Next Wilco Album

[Derek Phillips]

Preach on, sister. I want to hear some rock out of these dudes.

 

 

Kids today...

[ih8music]

I have no idea what to expect, nor what I necessarily want in the next album. I guess I hope it has good, genuine songs that aren't forced into being "different" or "harder" just for the sake of doing it, nor do I want anything overly "radio-friendly." If that means more rockish stuff or more cutting edge stuff, then fine... but if that means more soft, introspective, ballads from Tweedy that's fine, too.

 

In WTA, it seems like they tried to cover all their bases, and a bunch of them fall flat to me. I can't listen to "You and I" because it seems like it was too much of a "here's a sweet love song with a hot artist to get us on the radio" deal. I like BBN a lot more, but I can't help but think of it as more of a musical acting job than a story which conveys some true personal emotions of Jeff.

 

Given where Tweedy is in his life, and the generally happy state of the band (as far as we know), I don't expect much of anything dark. I'd settle for some honest, beautiful songs about getting older and watching his boys turn into teens and young men. Perhaps something about the state of the country and how people are worried, disappointed, and angry about everything that's going on. I guess anything that comes across as genuine and from the heart will work for me.

[Chris_H_2]

Jim O'Rourke FTW

[Basil II]

Songwriting trumps any sound direction for me, if the songs are compelling enough at this point they have the lineup to pull off almost any direction they want to go in. I haven't really loved the last two albums in the way I liked the earlier stuff, but Califone has done a great job of scratching my YHF-AGIB itches.

 

--Mike

 

What Mike said.....add Calexico and FDOM to teh Califone list.

 

-Robert

[lost highway]

I like the last two records. I don't really care which "direction" they go. Every album has sounded so different. I just want top shelf Wilco songs. When I look back at AGIB, it's not for the style it's for the song quality. I think 100% of AGIB is classic. I think both of the last two records are about 50% Classic and 20% pretty good. AGIB had rock outs, blue eyed soul, folkiness, experimentation, pop. So have the last two. They just need to write a bit more, cut a few more as B-sides and take their time. I think half of SBS and half of W(TA) would make something that would rival AGIB.

 

I do get a little more pumped on the material with either darker, or more impressionistic lyrics. The fun stuff is ok, just doesn't drive as deep for me.

[Guest kechefs]

Something that sounds good in my head

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

Jim O'Rourke FTW

 

While Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is indeed a work of art and boundry shattering, I'm afraid it's beeps and boops and white noise are not aging well. May be a controversial opinion here, and I'm not saying I feel that way; but it is definitely a sentiment I have heard more than a few times

[Guest Speed Racer]

You're the guy who likes Born to Run, though? Talking about production that hasn't aged well...

[Guest Hollinger.]

Born To Run is a god damned work of art.

 

And who the hell is FDOM?

[Guest Speed Racer]

Born To Run is a god damned work of art.

 

The second you start the record, you know exactly in which decade it was produced. The production dated itself, um, in 1976.

[brianjeremy]

The last two albums have lacked balls. I want some blistering rawk.

 

Maybe it's time for Wilco's hardcore punk album.

 

 

This. The last few albums have lacked some bite to them. I really want to see them rock.

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

You're the guy who likes Born to Run, though? Talking about production that hasn't aged well...

 

You are dead to me.

 

You hear me?

 

Dead.

[Guest Speed Racer]

As opposed to those good times we used to have?

 

Not saying it's a terrible album, in fact the songs are all amazing - amazing album - but the zeitgeist production completely ruined the product.

[Elixir Sue]

Bull Black Nova isn't amazing or anything, but at least it's interesting. I'll take songs like that and Unlikely Japan (which I'd much rather listen to than Impossible Germany) any day.

[Guest Speed Racer]

The auto-tune ruined Unlikely Japan for me. (Yes, I know it's not actually auto-tune, but "shintzy vocal effect" doesn't bolster your case either.)

[Guest Hollinger.]

WHO THE HELL IS FDOM

[Elixir Sue]

Where?

[GtrPlyr]

I have no idea what to expect, nor what I necessarily want in the next album. I guess I hope it has good, genuine songs that aren't forced into being "different" or "harder" just for the sake of doing it, nor do I want anything overly "radio-friendly." If that means more rockish stuff or more cutting edge stuff, then fine... but if that means more soft, introspective, ballads from Tweedy that's fine, too.

That sounds good to me .

 

 

WHO THE HELL IS FDOM

I think it's Friends of Dean Martinez (which would actually be FODM)

[Guest Hollinger.]

WTF? Are they still around?

[DiamondClaw]

I have no idea what to expect, nor what I necessarily want in the next album. I guess I hope it has good, genuine songs that aren't forced into being "different" or "harder" just for the sake of doing it, nor do I want anything overly "radio-friendly." If that means more rockish stuff or more cutting edge stuff, then fine... but if that means more soft, introspective, ballads from Tweedy that's fine, too.

 

Songwriting trumps any sound direction for me, if the songs are compelling enough at this point they have the lineup to pull off almost any direction they want to go in.

