Tweedy - Sukierae

[linclink]

It feels more intimate than a Wilco record has ever felt, almost to the point where I feel like I'm intruding as a listener.

 

I do love it though. Listened through this morning and I can't wait to hear it on vinyl next week.

 

Wondering if any of the songs not previously played live will make it into this upcoming run of shows. I hope so!

Yeah, I hoping that the remaining songs that haven't appeared on those two Tweedy Roadcase shows might appear in some potential future Tweedy Roadcase show(s) from this Autumnal leg (hoping the new cover "Love Like A Wire" makes it there too- but more about that one later on in this post)...it'll be interesting to see if he/they add(s) any more songs to the set list (they've done the vast majority, 16 of 20)...

 

The Washington D.C. Roadcase show will showcase 15 songs from the album. The tour opening Detroit show offers 14 & they are all repeats from the D.C. show. BTW it's a truly great show too!!- I saw it & Baltimore earlier this year:

1- Down From Above

2- Diamond Light

3- Honey Combed

4- Flowering

5- Desert Bell

6- Summer Noon

7- Fake Fur Coat

8- World Away

9- New Moon

10- High As Hello

11- Where My Love

12- Slow Love

13- Nobody Dies Anymore

14- Wait For Love

15- Low Key

 

He also performed this one, as yet non-Roadcase documented, song

*16- Hazel

 

So that also leaves us with this quartet of, as yet, unattempted live, songs

17- I'll Sing It

18- Please Don't Let Me Be So Understood

19- Pigeons

20- I'll Never Know

 

And finally, I'm REALLY hoping that some future Tweedy Roadcase show will also feature "Love Like A Wire"- an amazing cover of an, as yet unreleased, Diane Izzo song that the full electric Tweedy band covered (for the first time as far as I can tell) on 7/26 in Freeport, ME.

Check it out here: http://sooutoftune.org/concerts/1224

 

[linclink]

A few listens in & so far, so great!! I had a decent idea of the sound/feel from the 8 pre-order downloads, but this is just so much more when you hear the whole enchilada!!!

I think I still might prefer a few live versions of the songs myself (maybe even more live ones over studio than the other way around, so far...), but that may change.

This hangs together as a sonic field incredibly well & I'm loving the sequencing too!! Though I have to admit I'll also eventually do my own favorites front loaded edit just for fun. This is, as is usually the case, an amazingly eclectic & fascinating ride with so many facets to take in.

The two things that instantly totally stand out about this release for me are...

1) The as always, absolutely great songwriting! But this time it carries the often unique slant of the very specific & well known personal themes that led it to become a solo, rather than the next Wilco, album. It's not like he hasn't mixed the personal & autobiographical in with the more experimental & obtuse, & the more musically oriented potboilers, but this is something truly unique, & deeply moving in his canon. It's not all focused on those issues, there's nice breaks, but it's interwoven in a way that colors the overriding feel of the album in a way that is pretty powerful to say the least. Trying to use words to describe too much about the music & lyrics & the interplay thereof just won't do it... Jeff started as a failed rock writer in the beginning, so you know he'd understand...let's just say the guy remains at the top of his game & that a very scant few have ever flown so high for so long...

He is not only as fave a working songwriter as I can think of (along with Paul Simon, St. Vincent, the Yo La Tengo gang, & maybe a few others who might merit mention in my current top tier, or maybe a half-notch below- Jeb Puryear & Tara Nevins from Donna The Buffalo, The Flaming Lips, Paul McCartney, Richard Thompson, Lucinda Williams, Leonard Cohen. etc.), but more so, I think he's up there with being able to be called as fave a songwriter as I can think of, period/ever. That doesn't mean he's above everyone else, but that he's at that same level, & as great as, any else beyond those already named that I can think of naming here (John Lennon, George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Ray Davies, Pete Townshend, Joni Mitchell, Paul Westerberg,. The Mekons, Elvis Costello, Patti Smith, Tom Verlaine, Robbie Robertson, Van Morrison, Nick Drake, Joe Strummer & Mick Jones, etc., etc.)

2) It has a great & unique sonic feel from any other of his previous works in any incarnation (Wilco, Loose Fur, previous solo stray solo tracks, Golden Smog, Uncle Tupelo, etc.). At this point, being able to pull off something like that, over the course of a double album no less, is no small achievement. It sounds like a little universe unto itself & one that draws you deeper in deeper in over the course of it's 20 song journey, & apparently over repeated listens too. It doesn't really sound like "A Ghost Is Born" exactly, but, for me, that's the closest previous effort I can bring to the table to compare in anyway as far as the sound/musical feel goes...truly great to hear some amazing Jeff solo electric guitar thrills here too ("Diamond Light", "World Away" "New Moon", etc., etc.), Spencer deserves all the accolades he's been getting (the Levon Helm groove thing is great here & even more pronounced live), & finally Lucius are a surprise secret weapon that really adds a unique & refreshing element to the songs that they are featured on. (kudos to Scott McCaughey's more subtle contributions here too.)

