TheMaker

My first show in something like three years, and pretty solid overall! I didn't really lose myself in the experience 'til Monday segued into Outtasite, but those last few numbers were absolutely stellar. Also really, really appreciated the Summerteeth songs, especially How to Fight Loneliness. And a huge thank you to the loner with a seat in the left gallery, aisle 21, row C for not showing up. I took your seat so I could enjoy the show with the folks I ended up going with.

HUGE thumbs up for the Hamilton gig, boys! I've got tix for the first night at Massey Hall, but seeing as this show is so close and it comes three months later, I'm sure I'll hit it up too. As per usual, nobody else is excited about a major act playing Hamilton, because I am the only person in all of Southern Ontario who is smart enough to operate a computer machine and erudite enough to compose a sentence.

I am strangely neither surprised nor moved by this news.

Yeah, ditto that here. Jackson was more tabloid fixture than artist for the last two decades, so it almost makes sense that there'd be such spectacle surrounding his death. It's sad, to be sure, but he always had a sort of doomed dimension to him. RIP, Michael.

I have a feeling Toronto is going to be neglected for a while. No idea what we did to piss 'em off, but I guess Wilco is joining the ever-growing list of American acts who don't play here anymore. Hrm. I guess it makes sense to skip a small town of only several million people, though. The crowd would probably end up being really small.

I've also moved on, thanks to wonderful new records by Eels and Hayden, to say nothing of the Neil Young Archives, which I still haven't given a proper listen. I don't hate the record, though, and I was very worried that I would, based on the tepid early live versions of most of the album tracks. That's saying something, I suppose!

I've always thought that you were one of the cooler posters around these parts, Dreamin'. Seeing that you're a JMS fan only helps to cement that impression.

(And that is a wonderful spot of wisdom, to be sure.)

I went from Summerteeth right straight to The Palace at 4 A.M. while working tonight. I think Jay made a lot of solo records of average goodness, but this is easily one of the very best things he ever produced in any capacity. It was eclipsed by YHF (which was actually released on the same day, IIRC), but that doesn't change the fact that it's one of the strongest guitar pop albums I've ever heard. The first few songs sound so joyous and alive that it's easy to celebrate the man's many talents even in the face of his tragically young death. I highly recommend everybody give this forgotten classic a spin in between the classic Wilco records.

What a shock to pop onto the board and discover such a tragic thread. Jay was a tremendously important part of Wilco's most impressive era as songwriters and recording artists, and he leaves behind a respectable body of work as a solo artist. Like another poster before me said, he participated in three of the greatest albums ever made, and his talents will always be remembered by music fans the world over. What a devastating turn of events.

1. Venus Stopped the Train (my favourite Wilco song, period)

2. One True Vine

3. Cars Can't Escape

I'll admit it's an ill fitting video for this particular song. If it had no soundtrack at all, I think I'd like it even more.

I hope the dude who had mock concern for my girlfriend or wife read this post...

And with that, I'm off to promptly forget that this vid was ever made.

Oh, I do. Thanks! I'm just not quite convinced that every single music video produced by every single record label deserves the distinction, especially considering that:

a ) most of them are made to move product.

b ) there exists such a wide gulf between the subject matter and style of a given song and its accompanying video

c ) etc.

Raise your hand if you think Bob Dylan has seen this thing or is more than peripherally aware of its existence. (For the record, my hands remain on my keyboard.)

Well, we've certainly seen its DEFENDERS resort to RANDOM CAPITALIZATION and orphan swear-words when discussing IT. FUCK.

Maybe "ardent" was the word I was looking for, rather than loud or proud. Just sayin'...

Big names on big labels rarely leak more than a week or two before their release. This has less to do with the artists and more to do with security measures taken by the likes of Columbia et al. A lot of them don't send out physical early review copies of records anymore, opting instead for listening parties and the like, which pretty much means the disc doesn't have a chance to leak before it enters the retail chain. Once you hear about review copies of a given album circulating, though, you can pretty much bet your life/farm/wife/kids that it'll be available for download within days, if not hours.

The video is epically awful, and yes, it DOES seem to depict (but certainly not endorse or defend) behaviours associated with domestic violence. If it's a metaphor, as some claim, then it's fucking lazy and twice as stupid, so why embarrass yourself by proclaiming loudly and proudly that you like it? This is bad art, and I'm probably being generous by allowing that it's anything more than a lousy ad.

I'm quite surprised by how much I'm enjoying this! The songs have really evolved from their early live forms, the production is great and some of the edgier material is tres successful, especially Bull Black Nova and Deeper Down. I'll have to let it sink in some more before I know just what to think of it, but so far, so good.

I hear Hari all over this record (mostly channeled through Nels), but I don't think this can really be called a lift per se.

Can somebody help me find an animated .gif of somebody jerking off? Because I'd like to post it right here as a joke "review" of this "article."

Thanks!

I guess it'll have to do, right?

hence why you post on the Wilco message board?

Yes, pile on! Everybody, feel free. Look, I can't help it if most of the songs that have been road-tested rank among the best's very worst. I like "Wilco (The Song)" a lot, if it helps. If it doesn't, you can always, I don't know, fuck off or something.

Beat me to it. Unless they park on the roof in that neighborhood, this is at street level.

It IS pretty amazing how strongly it suggests an aerial view if you're unfamiliar with the restaurant, though. I actually squinted to see the car and said "holy shit" out loud when I realized that the shot was indeed taken at ground level. I can't put my finger on why it looks like we're three stories up, but I'm glad I'm not the only one who immediately thought (and, once this thread is a memory, will most likely continue to think!) that's what we were looking at.

I'm not really excited for the record at all, but that cover is freaking fantastic!

I swear to everything, I'm mailing them Mapquest directions from fucking Chicago to Toronto tonight...

I don't really have any interest in reading the thread, but I'll take a stab at summarizing it anyway:

95% of the VC Faithful talk about what a horrible monster Jay Bennett is, and probably take a few cheap prick shots at his rather serious health issues in the process.

2% of the forum clumsily attempts to "crunch the numbers" while playing Armchair Litigator and determine things like the potential value of an out-of-court settlement, whether Bennett is actually entitled to his beef, etc.

The 1% of the board who self-identify as "Jay Bennett fans" feebly attempt to stick up for the man and are rewarded for their efforts by being excommunicated from VC's (y)upp(i)e[r echelon] clique.

The most fanatical 1% of the board overreacts to the charges and can see them only as a conspicuous personal attack on Jeff Tweedy.

The rational 1% of the board knows enough to stay out of ongoing litigation pertaining to its favourite band and mostly remains mum about the whole damned thing.

Ah, goddammit. I guess this means there won't be a Toronto date after all. I'll second the nod for a show in the Gorge, being local to the Falls 'n' all. Annnnnnd because I don't have a passport.

Yes it is.

 

This record seems to strike the right balence between MT and L&T. No real stunners like High Water or Mississippi but solid all the way through

Definitely agreed. The band is loose as a goose, as Jeff might say , and Dylan actually seems engaged with the material at hand. Modern Times felt like a case study to me, and so many of the songs were toss-offs in the worst of ways, so it's nice to get a breezy album with an honest sense of fun about it. I love--just love!--If You Ever Go to Houston. That and This Dream of You are very Desire-esque.