Wilco: Album by Album

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Parachute Woman, May 11, 2020.

  1. Parachute Woman

    Parachute Woman Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    What is it called please, so I can search for it?
     
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  2. Gabe Walters

    Gabe Walters Forum Resident

    Man, I really lost the thread--pun intended--here. My wife got a respiratory infection that the docs thought was pneumonia before the radiologist called back to tell us it was a false alarm, but she was knocked flat anyway and I was left with the kids for a good week or two. She tested negative for COVID twice in that time, but man oh man. And then things got busy/behind at work, and on and on.

    So, I'm still back at the closing track of Schmilco, which I quite like. I'm glad I got to see them at least once during the Star Wars/Schmilco period, because those are unique records in the catalog, and most of those songs haven't been done much since and I don't anticipate they'll "Strike Back" or "Jump Into the Fire" again anytime soon, being replaced by whatever material might then be newer.

    As for Together at Last, I never much cared for it. Having seen Jeff solo four times, and having many more live recordings, a record that sounds like first takes in the studio just doesn't reach the heights of some of his solo performances. You miss not only the humorous banter, but sometimes Jeff solo can be downright mesmerizing. It's in his guitar playing and how he's able to appear to shift or even suspend time with just voice, guitar, and the occasional harmonica. That's very hard to do, but I honestly think he's one of the rare performers who can do it. It must help that I'm a big fan, but the only other performers I'm thinking of who can do the same are Leonard Cohen--think 1970 Isle of Wight--or Bob Dylan, circa 1965-66. Not to say that Jeff reaches those heights every night, but I'd much rather have an official bootleg of the solo show I caught in 2010 than this "live from the Loft" series.

    I've been listening to Warm again as I've read through your comments, and I don't have too much to add. On the whole, I think it's very good, and better than I'd remembered. I still think "Let's Go Rain" is execrable, though. Instead of taking the personal and making it universal--or making the ordinary extraordinary--in this song, he takes something as cataclysmic as the Flood and reduces it to an in-joke about his musical buddy. I can imagine some potential sing-a-longers scratching their heads: "Who is Scott McCaughey?"

    I bought Warm on vinyl and was disappointed not to get a copy of Warmer on Record Store Day. They just didn't print enough copies to meet the demand, which seems surprised them. I'm surprised it surprised them, because Jeff was at that time the author of a NYTimes best selling memoir, which must have sold more than 5k copies. Anyway, it was soon enough relatively easy to order a "Solid Sound exclusive" double LP of both Warm and Warmer from the Wilco Store, and easy enough to sell my existing copy of Warm. Looks like the set is coming back into print shortly. Jeff Tweedy-WarmWarmer-Vinyl Record|Acoustic Sounds
     
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  3. Gabe Walters

    Gabe Walters Forum Resident

    Oh, another thought: I'm definitely on team "Having Been Is No Way to Be." What a stunning, life-affirming contribution from latter-day Tweedy. I definitely had a close friend tell me, circa Sky Blue Sky, "Jeff Tweedy went to rehab and got happy and now his music sucks." That's verbatim, or near enough. Probably not surprisingly, that friend is also an addict and wasn't yet in recovery in those days.

    George Saunders, the novelist, from his liner notes to the deluxe Warm/Warmer:

    The Consolation Poet

    A person gets to a certain stage in life--I'm there myself--when, no longer in the throes of child-raising (that magnificent distraction), he starts to think of death not as some abstraction that happens to other people but as a big, indifferent train that, even at this moment, is rolling out of a station located an unknown but not infinite distance away. "Isn't it time, now, to finally be happy?" the universe starts asking, along with a second, complicating question: "But how can I be happy, in a world like this?" Put another way: we seem born to love, and yet everything here is conditional (i.e., comes to an end). How should we live, when the huge piano labeled "Death" is eventually going to fall, not only on us, but on everyone we love? These sister-albums are, it seems to me, an answer. Or, if not an answer, a nod to the validity of the question.

