Finally watched Ashes...

[standenup]

The lyrics for Impossible Germany and SBS (the song) were written pre-Ghost, the lyrics for Hate it Here were written pre-Anodyne. Either Way, You & I and On & On are no more direct than Pieholden, Say You Miss Me, What's the World Got In Store, or Someone Else's Song. The songs are just-as - if not more - musically complex as songs pre-Ghost, and the ones that aren't are just as straightforward.

 

The darker songs are still pretty damned dark, and the bright songs still have murky corners. If anything, the songs are a LOT less self-absorbed - well, except when they are (SBS, Shake it Off, BBN).

 

In short, the sound has changed - it's not really more or less complex, more or less dark, just the sound has changed.

 

i knew impossible germany came from an adult head poem, but not about the others..hate it here pre anodyne? interesting. but yea he did have some direct songs then, i'm just saying we probly aren't gonna be seeing any kind of Sunken Treasures for a while, if ever. and all i meant by the sound is it's just more general rock and roll now, even though that's what jeff will say they've always been. at least that's what you said (among others) is not your average rock and roll song though. and now his songs are a lot less self absorbed now too, as described in Solitaire

[uncool2pillow]

Hmmm... Watched it on the computer about 3 weeks ago when I purchased it. Just tried to watch it on my TV and it really fucked m/ my DVD player. At first, it just acted like it was scratched. I cleaned the disc and the lens, then tried again and it was worse. It froze my DVD and sounded like I put the disc in a blender. Had to unplug the player. I've tried other DVDs in my player and they work fine. The Ashes DVD still works fine in my computer. Any suggestion?? Other than just play in my computer??

[GtrPlyr]

Hmmm... Watched it on the computer about 3 weeks ago when I purchased it. Just tried to watch it on my TV and it really fucked m/ my DVD player. At first, it just acted like it was scratched. I cleaned the disc and the lens, then tried again and it was worse. It froze my DVD and sounded like I put the disc in a blender. Had to unplug the player. I've tried other DVDs in my player and they work fine. The Ashes DVD still works fine in my computer. Any suggestion?? Other than just play in my computer??

Try copying the DVD with DVDDecrypter. If the program manages to read the whole disc without any problems, you should be able to burn it to a DVD+R DL and play it in your DVD player without an issue. (I'd recommend IMGburn for burning the disc.)

[choo-choo-charlie]

I understand what you're saying, but has anything with the six-piece really changed since 2004? Had you seen this lineup in concert before and also had these same feelings? Did you not know what Wilco circa-2008 (when it was filmed) sounds like?

 

There are times when it feels like to my ears that they've got one instrument too many on some of their arrangements. I could certainly do without the funk keyboards on I'm The Man Who Loves You, the electric guitar on War on War, and I still prefer the boots from 2001-2003 with Jeff as the lead guitarist on most of the tracks. It's just generally difficult I would presume to get six different incredible musicians equal time. I mean a guy as talented as Pat Sansone is often playing the third guitar or the second keyboard part on a lot of their songs. But everytime I've seen this incarnation of the band live they've completely blown me away, and I've never been thinking about any of these issues.

 

--Mike

 

It's funny I just read this; I've been listening to a show from '01 and couldn't make it through the whole thing. Jeff just sounded miserable singing - very little emotion - and while I enjoyed some of his guitar parts, I think he was still trying to find his way. Some good stuff, some stuff that was too noisy. That being said, I think the '01 quartet lineup sounded great on the A.M. and Being There tunes like Pick up the Change, Should've Been in Love, Why Would You Wanna Live, etc.

 

But as a whole, the first Wilco CD I ever bought was KT and it just blew my mind. Then it was Summereeth. Then Being There, then YHF, then A.M. followed by AGIB. I came into the game late and was all over the place. But the two best discs [and lineups] for me are the super-studio-production heavy sounds of Summerteeth and the fresh lineup of KT - which I think sounds like a little bit different band than what we've heard in '08 or '09.

