"Kamera" is perhaps the song on YHF that is the most similar stylistically to Summerteeth, except, had it appeared there, it would probably have been slathered with mellotron, bells, tympani, and who knows what else. It would have been shrill rather than warm. Here, it is allowed to breathe. Yes, there are bells and a few other extraneous sounds, but they never overwhelm the mix. This is another great song, with a lyric that is essentially a plea for help. This one hasn't been performed all that much over the years, and I suppose that's due to it being a reflection on a time that Tweedy would almost certainly prefer to leave firmly in the past.
The first two "Kamera" takes are on the 21-track Demos collection (subtitled The Basement Tapes on my download). I agree, the first take sounds like an early preparation for Summerteeth II: Son of Summerteeth, before Jay had a chance to add some more Pet Sounds effects. The second take has the crunchy guitar, distorted vocals, and a primitive synth solo, but the tempo really drags. On the Engineer Demos take, which I think is basically the same as the version released on More Like the Moon and Alpha Mike Foxtrot, they change the riff and pick up the tempo so it's more like a New Wave tribute. In the end, they hit upon the best take for the album--but they must have realized that they had something on the first pass, because the final version is closer in spirit to that one than the other two.
Thanks for not making fun of my four "probably"-ies. This post was mainly me trying to figure out the genesis of my Wilco love.
“I don’t want us to be filed under ‘alt. country’, I’d rather be filed alongside Mercury Rev or the Flaming Lips” just seems like an astute, practical appraisal of the kind of music his band was making at present and the kind of audience that was most likely to get into their new album. Continuing to sell the band as "alt-country" would've just limited their audience to people most likely to get upset to find their expectations turned upside-down, while the Mercury Rev and Flaming Lips fans never would've given them a chance. I know for certain that if I'd ever heard anything like, "alt-country fans rejoice, the old Wilco is back; a triumpant return to form!" I would not have been interested at all. Ultimately, his strategy was vindicated by sales: #13 on the Billboard chart (their previous two had peaked in the 70's) and 674,000 copies sold as of 2010, their only Gold record, even without the benefit of a hit single.
I just dug out my engineer’s demo vs real thing comparison cd (including a piece of scratch paper grading my preferences). I see only one track that went ‘engineer.’ On the others, including Kamera, I agreed with the released choices. (If I told someone outside of this forum that I made such a cd, they’d look at me as if I was mad. )
But it’s kind of like saying “I don’t want to be considered great; I’d rather be thought of as mediocre”. And clearly the music they went on to make undercuts his statement, because it had far more in common with the diverse and creative genre he was trying to run from for some reason than the comparatively stagnant music made by those two bands.
Yeah. It's too bad I can't find this version to post it. It seems like many haven't heard it? I love that first version just as much as the album version.
Thanks to your intriguing post I went looking for and found the YHF Demos and YHF Engineer Demo. I wouldn't go so far placing Take 1 on a equal level with the album version after 2 times listening, but I like it very much. You say it's closer in spirit than the other one. That may be. However, in the execution Take 1 and the album version are for me day and night different.
I'm excited that I've found today another 2 fantastic Kamera's, this one and the Take 1, next to the album version.
My bad - shouldn’t have said “rather”! There’s actually some great mellotron on Yankee. A lot of the musical beds are also just Jeff and Jay on acoustic guitar, piano and Wurlitzer. Unlike Summerteeth, though, Jay didn’t just keep layering more and more vintage keyboards (or maybe he did and they were removed). Yankee has layers of Glen’s percussion and a lot of digital synths. I think mixing it with the vintage instruments is what keeps it earthy. I was hoping this would finally help me figure out which bootleg I have, but I have a 22-song set and none of the times match up with these.