    Should I be wary of life or enjoy it? the listener asks.

    Yes, Jeff Tweedy says.​
     
  4. Zeki

    Zeki Forum Resident

    Oh, sorry. I meant from his latest album. You probably already have it memorized! (It’s‘Natural Disaster.’)
     
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  5. adm62

    adm62 Senior Member

    Location:
    Ottawa, Canada
    Which (spoiler alert) is awesome!
     
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  6. Parachute Woman

    Parachute Woman Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    Welcome back, Gabe! I've missed your contributions. I'm sorry that your wife was so ill but I hope she is on the mend now. Your points about 'Let's Go Rain' here are very astute. A strange song, to be sure and one I like less the more I think deeply about it. Thanks for sharing that Saunders quote as well. It's pretty awesome that we have a Booker Prize winning writer to wax poetic about the joys of Wilco and Jeff Tweedy in large publications. And to write with him now!

    Oh! That makes sense. I was like, "Man! Jeff is really pumping out the material!" :laugh:
     
  7. frightwigwam

    frightwigwam Talented Amateur

    Location:
    Oregon
    In Minnesota, where I lived for several years, they have a lot of self-mythologies about "Minnesota Nice." One aspect being that a lot of people don't like to take the last piece of food; it's rude. In some circles, I think it's become a sort of self-aware joke. Sometimes to avoid taking the last piece of food, a person might cut it in half. And then you might find that someone else will cut that half-piece in half, again. And then another person will cut it in half.... So, if you're ever at a potluck in Minnesota, or maybe the Midwest generally, and you see the tiniest square of food left in a dish, you'll know why.

    This song reminds me of that, even if it's not really what Jeff had in mind. I also imagine a cartoon scenario, in which a raft is taking on water, so the character saws off the leaky end to keep his part of the raft dry, only to find in horror that he's still sinking. I guess life can be like that.

    I think this is one of the songs that sounds like Jeff was just trying out some initial ideas, and goofing around with the guitar effects, then abandoned it--although the track does segue right into the next one, as if the sequence had been carefully planned. I don't mind it--the music is pleasant enough, if you can get used to the high-pitched guitar wankery near the end--but it's not exactly great work. I feel like I'm peeking into his rough drafts.
     
    Last edited: Nov 16, 2020
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  8. jalexander

    jalexander Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canada
    Well you pretty much summed up about 50 pages or discussion very accurately! Welcome back and glad your wife is ok. :wave:
     
  9. Gabe Walters

    Gabe Walters Forum Resident

    It took several days’ reading, here and there, to catch up! Thanks for the well wishes.
     
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  10. fredyidas

    fredyidas Forum Resident

    Location:
    Texas
    Family Ghost: I must admit to now paying too much attention to the lyrics on this one before, but I've always liked that "I feel so American" line. In reading the lyrics, I can definitely see that they could be read as a political statement about a certain types of people in the US. I like the music, there's a strummy guitar that I particularly like. The song does have that kind of T-Rex swagger that some of Star Wars has.

    And Then You Cut It In Half: I don't mind this song, but it doesn't do a lot for me either. The music is pretty standard WARM/WARMER mode, but the tambourine really stands out to me as something different from most of the other songs.
     
  11. Parachute Woman

    Parachute Woman Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    ...Ten Sentences


    'Ten Sentences' has a charmingly sloppy feel to it in both the guitars and the drumming. It just kind of barrels into being, dragging you along on a fun and loping journey. I've tried to find an instance where Jeff explains the meaning behind these words, but I haven't been able to do so. Without knowing any context, it feels like a little short story to me. Howard's whole story got told in ten sentences which, honestly, you could probably sum up most lifetimes in ten sentences (or fewer). It's the impact we make while we're here with the people we love that counts. I love listening to 'Ten Sentences' with it's uptempo ramshackle spirit. It's highly enjoyable. And the lyric "I love my eyes looking into yours" reminds me of e.e. cummings ("I like my body when it is with your body").
     
