BigWheeledWagon

Strangely enough, a bar I was at last night here in Nashville played the entirety of the new album. It's a good thing I'm not waiting on the official release date to listen to SBS.

Probably cranked the old compressor way up like on a lot of country leads. That would give it that "plink-plink-plink" sound to which you refer.

There was a lot of very similar discussion when "AGIB" leaked -- "Spiders" and "LTYT" especially caused a great deal of controversy. The main difference I can see is that with that album, many were upset not with the songs, but with their presentation. With "Sky Blue Sky," a lot of folks have been unhappy with the songs that they had heard live before the album leaked, and if anything, the presentation may have increased the appreciation of these songs for at least a few out there.

I'm a little surprised at the sentiment out there that those of us who like "Sky Blue Sky": 1) are just deluding ourselves or 2) only like it because we would like anything Jeff does, even if he were intentionally trying to make something that we wouldn't like (I wonder if these same folks enjoyed the "drone" on LTYT). I was underwhelmed with "AGIB," but I certainly never felt that the people who loved it were somehow wrong. I just thought that they had different tastes than I did -- the same way I feel about those that don't like "Sky Blue Sky." On a side note, it's funny how some of thos

Assuming you mean that you don't think those who like "SBS" are in the minority, perhaps you're right. I certainly hope so -- and the poll taken a few days ago certainly appears to back you up (out of 193 respondants, the most common rating was an 8, and most others fell on the positive side of the spectrum). Maybe the negative comments just stick out more as I looks through the boards. An angry post of "WTF -- Dad rock?" probably stands out more than a more mellow post praising the new stuff.

You know, history generally seems to repeat itself with each new Wilco release. With every new album, there's a shift in the fan base. There's always a group of fans that is unhappy with whatever new direction the band takes and wishes that the new album would sound more like whatever phase of Wilco they liked best. In the past, those that defected from the Wilco camp were generally replaced with new fans drawn in by the new sound (this cycle was most apparent with "Summerteeth" and "YHF" but still seemed in effect for "AGIB"). I guess the true test for this album will be whether we see th

You know, I had a similar Radiohead experience as well. "Kid A" worked for me, but for some reason "Amnesiac," which was really not all that different, triggered me to sort of disengage from Radiohead's post-"Kid A' work. I think you've hit on a pretty good analogy, too, because in a way, there's a real comparison to be made between "Hail to the Thief" and "Sky Blue Sky." Both find a band that has really experimented and evolved trying to reconcile their experimental sounds with what came before that (I guess the Beatles went through a similar thing with "Let it Be"). I remember Thom Yorke

I think we're kind of on the sam wavelength here, but I still really enjoy the new album. Taking into account the subjective difference in the way I perceive music now compared to the way I once did, I can look at the new album in a different light. For instance, stepping back a realizing that "Being There," if released new today simply could not have the effect on me now that it did then, I can't fault the new record for not feeling as, um, life-changing (sorry to invoke the "Garden State" cliche there). With a little critical distance, I can see that it's not a change in Wilco but a chang

I think we're kind of on the sam wavelength here, but I still really enjoy the new album. Taking into account the subjective difference in the way I perceive music now compared to the way I once did, I can look at the new album in a different light. For instance, stepping back a realizing that "Being There," if released new today simply could not have the effect on me now that it did then, I can't fault the new record for not feeling as, um, life-changing (sorry to invoke the "Garden State" cliche there). With a little critical distance, I can see that it's not a change in Wilco but a chang

I'm not saying that music means any less to me now; it's just that as a kid, music seemed nearly magical, and bands seemed almost mythological (hell, when I was 13, I'm pretty sure I envisioned Zeppelin as some sort of band of Norse marauders). I approached it all with an innocence that's just not there anymore. I don't love music any less, but it doesn't seem so, I don't know, life-and-death important. Of course, when you're a teenager, everything is life-and-death important. Now, bands don't seem like epic heroes -- they seem like regular guys who happen to have really cool jobs and trav

