New Pitchfork Interview

[socbret]

and it's long. Check it out right hizzle.

[Kalle]

A good read.

[Hodie]

What great breakfast reading that was!

 

There's a lot of good stuff in there -- I really like the explanation of the band as always having been collaborative, the difference being that it's actually working well this time. And I enjoyed his thoughts on how the AGIB songs have changed for him enough that I'll copy that paragraph here.

 

Honestly, a really big thing happened with most of the songs on A Ghost Is Born after the record came out, or before the record came out. I went through a life changing experience and there was a part of me that was very worried that a lot of that music wasn't going to be as resonant with me going out and touring on the record and trying to perform those songs. I was afraid that they came from a diseased mind or something that I didn't possess anymore. I found it the opposite. [it was] very comforting that most of those songs were way ahead of me and had reached some kind of understanding about the world that I hadn't become aware of yet. And I'm sure that's not so much the songs being able to do that but maybe a different point of view from myself being able to change the songs. But they were all sturdy enough to survive the transition. I feel good about that.

And I especially enjoyed that fact that this is a Pitchfork interview that was not administered by a jerk.

[Guest Jules]

drummer Glenn Kotche (drummer since after the recording of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot).

 

?

[You Can Be The Stone]

" If you listen to the chord changes on something like "You Are My Face", there's a lot of things going on in a lot of the songs that I don't think that are standard rock move. It just doesn't call attention to itself as much. "

 

I think this sums up things well about experimentation on the record, in that a lot of it is in the chord progressions and harmonies. After visiting the "Lyrics and Tabs" section, I can tell you that many parts of "Either Way", "YAMF", "Shake it Off", "Side with the Seeds", "Walken", and "Patient With Me" aren't exactly the usual I, IV, V stuff one can just breeze through. There are so many weird chord progressions on this album that end up coming off as very natural.

[solace]

And I especially enjoyed that fact that this is a Pitchfork interview that was not administered by a jerk.

maybe so, but you can still get a bit of a vibe from a few exchanges that Jeff was seemed a bit annoyed (and rightfully so) with a few of his assumptions

[jff]

?

 

There were tons of problems with that article, mostly typographical stuff, that a quick proofread/edit would have fixed. That is a pretty major factual error, and it's poorly worded..."since after". Something about that just sounds bad. Pretty obvious mistake since Ken Coomer didn't even appear in IATTBYH.

[caliber66]

There were tons of problems with that article, mostly typographical stuff, that a quick proofread/edit would have fixed. That is a pretty major factual error, and it's poorly worded..."since after". Something about that just sounds bad. Pretty obvious mistake since Ken Coomer didn't even appear in IATTBYH.

Yeah, but as I recall (and someone will correct me if I'm wrong, I'm sure), Ken did a lot of the drumming on YHF. Glenn rerecorded some of the drum parts, and added percussion, sound collage, etc.

[Dreamin']

Jeff Tweedy: You know, Pitchfork ran a pretty crazy article immediately afterwards that really, really gave a lot of credence to a pretty fucking warped version of the night. I have to say, it was pretty funny.

 

Pitchfork: It was based on multiple fan accounts, but the YouTube told a much clearer story.

 

Jeff Tweedy: I'm just saying it was pretty funny. It was like I went into the actual row and I grabbed the guy and beat his face in and then walked off the stage after three songs. It was absolutely the opposite of what actually happened. But it was a crazy night, there were people coming up on stage all night long. There was no security, there were Shriners, it was at a Shriners' Hall. It was a Monday night and I guess it was just an indication of how bad the methamphetamine epidemic has hit the rural states.

It's also pretty funny that he called them on this. Even funnier that the PF guy tries to justify it by citing their oh so credible source: "multiple fan accounts."

[jff]

Yeah, but as I recall (and someone will correct me if I'm wrong, I'm sure), Ken did a lot of the drumming on YHF. Glenn rerecorded some of the drum parts, and added percussion, sound collage, etc.

 

Yeah, Ken's on some of YHF, but the album was not done being recorded prior to Glenn joining. If that were the case, Glenn would not be on the album.