Miscellaneous tidbits...
As I mentioned before in a post above, I really hope that there's a future Tweedy Roadcase show from the Autumn dates that contains "Love Like A Wire"- a great, & recently unveiled, cover of as yet unreleased song by the late, great Diane Izzo. You can get as taste of it here: http://sooutoftune.org/concerts/1224

This will get compared to "Being There", as it's a double, but I think that's more apples & oranges than anything, though they both are ambitious & expansive double albums. Let's say that they each have a particular unique & amazing thing about them that's unlike the other (like "Sandanista" & "London Calling", or "Tommy" & "Quadrophenia" how's that?) &... that are both incredibly successful in what they achieve. Honestly I think the closest I can come to it from his past works has more to do with "A Ghost Is Born", or a comp of the Loose Fur albums, rather than "Being There"...but that's just me...
 

[choo-choo-charlie]

I haven't heard anyone compare this to Being There.

[Theremin]

Not really impressed to be honest. Most of it isn't that bad but it's an album whitout a lot of highlights and the second half gives me flashbacks to the second half of W(TA), lots of tunes Jeff Tweedy can write in his sleep, there's some b-sideish material here that gives me the impression it made the album so Tweedy and son could do a live set with mostly TWEEDY songs. Diamond Light pt 1 was the best song for me probably because it sounds like a Loose Fur outtake.

Then again, it's still early days and a 20 song 70 minute album takes some time to properly digest so I hope it grows on me. And I hoped Tweedy would save his best material for Wilco anyway so if that's the case and this is just an excuse to have some good times with his son I'm okay with that.

[Vacant Horizon]

glad to hear the AGIB comparisons.  my favorite wilco album sonically and musically.  i just had a feeling about this one.  have held off listening at all.  looking forward to picking it up tomorrow!

[jjm33]

Nobody Dies Anymore is beautiful...I dont know if it is Jeff's voice or lyrics, but I havent felt like that from a song since One Sunday Morning...on a depressed day I could listen to it on repeat all day (there's an album blurb!).

[rhino4evr]

My first impression is that the album feels to long and not all that varied. Now I have nothing wrong with long , epic , albums...(last years record from Kurt Vile was my favorite of the year and it's about the same length)

 

I couldn't pay attention to the track list as it was streaming from my phone...but were a few standouts. But quite a few more middle of the road.

 

Once again I want to state this was my first impression...and it's likely to change. Hoping it grows on me a bit more

Nobody Dies Anymore is beautiful...I dont know if it is Jeff's voice or lyrics, but I havent felt like that from a song since One Sunday Morning...on a depressed day I could listen to it on repeat all day (there's an album blurb!).

Yeah, this was affected me immediately. When you know the context of when this album was recorded it's even more heartbreaking

[linclink]

I guess if I had to identify the lesser tracks, at this point, for me they'd be, in no particular order- two of the three waltzes "Desert Bell" & "Hazel" (I adore the other one "Wait For Love"), & "Down From Above". Those numbers (17 out of 20 winners, of varying degrees) justifies the aspect of it being a double album for me, since those lesser songs aren't anything awful by any means. They just sound/feel lesser & are slower lesser songs to boot that serve to bring down the momentum of the album a bit in the second half- it's already slowing down a little in that second half pace wise anyhow (with "Summer Noon" & to a lesser extent "Fake Fur Coat" being the more upbeat numbers) & having all the lesser numbers there just add a bit to that effect.

So running the album in order, I'd say the first 11 songs (an album's worth right there) come out of the gates pretty strongly & immaculately...after that we go 6 for 9 with the rest of the album (a 2 to 1 ratio for the finish)... the 12th track is our first lesser moment, then three more clear winners, another lesser track, two more winning tracks, a final dip, & then a nice strong finish.

I think there's lots to love about both the live & studio versions here too. I was initially more enamored with the live versions, but things are evening out a bit now. I do have to say that where any of the studio versions are better that the live versions are also really terrific & the margin there is thinner. I think the songs that I prefer live I prefer by a more of a margin- again noting that the studio versions are not bad, just that some of the songs really come more to life live for me & it's great to have the Roadcase versions out there to enjoy as well as the studio versions- great compliments for this project. And finally, of the tracks that are pretty much equal here I guess I'd tend to err on the side of the live versions a bit still, but this record is growing & growing on me where as I've lived with the live versions for quite some time (& a great Summer's listening) now. I hope there's some other Roadcase shows from the Autumn dates & that we do get a version of the newly covered "Love Like A Wire" (see my posts above on that) on one of them.