I know what you're talking about, and I sometimes wonder if it's the music being made now or just the fact that no music can ever sound as good as it does when you're a kid, and the good music seems so, well, important. Perhaps as we get older and jaded it's just impossible for music to ever sound that good again -- or to be that important. Wow, that's a depressing thought. Anyway, as an example, when I was 19, and "Being There" came out, it felt so vital and important to me in a way that I wonder if that exact same album if released today could have that same impact on me now over ten yea

I've been surprised how much this album has grown on me upon repeated listens. Upon my first listen, this did not strike me as particularly "difficult" album, and I did not anticipate that further playings would change my original reaction to what I heard. I'm not saying that I didn't enjoy the album at first -- I did -- but I thought it was fairly straight-forward and lacked the sonic depth of albums like "YHF' or "Summerteeth." Strangely enough, as I listen to it again and again (something I find myself doing not out of some sort of duty but out of a real enjoyment for the album) it re

I also seem to recall "Late Greats" being referred to by Jeff as one of the many left-overs from the "Being There" era. Unlike some of the other songs from that time period, I don't think they recorded a version of it at the time. I really wish that the "Being There" songs that didn't make the cut would leak out like the "YHF" and "Summerteeth" demos. The only song that I've even heard that got left off "BT" has been "Old Maid" performed live by Jeff solo. Then again, those songs may have been lost -- I though I recalled Jeff saying something about recording over some stuff because of the

It's up on Pitchfork now, too.

In IATTBYH, Jeff was playing a distorted acoustic guitar while recording a take of the song. Accordingly, I've always assumed (correctly or incorrectly) that's what went onto the EP (not that particular take, but the set up). As for the "noise," well, I'm not quite sure on that. Probably a collection of reversed tracks and various and sundry feedback, distortion, etc. as suggested before. No clue what particular pedal Jeff ran the guitar signal through or what pedal(s) may have been used in the generation of the noise.

Yeah, this came up when the episode orginally aired -- be prepared to catch some flack for watching the show. I blieve a good half of the posts were "You watch the OC?" What the hell, though, it's a fun show sometimes. I just tell folks my wife makes me watch it.

They appear to be the same song -- Jeff referred to that song in question as "Sky Blue Sky" last night (or should it be "Sky-Blue Sky"?). Glenn indeed played it with him. By the way, Glenn was amazing. I was only able to catch the last three or four songs he played solo, but it was impressive.

I believe he was requesting "Please Tell My Brother." The guy apparently had a Golden Smog fixation. Great song, though, and I can see how that last verse would be incredibly difficult for Jeff to sing.

Yeah, that guy was a collossal douchebag; however, Jeff handled it well for the most part. Unfortunately, it set the precedent for anyone who felt like yelling something out to do so (sing "Happy Birthday" to my kid, call my sister, etc.) Still, amazing show.

Says it's called "Sky Blue Sky," and it should be out May 15th. Great show, too, by the way. Sorry if this is old news. [edit: topic sub-title edited by gogo (I'm going to keep merging these threads, unless someone has some specific thing to discuss; everything general is going to be tossed in here)]

Thanks for the quick response, Speed Racer. Yeah, I would really like to check Glenn's show out; however, I'm introducing a friend to Jeff's music, and he doesn't get off work in time to be there at 7:30. I really should just meet him there, but I have the tickets, promised him a ride, etc., etc. At least it's not general admission. Thanks again.

So, at a normal full-band performance it's pretty common for folks to skip the opening act and show up in time for the band to go on. What's the etiquette when dealing with a Tweedy solo show? I'm not sure I can make it in time to see Glenn open in Nashville (though I'd like to) -- is it okay to show up towards the end of the opening set (or just generally any time before Jeff goes on), or does the more intimate setting of a solo show make this a no-no?

I guess I'm one of the few folks on this board willing to say that I love "Summerteeth" as is, and not in spite of the production but partially because of it. I love the mix of dark lyrics with the sugar-coated production. I like that it's every bit as over the top as "YHF" is restrained (though let's be honest -- there's a great deal of production on that album, too -- just not multi-tracked choirs and 48 vintage keyboards on every song). I like that it's somehow both a logical sequel to "Being There" and also entirely foreign to the sound of that album. I wouldn't change a thing. That

Interstingly enough, AGIB got a lot of "On the Beach" comparisons around here when those songs started surfacing.

Tony Timberwood