[bobfrombob]

There's a pretty accepted rule in physics that you can't observe something without changing it.

[Atticus]

Making it easier for somebody to walk around in a record store without looking at shit they don't think they're going to like.

 

I love that.

[jakobnicholas]

A great interview by Pitchfork, I think.

 

 

I wish he would have asked the question,

 

"You probably realize that Pitchfork's rating system is totally random...after all, we gave the mediocre Okemah and the Melody Riot a 6.8.....we gave Get Behind Me Satan a better rating than Elephant.....we gave the Belle and Sebastian beauty 'The Boy with the Arab Strap' an 0.8......the guy that you fired scored a 7.1 for Bigger Than Blue....and if you look at ALL the album ratings of Built to Spill, The Shins, Modest Mouse, Spoon, White Stripes and Okkervil River, which are your contemporaries, none of them ever got a lower ranking than your Grammy-winning album, A Ghost is Born. Based on that, what rating do you expect for 'Sky Blue Sky'?"

[welch79]

thanks for posting the link to the article. it was a good read.

 

unfortunately, after reading the spin article (posted in another thread), it is seeming that most interviews that are appearing courtesy of sbs's release are in the vein of "read one, read all."

[deepseacatfish]

This Pitchfork one is nice, pretty thorough...I think it just gives a good show of just how satisfied Jeff is with the new lineup and record.

[tapmyglass]

At the end of the day you settle on this idea that it's not hurting anybody to contribute anything to this larger body of human beings banging shit together and making sounds and expressing themselves. You know, in general it's kind of putting it out there and hopefully giving someone an opportunity to make something with it and that's all you can do.

 

I love this

[G_willy]

Avant-garde is the one area of music that has never changed. It doesn't mean anything. There are very few terms that mean anything. To me, rock'n' roll-- as trite and as clich

[cwnorman]

I particularly liked the part where Jeff tried to explain the difficulty in getting the warmth and depth in todays recordings that was the hallmark of a lot of 60's and 70's stuff.

 

Also glad to hear that it sounds like the band is happy with the vinyl pressing. Great article!

[mkush001]

anyone else secretly hoping pitchfork gives sky blue sky a poor grade? i can't stand the thought of all those little indie farts getting into wilco now if pitchfork gives sky blue sky a really good rating. i was quite pleased with the 6.6 given to a ghost is born, other than the 'greatest album of the century' title it deserved.

[a.miller]

I thought it was a great interview. I really appreciate Jeff's patience when all the Jay questions come up in (almost) every interview. I'm sure he certainly feels like that topic has been discussed to death by this point...because it has.

[froggie]

There were tons of problems with that article, mostly typographical stuff, that a quick proofread/edit would have fixed. That is a pretty major factual error, and it's poorly worded..."since after". Something about that just sounds bad. Pretty obvious mistake since Ken Coomer didn't even appear in IATTBYH.

 

isnt he only playing during parts of I'm trying to break your heart?

[socbret]

It's been my understanding up until now that all drums that appear on the record were recorded by Glenn, is this not true? I thought the whole point of canning Ken was because the songs weren't working as Jeff wanted them to with him.

[Guest Jules]

It's been my understanding up until now that all drums that appear on the record were recorded by Glenn, is this not true? I thought the whole point of canning Ken was because the songs weren't working as Jeff wanted them to with him.

 

This is my understanding as well. Many of the YHF Demos (and Eng. Demos) have Ken's drumming, though, so I guess it's possible there are parts that made it on the record as well.

[Barbarino]

I remember reading in an interview (I think it was with John) that Ken plays the drum intro to IATBYH on the record, but everything else is Glenn.

[jethro]

anyone else secretly hoping pitchfork gives sky blue sky a poor grade? i can't stand the thought of all those little indie farts getting into wilco now if pitchfork gives sky blue sky a really good rating. i was quite pleased with the 6.6 given to a ghost is born, other than the 'greatest album of the century' title it deserved.

Haha, oh man. I bet there are some kids playing on your lawn, go get 'em!