AGIB 20 Year Anniversary

[u2roolz]

Fellow VCer Col. Hapablap sent me a message shortly after midnight EST that Australia had an unreleased version of Handshake Drugs on Spotify today.

I decided to look it up on iTunes and I was shocked to see a track listing for the AGIB deluxe edition. Still trying to absorb the tracklist. Entirely possible that there are more tracks in a potential boxset. Anyways, iTunes lists February 7th as the release date. 
 

You can enjoy the unreleased track via YouTube. 

[TCP]

10 hours ago, DiamondClaw said:

Intriguing! Any reasons (that you can state publicly) for this prediction?

My crystal ball, of course!!

 

Ok, actually, a friend from Europe mentioned that most of AGIB was missing from Spotify. Assuming it was a mistake, I suggested emailing Wilco HQ about it and they got a response that Nonesuch still owns that record and they pulled it to prep for a reissue getting announced "next week". Now, thanks to u2roolz's sleuthing, I'm assuming either the announcement got moved up a week to tomorrow (Wednesday) or perhaps that response was from the weekend making "next week" actually "this week" and my half dozens of minutes getting the AGIB egg in a crystal ball a huge waste of time!! We shall know tomorrow morning!

[chisoxjtrain]

[u2roolz]

13 minutes ago, chisoxjtrain said:

Amazing find! I always tend to forget to look at Reddit for such leaks. 
 

Always awesome to have a show you went to get an official release!! I was at that Wang show in Boston in 2004! Spent the weekend seeing Wilco all over Massachusetts. Friday night at the Wang Center in Boston. Saturday night at Shapiro Gymnasium in Waltham on the Brandeis University campus. Sunday night in Northampton at Calvin Theater. 3 amazing shows! Can’t believe it’s already been 20 years. 

[TCP]

It's up for pre-order on the Nonesuch store:

https://store.nonesuch.com/en/nonesuch/a-ghost-is-born-deluxe-edition-9lp-4cd-mp3-bundle/075597897159.html

I would hold off on ordering as the Wilco Store usually has an exclusive variant.

[DiamondClaw]

1 hour ago, TCP said:

It's up for pre-order on the Nonesuch store:

https://store.nonesuch.com/en/nonesuch/a-ghost-is-born-deluxe-edition-9lp-4cd-mp3-bundle/075597897159.html

I would hold off on ordering as the Wilco Store usually has an exclusive variant.

You called it, TCP! I just saw the tracklist and I am floored.

 

https://ghostisborn.com/

 

[davidtobin100]

Just picked up the limited edition eggshell blue version of the 9 LP AGIB set. Not too long to wait for it either with an early September launch. Decided against picking up the CD version as well as it's just a little too expensive for my tastes for both. Kinda thought I would have had my preorder for the last vinyl before they launched another one though? This bodes well for a SBS deluxe in another year or two!

[nalafej]

7 minutes ago, davidtobin100 said:

 an early September launch

 

?

[chisoxjtrain]

I am going to annoy the absolute shit out of my wife with all the different versions of Spiders.

[nalafej]

The set looks great! Can't wait to hear it.

 

Anybody on here who was at the live show that's included? Is that the dream, to have a vinyl copy of a great show you were at? I'd love that. I was kinda hoping we'd get the halloween Chicago Auditorium theater show...

[chisoxjtrain]

1 minute ago, nalafej said:

The set looks great! Can't wait to hear it.

 

Anybody on here who was at the live show that's included? Is that the dream, to have a vinyl copy of a great show you were at? I'd love that. I was kinda hoping we'd get the halloween Chicago Auditorium theater show...

 

I was there for that one too. October 30th and 31st. 16 year old me struggled the next few days of school.

[DiamondClaw]

2 minutes ago, chisoxjtrain said:

I am going to annoy the absolute shit out of my wife with all the different versions of Spiders.

That makes two of us!

 

Plus three versions of "Muzzle of Bees," two versions each of "Panthers" and "Diamond Claw" (both personal favorites of mine), "The High Heat," something called "Improbable Germany," and a whole bunch more. This track list is a dream.

[u2roolz]

48 minutes ago, nalafej said:

The set looks great! Can't wait to hear it.

 

Anybody on here who was at the live show that's included? Is that the dream, to have a vinyl copy of a great show you were at? I'd love that. I was kinda hoping we'd get the halloween Chicago Auditorium theater show...