Better Studio (4): "World Away", "New Moon", "High As Hello", "Nobody Dies Anymore"

Better live (5)- "Summer Noon", "Diamond Light Part 1", "Down From Above", "Low Key", "Slow Love"

Pretty much equal (7): "Desert Bell", "Hazel", "Fake Fur Coat", "Wait For Love", "Where My Love", "Honey Combed", "Flowering"

No live versions to compare with...yet (4): "Pigeons", "I'll Sing It", "Please Don't Let Me Be So Understood", "I'll Never Know".

I'll keep listening to the regular sequence for awhile, & then retain a lot of that sequence when I make a newly ordered CD-R where I'd end up tossing those three lesser tracks on to the tale end. And after awhile I'll probably make a favorites weighted in the front version where a killer single album (a longer one at that) might emerge, but I'll keep all 20 on that final CD-R too.





 

[kidsmoke]

I'm loving the bass lines.

[JAK2112]

I like it after a full listen through. It's a bit long, and as with basically every double album ever, there are parts where the fat could have been trimmed.

 

However I must say "Down from above" is spectacular. I've probably listened 10 times already. I just love the way the guitars interplay, almost in unison, but never quite there, swirling around each other. Jeff has developed a great way of playing in a way that's purposefully a little off. Reminds me of Malkmus sometimes.

 

And I'm going to second the AGIB comparison. I think it's part production similarities, and part that Jeff is doing all the lead guitar work. It ends up sounding sort of like AGIB or a loose fur record more than a couple of times.

[Theremin]

There are a couple of songs at the beginning that give me a Loose Fur vibe but somewhere halfway the rather MOR mid tempo balladry seems to take over the album.

[lost highway]

It's really good.  As mentioned, it takes a while to get a good understanding of an album, especially one thats an hour and ten minutes long.  I still feel like the mellow stuff hits harder in this context than what the Wilco vehicle does with that material.  For example, I'll take "Fake Fur Coat", or "Pigeons" over "Please Be Patient With Me", or "Country Disappeared".

 

The unwieldy length is great to me.  There are only 3 or 4 albums a year, tops, that I can really dig into and spend a lot of time with.  A solid entry from Tweedy with 20 songs to chew on is a good thing.  Usually when there's a new Wilco record I'm tearing into 2-3 B-sides in addition because I like more.

[Mr. Heartbreak]

Better Studio (3): "World Away", "New Moon", "High As Hello"

 

Better live (5)- "Summer Noon", "Diamond Light Part 1", "Down From Above", "Low Key", "Slow Love"

 

Pretty much equal (8): "Nobody Dies Anymore", "Desert Bell", "Hazel", "Fake Fur Coat", "Wait For Love", "Where My Love", "Honey Combed", "Flowering"

 

No live versions to compare with...yet (4): "Pigeons", "I'll Sing It", "Please Don't Let Me Be So Misunderstood", "I'll Never Know".

 

Thanks for posting so much obsessively intricate review material. Seriously, for those of us who geek out over this stuff, it will be instructive to go back and read this later.

 

I have resisted the temptation to 1) Download the preview tracks or 2) Listen to the live material (well, I watched that one live stream...lol). Thus far, I have only played the preview tracks that streamed on various websites one time...and I avoided the NPR stream completely. Not easy for me to have even that level of self-discipline, particularly with this. However, I have ordered the discs, so I expect to have them soon and be cranking them up.

 

At times like this, I really miss the days of having a nice stereo system and plenty of free time to sit back and play records. I will be listening to this in my car, driving around with the AC blasting away. And then maybe at home, playing it through iTunes after I upload it to my Mac. Oh well. Anyway, thanks again to all of you who have commented and/or compiled...especially you, linclink.

[choo-choo-charlie]

I'm holding out and avoiding the NPR stream, too. Just one more week until it's officially released, then I'll dig in...in the car.

[Theremin]

It's really good.  As mentioned, it takes a while to get a good understanding of an album, especially one thats an hour and ten minutes long.  I still feel like the mellow stuff hits harder in this context than what the Wilco vehicle does with that material.  For example, I'll take "Fake Fur Coat", or "Pigeons" over "Please Be Patient With Me", or "Country Disappeared".

