quarter23cd

Heh, I remember complaining when they first put restrictions on the number of monthly downloads. (used to be totally unlimited once upon a time, albeit with a somewhat limited selection that encouraged you get really adventurous about trying music you've never ever remotely heard of, but hey, why not, its unlimited for like under $10/mo!)

What's interesting about this announcement is that Epitaph and Rykodisc definitely used to be available there, then disappeared and are now evidently back. Must have been some contract disputes. Warner and Atlantic, though, is fairly shocking. Big Name artists used to be fairly rare there.

Kudos to them for continuing to grow their collection--and the pricing still beats paying a-la-carte at iTunes. Even so, I've been threatening to quit for years...but I always end up keeping it around because, heck, cutting that $10 or so out of my budget won't save me THAT much $. Maybe I should opt for the quit/rejoin/quit/rejoin plan!

I know Brian Kelly is the hot name. But didn't they just fire an offensive genius of a coach. How does a guy who wins 52-49 in the Big East translate to anything better than what they had under Charlie Weis?

I'll jump on this bandwagon. Kelly did a great job at Cinci, but that program's turnaround had been a few years in the making already. Mark Dantonio before him got the ball moving in the right direction and he is still struggling to change the culture with Sparty since he made his "big move". Kelly built on that momentum and took Cinci to yet another level, but who is to say he will do anything more for the Irish than give a new name to blame? Or not. He might do better, simply for the fact that he isn't the polarizing figure that Weis was.

And give him credit for knowing when his hour in the spotlight was upon him. Ralph Friedgen and whatisname at Rutgers can attest to that, I'm sure.

What do you mean seriously? Just curious..

 

GT has a dangerous offense right know. They run the spread option offense, and are pretty much guaranteed to score points against any defense. The opposing team just has to score more points.

I'm a few days late on answering this, but I just meant that I don't really see either team as being very "elite" this year. This would make an intriguing second-tier bowl (yes, I know GT won their conference), but it just doesn't strike me as an impressive BCS matchup.

GT's offense is interesting to watch. Would be nice if they played more defense. Iowa? Having watched the OSU/Iowa de-facto B10 championship game in person--even though it turned out pretty exciting in the end, I couldn't help but think to myself through it all that neither of these teams really belongs in the BCS this year. The fact that they both got in? Meh.

Iowa/GT might actually turn out to be a great matchup, I just don't think its a particularly marquee one. Does that make sense?

I think AGIB has aged better than any other Wilco-related release of the decade.(including YHF, which I still love, though kind of get tired of) YHF, AGIB, and the first Loose Fur record mark a pretty awesome stretch in the Wilco canon. The stuff since then, not so much.

I've never been able to decide if I love or hate the production on AGIB. It is a 'different' sounding record, to be sure. But, really, I think most of what sometimes drives me nuts is the low-volume mastering, which makes for awkward ipod shuffling. Oh well. But as for the sound of the record I actually like it a lot better than, say, WTA, which is somehow too 'shiny' for me...or something. The sound of AGIB had more depth to it, somehow.

I agree that TCU/Boise is problematic in the sense that there is no goliath to be slain--so either team could win and people will just shrug and say "Meh. Sure they won, but what if they played ________."

On the other hand, it looks to be by far the most intriguing matchup of the non-championship BCS bowls:

OSU/Oregon

Here's hoping Santa brings OSU an offense for Xmas. The Buckeyes have leaned on their D all season (all decade, for that matter), but for some reason my gut tells me that this one could be a shootout. Which doesn't bode well for OSU. If Tressel shows up in a track suit instead of a sweatervest, we're in business.

Florida/Cinci

Cinci's program has come a long way in recent years and has been a great story, but I don't see any way they don't get squished here. Maybe I'm still biased against the football-viability of that basketball school down south. Would love to be proven wrong. Just don't see it happening.

Iowa/Georgia Tech

Seriously?

I agree that Rod will get another 1-2 years, minimum, to turn this around. (barring major NCAA sanctions, of course) But you're right, they're already a couple years into the process of building a team to fit his style--I'm not sure how quickly they could flip the switch back to old-style Michigan. Go with what you got. There's no reason to believe he won't be successful, eventually.

And when they are back to being good again, I almost certainly will be kicking myself for being this charitable about it now.

Your freshman messiah obviously had some bad throws in there, but I think he looks good for the future. I'll enjoy Michigan being down while I can because I don't think it will last too much longer. Your assessment seems about correct--mid level bowl next year and beyond that, who knows? If the rest of the league remains fairly stagnant, it won't be hard to make a quick rise in the standings.

Pryor is definitely a big dude. He's too good of an athlete not to eventually go pro in some capacity, but I agree I don't know what that will be yet. He still has 2 years of college to see if he can develop into a true QB. This is about the point in his career where Troy Smith got his footwork down and became a much better passer, so I'll be closely watching the bowl game and early next season for signs of life from TP. I don't think I can survive 2 more years of

However, when they trolled out Palin in a very "carl rovian" strategical way, that sealed their fate. Very knee-jerk on that one.

