Jeff Tweedy talks about New Album to Spin

[Guest Speed Racer]

[Bosco]

i can't see how anyone could ever get that passionate about the last 2 wilco albums. i don't think i've ever seen anyone on this board go off on a rant about the greatness of the last 2 wilco albums, because nobody really cares about them that much. it's normally "well i know they aren't as good as the other albums, but the band has moved on from that, i still like them blah blah blah"

 

She may not be in the board but my wife's favorite two albums ARE the last two, and by a long shot, nothing comes close. She loves Wilco, she loves Jeff and she LOVES the last two records. Just because you don't like them doesn't mean they are crap, it only means you don't like them.

[choo-choo-charlie]

Sky Blue Sky is probably the best album, like, ever, dude.

[Sir Stewart]

If I've learned one thing from decades of reading artists describing a new album before its release, it's that artists are terrible at describing their albums.

[The High Heat]

If I've learned one thing from decades of reading artists describing a new album before its release, it's that artists are terrible at describing their albums.

See: Tweedy describing the holes where the music should be in YHF to folks backstage in IATTBYH.

[Sir Stewart]

See: Tweedy describing the holes where the music should be in YHF to folks backstage in IATTBYH.

 

That's actually is a better description than most!

[jff]

See: Tweedy describing the holes where the music should be in YHF to folks backstage in IATTBYH.

 

I thought the "holes" scene offered a pretty good description of the sound/approach to YHF era Wilco. That scene really exposed the mooks backstage for the know-nothing hangers-on that they are.

[The High Heat]

I thought the "holes" scene offered a pretty good description of the sound/approach to YHF era Wilco. That scene really exposed the mooks backstage for the know-nothing hangers-on that they are.

After the fact, we understand him, but beforehand WTF are they supposed to think of that description?

[jff]

After the fact, we understand him, but beforehand WTF are they supposed to think of that description?

 

Fair point, but what are they supposed to think of any description?

 

Maybe if someone had said "can you explain what you mean by holes?" rather than saying "so, like, uh, it's like a Courtney Love, album?" they would have shamed themselves a lot less, and Tweedy might have been more interested in hanging around to talk to them.

[Guest Speed Racer]

Tweedy said SBS was going to be straightforward and it was; W(TA) was described as a laid-back studio number where Nels overdubbed guitar parts to completed songs. Both sound right to me.

[jff]

Tweedy said SBS was going to be straightforward and it was; W(TA) was described as a laid-back studio number where Nels overdubbed guitar parts to completed songs. Both sound right to me.

 

I don't think SBS is as straightforward as it seems. Lyrically maybe, on most songs. But the goofy guitar line in Walken is kind of bizarre and cartoonish. Sort of like the theme song you might hear on a log flume ride at Six Flags in Mississippi. Side with the Seeds and Impossible Germany have quite a bit of not-so-straightforward instrumentation, as well. Shake it Off doesn't bring to mind any other song I'd consider straightforward. Its choppy rhythms in the middle part remind me of some of the Loose Fur material.

 

At least, that's how I recall it. I haven't listened to SBS in two years probably.

[Guest Jules]

She may not be in the board but my wife's favorite two albums ARE the last two, and by a long shot, nothing comes close. She loves Wilco, she loves Jeff and she LOVES the last two records. Just because you don't like them doesn't mean they are crap, it only means you don't like them.

It also means your wife is wrong.

[Guest Speed Racer]

I don't think SBS is as straightforward as it seems.

 

At least, that's how I recall it. I haven't listened to SBS in two years probably.

 

Okay. Straightforward in that it goes in one ear and out the other with nary an obstacle to detain it.

[The High Heat]

Fair point, but what are they supposed to think of any description?

 

Maybe if someone had said "can you explain what you mean by holes?" rather than saying "so, like, uh, it's like a Courtney Love, album?" they would have shamed themselves a lot less, and Tweedy might have been more interested in hanging around to talk to them.

I don't think Tweedy has much of an interest of meeting with fans under those circumstances.

 

And I think we all agree that those people provided the dopiest scene in the documentary. What we fail to admit is that we are all glad it was them in that moment and not any one of us. What can anyone say that's interesting and meaningful when the entire meeting is forced and unnatural? Fans don't belong backstage after a concert, no more than we should be invited into the clubhouse after the game. Wrong time, wrong place.

 

Save for the groupies, of course.

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

sometimes I wonder if you really pay attention around here

 

Well, there's no reason for you to wonder if I give a rat's ass what you wonder.

[lost highway]

Suddenly the thread becomes negative, as people prepare to like, or not like something they haven't heard yet.

 

I already know I like the album and if you don't like it I don't like you. If you really like the first half but not the second of both SBS and W(TA) we should go get margaritas.

 

Has this thing leaked yet?

[kidsmoke]

Let's all back off with the snarky sniping at one another and the egotistical, self-congratulatory assessments of each other's musical tastes as paling in contrast to our own. Pathetic.

