Albert Tatlock

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kedG10tH48I

With The Who sitting beneath them at the back.

- fantastic live version

Both nights at the Roundhouse the music played in the setup time between the opener and Wilco appearing was a variety of old German light operetta. This sort of thing (but not this in particular):-

Recognised a couple of tunes. Wonder if they've carried on with it across Europe.

That's becoming quite a common 1, 2, 3 on this tour, and for good reason ...

5) Olafur Arnalds - Living Room Songs (..and relax!)

This caught my eye - thank you for the prompt!

Thanks SetListGuy!

http://www.musicomh..../wilco_1011.htm

And there's a very sweet moment during the final track when his teenage son, Spencer - his band mate in faux-garage rock group The Racoonists - jams with his father at the front of the stage. It is a lovely touch that shows there is always an eye on the future.

Eh? No one here saw/mentioned that ... Shurely some mistake ... ?

Nce long interview, though that Canadian guy is annoyingly 'smooth'. I repeat, pencil in a chat with Guy Garvey Jeff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWYhmNbfCu4

Always a bit disappointed when cream colored ponies and crisp apple streudels doesn't make it into the list.

I went to see The Jim Jones Revue a couple of nights before Wilco

I was thinking about that but though three big nights out in a week would be too much. Love JJR. Then there was Ryan Adams at Union Chapel the night before too, but could not get a ticket for that.

I think there is some 'atmosphere'/'texture' on the actual recording. Try headphones?

http://theamericanshot.com/wilcos-whole-love-a-whole-lot-better/

There was a review a whole back that said something like 'It may not be the best Wilco album, but it may end up being your favourite'. I am converging on agreeing with that. Black Moon and Rising Red Lung have grown on me a lot, not to mention the obvious solid gold tracks.

Wilco’s Whole Love – A Whole lot Better

November 5, 2011 by Kevin Korber

Jeff Tweedy seems to refuse to let us have any sustainable perception of who he is as an artist. He’s leapt from country-loving punk to adventurous studio architect to Starbucks troubadour in the space of a decade, all the while frustrating sections of his fanbase. The alt-country fans who loved 1995’s Being There balked at the impressionist rock of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, while Foxtrot fans likely didn’t find a whole lot to enjoy about the band’s recent, conventional pop-rock albums.

The Whole Love may be Tweedy’s first attempt to win back some of his older fans, specifically the ones who left him after the band followed the inscrutable A Ghost Is Born with the sleepy Sky Blue Sky.

 

“Art of Almost” announces from the start that this record probably won’t be comfortable for the Starbucks set as it sputters to life with keyboard noise and the staggered rhythms of drummer Glenn Kotche. Kotche and guitarist Nels Cline, long the band’s wasted experimental weapons, are allowed to flex their muscles for once. Cline’s guitar paints moods with different sonic textures whereas he often is reduced to playing classic-rock retread solos. But on The Whole Love, his guitar colors otherwise weaker songs like “Black Moon” with an emotional resonance that they would have otherwise lacked.

 

Sadly, Cline and Kotche can’t save every dud on The Whole Love. “Open Mind” sounds like a cast-off from the Mermaid Avenue that probably would’ve sounded better with the late Jay Bennett behind the boards. “Captiol City,” while charming at the start, starts to become grating before reaching the point where it’s unbearable. The title track, too, recalls moments of Wilco (The Album), specifically its aggressive mediocrity.

Despite flaws like this, and despite the fact that I really hate “Capitol City,” I’ve liked The Whole Love more than anything the band has done since their excellent live release Kicking Televison. The band on The Whole Love has the vigor and excitability expressed on Kicking Television and at the dozens of live shows they’ve played since, which can’t be said for their last few albums. There’s nothing as lazy as “Impossible Germany,” nothing as pandering as “You and I,” nothing as flat-out embarrassing as “Wilco The Song.” Even more conventional songs like “Dawned on Me” and first single “I Might” shine through strong melodies and Tweedy’s welcome return to a more abstract lyrical style, emphasizing wordplay and free association over the singer-songwriter clichés that plagued some of his more recent singles. I have no idea what “Magna Carta’s on a slim jim brother/the sunk soul with a clean toe mother” means at all, but it’s a godsend after hearing Tweedy declare that he didn’t care anymore.

