Support group for those who are now bored with wilco

[Guest Speed Racer]

Restraint and "lack of ideas" can be confused sometimes.

 

It's funny you say that, because I really think the album is unnecessarily busy. One thing I love about AGIB is its use of silence to enhance the overall work. YHF is super-busy, yes, but it actually comes out well as a sonic landscape. The parts of SBS where people have 'a lot of ideas,' it sounds like way too many cooks in the kitchen (YHF and ST probably work because it's the Jay and Jeff Show).

 

In any event, the parts that work for me on SBS shine because the musicians aren't trying to overplay each other. The parts that don't work are instances where they're overplaying.

 

Sorry to confuse your gender...I was too lazy to look.

 

A peeve of mine on the boards. I figure if I start correcting people, I'll be annoying enough that I'll finally be identified correctly, if only as "That damned woman..."

[Jesusetc84]

Kalle, I'm so happy you were able to find some solace in the record. While nowhere near on the level of what you went through, a friend of mine was killed in a car accident a couple of weeks after Ghost is Born came out. I was 18, jaded and confused as all hell, and Ghost is Born got me through one of the toughest times of my life. Even the drone made sense. As you said it was the right record at the right time, and it's probably my favorite record because of it. I don't know if it's necessarily better than YHF, Summerteeth or Being There, but it probably means more to me than any other Wilco album.

 

--Mike

 

 

I remember being in England; my ex had broken up with me over the weekend, and I had this terrible feeling something was wrong at home (turns out my Uncle had died the same day)...I used to walk around London just listening to "Less Than You Think"; It can be a really theraputic song.

 

When I met Jeff I thanked him for that song; it was there for me during a rough time.

 

It's funny you say that, because I really think the album is unnecessarily busy. One thing I love about AGIB is its use of silence to enhance the overall work. YHF is super-busy, yes, but it actually comes out well as a sonic landscape. The parts of SBS where people have 'a lot of ideas,' it sounds like way too many cooks in the kitchen (YHF and ST probably work because it's the Jay and Jeff Show).

 

In any event, the parts that work for me on SBS shine because the musicians aren't trying to overplay each other. The parts that don't work are instances where they're overplaying.

 

 

 

A peeve of mine on the boards. I figure if I start correcting people, I'll be annoying enough that I'll finally be identified correctly, if only as "That damned woman..."

 

God...you aren't the chick from that commercial are you? I just jokingly busted on the user "Michael Bolton". I hope he's not really Michael Bolton.

[mpolak21]

Restraint and "lack of ideas" can be confused sometimes.

 

Sorry to confuse your gender...I was too lazy to look.

 

I can't get into it because it doesn't stimulate me; intellectually, emotionally or otherwise. I'll be the first one to admit, the only Wilco record I've ever loved out of the box was Summer Teeth (I was in the middle of a Beach Boys/ Beatles phase...it was perfect timing). Being There was a little too country for me (it was the first country based album I'd EVER owned), A Ghost is Born was kind of sprawling and off-kilter, and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was just too monolithic for me to wrap my head around the first listen.

 

Sky Blue Sky is different. To me, there's not much too the album. It's a very face value album. Jeff lyrics used to mean so many different things to me; now they mean one obvious thing. The jamming isn't to my liking, save "Impossible Germany". Melodically this isn't a terrible album, but I mean...it's Jeff Tweedy...of course the melodies are going to be at the very worst "good". The record doesn't energize me, move me, challenge me or sooth me...it just bores me to death save for 3 or 4 songs.

 

I know this sounds high and mighty from someone with no special talents, except for perhaps my ability to eat an obscene amount of Mac & Cheese in one sitting, but that's how I feel; about 8 of the songs on this record are in the bottom 4th of Wilco's catalogue.

 

I get what you mean about SBS, I think the lack of tension/conflict on the record was what made it a bit hard to adjust to for me when I first heard it. On every Wilco record beforehand there were always a few immaculately sequenced songs that might not have been instant classics, but came right after one of the heavier "experimental tracks." Like Far, Far Away coming in after Misunderstood. ELT following Via Chicago. Heavy Metal Drummer after Ashes, and the definitive example The Late Greats after Less Than You Think. Sky Blue Sky is basically an album full of those songs. Even the places where the record could get really heavy, "Impossible Germany, which was heavily paired down in the studio", "Shake it Off, which never really seems to go anywhere," it seems to hold back-- exception being Side With the Seeds, which perhaps not coincidentally is often cited as "the one good thing about the album" by people who don't like it. While I don't always reach for Sky Blue Sky first, it fits pretty well after I've heard something like Jeff Buckley's Grace or Aereoplane or Yankee, Summerteeth, or AGIB, and I'm emotionally drained.

