shakes

 

 

 

Wilco The digital version will come later this year but this will be the only release of WARMER in this format. Thanks!

 

this is curiously ambiguous

"this format" could mean its the only physical format, only vinyl format, only particular color of vinyl. I love record stores but hate record store day, so i'll hold out hope theres a regular cd release eventually. i'll be pretty disappointed if the RSD exclusive is truly the only physical release

well thats about as unexciting as a reissue can possibly be. although to be fair i guess jeffs book can be considered the wilco nostalgia project for 2018, and wanting summerteeth deluxe as well is perhaps greedy

i havent been keeping up with any interviews and whatnot lately but has there been any indication of another archival project this fall? summerteeth would seem next in line if theres untapped material there, but maybe still just a distant plan?

I was really psyched to get the new Lost Album, but the track listing I've seen shows several alternate takes which makes it a much less compelling release.  It would be a slog to listen to, particularly on vinyl.  It's one of the reasons I can't stand the Mosaic releases everyone else seems to love so much.  Four or five takes of the same song in a row.  Torture.   Put all the alternate takes at the end, or on a second disc.  So, I might not pick this one up even though I was initially really excited.

the alternate takes are only on the second disc of the deluxe edition. the single disc version (the proper "album," for all intents and purposes,) has no repeat tracks

cate also has a solo album on the way, i believe, and some sort of residency collab thing with bradford cox. shes really pumping out material these last few years

safe as milk is his safest (no pun intended) work. pretty much a straightforward blues album but still completely beefheart

mirror man (sort of a sister album to safe as milk) takes that formula and stretches the songs out a bit

theyre the albums that really made him click for me

not really any more so than odelay, midnite vultures, guero or the information

yeah i love that

i like sad bastard beck too but i really hope this isnt another case of him teasing us with a few fun singles followed by a mopey album

idk if id go that far but ive been obsessed with this for a few weeks now

i liked the original but this version blows it aways. ive loved both of kaceys albums so far but this makes me think shes got a great pop turn in her if she wants to make it

probably too late, but i wouldnt recommend doing this. what little melted yesterday is back to slush and ice today. i thought the busier roads would at least be clear this morning but its a mess all around northern virginia. lanes closed, exits still completely blocked by snow, jackasses in trucks assuming everyone can handle the snow just fine, etc. 

the cubs gave him two opt outs though, which would likely be far more lucrative than any difference in guaranteed money now. look what greinke did with his opt out. heyward could make a ~$20 million difference seem like nothing if he opts out in three years and cashes in again.

i like heyward but im glad the nats got outbid (or strategically underbid, whatever the case). so much of his value is in defense and the hope that he might still become the elite power bat he was projected as. 

having said that, if money is no issue hed make just about any team better. cubs look pretty impressive right now.

why would stevie nicks be a guilty pleasure? shes fantastic, solo or with fleetwood mac

and most of that questioning came after incidents like headbutting the dodger stadium wall at 20 mph in a blowout game. he cant win either way so ill take a full healthy season with video game numbers if it means jogging out easy pop ups here and there

its a long season. i support the sentiment but expecting 110% on every play for 6 months is delusional. you have to recognize the situation and pick and choose when to go all out. all players do, harper just hears it more when he does. there are plenty of guys ive seen who deserve to be scolded for lack of effort far more than bryce. papelbon got a ring on a team lead by manny ramirez and david ortiz. where was his outrage at loafing back then. 

anyone else remember when the conversation was about bryce harper hustling too much, and how he needed to rein it in or hed never have sustained success in the big leagues

it was as recently as last year if anyones forgotten, coincidentally the year before he went apeshit as a hitter

as for the mvp, id like to see mlb promote the hank aaron award more heavily, as an award given purely for offensive numbers. then the mvp can be more open to pitching, defense, or every sportswriters favorite buzzword: intangibles. as is, the aaron award seems to be given during the world series as an afterthought

except he did run it out. not sure how that part keeps getting ignored in all this. harpers a lightning rod and i get it, but playing the hustle card is entirely off base in this case 

he popped up, took half a second to show his displeasure like pretty much any hitter in the league does, then jogged to first. he was standing on the base when the ball was caught. if it were dropped, he was safe. if hed busted ass out of the box immediately and it was  dropped he would have been a few steps between first and second, nowhere near enough to even consider taking second. for a september game the day after mathematical elimination, thats more than enough effort

and that angle also misses the point that papelbon wasnt even calling out harpers lack of effort, he was getting back at him for having the nerve to call throwing at machado's head (twice) for watching a home run "tired."

also pitcher wins are irrelevant. 20 is a nice round number but as a genuine barometer of a pitchers success wins mean nothing. ask shelby miller.

and rbi's arent much more valid as individual stats. you cant drive in teammates who dont get on base for you

 

 

And of course baseball is a team sport and you have to count the play of a team when talking about the performance of the a player, whether the team is good or bad.  Arrieta is the product of some great defense and a handful of his wins etc, are the result of his team.  But shouldn't that be part of it?  When a guy is that dominant it lifts the team.  They want to play hard, play better for him and the team.  I know it is not is fault and Papelbon is a jerk, but an MVP candidate does not get choked by another teammate.  

