Jeff Tweedy - Warm (2018)

Tweedy has been a part of 5 REALLY good double albums with Wilco (Being There, Summerteeth, YHF, GIB, SBS) and I love Warm so I’m looking forward to hearing it.

 

Well YHF isn't really a double album in terms of # of songs. And it's 51 min.

And SBS was only 50 minutes. Hardly a real double album. And that was 12 years ago.

We're talking about 20+ songs from the Warm/Warmer sessions. There's gotta be some fat there on Warmer or else this would be getting a lot more promo. I'll wait till it's regularly priced/streams myself, if it ever does. But hey I hope I'm wrong. I hope it's the most incredible record!

 

I walked into Good Records in Dallas today to buy Warm and after paying the guy hands me a wristband and tells me it will get me into the 3pm Tweedy in-store concert. Talk about good timing. Nice solo set and he played at least 2 from Warmer (one was Evergreen, not sure of the others) and they sounded great.

 

Lucky dog!

 

Is he touring solo or with his makeshift band ?

 

Solo right now

 

I Know What It's Like is an excellent tune. As with his last solo album, it's not quite as deep with "great songs" as some of the better Wilco albums are, but I think both were perhaps more enjoyable to me than were Star Wars or Schmilco. This puts it right in the middle of his catalog, in my opinion. But the 2 or 3 really best songs on the album, are truly wonderful additions to his body of work.

 

He was 45, but :

Sukierae

Star Wars/Schmilco could have been a double too, I like both of them.

 

I love them both myself. And they embody a little theory I have about double albums... personally I can't think of a single one that doesn't fit this...

Great double albums, that feel like a whole piece of work, thrive by virtue of their breadth & depth... often they are called sprawling & variety is the hallmark if their success.

Exploring the album repeatedly, eventually you can hear how one would subdivide & reorganize the tracks into a more gripping/inviting, "better" album (this also contains the album's most realized highest highs) & then a more odd, challenging "lesser" album (this contains the album's least realizes lowest lows).

The thing is, to blossom into being a great double album, the "better" album needs everything that "lesser" is to be provide the contrasts and twists & turns needed ti have it doubleness be eclectic enough to make it's sprawling nature compelling.

How these things interact, over the course of 2 album's/4 album sides, involves a mysterious recipe reflective of the situations that birthed the sessions of these works.

The Beatles in India for The White Album... The Stones in exile in France for Exile... Townshend coming off the glorious inability to complete Lifehouse to face a second Tommy sized mountain with Quadrophenia

For Jeff it was dealing with, yet another, bout of cancer for his wife/true love/sweetheart and how that was expressed playing with his son, then his band & then his son again, as he/they went through this & then emerged out the other side.

For me "Sukierae" easily unfolded into something I could subdivide & reorganize into 2 albums that were actually very similar to what became "Star Wars" & "Schmilco". Those two albums were recorded simultaneously, just like "Warm" & "Warmer" & they could have been Wilco's first double album since "Being There"... but... it would have been the second double in a row from the pen of Jeff Tweedy the songwriter too ...

I am guessing "Warmer" will be to "Warm" what "Schmilco" is to "Star Wars"... it'll be fascinating to hear how so.
I am also eventually looking forward to the deluxe anniversary edition of "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" that will collect the great lost double album that never was into one place/package, so we can hear/feel the fun of reconstructing that- as one might do with "Star Wars"/"Schmilco" or the aforementioned "Lifehouse" project by Townshend/The Who.

 

I have tickets to see him next month. I was kind of hoping Spencer would be there with him

 

"Jeff Tweedy" vs "Tweedy"

 

True. But he has done recent shows with sidemen including Spencer

 

Yep - I'm heartened by the use of the word "initially" in this article.

Jeff Tweedy Announces WARM Companion Album WARMER, Shares First Single

"Jeff Tweedy has announced a new album, WARMER, to be initially released this Friday, April 13, as a vinyl-only Record Store Day exclusive via dBpm Records."

 

Well, I caved. I had to take my other half to work for 8am, so I thought, well I'm up and out and about, might as well. Got to one of the Newcastle record shops just as it was opening, had to queue for an hour, but I got a copy of WARMER. Still don't like RSD though

 

Listened to side 1 so far and this is wonderful. Sounds gorgeous as well. So glad I managed to get it.

 

How does it compare to Warm? I couldn't get into that album ... nevertheless, I'm on line for RSD and I hope to pick up a copy..

 

Very similar feel. Don't know the songs well enough yet to say if it's as good, but after one listen I really love it.

 

Does the Warmer vinyl come with a digital download?

 

No.

 

I believe the word is they are going to do a digital release at some point this year. I have heard nothing about a CD release.

 

Do you know when this is likely to be?

 

Good to hear. I probably need to give it a few more listens, which I will do along with Warmer -- which I managed to get today!

Nope.

I'd be surprised if there was never a CD release -- perhaps he'll do a "Warmed Over" reissue bundling both into a double-CD...

 

A YHF box would indeed be wonderful, but I hope they don't skip over Summerteeth!

 

Given that 99% of the people who would buy this have already bought Warm this would just be exploitation.
Still think a CD release by July is highly likely.

 

I would be surprised if they don't do another vinyl run... my record store sold out of them and I can't imagine Jeff Tweedy would simply let the price go as high as they currently are on discogs ($100)... w/out doing a wider release sooner rather than later.