I haven't commented yet on the title. Generally speaking, you can't trademark the title of a creative work, unless it's indicative of a series. Star Wars surely qualifies and has been trademarked. But one question courts will look to in resolving a trademark dispute is whether there's potential for consumer confusion; LucasFilm probably declined to take legal action, if they considered it, because there's no potential for confusing the new Wilco album with the silly cat cover with a Star Wars movie soundtrack or other movie ephemera. I recall reading that the band was waiting for the cease and desist letter, and had alternative album art ready to go, the new record title to be Cease and Desist. That never came to pass, obviously, but it seems like the whole thing was an elaborate prank or stunt to get the record some free media attention.
As my last few posts have sort of indicated, I feel like between work and some family commitments/visits, I've been pulled about a thousand ways the past couple of weeks. Sadly, despite my best intentions, I have been AWOL for most of the Star Wars thread, although this record (and this thread) have been very much in my mind. I went through a "phase" with Wilco around this time. I really started getting into the Roadcase shows and my listening "shifted" a bit from studio Wilco to live Wilco. So, while I was listening to as much Wilco as I ever had, my emphasis - for lack of a better word - shifted over to the live shows as opposed to listening to the studio albums. I think this lasted up through Ode to Joy which has brought me back to the studio record, at least as far as that record is concerned. I have probably played it as much as any of the records that came before it back to Real Love. But I am definitely getting ahead of myself here. I've probably listened to this record 5-6 times in the past week. I like it. I like it a lot more than I remembered liking it when it came out or since. I have not ranked my Wilco records - I probably will wait until after we get through this thread, but I have to think that this record would be mid pack - but upper mid pack. Someone mentioned before the fact that they may have discounted it a bit because it was free - that's an interesting point - I never thought of that - but to me its just a record that has sort of existed under the radar for a while and I am happy that I have rediscovered it.
No problems for me with Star Wars. 15 minute drive each way to the store? This is the one I’m going to reach for. Interesting discussion about Jeff’s songwriting. I don’t think he’s really stuck to one mode, which keeps his writing mostly compelling to me. The he song exploder podcast for Magnetized highlights the mode he was in for Star Wars, which is quite different compared to the DVD interviews on SBS, for example. Here are some of my thoughts over time AM and Being There have pretty direct songwriting that evolve into a narrative of the trials of a touring musician With Summerteeth he begins pursuing more abstract stories influenced by Bukowski and others On Yankee he gets more abstract, ultimately leading to a book of poetry With SBS he aims for a more direct songwriting style Moving forward he alternates between the two modes With Magnetized he has discussed how it started like many of his songs with pure mumbling. He then finds words that hang together and fit the meter. He says they mean something to him and he hopes they mean something to the listener too. Interesting that the song has a Mikael co-write. In the podcast he talks about how it started with Spencer. Then Glenn expanded Spencer’s ideas into a full-blown drum part. Jeff went overdub crazy with the guitars at the end. And Nels added a bunch of atmospherics. But he never mentions Mikael! I’m assuming the piano is all him.
I'm mostly in agreement with your lyric trajectory, save for SBS. The songs surely sound direct, but I think most of the lyrics are impressionistic and simply a good stream of imagery that, once again, suggest certain emotions. Maybe "evoke" is a better word? The one really direct song for me is "On and On and On" about his father. The title track? We're later told it's about him realizing the disconnect he feels with his hometown based on the time he couldn't get home due to a parade down main street. You knew this when you first heard the track? I surely didn't! It's a beautiful track that exemplifies him at his lyrical best. You have to realize, when I compare him to someone like Bowie, I'm paying him a nice compliment. What is "Life on Mars" about? "Word on Wing"? Is it a pretty standard rock love song, or a quasi-religious song to the "Lord"? What is "Station to Station" about? (For the record Station to Station is my favorite Bowie album.) You better believe, Lester Bangs gave him hell over the "return of the Thin White Duke/throwing darts in lovers' eyes" couplet! With Wilco, I wrote earlier about how "Ashes of American Flags" helped break a hole in the wall of numbness I felt after 9/11. The song wasn't about 9/11. It was written and recorded long before then. For me, the lyrics suggest a mood that's brilliantly enhanced by the music - and it was a mood I found myself in about 9/25/01! What kind of bond does it create with me and Wilco? Apparently a deep one, as I'm still listening. But I'd be me remiss not to point out, the older I get, the more I find myself drawn to direct emotions, however they're expressed. Gabe Walters, that was a great post from Nils - he seems pretty self aware and grateful based on that passage. I particularly liked, "In terms of longevity, I think it has a lot to do with that earlier core audience, because those people have a kind of loyalty that is much less apt to happen now. I think people's attention spans shift so quickly, and it's so hard to get people's attention. I think that generation has an incredible loyalty to the people they love, and they'll continue to support the band." He also has to realize, most people as they age, at least from what I'm seeing, simply stop listening to or pursuing music in any real way, which I think is a mistake emotionally. Many of us have been with this band 25 years, some longer given their Uncle Tupelo fanhood. Like any long-term relationship, I've had a few knock-down dragouts with my relationship to Jeff and the band. I'll probably have a few more!