 

There’s nothing abstract about The Whole Love‘s final song, “One Sunday Morning (Song for Jane Smiley’s Boyfriend),” but its relative straightforwardness makes it a powerful piece of music nonetheless. Where “Art of Almost” shocks the listener to attention with its stream of adventure, “One Sunday Morning” soothes the album to a conclusion, relying on a simple yet strong melody and a haunting vocal performance from Tweedy, who has earned a place among rock’s greatest vocalists by now. At twelve minutes, it’s the band’s longest song, but it doesn’t overstay its welcome. It’s a slow burn in the vein of “Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream,” detailing thoughts about faith, belief, and the hereafter. As the song drifts into its coda, it falls apart only to return to its melody, which brings The Whole Love to a close.

The Whole Love is not a masterpiece; no Wilco fan would mistake this for Summerteeth or Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. But it’s always a shame to see a talented band-and Wilco are one of the most talented bands in the country-start to spin their wheels in middle age. While The Whole Love may certainly feel familiar to longtime Wilco fans, it feels alive and vital in a way that the band hasn’t been for years. Hopefully it leads to a creative renaissance for the band, but for now, it’s good to know that the band has still got it.

Cults, wonderful on the outside but on the inside are very manipulating. Cult leaders are desperate to trick you into joining. They are after your obedience, your time and your money.

Cults use sophisticated mind control and recruitment techniques that have been refined over time. Beware of thinking that you are immune from cult involvement, the cults have millions of members around the world who once thought they were immune, and still don't know they are in a cult! To spot a cult you need to know how they work and you need to understand the techniques they use.

No. I'm pretty sure that's John's real hair.

 

Oh... wait. You meant... never mind.

Woof woof!

Same photographer Jim Newberry

Ha! I yield to your knowledge of a vision of the world expressed through the medium of string.

Meanwhile, since Mavis got a mention, like this pic

But really, how can anyone who knows anything about Wilco not appreciate and embrace the comedy angle . A big draw for me certainly. And though my first exposure to Wilco was via Billy Bragg & MA when I saw Man in the Sand on TV, when I decided tp pay them some real attention on their own and got the IATTBYH film, what happened? Within the first few minutes JT was sticking a fag in his belly button (with what I have come to know as a 'sharpie' through time spent with you lot) and coming over all German. Art rock my arse! The other winning moment was when wiping up after one of his attacks - folding the loo paper so scrupulously and tidying up after himself. That man was brought up well, and not much of a punk :-)

Well, just about the least likely paper for a Wilco piece. Either someone in particular there likes them or they are the only remaining celebs who don't know their phones are being hacked by the dark forces in the Murdoch empire.

As an aside, one of my favourite lines on TWL is the simple 'So on and so forth', just 'cos I know JT always cracks a grin when he sings it - as if it's the antidote to complicated lyrics and being taken too seriously :-)

Anyone with a blinking raffia owl on stage can't be too hardcore. I only noticed it blinking for the first time on the Sat night at the Roundhouse. Thought I was having a funny turn for a few moments ...

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/sftw/3914424/Wilco-We-dont-take-ourselves-as-seriously-as-others-do.html

November 4, 2011 13:27

By CARL STROUD

 

Wilco: 'We're a lot funnier than people give us credit for' Singer Jeff Tweedy claims there's 'more humour' in his lyrics than people think

 

"I AM the driver at the wheels of the horror, sadness is my luxury, I was born to be alone," sings Jeff Tweedy on track Born Alone from Wilco's eighth album The Whole Love.

 

But the frontman claims his lyrics aren't as dark and earnest as they sound.

 

"I think there's a lot more humour in almost any Wilco record than almost anybody gives us credit for," argues Tweedy.

 

If there is a band today taken more seriously by its fans than Wilco it would be hard to find.

