Beltmann

Well, I was using some ironic understatement (it's my thing). Of course I think movies can matter in our lives. Certain ones, at least. Babel didn't mean a whole lot to me, but maybe it will to you. It seems to affect plenty of people deeply. (I liked his earlier Amores Perros a lot more. Did you see that one?)

I think you can safely push it off for some other time. I dunno... I felt like, for all the technical and narrative virtuosity on display, it never really added up to much. It's worth seeing, surely, but it seems unlikely to change anyone's life. Can movies even do that?

I was a little worried that Pat and John's Autumn Defense sensibilities would influence this record too much--and I'm still a little worried.

Yeah. I liked it, I guess, but it didn't really stick with me. How about you?

Cool. Thanks, Chris!

Not so good.

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I hadn't, but I probably will now!

By all accounts SBS was a truly collaborative project... but to my ears it still sounds like the sister project of a Tweedy solo tour (if that makes sense).

Yeah. I generally respond most to Wilco's more sonically adventurous side, but I also love the side rooted in American folk. Which might explain why I love the original live incarnations of "Spiders" as much as I love the AGIB studio version. I'm glad to have both. Has anyone else observed that, unlike any previous Wilco album, SBS sounds an awful lot like a Jeff Tweedy solo record? In my head, this is always what a solo effort might have sounded like.

I don't know where I'd rank SBS in relation to previous Wilco, but like you I'm pleasantly relieved by the the album--it sounds much better than I had been anticipating. You've been consistent in your dislike for "What Light," and I can't fault you for reading the lyrics as cheesy. But I've always detected a minor degree of irony in it, an interpretation confirmed when I saw the tune performed live and a sly, playful grin burst across Jeff's face as he sang "don't let anyone change your bag." It was as if he knew the line was corny, but he was gonna try to have fun with it anyway--and I th

I hope a pic surfaces. Glad everyone had such a great time!

Glad to see ya around these parts, Calexico.

I love you to infinity and beyond.

I agree. But it works the other way, too--when something is less than stellar or mediocre or relatively disappointing, suddenly it's described as a steaming pile of crap. The irony is how extreme reactions that rely on hyperbole to sound convincing actually end up sacrificing accuracy, and by extension, credibility. Truth is, almost everything falls somewhere in the midrange. Very few albums are masterpieces. But very few are execrable, too.

I can't believe I forgot to record this.

What did you make of the musical score? Philip Glass is a polarizing composer, but in general I like his stuff, and here I thought it was essential to establishing the strangely menacing tone of the movie. It was like hearing a noir soundtrack accidentally put into a kitchen-sink drama--I dug it.

I was definitely in the skeptical-until-proven-wrong crowd, but these three tracks make me feel a little better. No surprises, I think, with "Walken" or "Either Way," but they both sound very good here. And I'm loving everything about "You Are My Face." What strange, ethereal harmonies at the start and end.

This is the most I've ever enjoyed "Walken."

This made it easy. Thanks! Listening to "Either Way" right now.

I don't know why, but I've been listening to When Your Heartstrings Break a lot over the last month. Picked up today: Phonograph - s/t Sounds terrific. Is it just me, or does the first track sound an awful lot like "I'm the Man Who Loves You"?

Yeah, it occurred to me that it will be released days after I finish grad school. Not a bad way to celebrate.