 

But that's just my opinion. I respect everyone else's opinion here and that's that. I'll probably really get into another '01 recording in a few months and will be tired of KT...my love of Wilco "phases" goes in cycles...

[Livin' in New Orleans]

To respond to the name of this topic: Most people do in fact turn off the DVD at the end... congratulations

[W(TF)]

i knew impossible germany came from an adult head poem, but not about the others..hate it here pre anodyne? interesting. but yea he did have some direct songs then, i'm just saying we probly aren't gonna be seeing any kind of Sunken Treasures for a while, if ever. and all i meant by the sound is it's just more general rock and roll now, even though that's what jeff will say they've always been. at least that's what you said (among others) is not your average rock and roll song though. and now his songs are a lot less self absorbed now too, as described in Solitaire

 

This may be useful.

 

Jeff Tweedy breaks down Sky Blue Sky:

 

“Either Way”

 

I wanted to start off this record with this idea of acceptance.

 

“You Are My Face”

 

It’s more of a family tree, but not necessarily biographical. This song is one of the more conceptual songs on the record. It’s trying to reflect a present, past and a future in a linear kind of way, with the explosive section in the middle that’s a lot more kinetic than the droning past and the ambiguous future.

 

“Impossible Germany”

 

This song reminds me of waking up at a certain point in your life, and you ask yourself, ‘How did I get here?’ Sometimes you’re pretty grateful where you ended up. There are a lot of layers to that song since it’s been around so long. There are elements of political refection and historical perspective that I feel I’ve gotten more interested in as I’ve gotten older.

 

“Sky Blue Sky”

 

That is probably as direct as I’ve ever gotten in a song before. It’s a very crystallized moment: watching a parade go by in my hometown, and getting blocked from getting across the main drag, preventing me from going home. And at some point, thinking it was a good idea to turn around and not go home.

 

“Side with the Seeds”

 

It’s a pretty confusing song. There’s such a polarization in all of our lives these days, and there’s so much unhappiness. It’s a song that’s saying, ‘If an electron can do it, why can’t I?’

 

“Shake it off”

 

That’s similar to ‘Sky Blue Sky,’ in that it’s about a specific moment in time, a feeling, a reminder. The chorus is pretty direct: this too shall pass.

 

“Please Be Patient with Me”

 

I don’t know if there’s anything I can add except to point out, again, the title of the song itself.

 

“Hate It Here”

 

My wife calls this song ‘The Liar Song,’ because I don’t know how to use the washing machine.

 

“Leave Me (Like You Found Me)”

 

This one has been around for a long, long time. There’s a simple sentiment in the chorus. Though it does become more expansive in the last verse when people are waking up, climbing the trees, and actively participating in their lives suddenly.

 

“Walken”

 

This song was on a set list once, written out like the spelling of the actor, Christopher Walken. It became too hard to shake that spelling.

 

“What Light”

 

Responding to the fact that this song was the one track posted on the band’s MySpace page, Tweedy says, “I don’t know what a single is.”

 

“On and On and On”

 

This song was actually one of the earlier songs that we demo-ed on this record, and over time – we played it once or twice live – I was doubtful about it making the record. At some point, it became the closer. It became much more meaningful to me after my mom died last September. There was something that allowed me to finish that song. I really wanted to write a song that my dad could listen to, and find some comfort in, that wasn’t a James Blunt song. I was very touched that my father was being soothed in any way by music. It did make me feel like this song was much more personal. I know how to write songs, so I thought, maybe I should write one for dad and have him respond to it. My mom died suddenly, playing cards with her friends, which is a pretty awesome way to go. She was 72. My dad and her met when they were 15, and they had not been apart that entire time. That’s a pretty major adjustment for a 73-year-old man to make.

 

from http://www.nonesuch.com/albums/sky-blue-sky

[tinnitus photography]

i finally got around to watching the copy i bought on Record Store Day (yeah, i have a bit of a backlog...)

 

anyway, I really enjoyed it. i thought that Canty's camera work and angles worked well, the sound was great, and the versions/songs they did were uniformly excellent (though i guess i could have done w/o the "kingpin" raveup).

