Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Hi everyone. How are you on this fine Wednesday?

 

I do not intend here to make an argument for the merits of Sky Blue Sky as Wilco's best or worst album. This is not meant to be a review. I've been developing this hypothesis, if you wish to call it that, about the unique circumstance by which most critics encountered the most recent work from Mr. Tweedy, Mr. Cline, Mr. Stirratt, Mr. Jorgensen, Mr. Kotche and Mr. Sanson. This is also something to keep in mind when you sit down with Sky Blue Sky now that official copies are available.

 

What other album can you think of that was released worldwide via a listening party hosted by streaming audio on the band's website? Wilco did just that and within hours the entire album was available for anyone who wanted to download it. 'Pirates' (a harsh word for someone who takes something given to them for free) ripped the album from the stream and separated it into tracks. Even Jeff Tweedy didn't mind. While the album spread, an overwhelming majority of listeners went on failing to understand that what they were hearing was not actually the album the band recorded together in their loft. Instead, it was a cheap immitation. Let me illustrate this for you:

 

Imagine you made a mosaic out of tiles.

mosaic1.jpg

 

Now you want to send this mosaic to a friend but the mosaic is too large and would be too expensive to ship. So, you recreate the mosaic with fewer tiles.

mosaic2.jpg

 

Finally, your friend gets the mosaic but in transit some of the tiles broke so he had to reassemble it using only the pieces that were still in tact:

mosaic3.jpg

 

The mosaic is meant to illustrate the journey SBS took to get to most listeners via the original Wilco webcast. First, the album had to be "compressed" before streaming and then when anyone "ripped" the album into mp3 files, it broke down the album even further. Frequencies and sounds were litterally lost during this process. I wouldn't be at all surprised to learn that Rob Mitchum of Pitchfork Media had been listening to this kind of web-rip version when he wrote, "drummer Glenn Kotche is given no room to stretch beyond routine time-keeping, and Cline is used for his capacity to rip and wail rather than his ear for texture and atmosphere." Link to Pitchfork review.

 

Please don't misinterpret this post as I am aware there are many shortcomings which critics have recognized about this album that I agree with. But to say that the album lacks texture? I might have agreed until I opened up my Nonesuch stamped copy and played the album LOUD. It was like coming home after being away for a long time and although all the rooms were in the same place there was new furniture, some walls had been repainted and a big screen TV was waiting for me in the basement.

 

When I downloaded a web-ripped SBS, I was much like Mitchum in that I begged the question, "Where the hell is Glenn?!" I think I heard Kotche's subtle but intricate rhythms on Either Way for the first time when my pre-ordered disc arrived. There are countless other examples of moments like this; fragments that were missing until the album came out. I got a taste of this when a friend let me listen to his promotional copy a few weeks ago in his car. Now I have them for my own. I would write them out but this has gotten long and the beauty of this forum is that I know you all will help make this list.

 

Finally, I just want to urge you to go into a quiet room with a nice stereo or put on a pair of headphones and listen to an official copy of Sky Blue Sky with the volume turned up as loud as your ears can handle. Now what do you think? Is the album as plain as Mitchum and others have made it out to be? I don't think so.

 

-NN

Link to post
Share on other sites

I completely agree with you! I listened to the copy i bought yesterday in my car...LOUD...and it sounded so much better then the web ripped version. I'm able to hear so much more of what is going on within each song. I love this album!

Link to post
Share on other sites

I concur. I was amazed at the difference when I listened to my official copy. It sounds phenomenal. One of the best sounding records I have heard in a long time. Now I just need to get the vinyl.

Link to post
Share on other sites

i knew it would be like this. if grado would only ship my cartridge back to me this millennium i too could hear what i knew was there all the time. i'm refusing to listen to the cd unless my needle is not back in place by this weekend , then all bets are off, and i'll check out the cd.

Link to post
Share on other sites

interesting. you are surely right.

and maybe i'm completely deaf.

but i literally cannot hear any significant difference between the ripped version and the official I bought yesterday.

sorry, but i seriously cannot. it's odd. i wanted to but i didn't.

still, having the object in my hands, with the DVD and booklet and all is that matters.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I agree that the CD sounds better than the streamed and/or ripped versions that have been floating around for the past several weeks. That's why, after one full listen to the stream from the web site (I just couldn't help myself), I didn't spend any more time with the record until it came out yesterday. I like it a lot better now that I can hear everything.

 

But I would hope that most "professional" critics were reviewing an advance copy of the real album, and not just the streamed version. (I'm sure some took the short cut, but they shouldn't have.) Some just plain didn't like it, for whatever reason.

Link to post
Share on other sites
I agree that the CD sounds better than the streamed and/or ripped versions that have been floating around for the past several weeks. That's why, after one full listen to the stream from the web site (I just couldn't help myself), I didn't spend any more time with the record until it came out yesterday. I like it a lot better now that I can hear everything.

 

But I would hope that most "professional" critics were reviewing an advance copy of the real album, and not just the streamed version. (I'm sure some took the short cut, but they shouldn't have.) Some just plain didn't like it, for whatever reason.

 

I agree.

