Wilco: The Thread

[ALady]

That's not Spencer, that's Sam.

[headhunter]

Penny and HH, i'm going to the show tonight also.  Lets meet up for a pre-concert beer or two....or six.

Murph -pm me your cell phone #. We got there early yesterday but today's pre-show plans might change depending on the weather.

[e_wind]

I've gotten into The Whole Love, some songs on there are catchy as hell. For all you Wilco fans, are there any albums out there that are particularly more upbeat than others? I love mellow music, but I feel like a lot of Wilco songs bleed together, and I know if I found some more upbeat songs they would in turn lead me to love the rest...

[YouAre_GivenToFly]

I've gotten into The Whole Love, some songs on there are catchy as hell. For all you Wilco fans, are there any albums out there that are particularly more upbeat than others? I love mellow music, but I feel like a lot of Wilco songs bleed together, and I know if I found some more upbeat songs they would in turn lead me to love the rest...

I'd say Summerteeth has more upbeat songs than any of the other Wilco albums (Can't Stand It, I'm Always in Love, Nothing'severgonnastandinmyway, ELT, Summerteeth).

Being There has a good bunch, too. (Monday, Outtasite Outta Mind, I Got You, Dreamer in my Dreams).

[Ruckus]

AM and Being there are pretty straight ahead alt country.  Summerteeth most likely their most upbeat.

BUT, I would recommend as others have, Kicking Television and Ashes of American Flags, the movie.

Even better, download the entire 2008 Chicago residency.  There may be better places to get it but here's one.

http://www.themidnightcafe.org/?p=1481

[1eyed_jack]

If you like the upbeat stuff here's what I'd check out from each album

AM
I Must Be High
Casino Queen
Box Full of Letters

Being There
Monday
Outtasite
I Got You

Summerteeth
Can't Stand It
I'm Always in Love
Nothing'severgonnastandinmyway
ELT
Summer Teeth

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Kamera
War on War
Heavy Metal Drummer

A Ghost is Born
Handshake Drugs
I'm a Wheel
Theologians
The Late Greats

Sky Blue Sky
Side with the Seeds
Hate it Here
Walken (personally this song annoys me haha)

Wilco (The Album)
Wilco the Song
You and I
I'll Fight

[CTdeadhead]

Streaming the Merriwether show on npr now.

[Penny Lane]

Streaming the Merriwether show on npr now.

yep --great feed!

[Penny Lane]

That's not Spencer, that's Sam.

yeah Spencer came out and was recording the little brother dancing...it was kind of funny..Spencer is TALL...

[e_wind]

If you like the upbeat stuff here's what I'd check out from each album

AM
I Must Be High
Casino Queen
Box Full of Letters

Being There
Monday
Outtasite
I Got You

Summerteeth
Can't Stand It
I'm Always in Love
Nothing'severgonnastandinmyway
ELT
Summer Teeth

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Kamera
War on War
Heavy Metal Drummer

A Ghost is Born
Handshake Drugs
I'm a Wheel
Theologians
The Late Greats

Sky Blue Sky
Side with the Seeds
Hate it Here
Walken (personally this song annoys me haha)

Wilco (The Album)
Wilco the Song
You and I
I'll Fight

wow, thanks for the detailed response... Spotify playlist commencing...

[Shug]

Yeah, I agree, there really is not one Wilco album that is more rocking than the others, its more a song by song thing from each album. 

Good list.  I'd add  You Never Know from Wilco The Album, too.  Its got that great pounding piano riff.

And do check out the live DVD Ashes of American Flags, you might be surprised how hard some of the songs rock when played live.

[MrWhippy]

Great show at Merriweather last night.  The new stuff sounds fantastic, what a great new record!  Way too many people used One Sunday Morning as a mini intermission.

The setlist felt pretty static all in all, nothing too rare except for Box Full of Letters.  I'd love to see them branch out a bit in terms of the things they pick from Summerteeth, and from Sky Blue Sky (though Impossible Germany is welcome anyday). 

