wilco

[verb_to_trust]

I want to die

[tragabigzanda]

[Strat]

Songs I really dig:

Bright Leaves
Everyone Hides
We Were Lucky
Love Is Everywhere

Everything else is pretty meh.

Ohhhh yea you’re beginning to see the light.

A man a plan a canal: Panama

Flight delays to island have me bored like tweedy.

[tragabigzanda]

[washing machine]

I wasn’t disappointed on first listen. However, I’m not getting much sleep this week and I think my zombified state has kind of primed me for these arrangements. It sounds like a more organic YHF, or Schmilco tinged with some electric hum.

[tragabigzanda]

Top 10 maybe?
Hello Morning
Close Captioned
The Kill
Place/Position
Do You Like Me?
Latest Disgrace
Recap Modotti
Nightshop
Break
Life & Limb

I'd maybe bump Life & Limb for Epic Problem

[bune]

Listening to Sky Blue Sky and I can finally admit it's my favorite album of theirs. YJF was big because it got me into the band but SBS is just that other level of what a band can do when they're working together. The guitar interplay, the vocals, the piano, the drums...the whole album is just the best.

There are few albums that I have a whole love (no pun intended) for, but this is one of them.

[Kevin Davis]

My initial reaction to this is that there are only a couple songs that really jump out at me, that Tweedy does indeed sound weary and sluggish (I can't believe people are caught off-guard by this -- he looks like he's aged about 50 years in the last 5), but that there is also probably more going on than the surface elements are telling me. This is honestly the exact same first reaction I had to "YHF" and "A Ghost is Born." Not that I think this is going to end up in that league, but it's certainly not uncommon for Wilco records to test my patience then eventually reward it.

First time through, I really liked "Quiet Amplifier" and "An Empty Corner" -- they had a hypnotic sadness to them that seemed to transcend that superficial "boring"/"snoozefest" criticsm that's popping up everywhere.

[verb_to_trust]

I don't get it. Is Tweedy supposed to sound like Ariana Grande or something? He's always sounded weary.

[washing machine]

Any love for One and a Half Stars? Not sure why, but that’s the one that’s initially connecting with me. Mostly Kotche is what I’m listening to when I listen. Everyone Hides is probably the most universally liked song on here, and for good reason. Instant classic.

[tragabigzanda]

[tragabigzanda]

[Kevin Davis]

I don't get it. Is Tweedy supposed to sound like Ariana Grande or something? He's always sounded weary.

He has, and I think that's kind of the point I was trying to make -- I feel like I always, initially, struggle to hear the shapes of his songs and melodies through that general fogginess of his voice. I guess, feeling a little underwhelmed feels like a normal first reaction to a Wilco album -- for me anyway. Even "YHF" and "Ghost" took me a while to unravel.

[tragabigzanda]

[Kevin Davis]

I didn't mean to be condescending with my "superficial" comment -- I guess I just feel like, the album has been out for one day. It's hard to imagine what other kind of reaction anyone could be having at this point. And I think that kind of "boring"/"snoozefest" criticism is -- just by definition -- somewhat superficial: "I am not experiencing an immediate visceral reaction to this, so I don't like it." This is totally reasonable, but in my own life anyway, I can certainly point to songs, albums, artists, that I count among my favorites but that I'd have never heard twice had I settled on my initial reactions to them.

*And make no mistake, I certainly still do this all the time. I guess with Wilco I've just gone through the process enough times to know to withhold judgment. Perhaps this has not been your experience...

[tragabigzanda]

Top 10 maybe?
Hello Morning
Close Captioned
The Kill
Place/Position
Do You Like Me?
Latest Disgrace
Recap Modotti
Nightshop
Break
Life & Limb

I'd maybe bump Life & Limb for Epic Problem

[Kevin Davis]

That's certainly true -- sometimes the surface is all there is. But I think Tweedy is an engaging enough writer, with enough to say, that when I read you write "songs built on two-chord progressions and kick-snare-kick-snare repetitions," I feel like I instinctively know that you're not telling me a lot of what's living in the middle. You could describe Bob Dylan as "the same simple chords over and over again with harmonica solos in between the verses," or John Coltrane as "basic jazz rhythms underneath a bunch of never-ending atonal saxophone playing," but I would know that those descriptions don't convey the fullness of what the artist is doing even though they're technically reasonable descriptions. I could certainly end up following this line of thinking to a dead-end in this case, but more often than not, it's paid off with Wilco -- even the latter-day stuff, which I enjoy more than most.

[tragabigzanda]

[Kevin Davis]

Ha well I actually think that’s a fine description of Dylan, and I’m skeptical many people turned off by their first impression of Dylan have gotten past that with repeated listens.

Honestly, in a generic sense, it is a fine description of Dylan. But as someone who loves Dylan, I would know that that description doesn't even touch on what might separate a good Dylan album from a bad one. An A+ Dylan album could easily exist within those parameters. During the nu-metal tournament, I would sanctimoniously berate every song for exactly the same reasons (canned anger! fake transgression!) -- which, to me, was (and is) legitimate. But to people who were into nu-metal, I wasn't offering valid, individual criticisms; I was just assigning a value judgment to the objective traits of the genre.

Along those lines, your "two chords and a kick-snare beat" criticism is certainly valid, if it rings true for you. I just know that the stuff I really connect to in Wilco's music exists in between those kinds of hard limits. I can easily imagine a very good Wilco album that fits that description.

For what it's worth, I'm not trying to say the album is automatically a masterpiece or anything. Honestly my first reaction was pretty similar to yours, if a little warmer. But I'm not ready to issue a final verdict yet. In most cases, when I've given their music a little time to marinate, it's paid off, and I've heard things I didn't hear right out of the gate.

[epilogue]

Ha well I actually think that’s a fine description of Dylan, and I’m skeptical many people turned off by their first impression of Dylan have gotten past that with repeated listens. And then I think it’s unfair to compare the Wilco description with any noteworthy jazz, as the latter is an inherently complex artform.

This is interesting to me because, on a purely anecdotal (and therefore flawed) basis, I've found that damn near everyone who listens to Dylan were exclusively turned off but first impressions and only listen to him now (and love him) BECAUSE OF repeated listeners.