 

This sums it up to me. As long as Tweedy writes good songs, and they are performed honestly and not manipulated to be something they are not, I'll be happy. I think some fans sometimes have very, very specific and often unfair expectations for Wilco. Kind of like that "tortured artistic soul/ voice of a generation/ poster boy for indie rock martyrdom" joke.

 

As long as the process is organic, I'm sure their natural musical instincts will guide them to a beautiful record.

[Synthesizer Patel]

i personally think the biggest problem with the last two albums was the arrangements of the songs, tweedy's writing was roughly the same (maybe not at his peak, but still very good) - although everything about the last ones production was bad, in my eyes. it really comes down to having nels cline in the band, which seems to limit how they perform the songs. everything seems to revolve around the electric guitar - if there's a riff it's on the guitar, solos are on the guitar etc... i just want them to let the other people have a go for once. also, i keep saying this everytime i talk about what i want - i want some effort put into the vocal arrangements. making the backing singing interesting, at least 2 of the other members sing, so why can't they do something a bit more interesting with that? so, folk, rock, soul, reggae, whatever - it doesn't matter, they just need to make the arrangements interesting again.

[badger]

i personally think the biggest problem with the last two albums was the arrangements of the songs, tweedy's writing was roughly the same (maybe not at his peak, but still very good) - although everything about the last ones production was bad, in my eyes. it really comes down to having nels cline in the band, which seems to limit how they perform the songs. everything seems to revolve around the electric guitar - if there's a riff it's on the guitar, solos are on the guitar etc... i just want them to let the other people have a go for once. also, i keep saying this everytime i talk about what i want - i want some effort put into the vocal arrangements. making the backing singing interesting, at least 2 of the other members sing, so why can't they do something a bit more interesting with that? so, folk, rock, soul, reggae, whatever - it doesn't matter, they just need to make the arrangements interesting again.

 

I agree with a lot of what you say here, but I don't think that the arrangement problem you allude to revolves around Nels Cline necessarily. I also don't believe that Wilco is likely to shift its focus significantly from being a guitar band.

 

In my opinion, the arrangements could just do with being sparser and more dynamic. The precedent set by SBS, where they all sat down and recorded together, is in some ways a dangerous one, because it assumes that everyone has to be involved all the time. A band which has built such a successful live reputation, is also likely to arrange parts for all its members.

 

More light and shade within songs would make a big difference. They're all great players, it's just that when they're all competing for space in the aural spectrum for too long, definition and sonic identity gets lost. A lot of this could be achieved just through imaginative and/or brutal editing, which is what happened with a lot of YHF, after all.

 

You won't find a guitarist with more colours on his sonic palette than Nels Cline, so personally, I don't think it's a guitar problem of his making. Live, I think that some of the most exciting moments revolve around the combination of Tweedy's acoustic and Cline's electric. More of these dynamic combinations, in greater isolation and involving some of the other voices, as you suggest, would be good.

[moxiebean]

I'd love to hear them do a multi-disc Sandinista kind of thing - just go in the studio, bash out a bunch of stuff, and put it all out there.

[Atticus]

both SBS and the parenthetical really muffled Glen's drums in my opinion. I much prefer the live outtakes to the SBS studio cuts. I hope they bring back some clarity in the mix as far as Glen.

[DiamondClaw]

I agree with a lot of what you say here, but I don't think that the arrangement problem you allude to revolves around Nels Cline necessarily. I also don't believe that Wilco is likely to shift its focus significantly from being a guitar band.

 

In my opinion, the arrangements could just do with being sparser and more dynamic. The precedent set by SBS, where they all sat down and recorded together, is in some ways a dangerous one, because it assumes that everyone has to be involved all the time. A band which has built such a successful live reputation, is also likely to arrange parts for all its members.

 

More light and shade within songs would make a big difference. They're all great players, it's just that when they're all competing for space in the aural spectrum for too long, definition and sonic identity gets lost. A lot of this could be achieved just through imaginative and/or brutal editing, which is what happened with a lot of YHF, after all.

 

You won't find a guitarist with more colours on his sonic palette than Nels Cline, so personally, I don't think it's a guitar problem of his making. Live, I think that some of the most exciting moments revolve around the combination of Tweedy's acoustic and Cline's electric. More of these dynamic combinations, in greater isolation and involving some of the other voices, as you suggest, would be good.

I agree with this too. While I like WTA more than most, I do think it suffers a little from the "too many cooks in the kitchen" syndrome- especially "I'll Fight" and "Sonny Feeling". To me, "I'll Fight" would have been better with a much sparser arrangement, not unlike they way they performed tracks in the early '00s, as opposed to the distracting, everybody-has-to-have-a-part circus of sound. Sonny Feeling- as much as I like Nels, I actually think that song would be better without a bunch of his overdubs.

 

But I guess that's the problem with a six-piece band- everybody has to have "their" part. Your idea of light and shade editing would do wonders. Would it ruffle any feathers though?