 

The veterans, formed from the ashes of alt country group Uncle Tupelo in 1994, are cherished as one of the most serious-minded practitioners of bruised Americana in action today.

 

Over eight studio albums, the band — comprised of Jeff, bassist John Stirratt, guitarist Nels Cline, multi-instrumentalists Pat Sansone and Mikael Jorgensen plus drummer Glenn Kotche — have provided a muscular backdrop to their frontman's frank lyrics.

 

Rampant drug addiction, depression and heartache have all plagued the 44-year-old singer at various points.

 

Fans pore over his writing, endlessly debating the meanings on internet message boards.

 

Yet Tweedy insists they don't warrant such close scrutiny.

 

"As a writer I don't take my lyrics nearly as seriously as a lot of people do," says Tweedy.

 

"I enjoy singing them not because they're poignant, but because they make me smile a bit — they're kind of funny."

 

The band's 2002 album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and its Grammy-winning 2004 follow-up A Ghost Is Born are often hailed as twin masterpieces — fusing extreme musical abstraction with more gentle songcraft.

 

It is often claimed that Wilco's albums since have not managed to equal those adventurous heights. And it's an accusation that exasperates Tweedy. He says: "People claim we're forever dumbing down. I think we've been pretty dumb all along. And defiantly so. It's pop music. We want to make pop music. I love pop music.

 

"And to be honest, the execution of the simpler songs are much more difficult than throwing some sounds together and saying you're subverting a form.

 

"In a lot of cases, experimentation is great if it works but often it's the easier way out.

 

"It's easier for people to take the p*** out of something they can understand than it is to have a pop at something which might prove embarrassing because they haven't understood it."

 

He adds: ""If someone is coming at a new album really wanting to have the same experience that they had with some other record then that can't be met.

 

"I don't know what we can do to meet those expectations other than ignore them," he concludes, before adding: "I don't think we put out any s***."

 

Yet despite his insistence that his lyrics not be taken at face value, he concedes that the achingly gentle Dawned On Me, from The Whole Love, is based on experience.

 

The tear-jerker explores his 20-year love affair with his wife Sue. And it's a wise meditation on the practicalities of maintaining a marriage over two decades.Tweedy says: "I think an obsession with romantic love in a relationship causes a lot of pain.

 

"I think the only real hope for any relationship, in terms of longevity, is to main tain the ability to fall in love with each other and not get too distracted when it's not too perfect. Me and my wife have been together for 20 years and I think it's pretty unrealistic to always be in love."

 

After 16 years on affiliate labels associated with big-hitters Warner, The Whole Love appears on the band's own dBpm imprint.

 

And Tweedy relishes cutting out the mountain of bureaucracy that comes with huge labels.

 

He admits: "It's a relief that we're now dealing directly with our audience. I feel there's no one who should be expected to understand or work better with our audience than us."

 

Wilco famously fill in time between band commitments with solo projects. Guitarist Cline has released a number of jazz albums. And Jeff has been restless — featuring in a number of outfits including Golden Smog, Loose Fur and The Minus 5. And one of his most recent forays outside of Wilco was with legendary fellow Illinois-ite and gospel star Mavis Staples.

 

Jeff produced and co-wrote a number of tracks on her 2010 album You Are Not Alone.

 

It seemed a strange choice for the godless rocker to work with the evangelical Christian — but it produced spectacular results.

 

He says: "We have a lot more common ground than people would think, based on my lyrics and her past.

 

"I would argue Mavis isn't really as religious as she is spiritual. She's remarkably devoid of any judgement. She's extremely tolerant."

 

He found surprising parallels between two seemingly disparate worlds.

 

Tweedy says: "I think Wilco have a lot of things in common with soul music. I feel like I'm a child of punk music in a lot of ways.

 

"And I feel like gospel and punk share the same fearlessness about the world. The idea that you can't be held down, that you will transcend, that you will live your life how you see fit.

 

"They're great ideals."

It's a Glasgow/Scotland thing, and strangely enough the fortified wine is produced by monks at an abbey in Devon.

Guaranteed to cause a rammy, hence the nickname ...