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Just wanted to add my wishes for a quick recovery, Lou. Hope you're back to yer old self soon!

Do you mean the last tour for Nels, or the last tour for his black Jazzmaster?

I'm pretty sure Sam means the guitar. Nowadays I would think that Nels probably doesn't have to rely on it nearly as much as he did in the less lucrative "old days," but I hope it will still show up from time to time and not go completely into retirement.

Looks like mid-to-late March will be busy for those of you Down Under:

New dates

LOL Quite the opposite - I'm gonna be British soon

Will you be a grumpy Brit, though? Sorry, couldn't resist.

Seriously, though, I feel badly for all you regional folk who got hit with bad luck this time. Here's hoping that there's some rescheduled gigs soon. I still want to do the "Songs From Northern Britain" tour!

Hope all of our SoCal VCers are doing ok... vibes to all of you for a quick and damage-free end to all of this.

Yeah, seriously. Here's hoping everyone and their loved ones make it through this safe and sound.

Very very very disappointed that 'scheduling conflicts' proves UK fans come way way down at the bottom of the list of Wilco priorities these days.

Would you feel better if you knew that one of the band members was sick or something? 'Cause that'd be the same situation as this in terms of the lost fees and stuff.

I'm sure they'll reschedule the cancelled dates as soon as possible. Remember, Winnipeg also got some bad luck when Nels was sick earlier this year so you guys aren't the only ones. I know that the band takes cancelling any dates very seriously and that they wouldn't do it if there wasn't a good reason for it.

no one have any clue??????

uh, hate to burst your bubble but you might want to check out this thread in the "Just A Fan" forum about all of the UK dates being cancelled.

I emailed my contact at Live Nation to ask what's up (they're promoting the Brixton Show) and apparently they've been cancelled due to "conflicting schedules"...

 

Now, whether that's the case or not, who knows... but that's an official line.

Maybe they got offered Saturday Night Live, like Spoon did.

I always love reading interviews with Nels because he's a really thoughtful guy, but there were some horrible misspellings in that piece. I mean, in this day and age, how hard is it to Google things? I'm sorry, but it just bugs me that they can't spell Paul Motian right and they apparently didn't know that Minutemen is one word. Or that the British band that Nels referred to was spelled Padow. (It's, of course, Patto).

Sorry for the rant. Just the editor in me rearing his ugly head.

Sound of Lies

 

This wonderful post on the Jayhawks' Sound of Lies on the Aquarium Drunkard blog got me to thinking about underrated records. They can be from artists who are well-known, obscure, and everything in between. I thought it might be interesting to start a thread where people can talk about records that they think are very underrated. Post links, MP3s, and whatever else you want in an attempt to interest people in your choice(s).

 

I'll start by talking about Public Image LTD's Flowers of Romance. Released after the post-punk classic, Metal Box, it was a major left turn for the band. Jah Wobble had been booted from the band leaving Lydon, Keith Levene, and drummer, Martin Atkins, to record the album. Instead of the searing guitars and throbbing bass of MB, the band chose to build the songs around thunderous drums and Lydon's distinctive wail. The results make for a difficult but very rewarding listen. The record tanked and Levene left the band, essentially closing the book on the first lineup of P.I.L. Listening to the record today, it's apparent that the band was way ahead of their time with the songs on this LP.

I [heart] Sound of Lies. My favorite Jayhawks record. Obviously Wilco has proven that good music doesn't always require tough times and struggles. But those sorts of emotions can produce some wonderful music as well, as in the case of SoL. I'd also nominate their subsequent album, Smile, as underrated as well. It's not the classic Jayhawks twangy sound, but I always love listening to it. (I'm sure that's heresy to some people.)

Re: Flowers of Romance, I remember reading that Glenn said he was listening to that record a lot when he recorded YHF and specifically, I Am Trying To Break Your Heart. Here's the quote: "I was listening to 'Flowers of Romance,' by Public Image Ltd., and Martin Atkins' drum parts on that, which are just incredible, all sloppy and disjointed. I ran back to the drums and started playing some patterns and Jeff was like, 'that, don't change that.'" (Edit: It was from a story on Glenn in Signal To Noise magazine. You can read the whole thing here.)

There's a lot of talk about this article (as well as another) in this thread:

http://forums.viachicago.org/index.php?showtopic=31551

 

Yeah, I figured there would be. I just kind of scrolled through quickly to see if there was any thread titled "New Yorker" or anything and there wasn't, so I went ahead and posted it. Mods: feel free to merge this into that other one or whatever you guys want to do.

Just got through reading an interesting piece by New Yorker pop music critic Sasha Frere-Jones in this week's issue about why indie rock has become so "white." He makes some interesting points, including a brief mention of Wilco toward the end. He likes Being There, apparently, but not YHF so much. Too much so-called "noise" for him. He also seems to make the, to me, absurd point that mainstream country is more "soulful" than Wilco (in the accompanying audio interview on the New Yorker's Web site).

Anyway, I agree with him on some points he makes in the piece--though far from all of them. The funniest thing is I always thought that he was black for some reason. But whether you agree with him or not, it's worth reading.

You can find the whole story here.

Happy brithday, Wendy. Try not to go to too many shows, will you?... You're making me look bad!

I think Nels was involved with this film as well. Probably as a session player on the score, if I had to guess. (Wonder if he'll get credited by name?) Anyway, I'm pretty sure I remember him saying before a New York show earlier this year that he had spent the day recording stuff with Lee Ranaldo and others for the Dylan movie.

