WILCO NEWS!! Ongoing Thread On All Things Wilco- Which Will Be Updated As Needed

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by linclink, Oct 16, 2012.

  1. IHeartRecordsAz

    IHeartRecordsAz Forum Resident

    Location:
    AZ
    George Lucas is quoted as saying something along the lines of “movies aren’t ever completed. They’re just abandoned.” Albums are the same way. They’re snapshots of an artist/band in that moment, and the songs on an album can change and morph at any time. It’s one of the reasons people prefer live music to studio albums; on top of the energy of a live performance, it’s cool to see how a song can evolve over time.
     
    oneway23 and PhoffiFozz like this.
  2. Mr_Flanders

    Mr_Flanders Forum Resident

    Location:
    Morehead, KY
    I dunno. I haven’t heard Cruel Country yet. I’m picking up that a lot of people feel underwhelmed by it…

    I was pretty underwhelmed by Ode to Joy initially. And Schmilco. And Warm. Those albums all grew on me over time. I wouldn’t say that I love them. None of them are my favorite things Wilco/Tweedy have done. But I eventually grew to appreciate them on their own terms. I think, and I’m just speaking for myself here…not saying that it should be that way for any of you or that you aren’t trying hard enough, but for me, I think I’ve needed to hear the albums enough to let go of whatever hopes or expectations I was bringing with me for the next Wilco record. Whatever it is, it ain’t gonna be YHF, AGIB, or Being There. They aren’t that band anymore and I don’t think it’s realistic to expect that.

    I’d love to hear another wild, experimental Wilco record someday. If they do it, that’ll be awesome. But Ode was a really wonderful record. Warm had one of the greatest songs that I think Tweedy has ever written. I’m happy with where they’ve been in the last decade.
     
  3. haywood

    haywood Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle, WA
    Maybe people just don’t care about violence if it doesn’t affect the area they live in? I assure you that the people who live with it in their neighborhoods do. We’re all products of our environment. And Tweedy has done at least one interview talking about his concept for the album, cruel country isn’t referring to the music.

    Anyway I’ll stop talking about his inspiration for the album and why Tweedy seems to be stuck in the rut he’s in since apparently that’s verboten but it’d be nice if the mod who keeps deleting my posts would man up and post a reason why they violate forum rules or at least pm me and explain it.
     
  4. oneway23

    oneway23 Forum Resident

    Location:
    NY, US
    Which are you referring to?
     
  5. Zeki

    Zeki Forum Resident

    That’s a @Mr_Flanders declaration. Not me.
     
    Mr_Flanders likes this.
  6. oneway23

    oneway23 Forum Resident

    Location:
    NY, US
    That's really weird..Clearly not enough coffee..sorry!
     
    Zeki likes this.
  7. Trag

    Trag Forum Resident

    Location:
    Montana
    Early naysayer here, see my posts on the last couple pages. I listened twice since my last post, and I’m about read to eat crow. All sorts of stuff is starting to reveal itself to me.

    I’ll add this might be Tweedy’s best lyrical work since SBS.
     
  8. Mr_Flanders

    Mr_Flanders Forum Resident

    Location:
    Morehead, KY
    Having Been Is No Way To Be.
     
    Michaelpeth, oneway23 and linklinc1 like this.
  9. jalexander

    jalexander Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canada
    Definitely not going to win fans from the “please no more whisper vocals” crowd, but I think that one’s pretty strong, too.
     
    linklinc1 likes this.
  10. Mr_Flanders

    Mr_Flanders Forum Resident

    Location:
    Morehead, KY
    Yeah. Can’t please them all. I’d like to hear him sing a little more too, for what it’s worth. But I still think it’s an all-time, top tier Tweedy/Wilco song.
     
    Michaelpeth, oneway23 and jalexander like this.
  11. oneway23

    oneway23 Forum Resident

    Location:
    NY, US
    I've admittedly been a vocal critic of his...err..vocal stylings over the past couple of records, but, that song is an absolute gut punch. Great tune.

