Guest Speed Racer Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 Ooooh, should have also added: I think the stuff described in the Wilco Book - Jeff improvising in an isolation booth with a band he can't hear accompanying him - is pretty darned experimental. And for all the bands that have access to their own recording studios, I would say Wilco is one of the few that really capitalizes on taking its time to find the best approach to a song. If that approach happens to be the most straightforward, that doesn't make them less experimental. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Shakespeare In The Alley Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 Yea, I guess it's the fact that Jeff coats everything with his amazing pop sensibilities. I do find a lot of their recording techniques to be interesting, and "experimental," I guess, but the end product has always come across as mostly poppy. Not in a bad way, at all. I guess it's fair to call Wilco an experimental band that releases predominantly non-experimental music. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Speed Racer Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 Yea, I guess it's the fact that Jeff coats everything with his amazing pop sensibilities. I do find a lot of their recording techniques to be interesting, and "experimental," I guess, but the end product has always come across as mostly poppy. Not in a bad way, at all. I guess it's fair to call Wilco an experimental band that releases predominantly non-experimental music. What is 'experimental' music, then? What does experiment sound like? If one guy releases 20 albums of a guitar hooked up to a toaster, then he's not all that experimental, is he? If a band tries a bunch of approaches and settles on tasty pop, then isn't that experimental? Take Jandek, for instance. Nearly 60 albums that sound like not much else out there, but also nearly 60 albums of pretty much the same thing. I don't think 'experimental' is a sound so much as a technique, and I think if you take the same approach too consistently, then your technique is more routine than experimental anymore. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cooperissup3r Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 it's experimental in its routine...or it's routine in its experimental...ism. it's really semantics. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mpolak21 Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 I still think at the end of the day it comes down the songs. If you recorded the eleven songs on YHF live in the studio the same way they did Sky Blue Sky, it's still a phenomenal album. If you record the twelve songs on SBS with added "sonic weight" and put a noise breakdown at the end of Walken, the lyrics still sound like they were written in five minutes, and I still don't think the songs are as good overall. Jesus, etc is better to me than What Light in any context, I think War on War would tear the shit out of Shake it Off it was sung over a kazoo. One man's opinion. Hopefully Jeff's fascination with Japan on this track will lead him to discover Tom Monroe: . I can't wait to see how that album will fit into nd5's camp theory. --Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dude Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 Is a band experimental if it has noise collages and 8 minutes of feeback in its songs, but every song has those blasts, and every song is similar to others and the band never evolves? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mfwahl Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 Hope I'm not too late to get a PM of this. Your help will be much appreciated! My local record store didn't have it so I ordered YHF vinyl, cherry ghost tee and water bottle to get the 7" and the tour program for free. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mfwahl Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 Thanks y'all! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
u2roolz Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 Would that be considered experimental? LOL I agree that experimentation is more about technique.And in the end it's all about the songs.I'm lucky to have liked everything Wilco has put out. It's not that I don't have standards, it's that everything has eventually grown on me either through the album versions or live. Kristofor Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mtt_wojo Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 Can someone PM me an Mp3 of this song. Gracias, Amigos. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Shakespeare In The Alley Posted June 24, 2009 Share Posted June 24, 2009 What is 'experimental' music, then? What does experiment sound like? If one guy releases 20 albums of a guitar hooked up to a toaster, then he's not all that experimental, is he? If a band tries a bunch of approaches and settles on tasty pop, then isn't that experimental? Take Jandek, for instance. Nearly 60 albums that sound like not much else out there, but also nearly 60 albums of pretty much the same thing. I don't think 'experimental' is a sound so much as a technique, and I think if you take the same approach too consistently, then your technique is more routine than experimental anymore.Very true points. I guess when I think of "experimental music," which I think is a shitty term/genre, I think of more difficult stuff than anything Wilco's put out. The band certainly experiments with their music, so I guess you could call them experimental. I don't know, like I said, I think it's a dumb word to describe music. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gabe32 Posted June 24, 2009 Share Posted June 24, 2009 it's really tough to make out the lyrics. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CalebMac Posted June 24, 2009 Share Posted June 24, 2009 A PM would be greatly appreciated. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