YHF Demos tracklist: I Am Trying to Break Your Heart Ashes of American Flags I'm the Man Who Loves You A Magazine Called Sunset Reservations Kamera Not for the Season Alone Nothing Up My Sleeve Venus Stop the Train Rhythm Poor Places Won't Let You Down Heavy Metal Drummer Instrumental 1 Instrumental 2 Instrumental 2 (Alternate Version) Kamera (Alternate Version) A Magazine Called Sunset (Alternate Version) Alone (Alternate Version) Not for the Season (Alternate Version) YHF Engineer Demos: I'm the Man Who Loves You Kamera A Magazine Called Sunset Poor Places Shakin' Sugar (a/k/a Alone) War on War Ashes of American Flags Cars Can't Escape Pot Kettle Black The Good Part I Am Trying to Break Your Heart Reservations Let Me Come Home Heavy Metal Drummer Nothing Up My Sleeve Corduroy Cutoff Girl Never Let You Down
Yep I have both of these. My 22 yr old son says these are the best Wilco recordings well anyway, THIS Flaming Lips fan has always appreciated Wilco
Next: Radio Cure I am reminded of @Fortuleo saying he started this album with an improperly sequenced CD-R that started with Radio Cure, Reservations and Poor Places. That is really a testament to the importance of track sequencing in creating an enjoyable and compelling album listen. Because 'Radio Cure' is most certainly not the kind of song made to open a record, but it is uniquely powerful here in the third slot on the album. We are settling in to the sounds now. 'Kamera' gave us a more traditional melody to latch on to. And then they present us with the more abstract and heart-rending 'Radio Cure.' I've talked a little bit in this thread about the fact that one of the reasons I love Wilco is how well Jeff Tweedy writes about mental illness. This song is a strong example of that. This song formed the words that I couldn't when I was in college and first putting it together that I most definitely had something going on that was not healthy or normal. It was depression. "There is something wrong with me" That hit me like a ton of bricks. No frills or poetry. Just the bare fact of it. And the opening lyric of "Cheer up honey, I hope you can" seemed to reflect what other people were saying to me. Just cheer up! Just be happy! It's a beautiful day out, why would you feel sad on a day like this? Not understanding that this just isn't how depression works and it isn't a switch you can magically flip. The music was like a slow moan of agitation and discomfort, before drifting into the tinkling toy piano-accented 'Picking apples for the kings and queens of things I have never seen.' I read that as trying to do right, trying to absolve people who were apparently living a kind of life that I couldn't. Jeff's voice on this song is so stark. You can hear the real pain and raw lurch of it. The way it rises, breaking and keening in the final repetitions of 'distance has no way of making love understandable.' Why do you love me? Why? Why? Over five minutes and every second counts. So much space in it like the yawning chasm of emptiness.
Hmm, be careful @Parachute Lady ! You're not supposed to make your opening posts even better than the songs they're about, are you ? Now, for those of us who were discussing why Wilco was labelled “the American Radiohead”, this song must be it ! It has “beeps and bloops” as @KirkK pointed upthread, it has this sleepy nightmarish pace and flow that could be associated with the English band’s singer with one eye closed… It even has “Radio” in the title… But frankly, I never got this comparison in the first place. I think it’s not fair at all, because Wilco never became a pretentious art band. NEVER (ok, maybe on the Wilco Book, I'll give you that). For all its evolutions and experiments, it has consistently remained, to this day, a vehicle for Jeff Tweedy’s guitar based pop and folk songwriting, whatever his collaborators and inclinations were at any given time. And it’s never truer than on Radio Cure, maybe the most “difficult” song on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, but still a moving folkish lament, with superb chord changes and an aching but catchy chorus, courtesy of Mr. Bennett. This song is certainly the one that reminds us most that Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is indeed the Wilco LP sitting between Summerteeth and A Ghost Is Born. The drone-sy confined bed of acoustic guitar of the verses is already Muzzle of Bees. But then, the “Distance has no Way” chorus comes straight from the mind of Beatles-obsessed Summerteeth man Jay Bennett (and Jeff dutifully obliges with his best Lennonesque line and delivery). In between, the “Picking apples” link may be my personal favorite part, a ghostly harmonic wonder with some mind-blowing drums behind it that repeats the great gimmick of this album: when songs threaten to crumble down once and for all, before picking up speed again. This link was already part of the fascinating Corduroy Cut-off Girl, the uptempo poppy song that stands as tangible proof of the Frankenstein nature of Radio Cure, which makes it such a triumph of atmosphere and craftsmanship.