 

if this is your reasoning for depriving harper im not even gonna bother arguing further. absolutely ridiculous. honestly one of the dumbest responses to sunday ive yet seen, and ive seen plenty of awful ones. you know its not his fault but youll use it to discredit his historic season anyway?

arrieta's great. i remember him being mediocre in baltimore, and sudden success stories like his 2015 make baseball rgeat. its crazy that hes not a slam dunk for the cy young, which makes it even harder to argue him as an mvp candidate. as a surrogate pirates fan im not looking forward to the wild card game

yeah i dont buy the playoff argument at all. because bryce harper isnt also a relief pitcher and a manager and a first baseman and half a starting rotation his historic season (and it is historic, not merely big or great. when your statistical company is ruth, williams, bonds level, youve surpassed "big numbers") deserves nothing? the nats underachieved, no one can deny that, but harper singlehandedly kept them in it till the last month (and still kept trying as the rest of the team fell off a cliff), and if thats not an mvp why bother giving the award at all. never understood using other peoples performances to decide on an individual award. they already give a different trophy for team performance

arrieta's great and the cubs are a great story in every baseball sense. take him away and theyre still in the playoffs. by your logic, not mvp worthy. take bryce harper away and the nats are lucky to sniff second place in a dreadful division, not a playoff spot. his weak teammates actually make his numbers more impressive, cuz he did it all with minimal protection at best. baseballs not a sport where one dude can do it all so i dont get why so many people still apply that logic to mvp voting

your post is actually the first ive even seen of arrieta as a possible mvp candidate. im not opposed to pitchers as mvps, but i think it has to be in absence of a truly great offensive season, and thats not the case this year. people love to hate bryce harper, i get it, but discounting his season as not mvp worthy is absurd

Got to see Jake Arrieta in person last night.  And my goodness, I don't think there anyone better in all of baseball right now.  

 

His numbers from last night.

 

7 Innings Pitched

1  Hit (which came in the 7th)

9 Strike outs

 

A ball did not get hit to the outfield until the 6th.  And he hit a homerun! 

 

I read he has an ERA against the Pirates of 0.75.  This is the Pirates not a bottom dwelling team like the Brewers.  

 

More impressively he has an ERA since the all-star break of 0.44.  That is insane.  

 

Not only his he the obvious choice for Cy Young, there is some serious talk of him as MVP.  I don't disagree.  

no, THAT is insane

great year, great cy candidate (might be the closest vote in years, and i can see kershaw/greinke vote splitting working in arrietas favor), not mvp

exactly. thats all im saying, and santana/galarraga are perfect examples of it imo. santana was a legitimately great pitcher but his no-no was certainly a fluke. galarraga wasnt great but he deserved a perfect game he didnt get. its more than just having your best stuff on any given day. lots of stuff beyond the pitchers control has to fall perfectly in place, but when it happens its solely the pitchers name that goes in the record books. im not saying its a bad thing, i love the element of luck in baseball, its just always struck me as odd.

didnt the giants just dfa that dude who threw one for them earlier this year?

no hitters are weird. theyre amazing to watch unfold (i was in dc for scherzers earlier this year. took my pirate fan dad for fathers day. gave him the choice between that game and the next days and he picked correct) but theyre ultimately so flukey its hard to give them too much merit. just look at some guys who have thrown them and some guys who havent. thats not to say a bad pitcher could throw one, but at the same time, a dominant one might never even come close. its really all a matter of some borderline calls, great defensive plays, bloop hits, etc.

but in a way i guess that combo of luck and skill makes it kinda the ultimate baseball thing. the innings in dc after i realized what was going on were unlike anything else ive ever experienced in person. it made every pitch matter in a game that was otherwise over y the 5th

moonmadness is one of my favorites. usually really synth heavy stuff like that does nothing for me but that album has this great melancholy vibe i rarely find in proggy bands. 

argus is a recent discovery for me but thats a great one too. some really incredible twin guitar jams on there

you familiar with gentle giant or captain beyond at all?

 

 

Hüsker Dü - Metal Circus

Pretty much the same thing.

im not a huge fan of the early speed freak ahrdcore side of husker du but metal circus is when they became great imo. it has that hardcore energy but the songs start so show more of the melodic side theyd perfect on zen arcade/new day rising/etc.

its not funny anymore is especially great. might even be my favorite grant track

artists saying the next album is already half done is one of the most overused gimmicks of the album promo cycle. i dont even remember a followup ever coming out as quickly as these kinds of interviews always promise