IamJacksName

Jeff mentioned using pro-tools during one of his January 2003 solo shows, so could be..

Oh I remember that now. He used the phrase "cobble it together in Pro Tools," which is why that phrase came to mind when I wrote my original post. So the consensus seems to be that they basically screwed around at the Loft with Pro Tools, coming up with arrangements, learning to play these arrangements, and then recorded live in New York?

Does something like this happen often in the professional recording world? It seems like a big waste of time. Why not just use the Pro Tools versions instead of travelling? Maybe that's why they recorded Sky Blue Sky completely in the loft.

So I'm listening to these fantastic recordings from this weekend and just killing some time on the Internet when I decide to cruise over to Wilco's Wikipedia entry. I found this really interesting quote about the recording of AGiB there, and I'm wondering if anyone can shed more light on it.

"Unlike Summerteeth and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, A Ghost Is Born featured songs that were created with Pro Tools before ever performing them live."

As someone who isn't musically inclined in any way, shape or form, I know next to nothing about the recording process. I mean, I know Pro Tools is a digital recording platform, but I'm stumped by that sentence. " . . . songs created with Pro Tools before ever performing them live."

I searched around the forums but didn't find much other than the usual questions about demos. Of course, the closest we have to AGiB demos is the disc from The Wilco Book. A post on one thread by deepseacatfish said this: "The Wilco Book provides pretty good insight into how A Ghost is Born was conceived. Basically most of the early sessions were places for the band just to experiment and try different live-studio configurations--there are a couple of these mixes on the CD that comes with the book in case you don't have it. Then there are more well lined out "songs" and some alternate mixes as well, which I'm assuming is about as close to "demos" as AGIB stuff gets."

Again - what does this mean? Different live-studio configurations of what? Does anybody have any more insight into how the AGiB songs were formed. I know they were playing most of those songs before the album came out; I have plenty of recordings from that era. Some of the songs - Spiders, Muzzle of Bees - changed drastically, while others - ALTWYS, for instance - received only minor alterations.

Given that we don't have demos, can anybody add anything more to this? Did the band just jam with different arrangements and then cobble the pieces together in Pro Tools, creating the mix that was on the album and then learning how to play it that way?

Anyway, I'm really curious about this now, and it'd be great if anyone knew anything else. Hope this hasn't been discussed to death already. Cheers.

Crap. I'm gonna be working late Tuesday night. Maybe I'll get off in time. Anybody going to be able to record the stream? I don't know much about recording, but it seems like that would be good for a matrix with an audience recording.

Holy crap, John Doe is opening? I really, really wish I had gotten tickets for this show now. At least there's the webcast.

I'm really pumped to hear about the new tracks that are going to be coming out.

But - if it's on iTunes, does that mean it'll have some kind of restrictive digital rights management that will keep it from being readily available on the Internet? That would really suck. I want the version with the DVD, and I don't intend to buy the album twice just to get a bonus track.

Yeah, I posted this a while back right after the album leaked. It was in a thread about favorite lyrics on the album, I think. That connection to You're Really Gone hit me as soon as I heard Hate It Here because that show Jeff played it at is one of my favorite boots. He played My Words, Panthers, You're Really Gone, and another little ditty called A Long Time Ago (some of the lyrics from this song ended up in the final Theologians).

Has anybody else found any connections to other lyrics or poetry? I'm really interested in that, for some reason.

Am I the only one who thinks that that Sky Blue Sky is the closest to a true "follow up" album that Wilco's ever done? It seems like all their previous albums (with the exception of Mermaid Avenue 1 & 2) has been a fairly radical departure from the album that preceeded it. SBS, while exploring new ground, seems more a natural extension and evolution of the A Ghost is Born sound.

Just wondering if anyone else feels that way.

I have question for people to discuss (I had this same question in a conversation with someone who once was Wilco but now is not): As a result of AGIB being written far prior to its recording, is the album actually creative?

 

Disclaimer: AGIB is my favorite album.

 

Also, I have heard most of the songs on the new album were written a while ago too? Is it true?

I'd say that A Ghost is Born is an incredibly creative album, and I'd bet that a lot of that creativity happened in the studio, no matter that the songs were written a good bit before the recording. A lot of the AGIB songs changed pretty drastically on the album. Spiders, of course, is different, and Muzzle of Bees also got a nearly-complete re-working (I still can't decide which version I prefer). Hummingbird had only been played by Jeff solo, I think, and the version on The Wilco Book shows that it changed a lot in the studio. Handshake Drugs was released on the YHF EP, went through a different live iteration, was changed for the album, and now sounds even more different. Theologians really came to life in the studio; the early versions of it were completely barebones. The Late Greats was sped up and became the jaunty little number it is now.

And while I don't know too much about these new songs, I'm pretty sure Walken was the first new song we heard, and that was in the latter half of 05. It's pretty much the same as it was then. On and On and On was the next one I heard, and it seems to be pretty much the same too. Some of the other songs debuted over the past year, and they don't seem to be too changed up to me.