I’d be interested to know if he ever says something like, ‘I wrote that with,’ or ‘so and so wrote (or brought in) this and we worked on it some more.’ I think I recall Jeff saying something similar while working with O’Rourke but never (?) with Jay Bennett. If he doesn’t even mention Mikael...what does that mean? Too close to home? It’s rather strange, I think, to make it a point of never mentioning the in-house co-writer.
"Magnetized" closes the record on a Lennon-Bolan hymn. I suppose that Nels is doing the tweedly-twinkly theramin-like effects, and either Pat or Jeff is playing the T. Rex guitar part after the chorus. The surreal/impressionistic lyrics are very reminiscent of Bolan, as well, although I think Jeff's lyrics on the album generally have been unfairly dismissed as "gibberish" here. A lot of the songs delve into Jeff's familiar themes, and at least a couple might have been carried over from the Sukierae period, even if he disguises that a little bit in glam textures and some cut-up experimentation. It's not exactly Hugo Ball. I can't say exactly what he means by "orchestrate the shallow pink refrigerator drone," but you get the big picture from the rest of the song, right? I like the album, although I think some songs could've used more development, and I wish that it sounded like more of a band album, with more rooms for Nels, with better production and mastering. But credit to them for maintaining their dedication to experimentation, trying new things, even 25 years after Tweedy started making albums. They threw a few songs on the A-side that should feel familiar to the fanbase, but a lot of it feels like a surprise--even down to its free, unexpected release. And at no point do I ever feel like they've gone off the rails and are putting me through torture. Like, Jeff once said that he'd like to appeal to Flaming Lips fans, when the Flaming Lips were good at doing weirdness with popular appeal, but then in 2009 they really got lost going up their own backsides for the next decade. (The new album is getting generally positive "Return to Form!" reviews, but I haven't heard it.) That's not the case with Star Wars. It's an enjoyable experiment.
"Magnetized" veers a bit too much into Summerteeth territory for my tastes in Wilco music. The stop/start parts also bug me. Otherwise, there's a lot to recommend this song. It does seem more "finished" than most of the other tracks on the album and it has a nice melody. It reminds me a bit of early 70s Bowie. The lyrics seem to at least have a point. In the end, though, this sort of thing isn't just what I think Wilco does best - it's listenable, but not memorable to me.
This is an adult assessment of Star Wars of which I am not capable. I seriously thought that this, in the wake of Sukierae, was Wilco's last album. I figured Jeff was through with the band. That's how much I didn't like this one. Now, I can handle it. There are some good sounds on it, but I find it funny (funny as in "not agree," not haha ) you refer to Schmilco as Star Wars' little sister, as I think the former is at least twice the album of the latter, or at least it's an actual album. Granted, it's got a little girl on the cover whose devoted parent braves electrocution so she can groove. But to close it out, "King Of You" and "Magnetized' are OK.
Good point about Sky Blue Sky. Definitely still in impressionistic territory. But singing about mowing the lawn is a lot clearer than I am an American Aquarium drinker. But we’re nowhere near hurt realistic narrative!
I always though the line was "alien ache," but "8 a.m. ache" would give it an interesting spin! I like "Magnetized" — like many have said, it is one of the most "complete" songs on the album and a perfect closer. Overall, Star Wars is a fun album, a should-be-expected-because-it-was-unexpected left turn, and ultimately a nice album to have in the arsenal, serving as a counter to some of the stuff that came before, and then after, it. I wish it was treated with a little more seriousness by Jeff and co, but the truth is the music doesn't really suffer for its frivolous packaging. If I was coming to Wilco's catalog all together for the first time, this would be one that, while not a career masterpiece, I would think, "Well this is a cool little piece of rock." Receiving it in real time was fun, even if it didn't feel like a patented Wilco big deal release I'd come to look forward to in the past — especially since it was four years since their last one. But when you take all that context away, Star Wars is one that I enjoy visiting from time to time.