👋

 

I was at that show at the Wang. I wonder if Jeff’s banter with the crowd after She’s A Jar will be included. Not to cause any controversy, but I’ll explain the story. The crowd applauded really loudly when he played the harmonica parts. After the song, Jeff said something along the lines of “You kept applauding each time I played the harmonica.” Crowd laughs. “Do you think that I’m not musically gifted enough to play the harmonica?”. Crowd laughs. “Do you think I’m ret$&:;ed or something?!” Crowd laughs. 
 

Anyone else that was there remember this? That’s the only thing that I remember about this show, even though it was a solid performance. It’s just that the next 2 nights in Waltham & Northampton had the better setlists, imo. Oh, and I remember standing at these 2 shows because of the setup, so the energy was definitely different. 

[Brian F.]

5 minutes ago, u2roolz said:

👋

 

I was at that show at the Wang. I wonder if Jeff’s banter with the crowd after She’s A Jar will be included. Not to cause any controversy, but I’ll explain the story. The crowd applauded really loudly when he played the harmonica parts. After the song, Jeff said something along the lines of “You kept applauding each time I played the harmonica.” Crowd laughs. “Do you think that I’m not musically gifted enough to play the harmonica?”. Crowd laughs. “Do you think I’m ret$&:;ed or something?!” Crowd laughs. 
 

Anyone else that was there remember this? That’s the only thing that I remember about this show, even though it was a solid performance. It’s just that the next 2 nights in Waltham & Northampton had the better setlists, imo. Oh, and I remember standing at these 2 shows because of the setup, so the energy was definitely different. 

 

Did he say it in a Boston accent?

[u2roolz]

1 minute ago, Brian F. said:

 

Did he say it in a Boston accent?

Nope. Sadly, he did not.

[lost highway]

Oh my friends, I have so many thoughts on this. This is my favorite record.... maybe period.

 

First of all, I'm not crazy. My prediction was premature but they came through!

 

Listening to this first song was really cool. I was a little nonplussed, "Another Handshake Drugs, I already have two. Is this just an extended outro that they trimmed for the album version?". But no, this is completely different. You can tell they loved this song and kept trying it until they got it just right. This version sounds like a demo from a really nice studio. It's loose and free and has tons of energy.

 

It makes me go back and wonder about the process of this record (can't wait to read about it). I always figured they did all of their homework and then recorded absolutely everything at Sear Sound, but here we are with the "Sear Sound version" of Handshake Drugs. So maybe what we've known all these years is the SOMA version. Maybe the first bonus disc is the product of two different studios, two different sessions, and there's an alternate of most every song because they had different versions to develop, mix and finish.

 

Also of interest, "Leave Me Like You Found Me". Never my top shelf Wilco song, but so curious that it had been around that long ago. I always enjoy hearing the forms these songs take in different eras (see "Hummingbird" from the YHF box). Great to see some favorite deep cuts, but then what is "Like a Stone", or "Losing Interest". These might be the $215 questions for me, the curious fan.

[gabepride]

1 hour ago, lost highway said:

Oh my friends, I have so many thoughts on this. This is my favorite record.... maybe period.

 

First of all, I'm not crazy. My prediction was premature but they came through!

 

Listening to this first song was really cool. I was a little nonplussed, "Another Handshake Drugs, I already have two. Is this just an extended outro that they trimmed for the album version?". But no, this is completely different. You can tell they loved this song and kept trying it until they got it just right. This version sounds like a demo from a really nice studio. It's loose and free and has tons of energy.

 

It makes me go back and wonder about the process of this record (can't wait to read about it). I always figured they did all of their homework and then recorded absolutely everything at Sear Sound, but here we are with the "Sear Sound version" of Handshake Drugs. So maybe what we've known all these years is the SOMA version. Maybe the first bonus disc is the product of two different studios, two different sessions, and there's an alternate of most every song because they had different versions to develop, mix and finish.

 

Also of interest, "Leave Me Like You Found Me". Never my top shelf Wilco song, but so curious that it had been around that long ago. I always enjoy hearing the forms these songs take in different eras (see "Hummingbird" from the YHF box). Great to see some favorite deep cuts, but then what is "Like a Stone", or "Losing Interest". These might be the $215 questions for me, the curious fan.

"Losing Interest" might be the same song as was on the Being There Deluxe Edition. Around this time, Jeff played some solo shows and mentioned revisiting old tapes dating back to the Being There days.

[u2roolz]

2 hours ago, lost highway said:

Oh my friends, I have so many thoughts on this. This is my favorite record.... maybe period.

 

First of all, I'm not crazy. My prediction was premature but they came through!

 

Listening to this first song was really cool. I was a little nonplussed, "Another Handshake Drugs, I already have two. Is this just an extended outro that they trimmed for the album version?". But no, this is completely different. You can tell they loved this song and kept trying it until they got it just right. This version sounds like a demo from a really nice studio. It's loose and free and has tons of energy.

