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Wilco (The Album Discussion w/ spoilers)


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Have listened to the new record a couple of times now and it's really good. There are a couple of tracks I am not warming too ('Everlasting, Everything' and 'Deeper Down') but everything else is top notch. I actually love 'Wilco - The Song'. It s a great opener. 'I'll fight' also sticks in the mind. I was a big fan of SBS but I think this is more consistant. Infact there are no songs on the new record that I really dislike (Shake it off, What Light, I'm a Wheel etc), unlike previous releases. It's all good.

 

ummm....... those are all great songs man. I think you meant less than you think, please be patient with me, leave me like you found me

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:lol

 

Well, if forced to draw a parallel between Wilco (the Album) and a dictator, keeping in mind that, as you've pointed out, SBS is already associated with Hitler, I'm going to have to go with someone slightly less malevolent, and a bit more benevolent, if only on the surface

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I'll fight is like On and On and On part 2...which is not a good thing for me.

Except without the suck.

 

Yeah, I'm surprised that they would choose You Never Know as the single- it is catchy and definitely radio-friendly, but is not representative of the sonic quality of a lot of the album, or Wilco in general.

Yeah, but it might make them some money.

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Listening in the car on the way to work this morning, I was thinking that Wilco the song and Sonny Feeling sound like lost tracks off BAITUSA. This is a good thing.

 

Maybe it's just me. The more I listen to this (and love it) the more I realize how much it owes to the Beatles. Anyway I fucken love this record.

 

Yeah, the Beatles influences pop for me, too, in the best possible sense. There's a certain musical sensibility here that has sass and swagger, but mostly confidence, as it should with such well-crafted and solid songs. That brightens the whole package.

 

Am I making sense? I'm a bit coffee-deprived at the moment; must remedy that.

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I'm quite surprised by how much I'm enjoying this! The songs have really evolved from their early live forms, the production is great and some of the edgier material is tres successful, especially Bull Black Nova and Deeper Down. I'll have to let it sink in some more before I know just what to think of it, but so far, so good.

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I'm coming around to this a lot more now. I still think the production (and by production I mean the sound and the choice of instruments and everything - ie. the production of the finished album/product) is not anywhere near what they did on YHF or AGIB, but some of the songs win through anyway. Especially One Wing, I'll Fight, Deeper Down and Bull Black Nova. They should pull the album and get Jim O'Rourke to mix it again, and this could be great.

 

One thing I want to know though, and this would be such a great way for them to sound a bit different without changing their style too much, is why don't they spend time working out interesting backing singing on their songs? Quite a few members of the band can hold a tune, but they never really get a chance to do anything. I don't see why it took Feist to turn up for Tweedy to share a bit of the vocals - and it's not like she even does a good job, if anything the vocals just get in the way of each other. I think if they ever make a change to their band they need someone that knows how be more interesting with vocals.

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One thing I want to know though, and this would be such a great way for them to sound a bit different without changing their style too much, is why don't they spend time working out interesting backing singing on their songs? Quite a few members of the band can hold a tune, but they never really get a chance to do anything. I don't see why it took Feist to turn up for Tweedy to share a bit of the vocals - and it's not like she even does a good job, if anything the vocals just get in the way of each other. I think if they ever make a change to their band they need someone that knows how be more interesting with vocals.

 

Because the songs don't require it? Bull Black Nova and Solitaire are both songs that I think would suffer greatly with facny background vocals - they're isolation songs. W(TS) has good backgrounds, and I don't see any need to add anything more interesting. You & I is a 'she/him' kinda You & I, and I think that song would lose its impact with John or Pat picking up the backing vocals - again, it's either an 'us' song (enter Feist, who I think is just swell on this track) or a 'me to you' song (no backgrounds).

 

I'm thinking back to Summerteeth, which I think has the most interesting background vocals of any Wilco record (call and response stuff, and for lack of a better word, 'flair'), and I just don't know that any of the songs would have been bolstered by this kind of treatment. I'm glad they're doing less of the CSNY-style wall vocals than SBS (YAMF was great, but that stuff gets old).

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I'm quite surprised by how much I'm enjoying this! The songs have really evolved from their early live forms, the production is great and some of the edgier material is tres successful, especially Bull Black Nova and Deeper Down. I'll have to let it sink in some more before I know just what to think of it, but so far, so good.

Fuck, we're all quite surprised by how much you're enjoying this!

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One thing I want to know though, and this would be such a great way for them to sound a bit different without changing their style too much, is why don't they spend time working out interesting backing singing on their songs? Quite a few members of the band can hold a tune, but they never really get a chance to do anything. I don't see why it took Feist to turn up for Tweedy to share a bit of the vocals - and it's not like she even does a good job, if anything the vocals just get in the way of each other. I think if they ever make a change to their band they need someone that knows how be more interesting with vocals.

I think John Stirratt has a take on his harmonies that has been as much of Wilco's sound as anything else. He is the perfect counterpoint to Tweedy -- when backing vocals are needed. I wouldn't change a thing in that regards. They've expanded upon it when need be for the sound (Summerteeth, and with a few of the new tracks).

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This is incredible. Lyrically, a step forward. Musically, a step forward. The arrangements are very tight, Jeff's vocals are sweet as always, and the harmonies are superb. The keyboards stick out as a high point for me. This album says something. It is powerful and uplifting in ways their other albums are not. It is completely new. I love it.

 

Solitaire and I'll Fight, I think, are the pinnacles. You Never Know rocks.

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