It was a huge treat for me to hear Monday again.  Even though it's pretty commonly played, I somehow hadn't gotten to see it until last night since 1996.

[Murph]

Sat in the pouring rain in Central Park on Friday and still loved every minute of it.  Wilco really is amazing.  I dont know if there is any other guitarist in the world right now who I'd rather watch play than Nels Cline, he's a maniac. 

Headhunter, too bad we couldnt meet up, i got there a little late because i got turned all around once i got in the park and it took me a while to get in. 

[e_wind]

The art of almost is my favorite song of 2011 so far

[e_wind]

I've been listening to nothing but a spottily playlist based off the recommendations of 1-eyed, picked up Ashes of American Flags (will probably watch it this weekend, and The Whole Love cd has stayed in my car stereo exclusively for awhile. Im enjoying this bad a lot. I knew there was a contemporary band out there other than Jacket that I could be obsessed with  :)\


You and I is a fantastic song. I'm a sucker for songs with both male and female vocalists.


The Art of Almost is still my favorite song so far. This video is bad ass:

ART OF ALMOST (LIVE)

[Ruckus]

I guess it's against the law to recommend Shot in the Arm as another upbeat song right? ;D

Anyways here's a real cool section of a Tweedy article from salon.com that discusses the slow creation of Art of Almost. 

"The Whole Love" opens with a classic Wilco epic, the seven-minute "Art of Almost," which careens through a half-dozen different pieces and styles, along the lines of "Spiders (Kidsmoke)" or "Bull Black Nova" from earlier albums. Would you walk through how a song that tricky comes together in the studio, what the process is like as you build the soundscape?

"Art of Almost" started as a completely different song, and through a hodgepodge of approaches and accidents, we ended up with this collage that we spent months and months and months refocusing our eyes on, adding parts and taking parts away. A few things happened pretty early on -- like the drumbeat and the bass line, the pulse of the song -- and that became the core. After that, we could all envision where it could head and where it was going -- it was just patiently, collectively, coming in weeks apart and saying, "We're going to nail this outro now" or "Let's make sure the sound cloud that the vocal emerges from is rich enough" or "The third verse sounds much too similar to the first verse. Let's make it a totally different texture." It's very rewarding to work that way and make a real studio-sculpture-type collaboration.

My favorite part being, "Let's make sure the sound cloud that the vocal emerges from is rich enough."

Below is the entire interview

http://www.salon.com/news/music/index.html?story=%2Fent%2Fmusic%2F2011%2F09%2F27%2Fjeff_tweedy_interview

[johnnYYac]

Today, at work, I listened to A Ghost is Born.  Tonight I'm listening to The Whole Love.  I think I get it.  Its sinking in.  These guys are good!  Better late than never. 

[Ruckus]

Today, at work, I listened to A Ghost is Born.  Tonight I'm listening to The Whole Love.  I think I get it.  Its sinking in.  These guys are good!  Better late than never.

Hey Johnny.  I'm no Wilco junky myself but they are extraordinarily tight live.  As with the Jacket, I don't feel their studio work does them justice though I think most would disagree.  GIB and Summerteeth are my favorites

[Bigsky]

Any extra tix for tonight? My brother-in-law is looking

[Shug]

Today, at work, I listened to A Ghost is Born.  Tonight I'm listening to The Whole Love.  I think I get it.  Its sinking in.  These guys are good!  Better late than never.

Hey Johnny.  I'm no Wilco junky myself but they are extraordinarily tight live.  As with the Jacket, I don't feel their studio work does them justice though I think most would disagree.  GIB and Summerteeth are my favorites

I TOTALLY agree that Wilco's studio work doesn't do them justice, you really have to see them live to get how frickin' tight they are, just like MMJ.  Both these bands are insanely in synchronization and their rhythm sections both kill.  When they hit a groove in unison and ride it hard, its like freight train powerful.  Blows my mind.  Its no suprise to me that there is so much overlap in Wilco fandom and MMJ fandom.  They are, in my mind, the two best live rock bands in existence.