Nice observation. Yes, it’s interesting that Radio Cure was originally tucked into, of all things, really, Corduroy Cut-Off Girl.
Radio Cure Very sparse instrumental backing for the first 4 out of 5 minutes. Another example of how “less can be better”, for instead of slathering on the Mellotron we mostly hear an acoustic guitar and a subdued piano(?) hitting the low notes. Kind of a downer, but it works in the sequence. Has an unfinished feel in the way that it ends suddenly after “cheer up. Honey I hope you can”. So what do the lyrics mean? What is a “radio cure”? we hear: “My mind is filled with silvery stars Honey, kisses, clouds of fog Shoulders shrugging off” and later: “My mind is filled with radio cures Electronic surgical words” Just a guess, but maybe Jeff is saying his head is full of random stuff he heard on the radio and other random thoughts, but he can’t turn it off because his mind is racing? He doesn’t feel right, but he struggling to figure out what’s wrong or how to change or stop it. Migraines are insidious. They are not just a “headache” and if you don’t suffer from them you are lucky. (I’m lucky) My wife gets them, and I’ve had friends and coworkers who suffer through them, and they are different for each person. They are sometimes triggered by specific stimuli, such as bright light, or sounds, sometimes a food allergy, but other times they just happen due to a sudden change in weather (air pressure) or even no apparent reason. Sometimes they just happen. They mess with your head and make you think you are “not right” or that you did something wrong to “deserve” them. Jeff Tweedy was admittedly in not very good shape mentally and was hard to get along with around this time period, and I think the migraines were affecting his quality of life here. That burst of irritating noise at the end of “I Am Trying To Break Your Heart” - I think that was put there as an example of a “migraine trigger”. And I think some of the lyrics on this album are best understood as being from the viewpoint of a migraine sufferer trying to put into words how he feels and what the pain makes him feel like. “Radio Cure” is a song I’d include among them.
Just checking in to say hey -- sorry I haven't been the contributor to this thread I'd hoped to be, but wanted to say how much I've enjoyed reading everyone's insights and observations and personal reminiscences. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is overwhelmingly my favorite Wilco record, and one of my top 20-25 records of all time -- one of those albums that really just totally overhauled the way I listened to music, and what I looked for in production value, One of the great ones.
There are already some great posts on Radio Cure and I don't have much to add - the music is perfect for the lyrics, and it's in the right place on the album. I think it's definitely about mental illness and the distance it brings. If you can't relate you're lucky.
Radio Cure The pulsing heartbeat of the kick drum, like a heart refusing to stop, but unsure as to why. The little interjections from the instruments, not seeming continuous, but more sliding in and out, like sanity, or perhaps in a bi-polar way. The little lines of static, like electrical interference preventing a good connection. The vocals, despondent, and in and out of time, just not quite in the flow. Everything in this song seems to speak to a depression or bi-polar disorder. My wife gets that, and it is terribly hard to know what to do, mine is much less severe... I appreciate this song, it is really well done, and seems to reflect exactly what it is trying to say..... but do I enjoy it? Sometimes, but only on the right mind curve, I don't need to swing down too often, I have to hold the ship together, so I can't afford to abandon it by allowing myself to slide into it. This is probably part of the reason this album isn't in my favourites. I appreciate it, but can't allow myself to connect to it too closely...
distance has no way of making love understandable That line hit me hard a long time ago... it still does. There is a nostalgia part of listening to YHF that nowadays I can have, before it was just a great album, now it's a great album that I grew up with the years.
I get confused by this song. It sounds so ominous and depressing, yet it’s so beautiful. Since we suspect that it’s not just a song, but a straightaway report from the mental intensive care, isn’t it abject to enjoy it? Oh my god, this sounds very moralistic, I don’t wanna be like this, but it just crossed my mind. It’s part of the topic that the fans like their heroes to suffer, because it can produce the best of their music. My mind is filled with radio cures Electronic surgical words It’s giving me the image they are reprogramming his brain. He is badly in need of another language. He has to become better in the art of positive thinking. I think this black and white video captures the song at its best.