    No one here is gonna be force feeding anyone any crow...come towards the light, brother!
     
    jalexander, Trag and linklinc1 like this.
  12. GuidedByJonO)))

    GuidedByJonO))) Forum Resident

    Location:
    Evanston
    I can't find anything about this, so I'm wondering if there might not even be a physical release for this one. Nothing but downloads on the band's official store and digital only on Bandcamp.
     
  13. Trag

    Trag Forum Resident

    Location:
    Montana
    Lots of new albums don’t have physical dates yet due to backlog at pressing plants. The new Kendrick Lamar album is a good example. It’ll happen, they’ll let us know when.
     
  14. GuidedByJonO)))

    GuidedByJonO))) Forum Resident

    Location:
    Evanston
    Oh absolutely, I get it. I just think it would be nice to add a note in their shop or Bandcamp page saying such, that it will be coming at some point.

    I'm hoping I can get to hear this before 2023.
     
  15. Gabe Walters

    Gabe Walters Forum Resident

    They did say that. "Wilco's new album, Cruel Country, will be available digitally on May 27 and played live for the first time at the band's own festival, Solid Sound. And yes, CD and LP editions are in the works."
     
    GuidedByJonO))) likes this.
  16. GuidedByJonO)))

    GuidedByJonO))) Forum Resident

    Location:
    Evanston
    Guess I didn't catch that in the initial news blast about it, good to know. Again, I don't think it would hurt anyone to add that same note to any of the pages where folks might be trying to pre-order it.
     
    Gabe Walters likes this.
  17. frightwigwam

    frightwigwam Talented Amateur

    Location:
    Oregon
    Time will tell whether Cruel Country becomes a favorite, but quick impression from listening this morning: it sounds like a Son of Warm/Warmer and Love is the King. For better or worse, plenty of Jeff's hushed, don't-wake-up-Susie vocals. The general vibe is downbeat Tweedy folk-rock with occasional country seasoning. I honestly couldn't say how to tell the distinction between Wilco and the Tweedy side band at this point. Much has been made of how integral Glenn was to Ode to Joy, and how he plays differently than Spencer, but here his role is recessed and any unique style in his playing is too subtle for me to appreciate on initial passes. There are a couple of places where the band stretches out a bit--and "Bird without a Tail" and "Many Worlds" might develop into concert highlights--but does it really sound like a batch of songs that grew out of group interplay in the studio? As others have indicated, I think the prerelease hype has been misleading. "Getting together in the studio again" doesn't necessarily mean a substantially more collaborative creation or a departure from recent projects.

    I am looking forward to the Album-by-Album thread coverage to help with more intensive focus on the individual songs. Ultimately, it will come down to the songs. By the time the leaves fall, hopefully they sink in.
     
  18. imsjry

    imsjry Forum Resident

    Location:
    Fond Du Lac, WI
    I disagree with you that this doesn’t sound like a Wilco record. Is it a subtle affair? For sure. Do Glenn, Pat, or Nels get to rock out. Nope. But this doesn’t sound like Tweedy’s solo band. It also doesn’t sound like any of their other albums. It’s a whole different thing. And the more I listen to it, it sounds like the perfect record for them to make at this time.
     
  19. frightwigwam

    frightwigwam Talented Amateur

    Location:
    Oregon
    Expectations, which have been set in certain ways by the band's own PR, and entitlement are two different things.

    I don't feel entitled to anything in particular from Wilco, any more than Wilco should feel entitled to having the fans ride or die with anything they do. We're not in a binding lifetime pact, here.

    At the same time, I don't think there are many Wilco fans who would say that "the last great Wilco album" came in the last 10 years, which would appear to be a problem. (Some people love Ode to Joy, but the conversation on the forum and the 3.27 RYM score tell me that's a minority opinion.) It seems to me that quite a few Wilco fans really would like to hear the band shake things up, for the band to challenge themselves to break out of recent patterns, which may be more than Tweedy wants for himself. I know that I would love to hear something more rocking, more celebratory, some change of pace, but most of all, I would love to be surprised by a new Wilco/Tweedy album. A departure into new, weird territory would be fantastic.