 

We like what we like, for reasons that sometimes cannot be put into words, nor need to be. A bit of live-and-let-live would be nice...this is supposed to be a community of fans, remember? So have your opinions, have your favorite Wilco eras, Wilco albums, Wilco songs, but please resist your "need" to trash the opinions of others.

 

Myself, I like the Wilco music. I'm going to wait for the new album and then give it some time to sink in. Can't wait!

 

 

Admin edit: Oh, for Pete's sake, I've removed "the fuck" from my statement, above. It was simply a descriptive, born of frustration with how nasty people were being to each other. I apologize. But the nastiness needs to quit, which at the moment it seems to have, so fine. Saying "the fuck" doesn't amount to excessive profanity. Still, sorry to anyone offended.

[smells like flowers]

This thread is exactly the stuff that keeps me coming back to this site... Wilco fans are, if nothing else, passionate about the band. I love it when things get heated -- it reveals how important Wilco's music is to us!

[dagwave]

wow, jeff's "meh" comment has it's organic beginning.

 

The comments when any new record drops are fairly ridiculous, no matter the artist.

 

at this time, any discussion is pretty much mental masturbation.

 

and some of you guys have lotion on the brain....

[Magnetized]

Let's let Jeff weigh in on this (from A.V. Club interview, 10/14/09, admittedly in a slightly different context): "What the fuck, man? Just like it. Just shut up and like it. Or don’t like it, but whatever."

[stooka]

This thread is exactly the stuff that keeps me coming back to this site...

 

not me!!

[kidsmoke]

This thread is exactly the stuff that keeps me coming back to this site... Wilco fans are, if nothing else, passionate about the band. I love it when things get heated -- it reveals how important Wilco's music is to us!

 

I'm a pretty passionate person myself...ask anyone who knows me well. But a person can be passionate without being immature, egotistical and insulting.

 

"The mark of a mature person is the ability to disagree without being disagreeable." I love that quote although I can't remember the original author.

[uncool2pillow]

I'm a pretty passionate person myself...ask anyone who knows me well. But a person can be passionate without being immature, egotistical and insulting.

 

"The mark of a mature person is the ability to disagree without being disagreeable." I love that quote although I can't remember the original author.

You're absolutely right. But I see value in being immature, egotistical and insulting, at least when on an internet forum. That may sound strange, and doesn't describe a lot of my posts here, but let me try to explain myself.

 

I started coming around here regularly about 3 years ago after seeing one of the residency shows. What I loved (and still love, periodically) about VC is the anarchy of it all. That anarchy seems to have been dying a slow death. To me, that's a shame. VC at it's best (from my perspective, at least) means you could go from one incredibly earnest thread about politics, music, etc., to a thread where newbies are baited into arguing about how to rank Wilco albums. I spent a lot of time here in the summer of 2008 and found myself laughing out loud all the time, even if it was at my own expense, from time to time. The immature baiting, calling out of hypocrisy, and so forth maybe is just an attempt to help people take themselves a little less seriously.

 

Now we feel the need to delete (or move or whatever, I couldn't find it) a thread about someone pooping? Really? Who's delicate sensibilities are really going to offended by something just because it's childish? A mostly anonymous internet board dedicated to a rock band seems like a great place to let people blow off a little steam and act childish from time to time.

 

BTW, how many times to people who would trade insults and rant and rave at each other in one thread wish each other vibes, prayers, etc. in another in a moment of crisis? To me, the raucous nature of this place meant people were comfortable being themselves, even if it meant being berated for it from time to time.

 

I hope this rambling makes some sense. If not, let me have it!

[Guest Speed Racer]

Exactly, u2oop. I love the riffing about current events and Wilco and all that. A lot of it might be banal, immature, or whatever, but without excessive moderation most negativity will run its course. Personal insults are where I draw the line, but the rest of it keeps places like this lively. Except when you don't let it.

 

Re: discussing the new album before it comes out: someone posted an article with an interview with Jeff. Most people are basing their thoughts on the new album on this article and recent albums. What else are we supposed to talk about in this thread? To say we're forming opinions about the new album is correct! We are! Based on information we have! I would love to be proven wrong or different, and likely will be, but for now, in this hread, I'm forming an opinion with the evidence I have. Mental masturbation? I'd hate to have that kind of outlook on lively topics. Don't want to talk about a new album until it comes out? Don't post in a thread about a new album until it comes out! Easy fix that involves no moderation but self-moderation.

[uncool2pillow]

without excessive moderation most negativity will run its course. Personal insults are where I draw the line, but the rest of it keeps places like this lively.

If there is a line to be drawn, personal insults is a good place to draw it.

 

I also see where A-Man is coming from. To me, it doesn't get old. But I've been active here for about of 1/3 of the time as you and don't spend much time here per day.

 

For the most part, there's just a handful of people who seem to post the "controversial" stuff. Wouldn't it make more sense for those who don't like what certain people tend to post to just put those certain people on ignore?

 

The mods get to decide, of course. It's "their site" and the get to set the tone they want. My wife moderates another board, and I here about their discussions from time to time and not come down on them. I'm just trying to voice an opinion for a more free flowing environment here.