coast to coast

i agree with some of things said here, especially about some tracks not doing anything special off the platform of a steady song. i love what light as a song but not this recording.

that said i listened to the YHF demos back to back with this.... and I know they're only demos but some of this album really makes you realise how much wilco has grown.

its strange that you can criticise a band for non being completely consistent in their brilliance, but they are the high standards we set for our ourselves with wilco...

You gotta love the sleep deprived, stream of consciousness rambling of a new dad.

Hmmm, I wouldn't say I love it but maybe you can't blame him. People should bare this interview in mind when they slag Pitchfork for being self-obsessed or attempting to be hyper-intellectual... cos some parts of this interview are a bit like "Man, come on, stop trying to talk about yourself!"

Some very interesting things Jeff mentions all the same that I felt already about his health and the fact that Hate It Here is ironic.

little island walking works better in open C, or well.. i learned to play it that way

i could tab this but im terrible when it comes to it (tabbing, that is)

here's the first part

E--------------0------0h1--0-------------------
C--------0--2-----------------0--------0-------
G--0h2--------------------------0--2------2p0--
C-----0----------------------------------------
G---------------------2------------------------
C--0-------------------------------5-----------
E-------------0--0h1-0-------------------------
C-------0--2------------0----------------------
G--0h2---------------------0-----0----------0--
C-----0-----------------------5-----5p0-4h4----
G-------------2--------------------------------
C--0-------------2-----------/5---------4h4----
E----------------------------------------------
C---------0--------------------0---------------
G--0----4----0----------0----4----0------------
C----------------0--------------------0--------
G-------4--------0-----------4--------0--------
C----------------0--------------------0--------

E------------------0-----------0---0h1---0---------------------------
C--------0---2-----------0-------------------0-----0-----------------
G--0h2------------------------------------------0--------0-----0-----
C------0-------0-------4-------4-------2-------2-------5-----s/7s--
G--------------------------------------------------------------------
C--0-------0-------4-------4-------2-------2-------5-------5---------

E-----------------0---0---0-0--0---0h1---0---------------------------
C--------0-----2------0---0-0--0------------0-------0-----------0----
G--0h2-----------------------------------------h2----2p0--0-----0----
C------0-------------------------------0---------------------0-------
G--------------4--2---2---2-2--2---0-------0---h2--------------------
C--0-------0----------------------------------------------0----------
E---------------------------------0~--
C---------0--------------------0------
G--0----4----0----------0----4--------
C----------------0--------------------
G-------4--------0-----------4--------
C----------------0--------------------

i look forward to trying this. i had worked out much of the song in CGDGCD, but found it some small parts quite awkward so maybe its not right.

I have no idea how this happens

All of my maps have been overthrown

Happenstance has changed my plans

So many times my heart has been outgrown

 

Those lines just do... it. whatever the hell 'it' is to me.

Yeh they're great. I also really love in the middle of On and On and On, which initially seems like a heartfelt if pretty simple song comes these lines:

You can

I don't get it.

Its not sport, was my point, that I made, perhaps a wee bit too obliquely.

I can't imagine ever describing "Hate It Here" as light-hearted. One of the reasons I love it is because it evokes such deep-seated melancholy.

I know its not a funny song, but parts of it are jokingly light-hearted to cover up the melancholy like the line

"What am I gonna do, what am I gonna do, what am I gonna when I run out of shirts to fold?!?"

Its ironically funny, cos its not meant to be funny at all.

I have to go to work! Dammit.

I'd really love to hear this line-up of the band do some kind of version of Radio King in the vein of this album. All three guitars hammering on the intro in shifting harmonies, turning it into a sweet soul ballad... dunno why I thought that.

Further thoughts after further listens. I reckon the real CD will spring a bit of vitality into some tracks, but I still think one are two are slumps in the album which is unusual for a Wilco album. Also I cannot help but feel that if they were going to put something with a light-hearted feel on it like Hate It Here or Walken, that The Thanks I Get would've fitted in well. I didn't like the version they did on Conan, far toooooo smooooooth and with lots of wanky hammond fills but I'd love to hear that songs stripped back like High Heat or Kicking Television.

Still I get what Uncle Wilco was saying - this is just SBS not something else we want it to be. Ther are things on the album where I get what they're doing but still don't buy into it, and there are bits I think they coudl've done better and I still think On and On and On is phenomenal.

i reckon jim plays nearly everything in open g. theres a video of a guy playing the workplace on an acoustic and its spot on...not mention quite tricky.

the workplace

and the start of a very tentative tab for good times, along the lines that everything jim does is by and large in open g, except (off the top of my head) little island walking is in CGDGCD (which Sonic Youth used also whilst Jim was in teh band, though I don't know if there's a connection, as Pavement used something similar too)

Good Times

  Gmaj7			 D/F#
D|-----4-4------2----------------2----
B|-----0-0------0-3------3-3---3---0--
G|---0--------0--------2-2-2----------
D|-0--------0-------------------------
G|-0--------0-------------------------
D|-------------------4-------4--------


D|-------------0-0-----0-0--
G|-----3-3-----0-0-----0-0--
B|-----2-2-----0-0-----0-0--
D|-----4-4------------------
G|-2/4------2-------2-------
D|----------2-------2-------

The reasons You are my face and Hate it here are proving themselves to be fan favorites thus far is most likely because those are the only parts that show some real flourishes of interest on the album. The rest is just so monotonous... for me, it's so mellow as to be aggravating... I just keep itching for them to mix it up a bit and throw in some crunch, and besides from those aformentions sections, theres not much relief to be had. I find it frustrating.

