Together at Last - New solo Tweedy record

[summerdai]

Well, it so happens I completely agree. In fact, if I may share a specific recommendation, listen late at night when you've just gone to bed but are not too sleepy, hit the bong a couple of times and just lay back and listen fairly loud, in the dark.

 

Don't smoke in bed.

[Fritz]

Oddly enough, I WAS expecting a low-key, comfortable-but-not-earthshaking revisit of several old friends (songs) and thus was completely blown away when I finally put it on late one night and got to have the experience of a living room show for only me, in my own living room. From Via Chicago on, I was captivated by the intimacy and sheer beauty of these melodies and these words. It felt all new to me.

 

It's a powerful album that will bring you back to when you first fell inside these songs. Listen without distractions. This is Jeff distilled to his essence.

 

This was pretty much my experience, too. We put it on most nights during the lull between evening homework and dinner. Being winter here (southern hemisphere) it plays as a beautiful soundtrack to the cold outside. It's just a beautiful record. I was thinking last night how the sequencing of every song is perfect. I can't recall which particular songs made me feel this. It'll come to me.

 

Time for another listen, though.

[lost highway]

I was surprised to hear snippets of electric guitar in there.

 

I was also surprised to see this was recorded a year and a half ago. As always I can't help but wonder what he/they've been cooking up in that loft recently.

[Vacant Horizon]

I don't know how to say this with out being cliche, but this album really solidifies the Tweedy/Dylan comparison. Has there ever been a songwriter like Tweedy before or after? I don't think so. Where the boomers had Neil Young, Springsteen and Dylan gen-x has Tweedy, Farrar and Hood(?). IMHO of course.

[TCP]

I don't know if I'd put Patterson Hood or Jay Farrar on the same level as Jeff Tweedy (or for that matter, Springsteen in the same as Dylan/Young), but I agree with you that JT is definitely one of the best of his generation. That much is clear and compilations like this prove it.

Damn, my millennial generation really needs to get moving. 

[choo-choo-charlie]

This record has inspired me to pull out my old Jeff solo bootlegs, particularly all the Lounge Ax shows from 1997 to 2000. Those performances are so intimate and special; to hear Jeff play to an appreciate and attentive hometown audience (though there's *just* the right amount of chatter and clanking beer bottles on the recordings) during his formative years is a treat.

 

He's playing old favorites, Tupelo and Golden Smog tracks and folk standards -- and you also get to hear Mermaid Avenue, Summerteeth and YHF songs in their developmental stages. Crushing to hear Via Chicago and A Shot in the Arm in their first few takes, when Jeff's troubles state was coming out in his greatest songs yet.

 

Songs are rarely played the same way twice; there are little nuances or variations in his singing, phrasing and guitar playing...he pulls out the 12-string or the harmonica on songs that normally don't feature those instruments...and even switches up the keys in which some songs are played.

 

And the between song banter is a delight. Even back in the early days he could command a room and crowd with just a guitar, a harmonica and his voice.

 

He truly is the greatest of his generation.

[kidsmoke]

This was pretty much my experience, too. We put it on most nights during the lull between evening homework and dinner. Being winter here (southern hemisphere) it plays as a beautiful soundtrack to the cold outside. It's just a beautiful record. I was thinking last night how the sequencing of every song is perfect. I can't recall which particular songs made me feel this. It'll come to me.

 

Time for another listen, though.

 

Sometimes I really wish we had a "like" button. Clearly I am spending too much time on the facebook.

 

I don't know how to say this with out being cliche, but this album really solidifies the Tweedy/Dylan comparison. Has there ever been a songwriter like Tweedy before or after? I don't think so. Where the boomers had Neil Young, Springsteen and Dylan gen-x has Tweedy, Farrar and Hood(?). IMHO of course.

 

And Isbell?

[Magnetized]

This record has inspired me to pull out my old Jeff solo bootlegs, particularly all the Lounge Ax shows from 1997 to 2000. Those performances are so intimate and special; to hear Jeff play to an appreciate and attentive hometown audience (though there's *just* the right amount of chatter and clanking beer bottles on the recordings) during his formative years is a treat.

He's playing old favorites, Tupelo and Golden Smog tracks and folk standards -- and you also get to hear Mermaid Avenue, Summerteeth and YHF songs in their developmental stages. Crushing to hear Via Chicago and A Shot in the Arm in their first few takes, when Jeff's troubles state was coming out in his greatest songs yet.

Songs are rarely played the same way twice; there are little nuances or variations in his singing, phrasing and guitar playing...he pulls out the 12-string or the harmonica on songs that normally don't feature those instruments...and even switches up the keys in which some songs are played.

And the between song banter is a delight. Even back in the early days he could command a room and crowd with just a guitar, a harmonica and his voice.

He truly is the greatest of his generation.

I agree with everything you said. It's so baffling to me why we're still a relatively small number of people, but I've come to accept that Jeff either resonates with you or he doesn't. If he doesn't, you're never going to get it. If you connect with his songs and his voice on some soul level, though, you're never going to get over it.

[choo-choo-charlie]

I agree with everything you said. It's so baffling to me why we're still a relatively small number of people, but I've come to accept that Jeff either resonates with you or he doesn't. If he doesn't, you're never going to get it. If you connect with his songs and his voice on some soul level, though, you're never going to get over it.

Amen. I feel lucky that we get to have him make music for us in our lifetime.

[Fritz]

I agree with everything you said. It's so baffling to me why we're still a relatively small number of people, but I've come to accept that Jeff either resonates with you or he doesn't. If he doesn't, you're never going to get it. If you connect with his songs and his voice on some soul level, though, you're never going to get over it.

 

Amen. I feel lucky that we get to have him make music for us in our lifetime.

 

 

Both nicely said.

[calvino]

This record has inspired me to pull out my old Jeff solo bootlegs, particularly all the Lounge Ax shows from 1997 to 2000. Those performances are so intimate and special; to hear Jeff play to an appreciate and attentive hometown audience (though there's *just* the right amount of chatter and clanking beer bottles on the recordings) during his formative years is a treat.

 

 

 

 

That's interesting -- the Lounge Ax shows sprung to my mind, when I listened to this record on it's release day  - via Spotify. I haven't gotten around to buying it, though I intend to. 

 

Looking forward to how it sounds through my main system.

[kidsmoke]

I'll bet you'll be very happy, Calvino.

[lost highway]

I'm pretty sure it's my wife's favorite "Wilco album", so I guess there's a lid for every pot.

[theashtraysays]

I'm pretty sure it's my wife's favorite "Wilco album", so I guess there's a lid for every pot.

I saw what you did there