 

Aside from the better audio quality on the release, I guess I'm just frustrated that people seem to assume that this album is meant to be played quietly or something, as if the guys recorded it with that in mind. I don't think they did. I think they want people to blast the f'n shit out of it, pardon my french, just like every other album they've released. Anyone who says this album is too "soft" or "old-man-ish" should maybe take a look in the mirror (or a closer look at their volume nob!). Just because Either Way is acoustic and, uh, brighter? doesn't mean it can't be loud! I'd also like to explore the claim that this album is Wilco's 'lightest' record. I for one am refreshed that Wilco has let go of the "weight" of all the distorted frequencies and heavy silence from YHF and AGiB to "just sing some motherfucking songs" as Tweedy says on the Shake It Off DVD. I don't think that makes the actual music any softer, per say. It's not like there's actually any heavy metal in Heavy Metal Drummer. Wilco has always sung sweet melodies!

Link to post
Share on other sites
but i literally cannot hear any significant difference between the ripped version and the official I bought yesterday.

sorry, but i seriously cannot. it's odd. i wanted to but i didn't.

 

Neither can I. I've been listening to the 320 kps leak as opposed to the web rip I captured myself, but I haven't noticed an appreciable difference in quality from one upgrade to the next. Ehn. It sounds beautiful and has ever since the band streamed it.

 

I sometimes wonder if most people who download music for their PC just have a shit audio system hooked up to their rig...

Link to post
Share on other sites
I sometimes wonder if most people who download music for their PC just have a shit audio system hooked up to their rig...

 

Another brilliant hypothesis. There are some kind of spectral analysis softwares out there that can give you a fancy chart showing the difference between the web-ripped versions and the real thing. I'm not familiar with them but if someone would perform such a test I would be very curious to see the results.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Anyone else blasting the vinyl version? I'm loving it. It blows the mp3's out of the water. Straight up rock'n'roll, rich tones and deep bass, it sounds great. I believe Jeff himself even said that this record was meant to be heard on vinyl. And his word shall be my gospel.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I have to say, after 3 months of holding off, the biggest gift to myself was the circumstances under which I listened to the record for the first time:

 

4pm on a Tuesday, driving out of Philadelphia via Ridge Ave. which takes you up and over the gentle hills surrounding Philly to the north, near those gargantuan radio towers on a nearly cloudless, breezy, 75 degree afternoon. I really dig the positive vibe of this record, though admittedly I haven't gotten "into" some of the later "Steely Dan" sounds.

 

I plan on giving the record a thorough headphone listen this weekend. Glenn is noticably restrained, I think he arranged his parts that way. Watching the DVD, he is obviously playing to the song.

 

While this might not immediately be my favorite Wilco record, I have to say, the DVD has given me more appreciation to the meticulous nature of this snapshot of "today's" Wilco. It's pretty rare for bands to record 90% of any song live. This might be lost on Joe Public, but for us music-types, it's inspiring. Ben Kweller's second record was done this way, though his mic bleeds are much more transparent!

Link to post
Share on other sites

I am still patiently waiting for my vinyl to arrive, but can't wait! There's much anticipation to hear the real thing vs. the 3rd wave digital that I have. I Hate it Hear glitches out on me a lot and I can only imagine what the layering in Impossible Germany sounds like in true form. Maybe just maybe my package will arrive today. *sigh*

Link to post
Share on other sites
But I would hope that most "professional" critics were reviewing an advance copy of the real album, and not just the streamed version. (I'm sure some took the short cut, but they shouldn't have.) Some just plain didn't like it, for whatever reason.

 

i'm not so certain that the critics didn't just have mp3 versions as a local rock radio dj here in charleston refused to play anything off the new release as he only had a mp3 copy, no cd. either they weren't sent a cd or it didn't arrive, and this is a station that's promoted the band since the beginning.

 

in addition (and this is apples and oranges) but wxpn was playing a digital copy of the ponys "turn the lights out" as noted by some really bad digital hiccups which were also on the download i got from matador when i bought the vinyl. so the use of digital copies for radio play is definitely a reality. i wouldn't be surprised if reviewers also only had mp3 copies.

Link to post
Share on other sites
I do hear a lot more of Glenn with the actual disc.

 

i noticed this as well. the dvd versions also (naturally) have a lot more punch from glenn.

 

i still wish glenn was a little more present in the mix, but that's a very minor complaint for a spectacular album.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I cannot play it loud, as it is Dad Rock, and Dad Rock can only be played at a moderate volume.

 

Okay, I'm just kidding. Seriously, I play some parts louder than others, but it's at a relatively loud volume in my car, softer at home.

 

One thing I can't believe is how many people have complained that it's too mellow, sounds like an Eagles album, etc. Have these people not heard The Lonely One, Far Far Away, Less Than You Think, Reservations, Wishful Thinking, or Pieholden Suite, just to name a few? Wilco is not exactly a heavy metal band. But some of these songs rock pretty damn hard (especially Shake It Off, Side With The Seeds, Hate It Here), especially compared to 99% of what's on AGIB or YHF. I just don't understand.

Link to post
Share on other sites
interesting. you are surely right.

and maybe i'm completely deaf.

but i literally cannot hear any significant difference between the ripped version and the official I bought yesterday.

sorry, but i seriously cannot. it's odd. i wanted to but i didn't.

still, having the object in my hands, with the DVD and booklet and all is that matters.

 

 

Agreed. But I may be deaf too. Also, if there were that much of a difference that it made a big deal then iTunes would not be in business.

Link to post
Share on other sites
I was amazed at the jump in quality from the rip to when I first dropped the needle on the LP, and when I first loaded the CD in my car. Night & Day, almost.

 

Car CD Music?only good thing ever heard in a car is CCR.While listening:

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...