Part of my problem with Star Wars is exactly that it wasn't a "big album statement". Given that it had been four years since Wilco's previous album, I expected and wanted a "big album statement" from them in 2015. A lightweight album like Star Wars would be fine if it was a quick follow on to a "major" album (like U2's Zooropa after Achtung Baby). Coming four years later, however, it had an air of "we don't care anymore" about it that kind of devalued Wilco to me as a band. Obviously they can do whatever they want and part of my problem is that the resulting record (now that I've listened to it closely) doesn't meet my expectations for the band. I know that they are capable of much more impactful work than this. However, that's clearly not what they were going for here - again, that's fine, but it doesn't mean that I have to enjoy it. Not everything a band or artist does is going to resonate with all people. Perhaps the next album will veer back into the terrain that I feel has produced their best work. Here's my ranking of the songs on Star Wars*: You Satellite Taste The Ceiling Cold Slope Magnetized The Joke Explained Where Do I Begin More... Random Name Generator Pickled Ginger King Of You EKG *Only the top two would be on any Wilco playlist of mine and, though I think they're the best here, for me they are well below most of the rest of the band's output to date. My ranking of Wilco albums (so far) in order of preference: 1. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot 2. Being There 3. A Ghost Is Born 4. The Whole Love 5. A.M. 6. Sky Blue Sky 7. Kicking Television: Live In Chicago 8. Mermaid Avenue, Vol. II 9. Mermaid Avenue 10. Summerteeth 11. Wilco (The Album) 12. Star Wars
I am surprised that you don’t have the Mermaid Avenue albums, as well as AM and Sky Blue Sky, ranked higher, being the most Americana records in their catalogue.
Before @Parachute Woman wakes this thread up with the folk strum of Normal American Kids, a quick round up of the couple of good to great Tweedy songs released between Star Wars and Schmilco, all rather short (2’30’’) and charming. World Spins around You is from the 2015 Peter Buck solo LP Warzone Earth. Jeff sings this slow lo-fi/low profile ballad with the ubiquitous Scott McCaughey on keys and some nice female backing vocals reminiscent of Sukierae. Let's Find Each Other Tonight is a fast-paced cover of the Jose Feliciano tune. Credited to “Tweedy” (the band), it bounces along nicely, with excellent vocals by Jeff (he’s really pretty good at covers!) and a great late night latin vibe. It was featured in the second season of the TV series Fargo. Last but not least, Theme in Yellow is a Carl Sandburg “Chicago poem” put to music by Jeff, who delivers a typically hushed and “warm” performance, with understated backing (acoustic guitar, brushed drums, upright bass, a bit of piano, delicate strings, some airy double tracked effects on the vocals) and a timeless folk melody. It’s taken from a record credited to David Naegler and friends and ranks among my favorite stray Tweedy cuts.