I may have read too much into it, but at the time I really saw it as the GOPs Clinton-obsession getting the better of them. Palin was such an off the wall choice--it was hard not to see it as a deliberate attempt to upstage Hillary by getting another woman into executive office first. (and, yes, that's a shallow read on it--but for a candidate who offered such little depth, it was hard not to see the whole thing as a gimmick) I think they shot themselves in the foot on that one. Hillary brings out the crazy in people. They should really learn to use that to their advantage more.

Maybe its the Middle American part. Geography-based insults are awesome!

I never thought I'd say this, but I.......I kind of miss Michigan. That had all the excitement of watching the Buckeyes sleepwalk through a game with Indiana.

Dear Coach T: There is a crazy trick-play craze sweeping the nation called the "Forward Pass". You guys might want to look into it for the Rose Bowl.

Like George W. Bush, even Palin herself doesn’t know this, another reason she’s such a perfect political tool.

This part here is brilliant.

I had an interesting conversation about Palin the other day at a party while watching the OSU/Michigan football game. Don't remember how the topic came up, but this guy went off on a seemingly endless rant about Palin and Glenn Beck and basically the whole nutso/celebrity wing of the GOP. I barely got a word in--which actually made it more fun. Because he kept going on and on about taking OUR party back--stating WE are in the midst of a civil war within the party right now and WE need to leave that sort of infighting to the Democrats and that WE need the kind of unity back that WE had in '94 with the Contract for America, yada yada.

The WE got a little unnerving after a while. I don't think it crossed his mind that I might not be a Republican, and indeed he looked at me like I was a space alien when I told him I wasn't. But I wanted to thank him, nonetheless. I don't share his nostalgia for Newt, per se, but its a lot more productive to argue politics when you take the crazy off the table and have an actual discussion.

I don't expect "the album" to die entirely. I can't speak to the physical medium--that part is kind of already fading into relative obscurity--but I don't think the idea of presenting multiple pieces of music as a collective whole is going anywhere. I think a lot of artists will continue to work this way by choice, even if it is no longer "necessary" or "the way things are done".

At the other end of the spectrum you have recording artists who are really just shooting for a couple hit singles, but are then left to fill up an album's worth of run time because it is what is expected of them--even if it stinks. How many albums have you heard that only have 1 or 2 good songs? For those artists, the singles approach seems perfectly suited.

Optimistically, the way I see it going down is for artists being able to release their stuff in a way that is meaningful to them. If a song is a standalone single, great. Or they may choose to release small batches of related songs.(akin to an EP) Or, if there is an overarching theme to it, they may choose to release "album length" stuff. Undoubtedly, somebody will take this to the opposite end of the spectrum and, unburdened by physical-media capacity, will record a 99 hour continuous track as a single song just to see if they can. (edit: I just read Ghost of Electricity's comment a couple posts up and realize I was beaten to this idea )

One interesting bright side I can see to this is potentially speeding up the release cycle and not having to wait 3-4 years for releases from your favorite band.

Although, I didn't dislike that one nearly as much as A Heartbreaking Work..., which actually made me angry. I had a particularly intense aversion to that one, for some reason.

I enjoyed A Heartbreaking Work... for the first few chapters. I don't know exactly at what point that changed for me, but eventually I decided there was no way I was going to make it through a whole book of that. From other stuff of his I have read, I like him but can only really tolerate him in short bursts.

The thing with On The Road is the cadence of the story.

Oh, absolutely. The first time I read it I can remember thinking it wasn't that great, but the thing that kept me going was how I would periodically get completely lost in the rhythm of the thing. Finally, I realized that that WAS what was so great about it. At the end of my first time though I'm not sure I remembered much about what happened or what it was about, but dang it was an exhilarating ride! Subsequent readings have only made it grow on me more. I appreciate it in a very different way than I would, say, Moby Dick--and explaining what is great about it is almost as difficult as explaining why you love a song or a band that somebody else just may not get at all. But that's part of its charm.

On the other hand, I have never made it past page 20 of a Jane Austen book.

I can't believe people listed Moby-Dick! Well, I guess some of the whaling chapters are kind of dry, but its still probably my favorite book.

Got to agree with Beloved, though, I'm afraid. Its one of those books I think I wanted to like, but just couldn't--and the fact that I had to write papers on it like 4 times in HS and college makes me think it might be just a tad overexposed. Whatever. I like most of her other books, though, so maybe I'll give Beloved another shot someday.

upgraded and expanded version of the "Woodstock" documentary that's due out June 9 as well as a six-CD Woodstock box set that's being released Aug. 18

This sounds cool. Interestingly, I have somehow managed to never see the Woodstock film. May have to finally get the DVD when the new one version is released. The 6-CD set sounds interesting, but I dunno that I'll shell out for that.

hate seeing them reduced to being so mundane ... three-minute pop song and out of there, but i guess that's all you can ask for on network TV

I suppose they could record a sprawling 30 minute Dark Star and then cut it into 3 minute segments aired over the course of 10 nights, but that would just confuse people.

