smells like flowers

Gillian Welch/Dave Rawlings Machine, or whatever current incarnation is. Would love to see GW sing with JT at some point in this life!!

nothing beats the Vince Guaraldi Trio's "A Charlie Brown Christmas" - great childhood memories.

Yes! Love this one the very most. My "desert island" Christmas music.

Love it -- thanks!

Via Chicago

Seeing a car with a christmas tree tied to the top

Something tasty in the oven that makes the whole house smell good (roast chicken, chocolate chip cookies)

Tangerines

As yet another Wilco devotee who didn't love either of the last two albums, but who WHOLEHEARTEDLY loves the prior releases, I find it hard to accept that the band's future records might not affect me in a similar way. I'm almost always my happiest when listening to Wilco. (Or seeing them live, or anticipating the next live show.) There's gotta be more of that earth-moving stuff in there, right? Hopefully, that's not just wishful thinking.

One lasting effect of Beatrice and Virgil that I found, was a way to re-approach the despair of the holocaust without couching it in the same terms it has been looked at for the last couple decades (Maus did this in another way). Then again, approaching the despair of the holocaust might not be everyone's idea of a good time, and I'm not sure the book had quite the literary heft to move that rock completely.

Agreed. I did love imagining the taxidermist's store and the darkness therein... As far as re-approaching holocaust atrocities, I suppose I'm not one for looking the horrors of humanity in the eye.

They'll have to get a pedal steel player then....

 

LouieB

'Taint country music without pedal steel guitar!

Surely with six skilled musicians (and at least one multi-instrumentalist), someone can play pedal steel?

I've liked his other stuff (he has a weird collection of short stories) but had to stop reading Beatrice and Virgil when there was anal assault on the donkey. (Oh, sorry to be a spoiler!)

Wilco studio albums do not do the band justice at all.

While I agree that seeing/hearing the band live blows away the majority of the studio versions of the songs, hopefully the new album will contain material that inspires being blown away by, when played live. Hence the need for non-suckiness.

....or a country record à la Anodyne.

That would be a dream come true! Bring on the pedal steel.

The older I get, the less I enjoy Christmas... except for the music! (And mom's bourbon eggnog.) Last year I couldn't rest until I had Lou Rawls' version of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." Here are some more of my favorites:

Feliz Navidad - Jose Feliciano

Christmas Wrapping - the Waitresses

'Zat You, Santa Claus? - Louis Armstrong

2,000 Miles - Pretenders

What songs get you in the holiday spirit? Post here!

Bought it for a buck at Half-Price Books.

It's been a long time since I've read it and while I didn't exactly forget about how startling "A Perfect Day For Bananafish" is, reading it again still had a visceral impact. Still makes me say "DAMN."

I love Salinger too -- I re-read "Catcher in the Rye" every few years and it never gets old.

This is lame. The Wilco coffee, not the thread.

Just read two by Elizabeth Strout. "Olive Kitteridge" and "Amy & Isabelle." Both superbly written, kind of bleak contemporary tales about New England women. In the vein of Alice Munro... a bit desolate, but so beautifully woven. Reminds me of Thoreau's quote about ordinary men (and women, obviously) leading lives of quiet desparation.

"Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them."

-- Henry David Thoreau

new song recorded with Gillian Welch

Just listened to it -- good song. Gillian Welch's voice never fails to bowl me over.

Strange timing, this -- just listened to Hazards of Love last night for the first time since seeing them for that tour (a couple years ago?). Not a big Decemberists fan, but some of those songs really grabbed me. Especially charmed by the track (9?) that pairs accordion with pedal steel. (Except I don't like the vocals that precede the very lovely music.) Anyhow, it will be interesting to hear the new one.

If a UT reunion happened, I think it would be tension-filled and uncomfortable. No thanks!

Don't have an ipod (technology dinosaur, me) but am listing my 5 heavy-rotation songs (changes with the tide):

Always in Love

Muzzle of Bees

Ashes of American Flags

Country Disappeared

Hell is Chrome

Either Way, heard at a bakery in Shepherdstown, WVA. (Shepherdstown Sweet Shop?) Vive la pepperoni roll!

anyone else notice all of the uhhhhhs and ahhhhhs on the Colbert interview.

It would probably be more than a little hard to keep up with Colbert's high-octane questioning -- like he mixes Pop Rocks with his Coke on commercial breaks. That man is WHACK! (In a good way, but still...)

So, just found out that "Wrote a Song for Everyone" is a Creedence Clearwater Revival song. Duh! If I had read the blurb on the Consequence of Sound link this wouldn't have been bugging me for days! It does have a similar sound/structure to "The Weight," but being a CCR song explains why it sounded so familiar to me. But you all probably already knew that!

And needless abstract scapes so revered by the Burn to Shine folks (which, along with the music, ruined Ashes).

Wow, I couldn't disagree with you more. I really loved Ashes of American Flags and thought Brendan Canty's filmwork was beautiful. For me, it added a whole new layer of meaning to the music.

To me, this song sounds a LOT like "The Weight" (take a load off) by The Band. Anyone else feeling it?

Have you heard Broken Bells? Shins' singer James Mercer, produced by Danger Mouse. Electronic and poppy. I think it's great, but if you need guitars, it's not for you.