 

The unwieldy length is great to me.  There are only 3 or 4 albums a year, tops, that I can really dig into and spend a lot of time with.  A solid entry from Tweedy with 20 songs to chew on is a good thing.  Usually when there's a new Wilco record I'm tearing into 2-3 B-sides in addition because I like more.

 

I don't know, I don't think any of the "mellow" material here is as good as Country Disappeared (though that's my favorite W(TA) song along with Bull Black Nova).

 

This album really seems to be one of 2 distinct halves: first 10 songs are kinda Loose Fur-y (more Born again... than S/T though) with the exception of Pigeons. Then the second half is pretty much MOR Tweedy balladry except for Down From Above which could've been on the first half. Maybe it makes more sense when seen as 2 seperate discs.

[bleedorange]

Here's a technical question, since I don't have a ton of expertise in this area. I've listened to the stream through my computer on headphones and in my car through the NPR Music app on my phone. Both times, the vocals seemed really muted and I was having trouble making out a lot of the lyrics.

 

1) Is this intentional?

or

2) Is this merely a result of a mediocre sound card on my computer and listening through the app? (Although, other streams through that app haven't been bad.)

 

I'm just wondering if I should try to listen to the stream again or just wait until next week when I get the album.

[linclink]

I like it after a full listen through. It's a bit long, and as with basically every double album ever, there are parts where the fat could have been trimmed.

 

However I must say "Down from above" is spectacular. I've probably listened 10 times already. I just love the way the guitars interplay, almost in unison, but never quite there, swirling around each other. Jeff has developed a great way of playing in a way that's purposefully a little off. Reminds me of Malkmus sometimes.

 

And I'm going to second the AGIB comparison. I think it's part production similarities, and part that Jeff is doing all the lead guitar work. It ends up sounding sort of like AGIB or a loose fur record more than a couple of times.

 

I'm a huge Richard Thompson fan (as is Jeff) & there's a little echo of "Beat The Retreat" (from Richard & Linda Thompson's beautiful "Pour Down Like Silver" album) to the feel of this one (even one line "This world is filled with sadness" is shared by both songs, both musically & lyrically the same, & it seems like a little subtle nod there...but "Down From Above" is clearly it's own thing, just has a similar pedigree).

 

I like the album version OK, but honestly it was one of the songs that I can say was a letdown for me when I heard the studio version...largely because I love the live version so much. That's not so much the case with the other two album tracks that I care for less which sound about the same live. ("Desert Bell" & "Hazel"- I like them OK, it's just that the other more slow & ballad like material that constitutes about 1/2 the album, like "Honey Combed", "Pigeons", "Wait For Love", "Nobody Dies Anymore, "New Moon", "Where My Love", "I'll Never Know" outshine them- I'd add "Down From Above" the live version to the shining list, but not the studio track, it's a lesser point on the album for me).

 

I do think it's a great song & I think the live arrangement is just incredible...like with this version here. Hope you dig it! I think when I do a CD-R that I might just employ the Roadcase versions of "Down From Above", "Summer Noon", "Low Key", "Slow Love" & "Diamond Light Part 1".

 

 

[linclink]

Thanks for posting so much obsessively intricate review material. Seriously, for those of us who geek out over this stuff, it will be instructive to go back and read this later.

 

I have resisted the temptation to 1) Download the preview tracks or 2) Listen to the live material (well, I watched that one live stream...lol). Thus far, I have only played the preview tracks that streamed on various websites one time...and I avoided the NPR stream completely. Not easy for me to have even that level of self-discipline, particularly with this. However, I have ordered the discs, so I expect to have them soon and be cranking them up.

 

At times like this, I really miss the days of having a nice stereo system and plenty of free time to sit back and play records. I will be listening to this in my car, driving around with the AC blasting away. And then maybe at home, playing it through iTunes after I upload it to my Mac. Oh well. Anyway, thanks again to all of you who have commented and/or compiled...especially you, linclink.

Ha!! You're welcome. Well I've been living with most of this material all Summer long. And for the record I've shifted one song, "Nobody Dies Anymore" (oh those backing vocals!) into the better studio column (from the equal column).

 

But I'm still saying that I prefer the live versions of, at least 5, or 1/4 of the songs here (most especially- "Down From Above", "Summer Noon", "Low Key", "Slow Love" & "Diamond Light Part 1".) & will be using the Roadcase versions for a CD-R at some point...of the ones where they're equal I'll more often give a nod to the live versions too, but the I do love the overall feel & sonic texture of the album & it continues to grow on me (to be fair I've lived with & loved the live versions for quite awhile now)...& there's just so many layers & levels of the studio album (& whole project if you add in the live material) to appreciate too. It's as wonderful as it is vast...

