact same thing, flannel, Black Flag then kicked (or chased) out. On more then one occasion I may have scratched their precious little Journey records, oh well. Black Flag's Damaged is still to this day one of the greatest records ever!