Magnetized Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 In reading the reviews from the Hollywood Bowl show, I saw a reference to a blog entry from the LA Times Pop & Hiss music blog (10/11/2011) that I didn't remember reading before. If this has already been posted, moderators, feel free to delete, or move to another thread. http://latimesblogs....al-history.html I found this fascinating, and I remember being struck by the song when Jeff played it at the solo benefit shows at the end of March. He made a comment that there's no way we were going to recognize it (requested by Brianna) but that this was how it all started. Then he sang what was, in fact, almost unrecognizable at first. Here's the article, for those who don't want to follow the link: It began as a slow jam. Those who have heard the first track on Wilco's "The Whole Love"know it ended up as something far different. It's a 7½-minute melodic collage unlike anything else in the band's catalog, opening with a crush of digital thunder and ending in a torrent of guitars and rhythms.In between are mysteriously plaintive vocals ("I'll never know when I might ambulance"), the dirtiest, fuzziest bass in Wilco's catalog and a ping-pong of digital grooves. Occasionally, a restrained guitar makes its way to the front of the electronic soundscapes, as if completely oblivious to the carnage that's about to happen."I had a pretty great title, I thought," Jeff Tweedy said recently during a visit to Wilco's two-story Chicago loft. "I had a song that went with that title, and a lot of the same lyrics and same melody. But it had a completely different feel. There was a guitar riff that doesn’t appear at all in this version."What follows is an attempt to trace the evolution of a song, in this case Wilco's "Art of Almost," from as many different perspectives as possible. The interviews were conducted over a two-day span in Chicago.The players: Vocalist Tweedy, drummer Glenn Kotche, guitarist Nels Cline, keyboardist-programmer Mikael Jorgensen, guitarist-keyboardist-co-producer Pat Sansone and bassist John Stirratt. A clip of the band performing the song live for "The Late Show With David Letterman" is embedded below. SANSONE It started out as sort of a late-night slow jam. When it was on our CD of demos, my subtitle for it was "Sade Song." It had an '80s, slow-soul feel. I got more involved in the track later in its process.CLINEIn some cases on this record, the versions of the songs you’re hearing are the first version. We retooled them a little, but they were supposedly demos. In the case of "Art of Almost," it wasn’t simply retooled. It was reinvented. We went from recording this sort of loping, Richard Thompson/Crazy Horse song in a mid- or down-tempo. Then, the next thing I knew the groove had become subdivided. It’s basically a double-time groove, and Mike is layering analog synth grooves on top of it.TWEEDYA lot of time, when you get through the shape of a song, and you know you’re not really recording, it’s license to screw around and explore the theme. Glenn started playing a super-cool drum beat. Everything before that was sounding, "Eh, this could work. This is passable. We can make it sound pretty." But that drumbeat just made me wonder, "Can I sing over that same melody?" So we mocked it up on the computer.KOTCHEJeff had a lyric and a chord change, and the first time we tried that I was playing to a drum machine with a CompuRhythm loop that I set up. It’s a groove in more of a soul, low-key thing. At the very end of the song, when the tune was over, I was just messing around and they let the tape play and didn’t press stop. Jeff heard that beat and then we re-tracked the entire thing so that beat starts the song.SANSONEI think the idea was to see if we could take the vocal and put it on top of something a little funkier, something that had a little more momentum. Glenn had this drumbeat that he had been wanting to use in a song for a long time, so we brought that drum in. Then we chopped up Jeff’s original vocal from the slow jam and made it work with this new beat. Then I did some Mellotron and then it just kind of unfolded from there. It was really an experiment to see if the vocal could work on a new rhythm. It did, and it set the tone.TWEEDYIt came together so quickly from that point that everybody could start to see it. How much other stuff from the version could we bring in? Let’s bring in the tremolo pick guitars and stuff and the little cloud of sound. It was a collage over many months.CLINEThe song became this science project of a song, seemingly in the time it took me to get from the kitchen in the loft back to the mixing console.KOTCHEI told John this. I said, "Finally, you will get your due." Not that he hasn’t in the past, but there are sides of John that I’ve never heard, and I’ve played with him 11 years. Like "Art of Almost"? John can play funky? I didn’t know that. Wilco isn’t necessarily a funky band, but I don’t think there’s any other track where his fuzzed bass is sticking through.SANSONEIt was such an in-the-computer, in-the-studio exercise. That allowed us to let our guard down. We didn’t have to feel like we had to make these songs feel like they happened organically. We could do stuff that sounded studio. That gave us freedom and allowed us to make a record where we do a lot of editing.KOTCHEMike suggested the ending part -- the double-time thing. I was really opposed to that. I thought it was going to turn into "Freebird." It’s such a cliché to go into double-time at the end, but he saw it. I didn’t see it. I