[mpolak21]

I remember being in England; my ex had broken up with me over the weekend, and I had this terrible feeling something was wrong at home (turns out my Uncle had died the same day)...I used to walk around London just listening to "Less Than You Think"; It can be a really theraputic song.

 

When I met Jeff I thanked him for that song; it was there for me during a rough time.

 

Yeah, I know what you mean. A Ghost is Born was also a "breakup" album for me as well, as was Summerteeth-- people say the way to listen to Dark Side of the Moon is stoned out of your mind, well a great way to listen to Summerteeth is driving around in the backwoods of West Virginia after you'd just been dumped for the second time by your ex. When you add in the fact, that we were driving from a house party in the middle of nowhere where a really shitty jamband was playing (the bass player of this band was the guy I was being left for). She was silent the entire way back, and I was over her by end of the When You Wake Up Feeling Old, good times, good times.

 

--Mike

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

I don' think I like you folks too much anymore...

[Jesusetc84]

Yeah, I know what you mean. A Ghost is Born was also a "breakup" album for me as well, as was Summerteeth-- people say the way to listen to Dark Side of the Moon is stoned out of your mind, well a great way to listen to Summerteeth is driving around in the backwoods of West Virginia after you'd just been dumped for the second time by your ex. When you add in the fact, that we were driving from a house party in the middle of nowhere where a really shitty jamband was playing (the bass player of this band was the guy I was being left for). She was silent the entire way back, and I was over her by end of the When You Wake Up Feeling Old, good times, good times.

 

--Mike

 

Summer Teeth was my travelling album; I went through this period early in College where I felt really lost, like I didn't have a home, living in New Orleans for College, having my family in FL, and my girlfriend in Omaha...I remember sitting in a terminal in Chicago and listening to "Via Chicago" (cheesy I know...it just happened...didn't hit me till the song played.)

 

But there are so many great moments in that album like that ("When I hold the cold in my jet lagged palm", "Searching for a home", "Can you be where you want to be?", "High above the sea of cars")...it really is an album for when you feel lost I guess....I was listening to that album like crazy then...so I guess it was no surprise when my girlfriend and I got stuck in a middle of a tornado pulled over on the side of the road and Tweedy was singing "Can you be where you want to be?"

 

Maybe part of my dislike of SBS is due to it being like...this sounds corny, but you connect to an artist. And during College, every single Wilco record lined up with some big experience for me...and you feel a kinship with an artist after that 4 or so of their albums lineup with certain periods of your life, and suddenly they make an album that is some place you don't think you'll reach; an acceptance of things. Maybe my dislike of the sentiment behind SBS at least, has to do with my spot in life for the first time, not lining up with Wilco's music at all. For the first time, the 17 year age difference between Tweedy and me has made it hard for me to relate to him...maybe when I'm married, in my 30s etc, I'll get it...my much older siblings love the record...but for now...lyrics about folding shirts and waiting for your wife to come home don't do anything for me.

 

That being said, there are still just musical elements I don't like...but I think if the sentiment behind the album was different, I could forgive some musical moments I'm not as fond of.

[Griddles]

This thread has made me reexamine my emotional connection to Wilco and music in general. I would agree that maybe I am not bored with SBS, but rather am not connecting on an emotional level. The songs meanings do not resonate with me. While some Wilco songs have helped me move through difficult times, I cannot listen to those songs any more due to that connection. But there are no songs on SBS that evoke an emotional response.

I do not know what this adds to the conversation but it helps me, so... thanks for the support... group?

[yankee]

But there are no songs on SBS that evoke an emotional response.

 

the part on Either Way when the music builds and then goes quiet and breaks through like sunshine after rain on the last time it says "maybe the sun will shine today. . . " that gets me every time.

 

Also, You Are my face, when it gets all intense on "i have no idea why this happens . . . happenstance has changed my plans so many times . . . ." I dig that part too.

 

Oh, and the chorus on Sky Blue Sky gets me too.

 

I tend to skip What Light and On and On and On and sometimes I'm just not in the mood for Shake it Off.

 

YHF is the only album that I tend to listen too without skipping any songs--but I've listened to that album SO MANY times, I'm giving it a little rest.

 

I'd say I like about 90% of all Wilcos songs. That's about as high as a percentage as any artist gets for me. With some artists, I'm content to buy one song on iTunes.

[Kalle]

Thanks for the kind words guys, it seems really weird to talk about such a personal thing to mainly strangers over the internet but it's comforting that Jeff and Wilco's music has helped people in similar ways.

