Atticus Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 there are many. Immediate stand-outs for me are: Radio CureYou Are My FaceHummingbirdPoor PlacesPieholden Suite Quote Link to post Share on other sites
choo-choo-charlie Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 Hummingbird - most chords of any Wilco song? Agree with your selections here, and will add One Wing, Nothingsevergonnastandinmywayagain, and Side with the Seeds. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Atticus Posted December 17, 2013 Author Share Posted December 17, 2013 One Wing has some fantastic transitions, good point. I never noticed it til I saw him play it solo (and very much prefer the solo version) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
choo-choo-charlie Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 Me too. He played it in Denver and I was completely mesmerized. Really interesting to hear the solo arrangement of it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
calvino Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 Live, in the main "theme" of the song, they're switching from an A chord to a D chord. The studio version stays on the A chord. It's the simple things -- live version of War on War. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
choo-choo-charlie Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 Seeing him play Radio Cure solo also is terrific. It really reveals the complexity of the chord changes in the song and is a wonderful display of Jeff's acoustic guitar style. While I love that song in any form, I think a lot of that gets lost within the soundscapes of the full-band context. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Atticus Posted December 17, 2013 Author Share Posted December 17, 2013 Please Be Patient With Me is another beautiful one, picking-wise. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
choo-choo-charlie Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 Outside of Wilco, I loved hearing "A Long Time Ago" twice on this solo tour. It was my request for Kansas City, the opening night of the tour. The verses and chorus are relatively straightforward chord changes, but in the middle there's an absolutely gorgeous fingerpicked passage. The solo arrangement of "Spiders" also reveals a tune with more depth and intricately played parts, over the bombast/guitar pyrotechnics of the full band, rock arrangement (which also is awesome). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mountain bed Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 there are many. Immediate stand-outs for me are: Radio CurePoor Places These two, for sure. Cars Can't Escape from YHF sessions as well. I'm a YHF nut, as you know. As far as other records go: things like Hotel Arizona, How To Fight Loneliness, and Wishful Thinking really create a mood. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
choo-choo-charlie Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 These two, for sure. Cars Can't Escape from YHF sessions as well. I'm a YHF nut, as you know. As far as other records go: things like Hotel Arizona, How To Fight Loneliness, and Wishful Thinking really create a mood. Just listened to the recording from the 9-4-2003 show at the MacDonald Theatre in Eugene, Ore., this afternoon. Great version of Cars Can't Escape at that show. I really like the live arrangements of YHF tunes from 2002-2003. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Andrew McKean Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 Impossible Germany, Walken or Bull Black Nova I think have some really interesting things going on as well. The acoustic version of BBN is crazy cool. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Moss Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 The Shepard tone thing in Born Alone is pretty cool. Also like the chords in Jesus, etc... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lost highway Posted December 18, 2013 Share Posted December 18, 2013 Every time I pick up a guitar and read through "Wishful Thinking" I find its changes to be very clever. Great song. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Skian Posted December 18, 2013 Share Posted December 18, 2013 What makes those chord progressions interesting to you ?I just started playing guitar - so I'm curious and like the interest of others.So far the simplisty of Handshake Drugs I find to be very entertaining.I just picked up Poor Places this weekend and that song is very enjoyable to play. (all studio versions)Also Alone (Skakin Sugar) and Sky Blue Sky.You are My Face is a little troubling still. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Atticus Posted December 18, 2013 Author Share Posted December 18, 2013 What makes those chord progressions interesting to you ?After playing guitar for awhile it begins to feel like most songs are built from the same blocks. I have been consistently surprised and pleased, learning Jeff's catalogue over the years, how many creative surprises he throws in, whether it's alternate timings, capo placement, creative chords or (in the case of this thread) linking chords together I've never or rarely encountered before. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
anthony Posted December 18, 2013 Share Posted December 18, 2013 The acoustic version of BBN is crazy cool. After seeing the solo shows, this one came to mind. Very interesting. Also thought the solo Art of Almost was pretty interesting. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Skian Posted December 18, 2013 Share Posted December 18, 2013 After playing guitar for awhile it begins to feel like most songs are built from the same blocks. I have been consistently surprised and pleased, learning Jeff's catalogue over the years, how many creative surprises he throws in, whether it's alternate timings, capo placement, creative chords or (in the case of this thread) linking chords together I've never or rarely encountered before.Thank you.I understand and agree. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lost highway Posted December 18, 2013 Share Posted December 18, 2013 What makes those chord progressions interesting to you ? On Wishful Thinking there are two things that I find really cool. The first one is how many chords fit without it sounding busy. It's kind of a longer sequence, and the changes on the chorus are pretty quick but it's a really subdued song without all of that information sounding frantic. The other is the cool substitutions that are outside of the scale. The song is in D so the F#min and Bmin are typical, but then on the verse he puts in Emaj so there's a G# outside of the scale that settle back down to a G on the Gmaj that follows. Same deal later on the outro chorus where Amin puts in a C natural that would be a C# in the scale (which we've heard each time he plays a F#min). Both of those alterations are borrowed from a D blues (D, F, G, G#, A, C, D) which would make them seem more predictable in a blues style arrangement, but once the minor 6 (Bmin) and minor 3 (F#min) step in it's set up to sound like it's playing by classical rules. None of this is at all revolutionary, but it is cool and clever. These are absolutely tricks in the Beatles catalog, you just don't hear many people on the radio using them these days- a little more harmonic sophistication. I'd like to look at the string arrangements on Black Moon. There's some cool stuff in there, very dramatic. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
choo-choo-charlie Posted December 18, 2013 Share Posted December 18, 2013 To me, Handshake Drugs is made by everything going on in the full band arrangement. I think I'd be bored listening to a solo version of it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Skian Posted December 20, 2013 Share Posted December 20, 2013 To me, Handshake Drugs is made by everything going on in the full band arrangement. I think I'd be bored listening to a solo version of it.The full band arrangement is best. I just play along with the album version or a live band version (Kicking T.V.) Its a test to seehow far into the sonic drone I can go. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fritz Posted December 20, 2013 Share Posted December 20, 2013 Magazine Called SunsetCars Can't EscapePoor PlacesBorn Alone All indicative of Mr Tweedy's gift for songwriting. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lamradio Posted December 20, 2013 Share Posted December 20, 2013 Either Way That little key changing chord sequence after the verses.. Genius. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Atticus Posted December 20, 2013 Author Share Posted December 20, 2013 Either Way That little key changing chord sequence after the verses.. Genius. yep. and like most of Jeff's twists, very easy to play once you figure out what the hell he's doing. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Don Draper Posted December 20, 2013 Share Posted December 20, 2013 Summerteeth has always interested me, and Can't Stand It isn't unique but the arrangement makes it seem like it's a twist I guess., Quote Link to post Share on other sites
choo-choo-charlie Posted December 20, 2013 Share Posted December 20, 2013 Either Way That little key changing chord sequence after the verses.. Genius. Agreed. That's a good one. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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