Beltmann

Diggin' the space-rock version of "One Sunday Morning."

Same here. I love that tune as much as ever; part of it is nostalgia, I suppose, but that's a perfectly valid reason to love something.

This is excellent to hear, and if the finished documentary materializes, I'll be giddy as a schoolboy. Still, I'm trying not to get too enthused; as we've seen before, these things don't always work out. We still haven't seen much of the footage recorded by Sam Jones at the Vic in Chicago in May 2005. Since the band wasn't happy with the results, the planned documentary was scrapped (the shows were eventually released as the Kicking Television live album). Does anyone know whether the band commissioned a Solid Sound documentary, or was approached by an external filmmaker?

What would we be without wishful thinking... All the hard work paid off!

Video of the Daft Punk cover: [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=425cohPGmnM[/media]

The bidding process is already wide open. Anyone can make a bid, or put together a group to make a large bid. If there have been repeat winners, it's only because those groups have been determined to repeatedly make competitive bids; there's nothing preventing new groups from making similarly competitive bids. As Wilco Me pointed out, it's not easy to organize a winning bid, which accounts for why an "established" group might have a likelier chance at success--it's a little like having an infrastructure that provides an advantage, yes, but no guarantees.

I live in Wisconsin as well, and what strikes me is how the far-right majority is pretty transparent and brazen about what they are doing--they aren't even attempting to appear centrist or fair-minded. I keep saying that it feels like we're living inside of an Onion article.

Love it. May I ask who designed it?

Thanks!

I do the same thing, and had the same reaction to Trouble at first. But, like everything by these guys, the tracks have slowly started to emerge. The National have a strange affinity for subverting their own melodies, relying on subtle traces that gradually rise to the fore. I'm not sure I will like Trouble as much as the previous three records--so far, it seems unlikely--but it's still one of my favorite albums of the year.

Totally.

Oh, that's groovy news...

Factual.

I've never been to Toyota Park. Anybody willing to say whether the stadium seats (on the sides) provide a nicer experience (better view, etc.) than floor seats?

Congrats! I also was offered standing pit for Toyota Park, but my wife and I are too old for that these days. Turned them down and got row 6 of the first seated section. Sounds perfect.

I haven't seen too many films from Peru, and I wouldn't highly recommend any of the few I've managed to catch. Still, these three all contain interesting insights into Peruvian culture: Madeinusa (2006); Days of Santiago (2004); and October (2010). All three are provocative and rather bleak, so I'm not sure they will fit your program needs. Of note is Werner Herzog's Aguirre, the Wrath of God, an adventure story about madness that was filmed in the Peruvian rainforest. Herzog also made Fitzcarraldo, about a famous Peruvian rubber baron. Both of them rank among the greatest movies I've ev

Amaranthine, didn't you do a program of African films five or six years ago? This week I saw Ousmane Sembene's Black Girl (Netflix streaming), and would strongly recommend it. It's about a young girl from Senegal who is compelled to work as a nanny for a family in Paris, only to learn that the family really just wants a maid. The expected themes apply, but it's striking for relying on a first-person interior monologue--highly unusual to hear that distinct female African point-of-view, especially for 1966. Ousmane Sembene, of course, was one of the great African filmmakers.

If I remember correctly, the two bands switched off the support/headliner roles from night to night. Since Dawes was my main draw, too, I was disappointed to discover that, on my particular night, they opened and Blitzen had the true headliner set. Still, I like Blitzen plenty so it was only a mild disappointment.

I was the other way... initially lukewarm towards North Hills, but immediately smitten with Nothing Is Wrong. The second album never really left my rotation; it's still in my car right now. Everything said here about the live show is spot-on. I was lucky enough to see Dawes on a co-headliner tour with Blitzen Trapper. Great night with two of my favorite bands.

Are marriage equality supporters asking for society to be morally blind and non-judgmental without exception? One does not lead automatically to the other. What does one thing have to do with the other? The polygamy argument is easy to refute

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVvn9T6bqls[/media] I suppose it's a badge of honor that Harmony Korine's Spring Breakers has been vilified by teen filmgoers everywhere. (In their defense, the movie was marketed as another outrageous celebration of hedonism, so it's fair to be disappointed upon discovering that the film delivers pretty much the complete opposite of what the trailers promised.) Still, Spring Breakers strikes me as a movie with a beautiful voice with very little to say. At times the movie reminded me of experimental documentaries like Tchoupitoulas and Dragonslayer, w

Summerfest's Violent Femmes video fuels speculation on headliners According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel yesterday: "Boler confirmed that Summerfest does not have a contract with Wilco. He would not discuss the bands on the bill with the Femmes."

Interestingly, I just finished watching their ACL show about an hour ago (I'm woefully behind on the DVR). I've been listening to their stuff ever since the first record, and I very much enjoy hearing them. The songs are plenty catchy. However, I don't enjoy watching them--the stage show always feels so mannered, so calculated, so affected. It feels increasingly inauthentic to me, fraudulent in a way. (I followed up the Edward Sharpe viewing with the Alabama Shakes ACL, and the juxtaposition only intensified my reaction; the obvious sincerity of Alabama Shakes threw into sharp relief the

True. I've had that experience many times, too. VC is no measure of the world of Wilco obsessives.

Plenty of people at the Farrar board (I used to hang out there) often seemed unnaturally fixated on elevating Jay by virtue of dissing Jeff, and that always came off as ridiculous. That kind of petty fixation doesn't seem to happen here at VC, although the enthusiasm for Jay here certainly doesn't match the enthusiasm for Jeff. At this late stage, 20 years after UT, my interest in one does not have any relationship to my interest in the other, and I assume that's true for most people. Do people really still care about comparing Jeff and Jay? Their artistic ambitions don't occupy the same