Hoodoo Man

Two thoughts:

 

She said she wanted to "give a face to consensual incest"; and

 

 

And this is where she lost me. Maybe she misspoke, but why the hell would you want to give a face to consensual incest? In my small mind the phrase "consensual incest" implies that she was a willing partner to her father. I don't plan on reading her book, but is she saying that she is learning to get over the guilt she felt for having consensual sex with her father or is she saying that she is trying to overcome the emotional scars of being raped by her father? Those are 2 very different things in my book.

Great, great thread. It's because we're still having these impassioned discussions about The Beatles almost 40 years after the band's demise that I believe they are hands down the greatest rock band ever. I just don't think The Stones or Who or Kinks or any other band can elicit such passion.

Anyway, my $.02: In my earliest exposure to The Beatles, I was drawn to Paul. I liked his songs better. I liked his voice and his personality (later realizing that my personality is way more in line with John's which is why I probably didn't like him as much!). For me as a kid, John just seemed too weird. As I matured both emotionally and musically, I started to get drawn more to John. His songs come across as emotionally deeper and challenging. For me, the White album really separates the two. Coming off their more experimental endeavors, Lennon wanted to get back to speaking his mind through rock songs and McCartney wanted to venture into a softer, more pop-oriented field. This album, probably more than anything, makes me lean towards John.

Now having declared myself a John guy, I can't take anything away from Paul. His progression and musical growth is really easy to follow from Please, Please Me to Abbey Road. He still ranks as one of my favorite bassists ever. He really propelled The Beatles into the adventurous world of Sgt. Pepper/Magical Mystery/Yellow Sub. They wouldn't have been The Beatles without Paul.

Now I'm in the mood to listen to my Beatles collection.

Damn! It's like that guy was in the room when I told my wife of my plan to have lots of kids, dress them in Wilco merchandise and one day take over the planet! Now that he's on to it, I better speed up the plan. Time to get my wife pregnant again and order more Wilco onesies.

if you haven't heard the 1997 Steve Albini re-recording of In Color, you should...

http://www.xtrmntr.com/cheaptrick/incolor/

Thanks! I've wanted this for a long time and really enjoyed it. You can tell they just barely got past the recording stage of this when they decided to abandon the project. The bonus material is an excellent, uh, bonus.

Cheak Trick 97 ws not so good in my opinion. Rockford was real good, best album in years.

 

I'm looking forward to hearing their version of Sgt Peppers that is coming out soon.

Rockford is my favorite of that bunch as well. My biggest disappointment with '97 was just that when it came out I read an article in which the author claimed it was similar in tone to the band's debut. Stupid me I fall for that kind of stuff way too often. But after I accepted the fact that it was not like their debut, I decided it was probably their best record since Next Position Please. Since then, Rockford has taken the top spot for me in CT's second life.

If any of you are still interested, I've got the latest and think it's a pretty good album. Definitely sways towards their Beatles roots with some nods towards John Lennon's solo material. If you used to like Cheap Trick but forgot about them after "The Flame", I highly recommend their last 4 albums (Cheap Trick '97, Special One, Rockford and The Latest). So maybe they don't rival CT's first 4 albums, but they are solid and will remind you why you used to be a fan. If you ever have the chance to catch them live, they are still awesome in concert.

The wife was out shopping for the kids' school clothes last week, I think they were in Aeropastle (or however you spell it)and "Heavy Metal Drummer" came on. Both of the older 2 boys recognized it immediately and told my wife (not a Wilco fan). This helped me decide to buy tickets to the Memphis show for the boys. It'll be their first concert.

I finally got to see this last night and was impressed. I really enjoyed it. Thought they did a good job of touching on all the major events without leaving too much out. Would have been cool to see some of the other memories of Riddle's family, but can understand why that was left out. The younger actors have really matured into pretty good performers, particularly Daniel Radcliffe and Tom Felton. In some of the earlier comments the Dumbledore death scene was discussed and questioned about Harry's inactivity. My guess is the director wanted to emphasize that Harry was putting his trust totally in Dumbledore. Maybe to show Harry's maturity or perhaps to set up for the next 2 movies. As I recall, in book 7 Harry starts to lose faith in Dumbledore because he feels like he was betrayed by Dumbledore's unwillingness to disclose to Harry everything he knew about Voldemort. So maybe that was the thought process.

Anyway, it was a really good movie. I didn't feel cheated with its length like I did with Phoenix (and I did like Phoenix, just wanted it to be longer). My 2 sons both dug it immensely and said it moved to the top of their HP list.