 

So my in progress scorecard now reads-

Better Studio (4): "World Away", "New Moon", "High As Hello", "Nobody Dies Anymore"

Better live (5)- "Summer Noon", "Diamond Light Part 1", "Down From Above", "Low Key", "Slow Love"

Pretty much equal (7): "Desert Bell", "Hazel", "Fake Fur Coat", "Wait For Love", "Where My Love", "Honey Combed", "Flowering"

No live versions to compare with...yet (4): "Pigeons", "I'll Sing It", "Please Don't Let Me Be So Understood", "I'll Never Know".

[choo-choo-charlie]

I'll keep listening to the regular sequence for awhile, & then retain a lot of that sequence when I make a newly ordered CD-R where I'd end up tossing those three lesser tracks on to the tale end. And after awhile I'll probably make a favorites weighted in the front version where a killer single album (a longer one at that) might emerge, but I'll keep all 20 on that final CD-R too.

 

 

Seems like an awful lot of extra work when using the ">" and "

[linclink]

Interesting that other folks are hearing the "A Ghost Is Born"/Loose Fur vibe hear a bit too. It's it's own thing, but I think those are some antecedents for where it's coming from a bit...

Upon further dissection: If we divide it up as a traditional double album with two platters...then each disc seems to emerge with more of their own distinct personality here too.

Disc 1:
1. Please Don't Let Me Be So Understood 2. High as Hello 3. World Away 4. Diamond Light 5. Wait for Love 6. Low Key 7. Pigeons 8. Slow Love 9. Nobody Dies Anymore 10. I'll Sing It
Disc 2:
1. Flowering 2. Desert Bell 3. Summer Noon 4. Honey Combed 5. New Moon 6. Down from Above 7. Where My Love 8. Fake Fur Coat 9. Hazel 10. I'll Never Know

And if we take a look via the more somber, & less somber material...it looks like this...with pretty much a roughly 10/10 split here too.

Of the more somber songs only three appear on disc 1: "Wait For Love",  "Pigeons" & "Nobody Dies Anymore" (all very strong songs). While there's, at least 7 of the more ballad like works on the second album: "Desert Bell" "Honey Combed", "New Moon", "Down From Above", "Where My Love", "Hazel" & "I'll Never Know". And I'm counting both "Flowering" & "Fake Fur Coat" in the otherwise & not ballad/somber category for disc 2 (though others might think otherwise). The thing is, for me, the 3 lesser tracks are all on that second disc, & they are all slower, more somber songs ("Down From Above", which I love in it's live incarnation, "Desert Bell" & "Hazel"- neither of which is bad), so I guess I tend to prefer Disc 1 a bit right now, but I love what, & how, each of them does their own thing.

Of the less somber material 7 of those songs end up on disc 1: "Please Don't Let Me Be So Misunderstood", High As Hello", "World Away", "Diamond Light Part 1", "Low Key", "Slow Love", "I'll Sing It", Thus leaving only three for disc 2: "Flowering", "Summer Noon", "Fake Fur Coat".

I wonder how the album would've ended up if he'd been able to try the songs with a full band when recording them? I guess he had the chance to go back, after the Spring leg of the tour, & change any arrangements, but felt that he'd gotten together a solid piece that made sense to him cohesively.

And finally I'm logging way too many miles this week interning at a local Community Acupuncture Center in a nearby city...sooooo, while I was given in iPhone, I haven't taken the plunge yet budget wise to utilize it as anything more than an iPod, so I can't use the NPR app someone else spoke of to do anything with this on my commute.
If anyone has a file capture of the stream & could send me a PM here, I'd be most grateful, as it would make my ride that much more enjoyable this week before the Ithaca show.

P.S.- the new Leonard Cohen album ("Popular Problems" due out 9/22) is streaming now too, & I think it's great too!!
http://www.npr.org/2014/09/15/347480040/first-listen-leonard-cohen-popular-problems?autoplay=true

[WilcoFan]

First time I've posted in years.  Love the new album.  Hope all is well here at ViaChicago.  - Jeremy

[kidsmoke]

Hi Jeremy, nice to see you around!

[Muzzle of Dan]

Just got around to my first listen and WOW!  So excellent to get so much great new music.  Can't wait to listen over and over and over.  Still loving Fake Fur Coat the most but everything sounds good to my ears.  Excited for the details that many listens will bring out of this music.

[Beltmann]

First time I've posted in years.  Love the new album.  Hope all is well here at ViaChicago.  - Jeremy

 

Hi, Jeremy!

[Boss_Tweedy]

I dig it.