Wilco: Album by Album

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

  1. NettleBed

    NettleBed Forum Transient

    Location:
    new york city
    "Far less prolific?" Since their landmark YHF/Kid A albums, Radiohead has released 5 albums; Wilco 7 . Not the same, but I wouldn't call Wilco's output "far more prolific" than Radiohead's. And each frontman has release 3 solo albums each. There may well be reasons to dispute the Wilco/Radiohead thing, but comparative band front-man solo output wouldn't qualify, IMO. If anything, they're pretty similar.
     
  2. Aar Gal

    Aar Gal Monkberry Moon Delight

    Location:
    Virginia
    For me Golden Smog has the Best Song Tweedy ever wrote...

     
  3. jalexander

    jalexander Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canada
    Good choice for this thread. I will say that while most bands’ side projects are disappointing, if you like early Wilco, Golden Smog are worth checking out, and if you like YHF/Ghost then you really, really, really need to get the two Loose Fur albums (and Glen confirmed a few weeks ago that they’ve been sitting on a third for some time).
     
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  4. jalexander

    jalexander Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canada
    The Mavis albums are so good... the most recent one was fully written by Jeff so is more required listening. And You Are Not Alone is one of his best tracks.
     
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  5. Aar Gal

    Aar Gal Monkberry Moon Delight

    Location:
    Virginia
    And then there is The Minus 5 - Down With Wilco

    [​IMG]
     
  6. jalexander

    jalexander Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canada
    Fair enough. Difference I find, though, is that Radiohead is a collective. There is lots of material from all members of the band out there, but there is something distinct about when all five work together.

    We’ll get there later, but the for the past ten years at least, this is very much Tweedy’s band. Unlike Thom in Radiohead, he’s not just the frontman. He’s the songwriter. When I listen to Nels’ albums or Autumn Défense, I feel like I’m in the Wilco Universe, the same as if I listen to Atoms, or Jonny’s soundtracks i feel like I’m the Radiohead universe. But I’m still not on planet Wilco/Radiohead.

    But pretty much anything Tweedy feels like planet Wilco to me. I don’t distinguish greatly between Wilco/Tweedy/Jeff Tweedy... they’re all the product of the same guy heading down to the Loft everyday working on the same stuff... sometimes the other five guys are contributing, sometimes they’re not.

    Regardless, I love all of the above mentioned music and am glad when any of these folks decide to put anything out.
     
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  7. Parachute Woman

    Parachute Woman Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    This rabbit hole is getting deeper and wider all the time! It's great, though. Learning and hearing new stuff is one of the best parts of threads like this. Collaborative conversation. Thanks everyone for your insights!

    I am still going to stick with the same table of contents. If it gets to be two years from now and we still want to keep going, we can certainly start in on all of this stuff. For now, I think we have plenty to keep ourselves busy!
     
  8. HenryH

    HenryH Miserable Git

    As an intro...

    I remember coming across the "No Depression" genre through articles in audio magazines back in the early 90's. I can't say that it was something that initially peaked my interest, but I was exploring a lot of music at the time, and I do recall dipping a toe into some recordings of the period that were somewhat relevant to alt-country. However, I came across a music editor that I thought was a bit pretentious who pushed alt-country artists, and that really turned me off. I do recall hearing about Uncle Tupelo, but to this day I've yet to hear a track by them.

    Jump ahead to the early 2000's, and I'm coming across a lot of buzz about an album titled Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. It gets an "album of the month" review in an audio magazine, so I take the plunge, without hearing a note before picking up a copy on CD.

    As it turned out, my impressions of YHT became one of those notable points in my personal music journey. Then and there, I became an unabashed Wilco fan.

    To be continued...
     
    Last edited: May 12, 2020
  9. Zeki

    Zeki Forum Resident

    Fantastic! Thank you. A side note on New Madrid. The lyric “Rivers burn and then run backwards” is referring to the Mississippi River’s current running backwards after a giant earthquake in February, 1812.
    THE MISSISSIPPI RAN BACKWARDS
    After the February 7 earthquake, boatmen reported that the Mississippi actually ran backwards for several hours.
     
