Wax Treasure (Vinyl)
-
Bad Timing, Halfway to a Threeway, The Visitor, and Simple Songs are all on O'Rourke's more accessible side as well. They're all pretty great. I regret that I haven't engaged much with the noise/Steamroom stuff.
My wife and I went to see Wilco a couple weekends ago at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, which is a famous Dead venue and is a wonderful place to see music. We've seen Neil and Dylan and Hot Tuna there as well. Actually listening to Being There on CD right now. I love CDs. They're cheap as hell, no one wants them, and I don't subscribe to any streaming services.
-
Man, I love Jim O'Rourke's more straightforward stuff — love the out there shit too, but I'm a sucker for more classic pop songcraft. I just popped on Halfway to a Threeway when I saw the post about Eureka etc and was psyched to see it mentioned above.
The Loose Fur stuff is also really great. The first one's definitely a Yankee Hotel Foxtrot precursor, but I'm a little more partial to the stuff on Born Again in the USA. Really some of O'Rourke's catchiness at its finest. He really reminds me of John Cale in that sense — a master out guy, but also a real genius with the more straightforward (imho).
And just cos I gotta:
-
@popvulture love born again in the USA as well as Cale.
Vintage violence, Paris 1919 and fear are on my list to acquireI'd love a good chunk of the wilco catalog on my shelf at some point as well
Not sure if I feel the need to own the dozen disc yankee hotel box set that came out last year though as it seems a bit overkill but if they put a box out with everything from being through sky blue sky I'd probably have no choice but to buy it
-
@GraemeE man I’d love a Sky Blue Sky box set. I’m sure they’ll inevitably punish my wallet with that one.
Also yes, Al is always welcome. The best.
-
@setandsetting in regards to the Dead - the catalyst for me being able to appreciate their music was actually Wilco once they brought Nels Cline into the fold
Something in my brain just sort of clicked after getting into ghost is born, the live kicking television album and sky blue sky
-
@GraemeE Oh, that's kind of a funny link up back to the Dead. I've actually long resisted Wilco even though I like Nels Cline's other activities (like the Nels Cline Singers). But recently, I've gotten into A Ghost Is Born and Being There just because I happened upon cheap CDs at the local used bookstore.
-
I just shared this with @setandsetting but this j greenwood colab is up for pre-order
Should be a great record
https://jarak-qaribak.myshopify.com/
-
I am completely biased about Wilco because I was in school in Columbia, MO during the Uncle Tupelo days and got to see Wilco and Son Volt’s early shows at the Blue Note after the UT breakup. Met Jeff Tweedy a few times too and have seen them more times than I can remember. One of my all-time favorite bands.
-
@GraemeE I could definitely see that. My dad had a bunch of Dead albums when I was growing up (which I now have) and I always appreciated them, but my later adolescent years kind of deterred me from that world due to the shitty frat boys that gave me lots of shit as a kid in Mississippi. For them, the Dead and Phish (who I still loathe, pretty much) were less bands to like and more stickers you bought to stick on the Yakima on the brand new 4Runner your parents bought you.
I opened back up to the idea of them as I got a little older though, and I'm glad I did. I'm not sure what it was exactly that brought me back, but I particularly gravitated (and still do) towards the '71 houseboat tapes era live recordings when they were a slim 5-piece. Greasy and a lot less noodly, more my thing.
I remember Nels' introduction into Wilco — I saw them in Philly on the AGIB tour and subsequently had my mind blown by that and the Kicking Television record. As a guitar nerd, Nels is easily in my top 5 faves, really unparalleled in so many ways. That solo on Impossible Germany is one of the most beautiful pieces of playing I've ever heard.
I feel like Tweedy's playing on AGIB is sort of overlooked. MAN that bit on At Least That's What You Said. Oy, the fucking best.
I could probably talk about Wilco for days.
-
I don't know what my fave is, would probably be too hard to pick. I'd probably lean Being There / Sky Blue Sky / AGIB. I mean, obviously YHF but tbh it's not the one I usually go to first.
-
@popvulture full circle to orourke and cale:
Cline can do wild cacophonous noise and beautiful popHis lovers album is another must have record for me at some point
-
@popvulture I’ve read about Jeff’s preparation for AGIB and he took guitar lessons I think (memory fails me from whom) to become a better soloist. I think his wife gave him the lessons as a birthday present? Anyway agree totally about his solo.
Have you guys listened to any of the stuff Nels has done with Julian Lage? Beautiful as well.