In Hate It Here, the opening lines - " . . . I do the dishes, I mow the lawn . . . " - are from that unreleased little ditty he played at the 5/16/03 show, "You're Really Gone" is what most people called it. Has anybody else found any recycled lines from his poetry or unreleased songs?

And for what it's worth, I really love the simplicity of What Light, but I think You Are My Face is the best, lyrically, on the album.

Was there ever a soundboard recording of that early version of Muzzle of Bees? I've always liked that version more than the album version. There are some good recordings of it out there, but a soundboard would really be nice.

I know there's at least one floating around somewhere. I remember hearing a soundboard show from Nov. 04, but I don't have it anymore. They closed with Don't Fear the Reaper. Somebody messed up during it, the song ground to a halt and Jeff said something like, "No, we worked too damn hard to learn this song," and they picked it back up where they left off.

I know that doesn't help you much, sorry. Just thought I'd throw it in there.

There was one song I didn't recognize, and it definitely reminded me of Being There. That's all I could think of the whole time he was playing that one - how it sounded like something from Being There.

Sky Blue Sky and Patient With Me were great. I was really surprised to hear You Were Wrong. Lost Love was great, along with Wait Up and Acuff-Rose. Those were definitely some songs I never thought I'd hear in person.

The stand out for me, though, was Not for the Season (or whatever you want to call it). It really rocked. I really, really wish Wilco would play that one again. Nels could kill on it.

I didn't see any tapers there, which surprised me. Anyone know if there any?

I don't really get the dislike for this song. Is it a masterpiece? Not at all. But it's so catchy and feel good to me. It just kinda makes me want to smile, actually.

Oh well . . . differen strokes, you know.

I just got another email from Wilcoworld telling me how to get a direct link to download all the songs in a zip file. Everybody check your email if you had previously requested a notification. Seems to be working great . . . . downloading quite fast, at least.

Thanks very much for all of your patience Wilcoworld!

here

Why thank you. I never looked at that thread cause I had no idea what the subject was about. Lesson learned.

What's Lullaby? Some of you guys seemed familiar with it, but I don't recall ever hearing of it before . . . was it called something else?

I really hope that Either Way and The Thanks I Get make the cut, by the way.

Just checked. Not for me.

I'm still getting the "This is not a movie file" error. Any help here would be appreciated.

I kind of feel your pain. There are some songs you can pretty much count on hearing when you see Wilco. That just comes with the territory, though . . . they're getting bigger, and have to cater to an audience. I don't mind at all, because there are always enough little changes to make it seem fresh. For instance, I saw them three weeks ago, and Nels's work on Kamera made it sound like a whole new song to me.

I can't wait for the Auditorium shows, though. I bet they'll have some rarities buried in there somewhere.

The argument over whether they're free is indeed pointless to me. You have to have the DVD either way, right? Stop arguing semantics . . . I freaking hate that.

I'm more interested in whether the downloads are working yet. They're not for me. I'm still getting a "This file is not a movie file" error when I click on the "Extras" icon. Are people actually getting the downloads to work now, or is this some kind of problem that's happened with my computer?

This is really getting annoying. I don't mean to complain to the guys at Wilcoworld, but I figured there could be some hiccups and have tried to be patient.

I got an email today saying that the downloads were working. When I tried to open the quicktime file in the extras folder, it just sat there, frozen. Ctl+ALT+DEL told me it was not responding, so I tried again. Same thing. I tried it again, and after a couple of minutes, it brought up the menu with the songs. Since it was only downloading at about 3kb a second, I figured I'd wait til the servers stopped taking a hit.

Now, the file itself isn't working at all. I'm getting a "this is not a movie file" message. Very frustrating.

I know this seems like one long complaint, but I don't mean for it to be. Just frustrating to not have something work when you want it to. Much thanks to everybody at Wilcoworld for getting this together and putting up with our complaints.

Anyone else having a similar problem, though?

Ahh, my apologies. The DVD was great, though. My favorite moment? Theologians. What a great moment . . . wish I could've been there for that one.

Just makes me want a full band DVD all the more now. Please - give us Kicking Television, guys!

Why is it that some people have the files? Were they available for a short time before these technical difficulties happened? Or is the technical difficulties screen something that's somehow cached on my computer and keeping me from seeing the files?

How many times has On & On & On been played? I only remember one show. Anyone have an mp3 of that they could post?

Edit: Nevermind . . . I completely missed the whole collection up there. I blame the fact that it's a Monday.

The band really is the most dynamic they've ever been live, and I really enjoy Nels' guitar playing. Impossible Germany, Company In My Back, and Ashes Of American Flags wouldn't be half as great live without him. I still sort of question what he will be like on record instead of live.

 

p.s. His playing on Kamera at the October 10th show is really great also.

He made Kamera a completely new song for me at this show! So glad I heard him play it live.

So, did any of you guys get your tickets in the mail?

Yeah, I got mine. Finally.