aricandover Posted June 24, 2009 Share Posted June 24, 2009 going over the liner notes in the Wilco Book,it looks like only one of the twelve tracks (Hamami) is the from the dBpm session. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mpolak21 Posted June 24, 2009 Share Posted June 24, 2009 going over the liner notes in the Wilco Book,it looks like only one of the twelve tracks (Hamami) is the from the dBpm session. Here are two things I found in the print archive, thanks to nutnhunee. Magnet June/July 2002Tweedy offers to play me Wilco's "new" album. "Our plan is to record a different album every month, and then at the end of the year, we will have 12 albums to select a greatest-hits record from," he says, only half-joking. Recorded over the course of a week in early February, the album consists of four proper Tweedy songs--they have the same ELO-meets-the-Band vibe of YHF's "War On War" and "Jesus, Etc."--and four improvisational pieces, wherein the rule was no one could use an instrument he knew how to play. For one of the improv pieces, the band "played" a newspaper article about a suicide like it was a piece of sheet music. "The motto was 'hear the sound before the sound hears you'," says Tweedy with a chuckle. And a little more from Harp in the Summer of 2002.In addition, Wilco has already completed its next studio album--the follow-up to Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, which is stored on Tweedy's laptop. He gave Harp a preview of several tracks: Vibrant pop a la "Pot Kettle Black," they feature a rich array of instrumentation, including piano, various percussion, hammered dulcimer and on one cut, a nylon-string guitar solo by Tweedy. So probably Pure Bug Beauty/Company was around at this time. Nylon-string guitar solo probably leads me to believe it's More Like The Moon and maybe they heard the soma Hummingbird or Unlikely Japan which would loosely fit the ELO meets The Band description. I really want to hear this album. --Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cooperissup3r Posted June 24, 2009 Share Posted June 24, 2009 it's really tough to make out the lyrics. they're up on songmeanings.net. i think they're all right. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DAngerer09 Posted June 24, 2009 Share Posted June 24, 2009 Recorded over the course of a week in early February, the album consists of four proper Tweedy songs--they have the same ELO-meets-the-Band vibe of YHF's "War On War" and "Jesus, Etc." geez, i can't wait until the day when all this stuff is released. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
thermocaster Posted June 24, 2009 Share Posted June 24, 2009 Just got my PM...thanks, Alex! I'll go on record as saying I enjoyed that immensely. The part where the background vox kick in made me think of 1966-era Beatles for some reason. This strikes me as a mood piece more than anything else...and it creates quite a mood. Something tells me this one will work best while driving late at night, on the interstate, with the windows down. Nice, relentless rhythm in the background to boot. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tstrapac Posted June 24, 2009 Share Posted June 24, 2009 going over the liner notes in the Wilco Book,it looks like only one of the twelve tracks (Hamami) is the from the dBpm session. Here are two things I found in the print archive.... Thanks for the info guys, I really need to get the Wilco Book. It will probably be my next Wilco Purchase. I would grab a $100 box set in a second. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cranguy Posted June 24, 2009 Share Posted June 24, 2009 I actually just got the vinyl thanks to a guy on another forum, but I'm too lazy to drag out the turntable. EDIT: Got one, thanks. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rockinrob Posted June 24, 2009 Share Posted June 24, 2009 Im just going to through this out there, but I am assuming since you all are wilco fans (well....most of us on here ) you have good tastes in music. I guarantee if you bought a record player, you wouldnt regret it. You can get an audio technica one for under 100 that works great. It is a cool hobby, you can enjoy the liner notes better, and it is truly one of my most loved passions. I think if I had to live without vinyl it would be like living life without the color blue! Anyways, I think this single is really cool. Ive enjoyed it alot, and I wish they would do more of them. Wilco could make a killer b sides record. Unlikely JapanThe Good PartNot For The SeasonsCars Cant EscapeIll Fightetc. There are many more that I just dont feel like typing, but you get the picture. They should ask to borrow neil young's platform he used for archives and fill that sucker up! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
squagels Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 i just heard this at stereogum. if someone could pm me the track i would be forever grateful. i dont think this is being released in australia Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rockinrob Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 Funny story about the first time I listened to unlikely japan. I forget to flip the speed button on my turntable up to 45, so it played at 33 1/3 for my first time hearing it. The beginning guitar comes in really low and nasty sounding, then this really cool keyboard part appeared. "this is interesting, very dark and melodramatic and slow. I like this a lot!" Then tweedy starts to sing, but he sounds rediculously low and I realized my mistake. Everyone should listen to this at 33 1/3 though, it is really cool that way too. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
broc Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 I'd really appreciate a PM of this if anyone has the time, this isn't available in Europe yet... Thanks. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
blankpage37 Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 I would also appreciate a PM of the MP3, if anyone's still offering. I have the 7", but have no "vinyl ripping" capabilities. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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