I wasn't at the show, but this review came up on a Google News alert and I had to post this snippet. It's a favorable review, but I gotta say that this is the worst butchering of Glenn's name that I think I've ever read:

There was the lighthearted alliteration of "I am Trying to Break Your Heart," the country flavor of "Forget the Flowers," Geoff Koch's jarring drum outbursts in "Via Chicago," the sloppy solos that make "I'm the Man Who Loves You," except on electric guitar - which didn't really appeal to me - and the overwhelming positive energy of "The Late Greats." But there was also the half-folk/half amalgamation-of-70s rock-gospel-soul-R&B concert opener "You are My Face," the mind-blowing Nels Cline lead over a two-guitar harmony in "Impossibly Germany," the mellower "Sky Blue Sky," and the upbeat "Walken" which always reminds me of Three Dog Night's "The Show Must Go On."

You can read the whole thing here, if you're so inclined.

Sounds like a lot of fun. I'm jealous that I missed burrito night, too.

Me too! Glad you guys had a lovely, if slightly chilly, time (I hope the babies were OK...). And thanks for the shoutouts, Mr. Dowdall and Ms. Silent P. I commend you for excellent notation in my stead!

Just a note to let you know that Dottie passed away last night at 8pm. Oddly enough, Patti was the only person with her when she died. Patti got there about 1/2 hour beforehand, and all the other family folks who were there all day ran out for a bite. Patti fed her an ice pop, and then Dottie's breathing pattern changed. The caregiver said something to the effect of, "this is it...", and Patti told Dottie all of the wonderful things you'd expect someone like Patti to say as she passed.

 

Thanks again for the good wishes.

I know there's obviously pain for Patti and her family, but it sounds like that's about as good a way to go as there could have been. Give P our love, Mart...

A few notable points about the show last night:

*A shorter-than-usual show, obviously with time for just one encore. The venue was sort of a big, soulless civic auditorium with an apparently strict 11 p.m. curfew. Things seemed a bit rushed, even to the point where the band cut the clapping bit out of Spiders almost completely.

*It was a fun show, but kind of had an odd vibe to it. Some *really* enthusiastic fans and then a bunch of people just sort of sitting there taking it all in. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Wilco had surprisingly never played Little Rock before (that's what Jeff said). I was a bit surprised by that, figuring that they must have stopped through at least once during the insane touring days of the late 90s.

*Before I'm The Man, when Glenn stood up to do his Todd Trainer tribute, the crew brought out a huge gong and Glenn gave that a couple of whacks before launching into the song. Not sure where the gong came from, but that was new.

*The band was pretty loose, all in all. Glenn even went into Hate It Here for a couple seconds when everyone else started playing Too Far Apart, leading to some amused looks by the rest of the gang.

Here's the Little Rock setlist, in order:

Hell Is Chrome

Handshake Drugs

Side With The Seeds

You Are My Face

IATTBYH

Muzzle of Bees

Impossible Germany

Via Chicago

Forget The Flowers

Too Far Apart

Jesus, etc.

Hate It Here

Walken

I'm The Man Who Loves You

Poor Places>

Spiders (Kidsmoke)

----------------------------------

A Shot in the Arm

Heavy Metal Drummer

Casino Queen

Outtasite (Outta Mind)

While John sounded really good--he did sing the song on a fairly regular basis at Autumn Defense shows--the oddest part was seeing Jeff on bass (just like back in the Uncle Tupelo days). John even made the comment after the show that Jeff looked good with a Jazzmaster in his hands. As for Jeff, he was definitely smiling to himself and the crowd during the song. He sort of looked like he wasn't sure what to do with himself at first. He turned his back at one point and sort of drifted in Pat's direction before getting his feet back under him. Hopefully somebody snapped a good picture.

Was it some two drummer action on Box or what did Glenn do? I'm going to start drooling when I hear it was some two-drummer action....

As far as I could see, Glenn took a well-deserved break and left that one to Mr. Stephens.

Box Full of Letters (Jody played drums)

Jody being Jody Stephens of Big Star/Golden Smog fame, of course. A Memphis legend. That was the biggest highlight of the night for me. He also played a tambourine on California Stars, prior to taking over the drums for Box Full of Letters. Jeff kind of struggled with the lyrics a couple of times, but Jody sounded excellent throughout. It was a good song for him to do.

Also, Jeff mentioned in passing how Jody and Glenn sort of looked alike and Glenn did a brief pose over Jody's shoulder before relinquishing the kit to him. Definitely an endearing moment.

Here's your complete setlist:

You Are My Face

IATTBYH

Pot Kettle Black

War on War

Handshake Drugs

Side With The Seeds

A Shot in the Arm

Impossible Germany

Via Chicago

Jesus, etc.

Too Far Apart

Walken

I'm The Man Who Loves You

Hummingbird

On and On and On

-----------------------------

Misunderstood

Cars Can't Escape>

Spiders (Kidsmoke)

-----------------------------

Hate It Here

Box Full of Letters

California Stars

Heavy Metal Drummer

Red-Eyed and Blue>

I Got You (At The End of the Century)

Casino Queen

Outtasite (Outtamind)

Good thing you posted; we probably would have been waiting a loong time.

Sorry for the brief dereliction in setlist duty, Kevin and other Madison show attendees, but I was otherwise occupied last night! Wonderstruck, you might say. Glad people had fun at the show...

Hope you had the happiest of birthdays, Dunja! I still have some pictures I need to send you!