  12. Fortuleo

    Fortuleo Used to be a Forum Resident

    I didn’t remember WARMER to be so upbeat… This is another fine bouncy country-folk tune, with good natured drumming, some infectious strumming, nice guitar licks and the not quite customary but recurring high/low double Tweedy voice, that is often the sign of Jeff being in a sparkly jokey pop mood. My guess is that in his mind, And then They Cut it in Half and …Ten Sentences work like a little pair of fatalistic abstract considerations about life amounting to very little, in the grand scheme of things. As we discussed, some earlier songs (like On & On & On or Everlasting, Everything) show a much more positive outlook on things, trying to see deep value in life/love/emotions, even with no God to believe in… My guess is Jeff’s lies is in the middle: part cynical, part philosophical, even spiritual. Whatever helps him write (good) songs… Now why the three dots? And who the hell is Howard? The following performance won't give us any clue about that, but it underlines the beautiful "and when the whistle blows" bridge and the clever little acoustic riff on which the song is built.
     
  13. fredyidas

    fredyidas Forum Resident

    Location:
    Texas
    Unfortunately for me Ten Sentences is a bit of a miss. I find the sing-song-y melody annoying, and the lyrics aren't appealing enough to me to overcome that.
     
  14. rancher

    rancher Unmade Bed

    Location:
    Ohio
    first listen - loved "...And Then You Cut It In Half", a Tweedy classic, blending that slow folksy feel with quizzical lyrics and some dissonance!!

    "Ten Sentences" - a fun rambly listen, maybe not great but good enough to be included here I'd say
     
  15. awsop

    awsop Forum Resident

    Location:
    Netherlands
    This song doesn't give me any clues to like it, so far.
     
  16. jalexander

    jalexander Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canada
    Ten Sentences is another one I love, especially how it just kind of tumbled out of Cut It In Half. These songs are just sloppy little messes, which I guess I happen to enjoy!

    Apart from my own biases, there is some interesting guitar work going on in both of these tracks. Jeff’s solos since Yankee tend to default to massively fuzzed out stuff, overdubbed many times over. On Cut it In Half, he actually used a different, very nasally distorted lead guitar tone. And then on this one he’s playing slide guitar. So there’s lots for a guitar nerd to enjoy here.
     
  17. jalexander

    jalexander Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canada
    I had no idea why you posted this yesterday. Then today I was singing Family Ghost in my head and I heard that Wiser Time chord change. How did I miss this?!? My fave Crowes song.
     
  18. John C Bradley Jr

    John C Bradley Jr Forum Resident

    Location:
    Columbia, SC
    @Gabe Walters sorry to hear your wife has been ill, but glad to hear she is doing better. That had to be pretty scary stuff.

    I have also sort of lost the thread though mostly for work. Had a take a long drive up to Indiana last week (really did not want to get on a plane right now) and stayed pretty busy. I need to get back into the thread moving forward - I have missed it and missed seeing everyone's comments.

    I need to spend some time with Warmer. I did not get up early enough for Record Store Day and despite checking out all of the local independent record stores (we have 2), I could not snag a copy. I think I ended up ordering it with the twofer - Warm and Warmer on CD. At least I think that is how I got it. I have to admit though, I probably listened to it one time right after I got it and have not listened to it since (I am such a bad fan, sometimes). I will give it a listen at work today and (hopefully) rejoin the discussion.
     
  19. robcar

    robcar Forum Resident

    Location:
    Denver, CO
    "Ten Sentences" doesn't do a whole lot for me, at least on first listen. It's jaunty and rustic but the lyrics seem a little bit mean-spirited to me.
     