I'm hoping to take my 2 oldest to see it tonight. From the clips I've seen, it looks like it should be good. I've enjoyed all the movies but like most HP geeks, wished they were all about 30 minutes longer.

I never realized until now, how much Alex looks like David St. Hubbins. Or vice versa.

Posted Today, 08:21 AM

Not epic enough. Looking on the bright side, though, Wilco has the potential to double Rush's double-neckness.

Crikes, I didn't mean to turn this into the "Raise Your Hand If You Are Old" thread. Sorry.

I'm there. I think that's why I connect with Wilco so much. I'm about the same age as Tweedy and even though his life is much more complex than mine, I feel like he's writing songs about me and my feelings, emotions, decisions. He puts to words what is either bouncing around in my head or is hidden somewhere in the darkest corners of my mind.

As for newer music, I'm fortunate that as an old guy (ha ha) I get to manage younger people (under 30) and one of my employees is very much into "hip" music. So he goes out and buys Decemberists, Death Cab, Killers, Spoon and things of that ilk, then I get to listen to them and either become a fan or not. So that at least gives me some exposure to newer music.

It makes the work day pass faster, though, and NOTHING is going to change that fact.

True. I'll bet VC'ers work production is down 15-20% this week.

Man, visiting this place is really getting discouraging. If you love the new album, cool. Listen to it. If you don't like it, cool. Don't listen to it. But honestly, bitching about the new album is not going to change it. It is what it is. Many people seem to believe they have a better idea of what Wilco is supposed to sound like than Tweedy. Fine, go form your own band and make the great lost Wilco album that is in you and has eluded Jeff Tweedy. It's his band and he can make whatever album he wants to make. And in conclusion, there's this band you may have heard of, The Beatles. You would be hard pressed to pick 2 of their albums which sound alike. That's not a bad thing. Same for Wilco.

I listened to it twice and liked it, but those listens were at work. The true test will come when I can listen to it in my truck with it cranked to 11. That's usually where I either fall in love with or out of love with an album.

I like the cover, but I'm afraid Nonesuch may have to change it. It's a little too sexy. I mean a camel in a a hat with a cake sitting on a small table? And you should have seen what they wanted to put on the table. It certainly wasn't a cake, I can tell you that.

Nonesuch will be forced to release Wilco (the album) with a completely black cover.

Has anyone mentioned this? Couldn't find anything in a search ...

 

But the one song guaranteed to make most viewers' jaws drop is "Via Chicago," Tweedy calmly strumming his acoustic and singing, completely unfazed by the chaos his bandmates are unleashing all around him. It sounds like a jet taking off while another one crashes.

Nice review you found. I agree with the author's sentiments and especially the bit above. "Via Chicago" is absolutely breathtaking. Perfect musical performance capped by stunning visual portrayal.

Coming from a guy who was standing in front of the soundboard, it definitely wasn't just the first few rows that were into it. But surely, that was the lamest crowd I've ever been part of. For years I've heard bad things about shows at Ole Miss and now I have confirmation. Oxford/Ole Miss should never be on anyone's tour stop. Oxford isn't a true representation of what concert crowds in the south are like. Oxford is a world unto itself and the residents/students like it that way and are more than happy to perpetuate the many stereotypes that exist about Ole Miss. For me the worst offenders were 4 guys all over 6'2" who seemed to enjoy pushing their way through the crowd after picking up another 4 beers from the bar, to stand directly in front of someone shorter than them (like me). They then would proceed to talk constantly except for the one guy who decided he should clear out some room to show everybody around him, how good of a dancer he is. It's probably good that I am short and very patient, or there might have been a fight. And my last bitch about the show, the Lyric Theater is hardly a theater. It is a gutted old building with 2 bars set up on the sides. I expected a refurbished, classic-looking theater and it's basically a big bar. Sorry about the bitching.

That said, Wilco was outstanding. I commend them for soldiering through the show. They played for around 2 hours and gave us 2 encores. Jeff's voice was in fine form. The band is so tight I don't think they could put on a bad show if they wanted to. It was cool to hear some older tunes like Shouldn't Be Ashamed, It's Just That Simple and Forget the Flowers. The other times I've seen them the sets were mostly YHF, AGIB and SBS. Glenn was a beast. Nels is a freak of nature (in a good way). Mike surprised me by beating up his keyboard with a pillow during Shot In The Arm. I've never noticed him doing that before but maybe that's standard. John's always great on bass but I thought his backing vocals sounded really sharp last night, as well as his leads on Just That Simple. Pat was really hamming it up for his family and it's easy to see where he gets it. His dad was dancing around and playing air guitar the whole time. Jeff dedicated Hoodoo Voodoo to him.