 

they didn't do all that much off-stage/interview stuff, but there was enough of it for me. the pacing was good too and the opening soundcheck scene was brilliant. glad to see 'theologians' tacked onto the extras. love that song.

[radiokills]

i think jeff, john, leroy, glenn was the best lineup.

 

also, jeff, john, mikhael, glenn, jim

[froggie]

i think jeff, john, leroy, glenn was the best lineup.

 

 

 

[Calexico]

 

I'm outski,

 

Ryan Kemp

 

He signs off all of his posts like this. Lord, wouldn't you just love to get stuck in a bar with this guy.

 

 

For what it's worth, I enjoyed Ashes but I didn't fork out for it. I just saw it on tv.

[Guest McGuffin]

He signs off all of his posts like this. Lord, wouldn't you just love to get stuck in a bar with this guy.

 

 

For what it's worth, I enjoyed Ashes but I didn't fork out for it. I just saw it on tv.

 

On TV? Where? Palladia?

[Chinese Apple]

Having done some documentary work, I appreciated Ashes... more as a documentary than as a pure concert film. It would be missing the point to critique Ashes... based solely on the music and performances that were included.

 

Though not on the same scale as Gimme Shelter (1970), Ashes does well contextualizing the music of Wilco within a "time." I mean this both on a historical and personal time-line: the images of dilapidated small-towns parallel the discussion on the physical toll of touring on individual band members.

 

This overriding theme, of deterioration and the passage of time, was also there in Wilco (the Album). The cover art of a birthday party, and the many times this year where the band sang "happy birthday" on tour, allude to growing older. Many of the songs on the album also carry this tenor: You Never Know, Country Disappeared, Sonny Feeling, Everlasting Everything...

 

I think Ashes and W(tA) worked very well together. They came out the same year, and represented a unified, thought-provoking theme for me. Ashes documents an American historical moment. I liked that what comes across isn't nostalgia or even critical comment, but just observation. Time is passing; we are growing older. Sorta makes me appreciate the here and now.

 

Pure concert films are a bore, and never as satisfying as going to a show, though I will be willing to try a Wilco one in 3D at a IMAX theater if they go that route. Wilco served up that way will be so much more meaty than Hannah Montana, Jonas Brothers, or U2.

[stagerug]

Having done some documentary work, I appreciated "Ashes..." more as a documentary than as a pure concert film. It would be missing the point to critique "Ashes..." based solely on the music and performances that were included.

 

Though not on the same scale as Gimme Shelter (1970), Ashes does well contextualizing the music of Wilco within a "time." I mean this both on a historical and personal time-line: the images of dilapidated small-towns parallel the discussion on the physical toll of touring on individual band members.

 

This overriding theme, of deterioration and the passage of time, was also there in Wilco (the Album). The cover art of a birthday party, and the many times this year where the band sang "happy birthday" on tour, allude to growing older. Many of the songs on the album also carry this tenor: You Never Know, Country Disappeared, Sonny Feeling, Everlasting Everything...

 

I think Ashes and W(tA) worked very well together. They came out the same year, and represented a unified, thought-provoking theme for me. "Ashes" documents an American historical moment. I liked that what comes across isn't nostalgia or even critical comment, but just observation: time is passing; we are growing older.

 

Pure concert films are a bore, and never as satisfying as going to a show, though I will be willing to try a Wilco one in 3D at a IMAX theater if they go that route. Wilco served up that way will be so much more meaty than Hannah Montana, Jonas Brothers, or U2.

 

That's great. Nice observations all around.

 

I kind of feel dumb that I never even thought of that connection in any capacity.

[Calexico]

On TV? Where? Palladia?

 

Channel 4 in England showed most of it.

[NightOfJoy]

He signs off all of his posts like this. Lord, wouldn't you just love to get stuck in a bar with this guy.

 

I'm here to encourage that guy to post much more often.

 

And yeah, that "1991, The Year Punk Broke" sure didnt do the early 90s scene any favors. Thurston Moore came off like a complete ass.