According to the Baltimore Sun, Matt Weiters will walk across the Inner Harbor on his way to the Yard on Friday.

(yes, its a little weird to be this excited about a catcher, but this dude appears to be a stud...and, really, what else have we had to cheer about this decade?)

I've always liked the part in the movie when they're all walking back from the playing area to the listening area. They all look just exhausted. I always think to myself, "Now that's a fucking rock and roll band, they're just done for after playing". Who knows if that's what is happening, but I always think that.

Hmm. Actually, that chapter on the DVD is titled "Coming Home From Chipotle".

Jay brought a lot of unpredictability and energy to the band on stage. And, heck, on record he challenged me as a listener quite a bit. Speaking purely in terms of sound, Summerteeth is my least favorite Wilco record to listen to. Yeah, I'm one of those dudes who swore at the time that JB had ruined the band. And yet that record has some great songs on it, so there is a push/pull thing going on with my eardrums where I'm like "Yeah, turn it up!" and then is like doooooooooooBEEEEEEEboooooooooo and I'm like "BAH, turn it down!!!" Jay, that record has been messing with my head for a decade now. Thanks...I think.

On stage, the band was never more fun than during the JB era. I was a big cheerleader for the start of the Glenn/Nels era of the band--and do love what they do--but in retrospect now with a few years to sink it in, I think I miss the old live Wilco. More specifically, I miss ya, JB.

Bone Machine was where I started in the mid-90s. Not sure if that's the place to start, or if there even IS one for Waits. He has very distinct styles and periods. You may or may not like them all, but (as mentioned above) if you do get hooked you'll probably end up checking them all out, anyway.

Come to think of it, Nighthawks at the Diner is one that got me really hooked in the beginning because I liked the live and "conversational" feel of it. I found it refreshing after trying to make sense of some of his later records and I felt like it gave me a little more of a window into what this dude is going on about and made those other records go down smoother. He's a strange cat. Enjoy.

those are some excellent picks for this week's taper's section. cool to read that Steppin' Out was supposed to be 5 discs. Steppin' Out and Hartford '77 are my fav. official releases right now. its true that you can pick pretty much any gig from the spring '77 tour and not go wrong.

5 discs of Steppin' Out would have been cool with me. Heck, I love that thing so much I wish that thing was 500 discs!

Am I a weirdo in that I still don't totally "get" '77? I'm still looking for a show from that period to make me go "Ooohhhhhhhhhhhh, I see what you mean", you know? I got the Hartford set recently and thought it was okay, but not really one of my favorite releases. Similar deal with most of the Spring '77 shows I've heard. Something is just not clicking for me and I can't really place it. Interestingly, I was listening to some '76 stuff the other day (which frequently gets panned by a lot of people) and realized that THAT year might be my dividing-line between "oh hells yes!" GD and "this is ok" GD.

I hate the repetitiveness of the lyrics

Jeff has a thing for repetition.

Maybe all I need is a shot in the arm...

Its a war on war...

There are other examples, but those pop to mind as times I have grumbled about it in the past, but all in all they worked out ok. I actually think this comes across as rather clever. I dunno.

This is what I was getting at. Jeff did a lot of Bush bashing the past eight years, I just thought it was weird fo him to write a war song while alluding to jesus.

Love this song, although I was a bit shocked to hear them re-using the melody from On and On--the same way, I guess, I was a bit surprised to hear them re-use part of Far, Far Away for Sky Blue Sky last time around. Wilco is becoming increasingly self-referential.

Something about this song also reminds me of When the Roses Bloom again, but that is probably due to the subject matter. I haven't totally parsed through the lyrics on this yet, so these are just my initial impressions.

I wish that Jay could read this thread.

 

RIP.

Ditto on this. Jay has gotten a bad rap, at times, but he had a huge hand in creating most of my favorite music that Wilco ever made--or anyone, really. Wow. I'm still a bit stunned by this and my heart aches a bit as the reality of this is starting to sink in. Needless to say, "work" is on the back-burner this morning while I process this.

Here is an example of my mind making absurd (but humorous, at least) connections, but one of the first thoughts I had after reading this news today was that I was reminded of the time recently when I found this goofy dreadlock wig in the back of some closet in my house and proceeded to wear it around much of that day. My wife teased me about my receding hairline and how I couldn't grow dreads like that if I wanted to--to which I replied: "It don't matter, baby, because in heaven, everyone's got killer dreads."

For today, at least, I hope that is the case.

RIP, Jay.

More Like the Moon

Cars Can't Escape

Not For the Season (rocking demo version)