 

It makes me go back and wonder about the process of this record (can't wait to read about it). I always figured they did all of their homework and then recorded absolutely everything at Sear Sound, but here we are with the "Sear Sound version" of Handshake Drugs. So maybe what we've known all these years is the SOMA version. Maybe the first bonus disc is the product of two different studios, two different sessions, and there's an alternate of most every song because they had different versions to develop, mix and finish.

 

Also of interest, "Leave Me Like You Found Me". Never my top shelf Wilco song, but so curious that it had been around that long ago. I always enjoy hearing the forms these songs take in different eras (see "Hummingbird" from the YHF box). Great to see some favorite deep cuts, but then what is "Like a Stone", or "Losing Interest". These might be the $215 questions for me, the curious fan.

Here’s a little blurb that’s different than what’s on the Wilco store. It mentions the chronology of the SOMA sessions and the Sear Sound sessions. I pulled this press release from the Bull Moose Records link for the 9 cd box set. : 

 

This 9CD box set features the original studio album plus alternates, outtakes and demos; the complete October 2004 concert at the Wang Center in Boston; the complete Fundamentals, all housed at the back of the 48-page full-color hardcover book [with previously unpublished photos and a new in-depth recording history of the album by Grammy winning writer Bob Mehr].For the A Ghost Is Born recording, Wilco was Jeff Tweedy, John Stirratt, Leroy Bach, Glenn Kotche, and Mikael Jorgensen; Jim O’Rourke, who mixed the band’s previous release Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, co-produced the album with Wilco. Leroy Bach left Wilco at the completion of the sessions and the band announced the addition of two new members: Pat Sansone and Nels Cline. Sansone and Cline toured with Wilco to promote AGIB and that lineup has remained unchanged since 2004. As Tweedy said to Mehr for his new liner note, “Making that record, and then finding this lineup, that was the start of something—of having a band that can play anything. That’s why, twenty years later, we’re still here and still going.”Wilco first began sessions for what would become A Ghost Is Born in early 2002 at Chicago’s Soma E.M.S., where they had mixed Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Much of the album was tracked live in the studio with O’Rourke and engineer Chris Shaw. They also reunited there with engineer and soon-to-be-bandmate Mikael Jorgensen.At Soma, the band began sketching out music using Tweedy’s notebooks of lyrics, poetry, and prose. Mehr notes: “In between more traditional song tracking, the group would engage in a series of conceptual improvisations in the studio. These musical experiments, broadly known as ‘Fundamentals’ …were part of what Kotche said was ‘an attempt to search for a new group identity. To see what we could make this band into.’”In the fall of 2003, the band relocated to New York to finish recording at Sear Sound. “It seemed like the band needed to get out of Chicago, get out of the working mode they’d been in, and only be thinking about making a record,” O’Rourke told Mehr. There, playing together in the corner of a large studio, the album began to take its final shape.Emerging from a period of addiction and rehab, Tweedy discussed how he feels about A Ghost Is Born in retrospect. As he told Mehr, “I was worried the album was going to feel like something dark and not me anymore. But the album was ahead of me as a person. It was the part of me that I was trying to preserve—enthusiastic and furious about the world, as well as open and loving. I reached that in the music, before I could get there emotionally on my own.”

[TCP]

A few thoughts...

Firstly:

Shout out to the Wilco HQ team on switching the tees to Comfort Colors. I've bought a bunch of these shirts this year from other bands and they fit and feel so much better than those Canvas shirts. I'm 6'3" and bigger (purely muscles, I assure you) and usually comfortably wear a 2XL but a lot of my Wilco shirts (the ones with the Canvas tag at least), even at 3X, fit poorly. The Comfort Colors are great at 2XL, and also don't feel thin and cheap.

Secondly, in this day and age a 9LP boxset for $215 USD is a pretty reasonable set (plus 4 CDs, a book, etc). I was tempted on the reissue of the Weezer Blue Album set earlier this fall, but it's 4LPs and a 10" for $360 CAD. 🙄

Thirdly, the music. Some things in the tracklist that made me go 👀: Improbable Germany, Thanks I Get originating from this era, Being There era outtake Losing Interest, AGIB era Leave Me Like You Found Me, and unknown songs such as Like A Stone. 

The track list for the 9CD and 9LP versions are the same... I'm guessing the 4 CDs must be the Fundamental sessions which won't be on vinyl? Edit: you can zoom in on the CDs, this is the case! Glad to see them included even if putting them on vinyl is not feasible.