Another Jeff Interview

[Melissa]

http://www.avclub.com/content/node/61709

 

I feel like I've read the same interview with the same questions at least half a dozen times. Anyone else getting that feeling of deja vu while going through the various SBS interviews? I feel bad for Jeff, he's probably feeling like a broken record. But yet, I still find him a fascinating character.

[jhh4321]

http://www.avclub.com/content/node/61709

 

I feel like I've read the same interview with the same questions at least half a dozen times. Anyone else getting that feeling of deja vu while going through the various SBS interviews? I feel bad for Jeff, he's probably feeling like a broken record. But yet, I still find him a fascinating character.

 

Its a tough life getting people to listen to your records...I'm only being half sarcastic.

 

I definitely agree with you on the painful repetition in all of this press, I think you have to keep in mind that not everyone is keen on reading every word that comes out of Jeff's mouth (although I for one am). I guess thats the nature of the game as they say.

[You Can Be The Stone]

"The A.V. Club: The first song on Sky Blue Sky, "Either Way," almost seems like it should be the last song. It has sort of a soft, summing-up feel. Why did you start the album that way? "

 

Damn, they're good! A sequencing question, and a *valid one* at that!

[Kicking_Television]

"The A.V. Club: The first song on Sky Blue Sky, "Either Way," almost seems like it should be the last song. It has sort of a soft, summing-up feel. Why did you start the album that way? "

 

Damn, they're good! A sequencing question, and a *valid one* at that!

 

 

Yea it's definitely better then some interviews out there, i actually am a regular AV club reader, they usually have descent stuff on there.

[jakobnicholas]

Jeff's answer to this question, in my opion, is the right answer and should be the ONLY* answer.

 

 

 

AVC: Back when you were a young rock 'n' roll fan, were you ever let down by a band that went in directions you weren't expecting?

 

JT: No, I honestly can say I don't ever remember feeling that proprietarily toward any band. [Laughs.] There have definitely been bands that changed and I lost interest. But I didn't hold it against them. It wasn't something they did to me, like they disappointed me or let me down, because they still had their other records that I loved. And honestly, I've never made a record other than No Depression that people didn't say something like that about. Still Feel Gone was way too polished and produced. March was obviously a big disappointment because it didn't have any electric guitars on it. And so on.

My question is: Could anybody imagine the Wilco record that would make everybody happy? I can't imagine it. So you're confronted with that reality. anything you do is going to be a disappointment to somebody. We just have to do what we do, and that's make a record that we fuckin' like. [Laughs.] We really don't have any other options. If we'd made a record that followed up on every impulse and stylistic sensibility that Yankee Hotel Foxtrot had going for it, can you imagine the criticism? Not to mention that it would be impossible for us.

 

I hope I don't sound too defensive here. I don't want to come across as being up in arms about any of this. I just have a very pragmatic approach. I understand that a lot of people aren't going to see it, or aren't interested in seeing it. But that doesn't really have anything to do with me.

 

 

 

 

 

*Except when talking about R.E.M. and Around the Sun.

[bedbug]

Another good one

 

It reminds me of how much was lost with the gains of punk rock. Punk rock messed up a lot of shit. As much as I love it and as much as it's probably the main reason I'm making records today, it really threw out a lot of stuff that wasn't so bad. It wasn't such a bad thing to have people working hard at making up songs. It wasn't all just rock-star excess, and it didn't all need to be torn down. I understand why punk was seen as a necessity then, but I don't know why there's still some sort of idea that musicianship is uncool.

 

I love his take on it!

[pnêyu]

Jeff's answer to this question, in my opion, is the right answer and should be the ONLY* answer.

AVC: Back when you were a young rock 'n' roll fan, were you ever let down by a band that went in directions you weren't expecting?

 

JT: No, I honestly can say I don't ever remember feeling that proprietarily toward any band. [Laughs.] There have definitely been bands that changed and I lost interest. But I didn't hold it against them. It wasn't something they did to me, like they disappointed me or let me down, because they still had their other records that I loved.

 

That struck me too--not in relation to Wilco, but to music in general. Well said.

[Melissa]

I can't remember if it's in this interview or another, but I think I remember him making some kind of statement about how people should be reviewing this album (and any album, for that matter) as the album it is, rather than the album it's not. I've heard over and over that SBS isn't like ST, isn't like YHF, isn't like AGIB and so on, but who really cares? Why does that even matter? Who would really want them to make another album exactly like one they've already made. That would be more disappointing than anything else I could think of. Wilco sounds like an evolved band on each of their albums, and that is an outstanding quality to have in music these days.

[mpolak21]

I can't remember if it's in this interview or another, but I think I remember him making some kind of statement about how people should be reviewing this album (and any album, for that matter) as the album it is, rather than the album it's not. I've heard over and over that SBS isn't like ST, isn't like YHF, isn't like AGIB and so on, but who really cares? Why does that even matter? Who would really want them to make another album exactly like one they've already made. That would be more disappointing than anything else I could think of. Wilco sounds like an evolved band on each of their albums, and that is an outstanding quality to have in music these days.

 

Great post, great points and an even better avatar

 

--Mike

[WaronWar]

I can't remember if it's in this interview or another, but I think I remember him making some kind of statement about how people should be reviewing this album (and any album, for that matter) as the album it is, rather than the album it's not. I've heard over and over that SBS isn't like ST, isn't like YHF, isn't like AGIB and so on, but who really cares? Why does that even matter? Who would really want them to make another album exactly like one they've already made. That would be more disappointing than anything else I could think of. Wilco sounds like an evolved band on each of their albums, and that is an outstanding quality to have in music these days.

 

Great point. The people who hate SBS are the ones that yearn for past Wilco a la Pitchfork wanting YHF.