 

The only thing I can say for not being bored with Wilco is that I know they are still capable of making music that effects people. If Sky Blue Sky lacked emotion and sincerity it would have done nothing for me.

 

But I am extremely excited to see which direction Wilco will go in next.

[Griddles]

I am not saying that SBS is not a musically good album one of the best 'new to me' albums of 2007, it just does not reach me on an emotional level. Maybe I just never got that initial bad taste out of my mouth.

 

That said when I got in my car for the first time in a week and SBS was in the cd player I was happy.

[CortezTheKiller]

Not a big fan of Impossible Germany.

 

I bet you hate Steely Dan too.

[IRememberDBoon]

I bet you hate Steely Dan too.

 

 

And puppies and rainbows and John Lennon

[watch me fall]

I bet you hate Steely Dan too.

 

Actually, I do. And throw Dire Straits in there, too. Ooh and Don Henley.

[IRememberDBoon]

Actually, I do. And throw Dire Straits in there, too. Ooh and Don Henley.

 

 

please dont EVER mention SD and DS with DH again. thanks.

[Mr. Heartbreak]

They've been consistently sliding since Bennett left; I love AGIB, but to me, it's no Summer Teeth or Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.

 

I personally don't think Wilco's current lineup challenges Jeff; Wilco to me feels a lot less like a group and a lot more like a sextet with a distinct band director. Sometimes you need a guy who will stepup and say "Let's try this another way." Friction is great for art; look at Lennon and McCartney; they made some of the best albums of all time when they hated each other.

 

I can't imagine Nels Cline, with his extensive background in expiremental music, thinking the weather channel solo on "Either Way" was the best way to go, or Glen happily pounding out rudementary beats when he's possibly the possibly the greatest drummer in popular music today. John's basslines are as solid as ever, but there's only so much even a great bassplayer like John can do with dreck like "Shake it Off".

 

People say this is a very band friendly record, that it's obviously the work of 6 guys, not the work of one; I disagree completely. To me it feels like Jeff Tweedy with backing band...Ban me, hate me, shoot me in the foot, do whatever you want...but that's how I feel....I don't need to give reasons, because those of you who agree with me will just nod, and those of you who disagree will just call me an idiot.

 

*Shrug* maybe this incarnation of Wilco is just a better live band than it is a studio band.

 

I totally agree with everything in this post, except that I felt AGIB was a huge step down after the 3 great albums that preceded it. I also think someone in the band needs to have the balls to say, "This song sucks" (Shake It Off) or "This idea sucks" (the 10-minute "drone") when that's the case. Jeff is a great songwriter -- just think about Via Chicago, I Am Trying to Break Your Heart and Jesus, etc -- but everybody writes clunkers, and dreck like Shake It Off (or the still mercifully unreleased Millionaire) is best suited for the living room only, IMHO. Unfortunately, there was a time when people probably got fired for not towing the party line, and though that time has likely passed, I would imagine that none of these guys wants to lose what is undoubtedly their most lucrative steady gig ever.

 

Oddly enough, I don't have the problem many do with relating to SBS, but I still don't like the album. I don't like the production, the vocals, or most of the music. I even relate personally to the whole narrative of Please Be Patient With Me, but as a song, I don't think it's even in Jeff's top 50. I also don't believe that age difference has much to do with anything, either, as I'm actually about three years older than Jeff, and also married. Suburban angst can be done beautifully ("Please beware the quiet front yard") or it can be done in a way that's pretty mundane, even cheesy ("What am I gonna do when I run out of shirts to fold?").

 

I love these guys, and will probably always buy whatever they put out, even if I haven't heard any of it in advance, but the slide in quality of writing is really depressing to me. I know Jeff has said in interviews he felt like he didn't have to encode things in this album, but a little more creativity in the writing might have helped me overlook some of what I disliked musically in most of the songs. It's great to see SBS nominated for a grammy for Rock Album of the Year, but not because it deserves to win ... it's great because it could turn on a whole new generation to Being There, S/T and YHF, and those records really deserve to be heard.

[IRememberDBoon]

whats with the AGIB put downs??

 

Hummngbird? Hell is Chrome? ALTWYS? Handshake Drugs? Company in my Back? Wishful Thinking? Muzzle of Bees? The Late Greats??

 

yeah that album is a total failure!

 

[Lynch]

whats with the AGIB put downs??

 

Hummngbird? Hell is Chrome? ALTWYS? Handshake Drugs? Company in my Back? Wishful Thinking? Muzzle of Bees? The Late Greats??

 

yeah that album is a total failure!