doubted it and didn’t see what it could be. It turned into this amazing guitar raga, weird, punk thing that is a perfect complement to the first half.CLINE Jeff imagined this coda at the end with me basically trying to rage on the guitar. That’s not something he asks me to do. It’s usually the exact opposite. If he asks me anything, he’ll say, "Can you play that same idea but as though your fingers are all tied together?" In other words, slow down or play less slick. When I heard Jeff was pondering starting the record like that, I was ecstatic.TWEEDYIt was going to be first on the record for a long, long time. Whether that song was first or not, I married myself to the idea that I wanted to hear a record start with the sound of hard drives. You can’t really hear them, but they’re in there. That’s part of what that sound is at the beginning. It’s the sound of broken hard drives, and the sound of data dying. That song started casting such a big shadow.CLINEThe sound of hard drives trying to start up? That was fun to record. I think this was [Jeff's] idea of knowing that everything will be listened to in the digital domain. It’s going to be listened to on laptops, on iPods. So, opposed to everyone making things like they sound like scratchy vinyl, I think he wanted to make it so digital -- so digital that it was actually messed-up, vintage digital.TWEEDYIt opened the door to having the next record be whatever we wanted it to be. You can put anything after that song and people will be ready for it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bleedorange Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 I wish they went through this process with an entire album. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Yaz Rock Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 I wish they went through this process with an entire album. Wasn't that YHF? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Preferred B Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 I do remember reading the LA Times blog, and it was actually the inspiration for my request ... if it started out as a slow jam, I assumed it could be done solo. I'm glad it worked! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Oil Can Boyd Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 Thanks for posting that. It's a totally cool read ... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Blue and Green Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 Sweet post. Thanks! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Skian Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 Thanks for posting the article.I saw and heard them play it in Reno. Third song into the show. One Sunday Morning -> Poor Places -> The Art of Almost. Wilco was off and running. The band blew the doors off and lifted the roof. What intensity! The pressure kept building and building until the hard drive crashed! Favorite song that night.Looking for the recording of that show (9/23/12) ??? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
anthony Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 Anyone know if there is a solo acoustic and/or early 'slow jam' version of this song? I am curious about its earlier incarnations ... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Magnetized Posted October 3, 2012 Author Share Posted October 3, 2012 The only time I've heard it was at the 3/30/2012 Tweedy solo charity show in Chicago--the first night of the 2-night stand. A friend I was with sent me an audience taping, which I love. I assume it's available for download at one of the usual sites, but I can't ever seem to figure out how to do that. I'm not aware of it having been played anywhere else--maybe one of the living room shows? If anyone is truly dying to hear this and if you can't find the recording anywhere else, send me a PM and I'll burn a copy for you. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
anthony Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 Thanks to the wonders of the InterWeb, I was able to hear the 03/30/12 version. I have to admit that I really like it! I gotta figure out that little riff that anchors the song. Pretty cool. It would be a nice Bonus Track or something... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
choo-choo-charlie Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 http://sooutoftune.org/concerts/265 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
awatt Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 http://sooutoftune.org/concerts/265 Thank you, thank you, thank you.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
williamblanda Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 Message from Mid-bar, Sunloathe... Bustin' out the rare and neglected. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jcamp Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 This is great!Thaks for posting Wilco Me !! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jcamp Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 The musical direction Art of Almost represents being a departure from SBS and WTA may be culminated in Jeff comments," It opened the door for to having the next record be what ever we wanted it to be...". For Nels to comment he was ecstacic of the process and Pat given producing credits, lends some creedance to the stabilty of the current line-up. Being there said, maybe we will see more " lap-top era " free-ranging setlistlists than of late. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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