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  20. palisantrancho

    palisantrancho Forum Resident

    "Ten Sentences"- A strange and silly song. Reminds me of something Country Joe and the Fish or John Sebastian would sing. I don't mind it, and it has a pleasant enough upbeat feel or as @Parachute Woman said a ramshackle spirit. That perfectly sums it up. It's catchy and has the same lightweight fun that he was going for on "Let's Go Rain". I like this song much more, but it's still minor Tweedy. 3/5
     
  21. frightwigwam

    frightwigwam Talented Amateur

    Location:
    Oregon
    Hey, it's a jaunty country-folk tune! That blends right in with the one that came just before it, but this is the more uptempo section. Did he write them as a pair? This one has a couple of stop-start breaks (caesuras) to give it an informal feeling, like he's just playing on his porch, except it doesn't really feel natural. I can hear the gears working. And I really don't like that slide guitar. Awful.

    I suppose that Howard was just a Western pioneer, a mountain man, who felt like he was carrying out his Manifest Destiny, challenging himself to lead the Strenuous Life, and all that, but what did he amount to, in the end? And evidently Jeff identifies with that as an artist. Ask not for whom the whistle blows....

    That's fine, but Jeff has done this kind of song much better, many times before. I'd like to hear what Wilco might do with it, but that probably won't ever happen.
     
  22. Parachute Woman

    Parachute Woman Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    Sick Server


    Just as with Warm, we come to the middle of Warmer and find ourselves at the soft, beating heart of the album. I do think Jeff must put some real thought into the sequencing of his albums. He usually does an amazing job of telling an emotional story simply with how and where he places each track. 'Sick Server' is one of the best songs on Warmer and a truly lovely song. I love the sound of the dead guitar strings on this song. There is something so graceful about the way Jeff unearths his memories here. This is a commentary on family--the one we are born into and the one we make for ourselves when we are adults. He starts by remembering his childhood home and how when he first 'left' he really didn't move that far away and still had his parents as a support system when he needed them. The lyric "Now I never go back there except when I dream" is arresting. How the places that are such a huge part of our lives for such a long time are eventually impossible to reach and confined only to our memories. The third verse reflects on his wife and how they always stayed in contact while he was away on the road, holding on to their sense of connection and love even when distances were vast. And it is in the middle verse that these two ideas are bridged and Jeff reflects:

    Oh, I never went far
    From the people I love
    I live in the spaces
    Underneath and above
    Time passes slow
    Before it goes too fast

    Dream with me, darling
    Now the moment has passed

    The section I put in italics is especially moving to me. We only have a finite amount of time to spend with anyone we love. This is a great song. The only thing I don't like about it is the title. I'm not sure what it means (server like a computer server?) and it undercuts the song a little bit.
     
  23. Parachute Woman

    Parachute Woman Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    Solo live acoustic:



    This tugs at my heartstrings, I have to say.
     
  24. Parachute Woman

    Parachute Woman Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    And, slightly OT, but for all you old school Tupelo fans, Jeff did a great version of 'New Madrid' at the same session as this performance of 'Sick Server.'

     
  25. John C Bradley Jr

    John C Bradley Jr Forum Resident

    Location:
    Columbia, SC
    I mentioned yesterday that I really have not spent any appreciable time with this record. So I am pretty much going through these songs "cold..."

    It is really a cliche to call a song "profound," but, at least to me, "Sick Server" is a pretty profound song. Its a song that lyrically really hits home. I am just, just about to turn 60 (holy cow how did I get here this fast?????). I have not really placed any significance in the other "adult" milestone birthdays - 40 or 50, but this one has me in sort of reflective mood, which ties right into this song.

    I have no family in the town that I grew up in - really all of my close friends growing up left there long ago and while I get there occasionally for work, I have absolutely no attachments there at all. The house I grew up in has long been out of the family - I have not been by it in probably 15 years - I certainly have not been in it since my parents moved out 40 years ago. Yet, I dream about it frequently. Not just the house - my neighbors too, many of whom are long dead. Its a strange weird thing - one of those things that people tell you about when you are younger and when you hear that type of thing as a young person you might think things like "weird," "strange," etc. - and yet one day you turn around and you are doing the same thing. So when Jeff talks about returning only in his dreams, that's a pretty staggeringly relatable line.
     

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