Schmilco Released: September 9, 2016 Coming hot on the heels of Star Wars, Schmilco was officially announced almost exactly one year to the day after the previous album. A few tracks were released in advance and the band later held "I Heard Schmilco" parties at Record Stores, where fans could come and listen to the album and buy copies. All in all, it was a far more traditional marketing campaign and release than the one for Star Wars. However, I can't help but pair the two albums together in my mind as (a) they were released so close together, (b) they were both created with a similar 'do it quickly' Neil Youngian approach and (c) they both have weird titles and covers. The album title is a direct nod to Harry Nilsson and his album Nilsson Schmilsson (and other albums he made that followed this--Son of Schmilsson, etc.) This is called "Shm-reduplication" and is a common Yiddish phrasing, designed to indicate sarcasm or skepticism. An example from Wiki: Person A: What a sale! Person B: Sale schmale. I'm waiting for a bigger discount. Nilsson' album title is a direct reflection of his sense of humor and a disassembling of the ego of major rock stars. Wilco follows in that vein, though (as with Star Wars) for some fans the album title is going to undercut the album rather than enhance it. "Why should I care about your album if you aren't even taking it seriously?" I can understand this point of view. Two albums in a row with a jokey title did fray my own nerves and make me hope and pray that my beloved Wilco wasn't going down the Weezer "turn your band into a meme" route. The album artwork was an illustration by Joan Cornella. It's eye-catching, but not really my taste. I will admit to the room that I didn't buy Schmilco right when it came out. I waited a few months. This was a first since I got really into the band. I just felt a bit turned off by the whole presentation of the thing, and I guess I had other things to preoccupy me (2016...what was coming out? That was the year of a lot of major musical deaths, I know that). Review wise, the album was met with general praise though most of the reviews are somewhat muted. It seemed like people liked the album but it wasn't exactly sending anybody over the moon. Pitchfork gave it a 7.0 and called it a "largely acoustic affair laden with sweet melodies, autumnal production, and childhood memories that stop just short of nostalgic." The Guardian called it "world-weary, wheezy and wonderfully warm." And that's the thing about Schmilco. It has a silly title and garish artwork and it came out really quickly after the previous album (indicating that it wasn't labored over intently) but when you listen to the thing...it's good. Really good. And it sounds radically different from Star Wars. As has been discussed, these latter day albums were made using similar methods--building up Jeff's demos with the band at the Loft--but the same method has produced different results each time. Star Wars was fuzzy, bizzaro garage rock. Schmilco takes a different tack. It's an earthy, intimate project with lyrics steeped in real life memories and emotions from Jeff. It is this album that truly points the way to what Jeff would be doing on his upcoming solo projects. It feels like a singer-songwriter project in many places, though the band is still there...quietly. Yes, Wilco as a unit is more subdued here and that is probably my one major complaint. I do miss them. In a live setting, they are one of the tightest units imaginable with each band member playing a unique and important role. On this record, they are merely background players helping to create the right atmosphere for Jeff Tweedy's vision. They aren't completely invisible but I do think this is the least 'Wilco' sounding Wilco album and, despite its many virtues, that does give me pause. Opening track: Normal American Kids I will never forget the first time I finally listened to Schmilco and how happy I was to hear this song. It's a sweet melody and a quiet arrangement (gentle acoustic strumming and some slide guitar embellishments and that's pretty much it...) but the words! They were words I could understand, words I could relate to, words that filled my head with images and memories and smells and emotions. I like Star Wars quite a bit as a listening experience but, as we've talked about in detail, those words just meant almost nothing to me. But here was Jeff Tweedy baring himself and telling stories like a classic guitar-playing troubadour. And, as with earlier songs going all the way back to "The Lonely 1," they were words that hit me straight between the eyes because I GOT THEM. This was me. This isn't a song that brags about being different or tries to paint Jeff as the cool outsider who is so much better and deeper than the regular old popular crowd. It is quite the opposite. This is a song about anxiety, growing up, trying to understand yourself, feeling like you don't fit in and the line "Always afraid of those normal American kids" is the real winner. He doesn't look down on them. They intimidate him, seeming to engage with life so effortlessly, seeming to enjoy themselves so freely and he just can't do it. "I knew what I liked was not very much" was a major line for me. I've never liked very many things. Easily bored. Music is the only thing (apart from family and friends) that has ever engaged me in any meaningful way. "Before I knew people could die just because" is a sucker punch. "Painting myself as a normal American kid" is all about building that mask (faking it so real you are beyond fake, TM Courtney Love). I love this track. It means a lot to me.
Forgot about the song on the Fargo soundtrack (there’s a great tune by White Denim on there too) and didn’t know the other two. Thanks! Jeff also produced Richard Thompson’s album Still after touring together. Can’t say I’ve ever connected with that album despite several tries.
I like the quiet simplicity of Normal American Kids, and it's an ambitious way to start the album, without a huge electric riff or noise. It's almost a statement of purpose - this isn't another Star Wars or YHF. I suspect a lot of people can relate to the song. I was too much of a geek in high school to be getting high, but I was far from a normal kid. The USA was the third country I lived in (we moved here when I was in junior high school), and for various reasons I never fit in. I don't remember ever being afraid of those "normal" kids; I always had a couple of good friends and didn't care about the rest. In some ways I'm similar today, decades later.
I’ll just quickly respond to the above before going back to listen to the opening track. Yes, I may have thought this, that New Wilco was no longer making an effort. I didn’t think much of Star Wars (before our just completed deep dive) and have never bothered to investigate this new one. I know absolutely nothing about this album so....in a couple of moments I’ll be hearing Track One for the very first time.