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  10. Zeki

    Zeki Forum Resident

    (Yes. And then there’s always Steve Forbert’s “Rocking Horse Head”, backed by everyone in Wilco except for Tweedy!)
     
  11. Pawnmower

    Pawnmower Senior Member

    Location:
    Dearborn, MI
    Thanks @Parachute Woman for starting this thread and inviting me. I didn't have a chance to write my intro until now. My first Wilco album was "Summerteeth." I was getting into a lot of 60s music at the time it came out and a few of the people I was discussing that music with would mention Wilco as an example of current music they also liked. The album was mentioned by the same people that wanted you to hear "Spilt Milk" by Jellyfish or "Teenage Symphonies to God" by Velvet Crush. "We're Just Friends" was getting mentioned as similar to Pet Sounds-era Beach Boys musically, like "At My Most Beautiful" by R.E.M. While I loved "Can't Stand It," the album as a whole didn't do much for me. I think I was too young for it at the time. It just wasn't the type of thing I listened to. Same with Ryan Adams, who was starting solo around the same time. I became a hardcore fan of his as well, but back then it wouldn't have worked for me.

    I let the album sit in my collection collecting dust, bringing it out now and then. On December 7, 2008, almost 9 years after getting "Summerteeth," I finally became a fan. On that day I was in the 2nd row to see them open for Neil Young. That's where I would be first exposed to songs like "Handshake Drugs," "Impossible Germany," "I'm the Man Who Loves You," and other live staples I would overplay and get super sick of. I really loved the new songs like "Hate It Here" and "Walken." I enjoyed the humor and they rawked. I started digging into "Summerteeth" finally and scooping up other albums. I saw them headline 7 months later with a crazy 31-song set.

    I have all the Uncle Tupelo albums, but I only love select tracks. I'm not a fan of Jay's voice and some of the stuff is hard for me to appreciate. I got them all late. Well into Wilco's career. So I was oblivious to UT and Son Volt and that whole side of things.
     
  12. NettleBed

    NettleBed Forum Transient

    Location:
    new york city
    Yes I certainly agree with these points. In fact, as I said upthread, IMO the Radiohead/Wilco career arc parallels pretty much broke down around the time Nels Cline joined. Whereas the Kid A/Amnesiac sound ended up representing a paradigm shift for Radiohead, the adventures Wilco took with YHF/AGIB were transient.
     
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  13. robcar

    robcar Forum Resident

    Location:
    Denver, CO
    Both of those are amazing albums, especially the Velvet Crush one. One of my top albums of the 1990s.
     
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  14. Gabe Walters

    Gabe Walters Forum Resident

    The Radiohead comparison first came up when a lot of reviewers, including at Pitchfork, wanted Wilco to be the American Radiohead. They got upset and bewildered by Sky Blue Sky. I shrugged; to me it sounded like Wilco would rather be The Band.
     
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  15. gjp163

    gjp163 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Wamberal Beach
    I Must Be High is the standout on the album. As a few alluded to above it has that JT “phrasing” which I love. Also as @ParachuteWoman also noted and I wanted to elaborate on, is that it is probably the introduction to JT’s 60’s pop influence “Ba Ba Ba” the would creep into some songs on Being There but more notedly on Summertheeth. First song on my Wilco playlist...:cool:
     
  16. panther_dream

    panther_dream Forum Resident

    As someone who pretty much only likes that era Wilco (well and Summerteeth) I super agree, you'll be happy you did.
     
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  17. wavethatflag

    wavethatflag God is love, but get it in writing.

    Location:
    SF Bay Area
    "I Must Be High" is a great tune. I love the guitar work in it. It's like he's at least partially channeling Big Star. If you ask me, Jeff came up big right out of the gate. He's already become something other than Uncle Tupelo.