    Given Tweedy's age, maybe that's unrealistic. Maybe he's attached to his patterns of middle-age. But I don't think it's wrong for fans to hope that their favorite artists might go above and beyond, or even just to deliver familiar comforts, really. Of course Tweedy is free to do what he wants to do. If a lot of people are into his latest notions, everybody wins. But, if he falls short of expectations--particularly when the prerelease hype is telling people, 'here is what you can expect...'--of course the fans have every right to express their disappointment and even check out, too. It's not a binding pact, but the artist and fans are in this together. As you say, "They don't make these records in a vacuum." Fans may do well to keep an open mind, but that's not the same as accepting anything at all. Some level of fan service is part of the relationship, as well.
     
  20. frightwigwam

    frightwigwam Talented Amateur

    Location:
    Oregon
    It sounds like a Wilco record, but not like any other Wilco record, but also not like Tweedy's solo band. Just to help me understand what you're hearing, can you explain? Like, how is it different than the Tweedy band? Because, honestly, if I come to find in the credits next week that James Elkington and Spencer Tweedy actually played on half the songs, I really would not be surprised.
     
  21. oneway23

    oneway23 Forum Resident

    Location:
    NY, US
    I get what you're saying...You're right when you say fandom isn't a binding pact...fair point. They're not entitled to your support, of course..No one is twisting your arm to enjoy their current output, and, you're not required to accept everything they do...On those points, you are absolutely correct. There aren't a set number of listens which are guaranteed to unlock the record for you. You're also entitled to anticipate or expect anything you wish.

    I'd just like to make mention that Nels was 66 years old in January, and the rest of Wilco are varying ages over 50. Again, you can expect or hope for anything you wish, but, I'd argue that if there comes a point where fan expectation is maybe no longer within the ballpark of the current realities of the band, it's perfectly OK to just say, hey, it might be time to get off of the Wilco bus for a while. If they happen to make another album you find yourself drawn to, Wilco will be somewhere down the road, still waiting for you.

    I'm not trying to be patronizing or condescending, at all. If I'm coming off that way, I genuinely apologize. I'm just trying to be practical. The older I get, the more I realize that life is genuinely short. Way too short to spend too much energy wishing certain things were. The next Wilco record may be your favorite yet. Plenty of other amazing music out there to hear in the meantime.
     
    gabbleratchet7 likes this.
  22. Trag

    Trag Forum Resident

    Location:
    Montana
    Hat's off to whomever positioned this record as a mellower Sky Blue Sky. I can dig it.
     
    oneway23 and IHeartRecordsAz like this.
  23. jalexander

    jalexander Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canada
    Haven’t heard the album yet, but I’m skeptical about such an assessment. When I think mellow + SBS, I think of Either Way. What a song, but also what a solo. Nels doesn’t waste a note on that one. But he’s never gone down the soloing path like how he did on SBS again. And, to his credit, he has said that he actually prefers the less showy, ambient stuff like how he plays on OTJ.

    I’m very open to what this album brings. But if it is more like SBS, I’d be pleasantly surprised.
     
    audiotom likes this.
  24. Trag

    Trag Forum Resident

    Location:
    Montana
    Nope, those solos aren’t here; nor are Glenn’s creative folks. But the drum and bass sounds are similar, and the keys, organs, and synths occupy a similar space…

    These are all, at a basic level, songs that would hold up really well with just an acoustic guitar; and that often wear their historical influences on their sleeves. And then you’ve got Jeff singing the most articulate, clear-eyes lyrics since SBS, and it’s not hard to draw a line from that album to this one.
     
  25. dude

    dude Senior Member

    Location:
    milwaukee wi usa
    Apparently there are delays with vinyl releases, but as for the cd, it is just obnoxious for it not to be coming out on the release date.
     
    Alan57 likes this.

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