Sublime intro, Miss Parachute ! And what a beautiful thread you're running… As for me, I bought Schmilco on day one and loved it from the very first note. Actually, I already loved it from the title and the cover. What’s not to like? Any Nilsson nod is fine by me, any good nerdy comic book reference too. And what a funny way to officialize his conversion to judaism ! Oh, and something else : they had to keep on doing the "we're not taking ourselves seriously" thing for at least one more album, or it would've been retrospective proof that Star Wars was indeed the jokey throwaway album, which was not true at all… Furthermore… it works! Four years on, a simple mention of the title, bang!, the cover pops into my head and I start whistling If I ever Was a Child… Everything about it has personality, it creates a little world of its own, it has its own charm (very laid back) and color (very green), even more so than Star Wars does. As noted by our hostess, one was all about the band getting loose and weird, and the other is about the songs and Jeff’s first step into his autobiographical phase. The role of “Wilco” is not the same on both records. "Wilco" is the star of Star Wars, the songs are the star of Schmilco. And as such, the two LP’s are mirror images of each other. Thus the mimetic structure : both albums start with a rather short prologue. One is the wordless blast of EKG, the other is the very direct address of “NAK”. Both shy away from the grand openings of previous records, and both manage to perfectly set the stage for what’s to come. I love everything about Normal American Kids, its sea shanty melody, Jeff’s dazed (& confused) delivery, Nels little "insect guitar" commentaries. Even though I’m not American and can’t exactly relate to what’s at play culturally, I understand what Jeff's saying about himself. He hated those kids not because he wasn't one of them but because he wished he could be – and self-loathed himself for that very desire and his lack of courage to step up and make it happen. He hated “conformity” but even more his own inertia and inaptitude to conform. It’s quite complex an idea, expressed in very simple and vivid words and images. More than “them”, he always hated “it”: the way it made him feel. It’s not a song about them, it’s a song about himself and his conflicted youth, when he thought he was “better” than those obviously better at feeling good about life and about themselves. In that sense, it’s another of the later days companion pieces to the seminal Misunderstood. Excellent song, very direct, very straightforward, incredibly articulate. See @fspringer, Jeff can do it! Yes, Normal American Kids does open the path that will ultimately lead to the whole Let’s Go/Warm/Warmer moment. But for now, it meaningfully opens a wonderful little album.
In its own way, Star Wars actually was a statement, but I know what you mean, and that's basically what I was saying. Star Wars didn't feel like the culmination of four years' work, or an epic return that may have been an unfair expectation on our part. To be gone that long and then return with a jokey looking album full of jokey looking song titles that then mostly felt like short, unfinished demos ... @Parachute Woman describes it so well as a good "listening experience," even though it felt less substantial. Looking back on it and removing the circumstances, it's a good addition in the catalog.
If we're doing the album rating thing.... This would be my attempt at it Roughly Summerteeth Being There Sky Blue Sky Yankee Hotel Foxtrot The Whole Love Star Wars Am A ghost is born Wilco (the album) Something like that
Normal American Kids: first listen and, yeah, I like it. A normal song! All singer-songwriter but after that...that (misguided! my opinion) opener from Star Wars I’m practically crying tears of joy. I’m looking forward to this album now.
I’m cheating by continuing to listen to the album and am stunned. I missed this?! Wow, it’s fantastic. Three songs in and so far it’s firing on all cylinders.
I always hear the first three tracks on Schmilco as a little suite, because you have layer after layer until by the third track you have the whole band playing together. Normal American Kids is a wonderful opener. In some ways it’s a bit like Please Be Patient With Me, a little Jeff solo number with Nels’ guitar floating across the top. That Nels factor instantly identifies this as Wilco territory rather than Tweedy. Jeff’s memoir elucidated some of the circumstances of this song (did you know his mom was helping him run punk shows in his early teens?), but there’s enough detail that I can empathize with the story. I was far more clean cut than Jeff as a teen, but can fully identify with that loathing envy of the normal kids. A lot of us were outcasts for many reasons, and this song mines that vein incredibly well. As for the album, I don’t really care about the disposability. Star Wars kept me engaged in an era when I wasn’t buying much new music. If anything, I think they got the album covers and titles reversed. The pop-art toss-off should definitely have a cartoon cover and a dismissive title. And the bleary-eyed nostalgia look back at childhood in the 70s should be named after the biggest movie of the decade and feature grandma’s kitchen art on the cover.