    I don't think I've ever heard Trace, but if it's better than stuff like this, I need to listen soon.
     
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  18. trd

    trd Forum Resident

    Location:
    Berkeley
    Woah. Yes, you should listen to that posthaste
     
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  19. Phil Tate

    Phil Tate Miss you Indy x

    Location:
    South Shields
    Couldn't agree more, I adore the Loose Fur albums. That's great news about a third album, but why are they sitting on it?? I remember reading that Jeff said a third album was in the works at least 5 or 6 years ago, I'd pretty much given up hope on it.
     
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  20. jalexander

    jalexander Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canada
    I’d heard that comment several years ago as well and thought the same. Glen brought it up n a Q&A Facebook a couple of weeks ago. Sounds like everyone is too busy, especially Jim. I haven’t followed his career, but sounds like he’s putting out a lot of content on Bandcamp from his home in Japan. I think they did it for fun so probably aren’t inclined to bother pulling it together when they all have a lot of current projects on the go.
     
  21. Parachute Woman

    Parachute Woman Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    And on to track 2:

    Casino Queen


    'Casino Queen' was essentially written for Jeff's dad. The two of them visited a gambling riverboat together and Tweedy Sr. thought that would make a good topic for a song. Jeff wrote this stomping, Stonesy rocker in response and it was a favorite Wilco track of his dad. (Jeff mentioned several times in his book that his dad's greatest love was 'Hummingbird,' a very worthy choice.) The song was an immediate staple of the live shows, for obvious reasons, and was played at the very first ever Wilco gig and many, many times thereafter.

    This was an immediate favorite for me on the record. I love how it is placed in the track sequence. 'I Must Be High' tees things up and introduces the relaxed feel and strong melodies of the album and then 'Casino Queen' just barges in, swirling with chaos and fun. I'm a huge Rolling Stones fan and it is wonderful to hear artists who took inspiration from their sound. Crunchy riff, sing-a-long chaos and the kind of loose, reckless abandon that the Stones perfected. This could fit in right along with 'Casino Boogie' and 'Tumbling Dice' on Exile. I love Max Johnston's fiddle on this track. It bridges the worlds of country and rock effortlessly and helps the song fit in on the album and not stick out like a sore thumb. Brian Henneman's guitar playing is fantastic on this one. It's interesting to read in Wilcopedia that he was apparently suffering from a break-up during these sessions and was often drunk. His playing certainly didn't suffer for it.

    'Casino Queen' is strong, fun and provides a good preview of some of the rockier tracks that would appear on Being There. It's a real kick in the pants.
     
  22. Parachute Woman

    Parachute Woman Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    One can hear Jay Bennett's take on the guitar sound of this track (along with some fantastic fiddle work from Max!) in the high energy live version of 'Casino Queen' that was included on the 'Box Full of Letters' single:



    This was recorded in Colorado May 5, 1995--my seventh birthday. :)
     
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  23. lucan_g

    lucan_g Forum Resident

    o_O

    How is this possible if you are anywhere even close to being a fan of this style of music... or any style?

    Fix. Immediately.
     
  24. Zeki

    Zeki Forum Resident

    @Parachute Woman , that is a well-written description of Casino Queen. I didn’t know about the connection to Tweedy’s father (if it was in the book, I must have forgotten).

    I was surprised to see it as part of the record store live performance that you posted yesterday as the song, in all it’s glory, needs to be played raucously (ala Faces, not just the Stones). The cramped, in-between-the-cd-racks setting of the store wasn’t optimum for Casino Queen.
     
  25. Parachute Woman

    Parachute Woman Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    Agreed! That mellow take on Casino Queen was kind of bizarre to hear! And you are spot on mentioning Faces. They are also a huge part of the stew here. Wilco, along with bands like Replacements and the Black Crowes, were really keeping that style of loose rock alive towards the end of the century. Where has it gone? It just doesn't seem to inspire many young, new bands these days. Unless I'm just not looking in the right place.
     

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