velocity253

regarding on an on as the closer ...

i feel like at every show i have been to, there is always one song that tweedy sings with such emotion that it becomes a completely different song than what i had previously been listening to. that night it was on and on. it was so beautiful. so visceral. it left me with a lump in my throat. perfect close to the set. it felt like a gift.

this band is amazing. their musicianship is top notch and they floor me each time i see them. most often its glenn that i can't take my eyes off of. that night in philly it was pat. but ultimately its tweedy. always tweedy. the emotive way that he sings, the emotive way he plays guitar. it speaks to me, seemingly directly. and certainly, based on the number of people that stand out by the bus after a show, i'm not the only one. and this, i think, is a feat that borders on magic.

here's what i remember:

sunken treasure

mountain bed

airline

hesitating beauty

muzzle of bees

you are my face

handshake drugs

side with the seed

shot in the arm

she's a jar

jesus etc.

nothing'sever

at least that's what you said

via chicago

impossible germany

hummingbird

pot kettle black

ITMWLY

Walken

hate it here

on and on

red eyed and blue

i got you

hoodoo voodoo

jeff said they were happy to finally be playing a philly show with a roof over their heads, that the foo fighters suck, and not to forget to watch SNL next week

good to have them come to town after so long

Please.

aseel.rasheed@gmail.com

coincidentally, i was making a list in my head today of shows i saw this year that floored me. top two spots go to:

califone with the bitter tears

dirty projectors

I've been wishing for sometime now (since I saw a MM&W show there a ways back) that they would come and play the Kimmel Center. But I think that the Tower would be most likely. The Tweeter would not be my choice.

Just let them come back and soon.

I can't figure out the exact topic of this thread but on the side topic of why some fans aren't fans of SBS, I can offer these two cents...

There is no sound that I expect from Wilco. Each album, post AM, has surprised me and impressed me. I always find it hard to describe the band expect to say that they play rock music. I've often said that Wilco is like PBS - always quality programming. No matter what they do musically, they most always do it well.

For me, what is lacking in SBS is a feeling that I always associated with the band's music. I am sure there will be examples to argue this but I always got a beautiful kind of Hopefulness Out of Despair from the music and, in particular, the lyrics. This album has a more acceptance feel to it. Which is great, I guess, in terms of people and where they are in their lives and how we should deal. But that's not really what I love about music. And somehow, to me at least, it just doesn't ring as true as the previous stuff. Clearly, I may have changed and the music may not have changed at all (or vice versa) but though SBS is a beautiful album, for me, there is something missing in the spirit of it.

Further, I think this goes along with the fact that, more and more, my love for Wilco becomes focused on their live show.

so good, so good, so good. please go see them.

i may have missed the show tonight in philly if not for wendy's encouragement. thanks.

i was developing a crush on .... even before the DFW quote.

its funny that this thread can even keep going after that speech.

Everytime Wilco comes out with a new album, I think its the best one they ever put out.

This has been happening with SBS over the last several weeks. It happened with AGIB, YHF before that, and ST before that.

But each time I think this, something happens that makes me throw BT back on and everytime I am astonished by how good that album is. The whole thing is good but disc two kills me. The best last track ever. The best possible song to play just before said fabulous last track. Dear god, the best opening track! Plus you get all the magic in between. This music makes me weep its so good.

And to tie into the recent events on this board, I probably would have preferred if we weren't going to be hearing half of SBS in these upcoming VW ads, but really, I couldn't care less, because good god this a great band and hot damn this is amazing music. If the masses start to appreciate it, I will have renewed faith.

why does it matter?

I guess it matters about as much as discussing the fact that the CD is available at Starbucks. I was just curious.

I would imagine that there would be a group of people that would love it, as I do, and be amazed at how Wilco has presented so may different sides to the same thing over the many years. I bet there is a group of people that could love SBS and never get into the older stuff just because the sound is so varied.

so what if you are that guy that splurges on the CD while making your $4.00 coffee purchase. You saw it there next to the Maroon 5 CD and thought it must be good. And then you loved it. All the grooviness of SBS made you swoon. So you start checking out the Wilco back catalog.

What do you think happenes then? How would some like that react to IATTBYH, ALTWYS, or Monday even?

for me its the guitar break from YAMF.

Thank you, Maddie!

for that summer leg of the tour last year when they played canada, i remember the intro as henry and the H-bombs done on horns. is this wrong?

and then later for the fall they had that japanese music which was airy and fantastic.

i missed the intro for the sydney show but loved that they played "do it to be satisfied" at the end.

"phone"

Hanging On The Telephone - Blondie

The Saxophone Song - Kate Bush

The Red Telephone - Love

I Want Wind to Blow - The Microphones

Microphone Mathematics - Quasimoto

"wicked"

Sorry for the thesis that will follow but since this thread started I've been doing a bit of thinking and listening.

The beauty of this piece, I think, is how perfectly the sound and the music feel against the lyrics. The sound is discordant but hopeful and sweet. I hear the lyrics speak of two ideas of America that are discordant. There is an idea of America that is so beautiful and hopeful that it breaks your heart. Then there is an America that presents itself that you could spend a lifetime trying to understand exactly how it got so far away from the idea that you had.

There is a rule of convenience and commerce where the cash machine dispenses cash for a small service fee to satisfy our often misplaced needs for diet coca cola and cigarettes, those things that almost define America and are so linked to anxiety. Then there's an America that speaks for change and the new way and how much better it can be through its poets and its freedom of expression. But seemingly "nobody gives a fuck."

"A hole without a key if I break my tongue" is the centerpiece of the song. Where would we be without our voice? How do you get any closer to the idea of America that you believe in with out speaking of it, or writing about it, or painting it, or singing it?

And how does this effect you personally? When all you want is "to have a good life with a nose for things" how do you survive in this world that isn't what you think it should be? Maybe sometimes you're not too successful. You feel alone and so anxious that you can't bear the ring of the doorbell and even your voice, the thing that you know is the ultimate gift, makes you anxious.

The thing that keeps you hoping for that beautiful America are the ashes of American flags - the symbol of the successful voice and freedom in action. The ashes of American flags are what preserve that feeling that you feel about America when you drive down the roads of small towns, past homes and families, and see "all the fallen leaves, filling up shopping bags."

Is this dumb?

Amen!

my thoughts are with you in your difficult time as your music has been with me in mine.

much love,

much peace,

to you and your family.

aseel