 

To me it seems like so much of this album is an experiment in how little noise 6 guys can make... Though it provides some interesting results, considering the talent of each member, it seems to me to be mostly just wasteful.

it very much is a mellow album alright. i can see how some would think too mellow, but i mean, it seems obvious to me that that was what they were going for.

all in all, i prefer AGIB, but I prefer that to many many albums.

Its certainly changed in my perception from first listen...

I love the first three tracks but the title track is so boring in comparison with things they've done in the past. For the most part I don't think they've gotten any worse as song writers but I'm not blown away by the way they did the songs sometimes. The versions or What Light where he sings it in a higher key are much better than the one on the album for me.

On and On and On and On is fucking brilliant, way better than I ever imagined.

Anyway, I wouldn't be suprised if the next Wilco album is another reaction to this back in another direction altogether, cos I reckon they'll get tired of the sound of themselves in this mode quicker than they did with YHF and AGIB.

As for all the people saying "I'd be embarrassed to play this to my friends"... you have some weird way of liking music. "Maybe my friends won't think I'm cool listening to this non-atonal mid-tempo rock! But I bought Wire this month!" You either like it or you don't, doesn't matter what your friends think about you liking it mate.

he was just filling up space until they could start wailing on geetars.

its nothing new, its been done as long as i can remember.

I agree with that review so so so much. Nail accurately smashed on the head. Well done sir.

Its a good album and Wilco are still a phenomenal band, and to be quite honest, its a step that isn't entirely unexpected - that is, to make quite a "straight" record.

Its very relaxed and based solely around the 6 guys playing through the songs.

I was shocked by A Ghost Is Born went so mad at times, and love love loved it. In retrospect its such a logical step on from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, in the same way as Wish You Were Here follows from Dark Side Of The Moon (I'm sure someone here will hate that reference! but its what I always use when thinking of bands with consecutive classics) but this album sounds after the first few listens like a bit of a Get Back! style project. Personally some of the arrangements aren't exactly my cup of tea and there's something not as magic as it about the last two records, but I'm sure I'll enjoy plonking the disc in my machine and cranking it up, cos there are some tasty tracks on it alright!

would someone be nice enough to send me a pm... 10pm CST = four in the morning for me, didn't hear it and the stream is closed? thanks in advance.

Ah we'll see.

"Once in Germany someone said 'nein' " is pretty hilarious, so I wouldn't be worried.

ginandcigarettes thats fucking ace.

It'd be way more interesting if he knew what was actually doing rather than just saying "running them through a gauntlet of effects"... I mean maybe Glenn wouldn't tell, but it wouldn't hurt to have a bit or detail - not that a want to copy or anything! But if you're writing a book about a band, the more interesting detail the better, rather than vague kinda clich

Sorry, but could someone repost the song? It has expired on yousendit. Thanks!

yeh. or on a side project with scott mccaughey or something. there's no reason to believe it must be a wilco song cos jeff tweedy did it. and wilco did it on tv... by the way i didn't think that version on Conan was great. A bit too smooth.

i've got to be honest and say that there is not one "new" song i've heard that is even remotely interesting to me. i'm hoping for a total re-work in the studio on them because at this point, agib is looking like a better album than before. i felt there was a noticable drop-off after yhf and i fear a continuing trend. i've been a fan far too long to jump off the bandwagon, but i'd be lying if i said i wasn't a little concerned.

I'm not this sceptical. Also I thought AGIB was fucking ace. Couldn't decide whether it or YHF is better...

Who knows what the studio version ended up sounding like though. I mean, look at Panthers. I was amazed that one didn't make the record, until I heard it on the EP. Suddenly all was made clear.

 

We've had this discussion about a million times so far. It'll be interesting. I'm kind of morbidly fascinated by what could be a trainwreck of epic proportions by one of my favorite all-time bands. All Shook Down stylee. What we've heard so far has been pretty bland and uninspired compared to their earlier material so that doesn't bode well, but the songs we heard towards the end tended to be much better than the earlier ones. Much, much better. Still, I'm kind of hoping they got someone in to produce the record who can work some magic. Some careful editing and a frank discussion about the relative merits of limp-wristed piano lines and flabby prog rock could do wonders.

 

I'm a pretty atypical fan though so maybe this will indeed be the record loved by millions, I hope so, they're all good guys.

Its funny... I've been thinking this aswell, the trainwreck possibilities I mean. When I first listened to the AGIB tracks (live versions I mean) I was completely hooked. Not on these ones. Not worried about that however because Wilco is a band thats always changing, so the songs may sound better in a studio or whatever...

That said, its not that I don't like the new songs but when they said we're gonna make a record like Being There I thought "Eh, haven't you already made a record like Being There...i.e. Being There."

On the other hand part of me thinks, "Great, another unexpected decision, I would expect nothing less of Wilco! And they're such a good band that they'll be able to make a straight-ish rock record (for want of a better description, please, no hatin') sound interesting."

And add to that that some of the songs I've listened to once or twice sound ace. I woulda preferred if "The Thanks I Get Had" been on it, its an unself-conscious, fun song. It's lyrics aren't fantastic but its a great vocal performance. Some of the other stuff sounds self-conscious almost.

Where is thrat thread gone where somebody put up all the new songs in a zip file. I've heard nothing except for On and On and On and Walken.... someone show me the light!