A "prequel" to YHF? Dan C http://www.dimple.com/pages/type1u.asp?StoryID=1467 With Loose Fur, Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy and Glenn Kotche join Jim O’Rourke to explore an even noisier pop direction.< by Brian Baker Jim O’Rourke knows he’ll shoulder a lot of the responsibility for the sound of the new Loose Fur project based on some of the response to its parent band: Wilco. Although critics lined up to anoint Yankee Hotel Foxtrot as the album of 2002, many diehard Wilco fans were steamed at the album’s preponderance of noisy pop experimentalism. Because of his ties to noted noisemongers Sonic Youth, O’Rourke’s late-in-the-game presence on YHF was seen as the reason for its atonal atmospherics, and Loose Fur could be viewed as the evolutionary extension of those sonic trials. But O’Rourke has a message for Wilco fans who may see Loose Fur (O’Rourke, Jeff Tweedy and Glenn Kotche) as further descent into YHF’s meandering jazz puttering. “Most of the noise on the record is Jeff,” says O’Rourke of Loose Fur’s squawking feedback solos and bridges. “I couldn’t play like that to save my life. People should know these other aspects of Jeff’s playing. People don’t realize Jeff’s interests in a lot of other types of music. They just assume that he likes the kind of stuff they would relate to Wilco. When Jeff and I were in our teens, we were both in noise bands; we were actually on a compilation record together in the late ‘80s and didn’t know.” The other fascinating aspect to Loose Fur’s existence is its timeline. O’Rourke notes that the Loose Fur sessions actually predate (or in some cases are simultaneous to) the work done on YHF, making Loose Fur the Let It Be to YHF’s Abbey Road. “We actually started [Loose Fur] before Glenn was in Wilco,” says O’Rourke from his newly established New York City digs. “Glenn’s played on my records for years, and when Jeff asked me to do a show with him, I suggested bringing in Glenn because I thought just two guitars would be silly. I think we were done with the record before Jeff even asked Glenn to join.” The Loose Fur recordings evolved out of rehearsals for the live project that Tweedy, O’Rourke and Kotche were planning. “We decided to go into the studio and record the songs we’d written for the show before we forgot how to play them,” says O’Rourke. “We just kept going and wrote more, and we ended up having a record.” As spontaneous as Loose Fur sounds, O’Rourke maintains that the project took a definite form nearly from the start. “It was specific pretty quickly,” says O’Rourke. “When he asked me to do this show, he came over, and the usual way I rehearse is I just played him records all night. I think we wrote, like, half the album that night. We didn’t jam. I really don’t like jamming; I hate it. It was pretty specifically written, even the things that sound like jamming one riff, they’re fairly written out.” The sequence of the releases became transposed with the high profile label drama surrounding Wilco, causing the subsequent delay of YHF, and, by default, the Loose Fur album. “We thought we were gonna record and mix and finish this real quick, so we limited ourselves to one overdub each and I didn’t fuss too much,” says O’Rourke. “Then of course it couldn’t come out for over two years. And I’m thinking, ‘All this time we could have done this and done this…’ Which is my way, to sit on things for two years and just tweak it. It’s what I would have wanted to do, but maybe it’s best that I didn’t.”
I am one of those steamed diehard Wilco fans who recently gave away his copy of YHF. I could never get into it. There were some pop gems on the album - ruined by noise. It made me so angry every time I listened to it. I noticed that several people here put it on their top five lists. Glad it made you happy. I hope y'all pick up all the prior albums too. They are all wonderful.
I love all of Wilco's stuff, especially YHF. I keep looking for the Loose Fur release, but no luck yet at local retailers.
To me, "noise" means using extraneous sounds to cloak melody, or lack thereof. In Wilco's case, they have been known to write a good melody. That's why, "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot," can be frustrating at times. For the life of me, I just can't figure out why musicians want to clutter their recordings. I suppose noise experimentation goes way back, even before, "Revolver," or "Pet Sounds." Maybe they just think it's COOL. If you can write a melody or hook, then don't be bashful. I would love to hear the opinions of Steve Hoffman or other forum members, some who might be musicians, on this subject. By the way, I purchased Jim O'Rourke's, "Insignificance," last year, mostly because the critics told me to. IMO it sucked.
Well, I know that they used some blips and beeps and static here and there from some sort of Short Wave radio archive collection. The phrase that closes out the album 'yankee hotle foxtrot' is actually from these Short Wave radio recordings. Anyhow, I loved YHF and I think Summerteeth is a good album too, although I give YHF the edge. I've always refered to it as the OK Computer of Alt-Country, if that means anything.
I didn't really hear the noise as just window-dressing, much less something used to hide musical deficiencies. Do you listen to any ambient music or any electronic stuff, at least Brian Eno or maybe his work with David Bowie? I think it's another aspect of the music rather than just melody, harmony, or rhythm that these artists are exploring. Of course, in some hands, it can be going too far and just indulgence, but you can say that about any experimentation, and I think Wilco has done great with "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot." Most of YHF is a sharp departure from, say, "Being There" or even "Summerteeth," but I don't think it's that radical compared to other music out there. It is nice to see them trying out new territory, and the progress they've made had been impressive. On some songs, there's a nervous, edginess Tweedy creates using atmosphere and texture, and as you may expect from Wilco, there are some strong melodies and hooks that still come through. Again, I don't think the production takes anything away from their old strengths, and they add something that is very effective. On a similar note, I just don't buy it when their old A&R rep claimed there weren't any songs on here that would make good singles. "Heavy Metal Drummer" is an obvious choice, but "War on War," "Jesus, etc.," "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart" are very memorable; great lyrics, beautiful, brooding melodies.
YHF is wonderful because this so-called noise just creates a great mood. The songs are still wonderful. I'm sure Jeff was just sick of making a record with a straight-ahead drums/bass/guitar/keys sound. I've heard the original recordings for YHF (they are cirulating in excellent quality) and I find the final release to be far more enjoyable and mysterious. I go back to that record again and again and hear something new each time. I never go back to listen to the original recordings (although I thought the original version of Kamera was great... not better, just different). Personally, the early albums bore me. I didn't really think they were that great until I heard Summer Teeth. Just my opinion though...
Agreed Agreed. I didn't really think their stuff was that spectacular until Summerteeth and I thought that was a good album, not necessarily great.