All and all, I had a good time. Seeing and hearing Wilco (as best I could through all the talking) made the night worthwhile. In conclusion, I found that I really love Wilco and I really hate people. (I'm just kidding, sort of)

Well said.I

Thanks for writing this post. I agree with you totally, and I am very happy to have this video document of Wilco's current live performance. Now I have to get going with the downloads.

Thank you, Wendy. It's nice to know someone took the time to read my post and actually agreed with my points. Now, you most definitely need to get those audio tracks downloaded. I can't stop listening to them.

I'll be there with my brother from Alabama.

I'm late to the conversation, as usual, but here goes. I'm not a film major so my views are probably not that educated or informed. I grew up as a music fan watching concert films like The Song Remains The Same, Woodstock, The Kids Are Allright and Monterey Pop and I believe the filming and editing of Ashes is as good as all of these and better than most. Wilco's performances are incredible and for me surpass the performances on Kicking TV. So to have these performances captured on film is a wonderful deal. The audio downloads sound great as well.

As for criticism of the film, I understand the opinions of many stated here about the themes that are started and not completed. If I could have a dvd set of Wilco talking about these themes and really fleshing them out, I'd be happy. But let's be honest, the thousands of Wilco fans on this site really represent the most rabid of fans. There are many, many other Wilco fans who just like their music and have either never seen them live or have seen them once or twice and would like to relive that moment or moments. I think this film is wildly successful in filling the needs of the majority of Wilco fans. To be honest, if Jeff Tweedy talked for 20 minutes or more in this film about any of these themes, some would dub him the next Bono (btw I like U2 as well, but I understand people's distaste for Bono). In some ways I think the brief snippets of conversations works in that it gives the feel that the film is transitioning from one locale to the next. Does John talk about Wal-Mart for the entire 3 months Wilco is on tour? I certainly hope not or they would end up giving him the Jay Bennett treatment. Does Pat insist on showing everybody he meets his Polaroids at every single stop on tour? Probably not. But it is likely that these conversations come up on the bus between cities or backstage before a show. So the filmmakers give you a glimpse into the minds of Wilco's band members during this stretch on the road.

I'm not dismissing anyone's opinions or criticisms, I just know I enjoyed the film. If a longer version were released in which the topics are fully explored, I'd be on board. For now, I'm just enjoying what Ashes has to offer and counting down the days until I get to see them perform (about 56 hours to go!).

Nice interview. Really makes me eager to get my copy in the mail.

I think I'd rather see a well-made biopic on the Stooges. Never seen the Mel Gibson version, but remember it being panned at the time. The Stooges were so awesome, I'd rather just watch the original shorts than a re-make.

The Three Stooges really deserved way more recognition when they were still alive. In the 30's the president of Columbia would call them in every year and act like he was doing them a favor by extending their contracts for another year when in fact the studio was making way more money off the Stooges' shorts than the featured films that the short films ran before. They didn't know for years how badly the were being stooged (nyuk, nyuk).

Last bit of Hoodoo Man Three Stooges trivia: when I was in college I worked as an editorial assistant in the sports department of our local newspaper. Whenever I saw scores come across the AP wire for Nyack, I always changed the name to Nyack, Nyack in honor of Curly. 5 years, never got caught.

Track-by-track listing of Jay Bennett's contributions to More Like The Moon from the deep archives of GloNo.

 

Camera

six-string guitar

twelve string guitar

eight string guitar

Kazoo patched into synthesizer

noise

distorted distortion.

 

Handshake Drugs

 

Five Tamborines filtered through a guitar amp.

At the 2:43 mark you can hear Leroy's cell phone buzz that was me calling him.

 

Woodgrain

 

You know that "I'm not a poet and I know it" line? All me.

 

A Magazine Called Sunset

Piano

Mellotron

Celeste

Opitgan

Orchestron

Rhodes

Organ

Wurlitzers

"Prepared" piano

Synthesizers

Hand Claps

Distorted Hand Claps

 

5. Bob Dylan's 49th Beard

Noiz

Acoustic Guitar

Synthesizer

Tapped my foot along with song to keep Tweedy in time.

Morse-Code signal at the end.

 

6. More Like The Moon

Drum Machine

Pinball Machine set up through Leslie organ speaker

Cowbell

Recorded ocean sounding thing in the begining at 4 a.m. off of Lake Michigan then filtered it through a guitar amp

Xylophone

Tuba, bugle (tracks deleted)

 

--Mike

That was fucking brilliant! I laughed out load (you know what the kids call LOL) over that one. Thanks!

Cheap Trick

Elvis Costello & The Attractions

Pearl Jam

SRV and Double Trouble

Wilco