 

I think maybe the hip thing to do these days is hate all the new stuff a band you love is putting out. Maybe that gives you more street cred as a diehard fan?

[IRememberDBoon]

I think maybe the hip thing to do these days is hate all the new stuff a band you love is putting out. Maybe that gives you more street cred as a diehard fan?

 

either that or its not cool to like any band that has more than 1000 people at their shows?

[Guest Jules]

I think maybe the hip thing to do these days is hate all the new stuff a band you love is putting out. Maybe that gives you more street cred as a diehard fan?

That's just silly.

[Jesusetc84]

whats with the AGIB put downs??

 

Hummngbird? Hell is Chrome? ALTWYS? Handshake Drugs? Company in my Back? Wishful Thinking? Muzzle of Bees? The Late Greats??

 

yeah that album is a total failure!

 

 

I still consider "The Late Greats" a throw away.

 

But "Wishful Thinking" is so godly, it adds like...a half star rating for AGIB to me.

[Jesusetc84]

Oddly enough, I don't have the problem many do with relating to SBS, but I still don't like the album. I don't like the production, the vocals, or most of the music. I even relate personally to the whole narrative of Please Be Patient With Me, but as a song, I don't think it's even in Jeff's top 50. I also don't believe that age difference has much to do with anything, either, as I'm actually about three years older than Jeff, and also married. Suburban angst can be done beautifully ("Please beware the quiet front yard") or it can be done in a way that's pretty mundane, even cheesy ("What am I gonna do when I run out of shirts to fold?").

 

yeah...maybe it has less to do with the age difference and more to do with the attitude difference; I was only 18 when I bough Summer Teeth...definitely not married...but I still related to the relationship strain stuff. Maybe this album is just too accepting for me?

 

Not to get into an angst fest here, but Jeff is on the other side of a lot of his problems, where as I'm still wrestling with a lot of mine...so it's kind of like the connection is gone... I think a lot of our favorite music has to do with someone championing our feelings, articulating what we can't say, even if they don't intend to. Sky Blue Sky doesn't articulate anything that resonates with me.

 

Musically, I love a lot of the melodies...but I just find the arrangements kind of meh whatever. They're neither fun nor interesting. SBS sounds like it needed a little more time in the oven and it would be a masterpiece.

[CortezTheKiller]

whats with the AGIB put downs??

 

Hummngbird? Hell is Chrome? ALTWYS? Handshake Drugs? Company in my Back? Wishful Thinking? Muzzle of Bees? The Late Greats??

 

yeah that album is a total failure!

 

 

Handshake is easily my favorite Wilco song.

[badger]

I can understand why a lot of people were/are disappointed with SBS, but for me, Wilco (or maybe just Jeff Tweedy) are a band that really understands context and how to play with it. The next album could totally redefine SBS (for us fans at least) if it is different. In hindsight it's easy to declare YHF a masterpiece, but I bet there were a lot of ST fans who thought WTF? for quite some time (Radio Cure, Reservations......????) Conversely, I had never heard ST until after YHF and thought WOW!!! Constantly reacting against expectation is a difficult trick to pull off successfully, but don't be surprised if the next Wilco album is considerably darker than SBS (which, incidentally, I like most of the time and love sometimes), or uses a more widescreen and layered approach to recording and production. Regardless of its compositional merits, I think SBS will prove to be an influential record in the way it was recorded (almost entirely live, using dynamic microphones). This definitely resulted in an immediate and warm sound, which unsurprisingly translates even more successfully in a live context. However, we have become conditioned to expecting a combination of sounds, arrangements and production which we haven't heard before, and in this respect, SBS does not even try to deliver. But for me, that's a large part of its appeal: it's an incredibly honest and direct piece of work.

[Lammycat]

I think maybe the hip thing to do these days is hate all the new stuff a band you love is putting out. Maybe that gives you more street cred as a diehard fan?

Why does someone always have to toss one of these in, as if it's a sign of trying to be hip to appreciate a band's earlier work/line up/whatever to the more recent work?

 

I rarely see this reasoning when people discuss the positives/negatives of different eras for bands like The Beatles or the Dead.

 

Some people think the newer stuff pales in comparison to the older stuff- so what? It's not a right/wrong deal. I just hope my street cred isn't tarnished by posting this, though. Plus, it's a known fact that if you dis newer stuff in lieu of older stuff you're hipper. I think we all know this.

 

 

I'm a fan of J.S. Bach, btw. Not a lot of people at his gigs, either.

[Lynch]

I'm a fan of J.S. Bach, btw. Not a lot of people at his gigs, either.

I only like his earlier work. His later stuff wasn't that great.