Do you like Wilco?

has there been a backlash to the backlash on Sky Blue Sky?

I think so. The disc got lukewarm reviews when it was released (overall not bad, tho; I think the disc has a 79 METASCORE), but then it turned up on lots of critic's Top 10 lists last year. And it deserved to be on those year-end lists, I think. Great, underrated album.

I hope Nels Cline stays with the band. Such a good, innovative guitarist.

I have to say I resisted them for a long time- living in Chicago, it's sort of like too much to also listen to Wilco. Its like reading "Devil in the White City" on the CTA. And the boring people and middlebrow radio dj's of Chicago are just nuts for Wilco. But that's a stupid reason to avoid them, plus I ran out of music, and I gave in. So now I think they're great. Especially, She's a Jar, Jesus etc, and Handshake Drugs.

I used to have a similar opinion to jsimp. Fuckin hated these guys. and yeah, largely due to the lunkhead north-side beer garden lunkhead idiocy of the whole think. But quite frankly I never even liked Uncle Tupelo back in the day. And then I remember when 'A.M.' came out and "Xrt" used to cane that ridic "Passenger Side" track, where Tweedy's all oh yeah dude I am totally ROLLING ANOTHER NUMBER. just sounded so fucking weak. ain't no Neil Young.

but then a couple things happened. Friend had a free extra ticket to one of the Vic shows that ended up on that 'Television' live CD or whatever its called. so I went. and I enjoyed myself. Seeing Nils Cline live was a revelation ( his first stint with the group .. he of course not on 'Ghost is Born' which those shows were supporting.) Also closing that show with the great Charles Wright cover did buy my respect

then 'Sky Blue Sky' came out and random samples trickled over to me .. random tracks where I heard some Cline guitar that appealed and perked my ears up .. then finally stumbling upon them guesting on 'Prairie Home Companion' (i am a fan) where they fucking ripped and i heard the ghost of my guy Cipollina in Cline's liquid flow.

Stumbled into a store a couple weeks later, noticed the 2lp of SBS on the wall, and bought it, fuck it. Really kinda fell in love with it. Still hate Tweedy's voice a lot of the time but the band is swell. Like Tweedy when he does Lennon on 'Hate It Here' and Lowell on 'Walken'. I dig the band.

but yeah, fuck the north side.

You guys are right. The worst thing about Wilco is their hardcore fans.

I have been known to troll around their discussion group boards and it is striking at the hate the addition of Nels Cline has inspired in many of them. It's almost as if they are saying "How dare they stop being so alt-country."

If you ask me, they didn't get good until they got weird(er).

Its like reading "Devil in the White City" on the CTA.

lol

but yeah, fuck the north side.

He's still got it, folks!

(xpost) that is weird, because Summerteeth and YHF are their weirdest albums, and Nels wasn't involved in those, and Jay Bennet was. I'd say Ghost and Sky Blue Sky are their most folky albums since AM.

The worst thing about Wilco is their hardcore fans.

Until recently, I had no idea Wilco had a lot of "hardcore fans." I guess -- maybe unsurprisingly -- there aren't many of them living in South Florida.

I have been known to troll around their discussion group boards and it is striking at the hate the addition of Nels Cline has inspired in many of them. It's almost as if they are saying "How dare they stop being so alt-country."

That's amazing to me. Cline is so agile and talented. I hope they keep him in the band.

that is weird, because Summerteeth and YHF are their weirdest albums, and Nels wasn't involved in those, and Jay Bennet was. I'd say Ghost and Sky Blue Sky are their most folky albums since AM.

The thing w/the Bennett albums his he did so many overdubs with so many different instruments. (Didn't he claim that he played 75% or so of the instrumentation on YHF?) whereas the last couple are more homey, "band" records.

Until recently, I had no idea Wilco had a lot of "hardcore fans." I guess -- maybe unsurprisingly -- there aren't many of them living in South Florida.

Yeah, I'm friends with at least two or three people (here in Chicago) who would probably describe themselves as hardcore Wilco fans.

I used to love them so much. Being There and especially the first Mermaid Avenue album. Summerteeth had its moments, and obviously YHF is a force. But after that they just left me cold.

The beginning of the end was when Jeff Tweedy started to believe he was a poet.

this came out last month:

Greetings friends,

As we hope you've noticed, we've been lying low on the emails, trying to avoid being part of the last-minute discount, order-now-before-the-holiday-crush deluge of spam that is presently blowing up your inbox.

That said, we do want to thank all of you out there for making this, yet again, a great year for Wilco. Thanks to you guys for supporting the band & the entire Wilco org. by continuing to turn up in droves at shows and frankly, for buying stuff. Your support makes everything possible.

We've got a lot to look forward to in to '09 -- many cool things on the horizon. First, we (w/ Nonesuch) will be releasing Wilco's first concert film/DVD, and despite the obvious negative connotations associated with that category, we think you'll really like this one. It's called "Ashes of American Flags" and was put together by our friends Brendan Canty and Christoph Green at Trixie Films (Sunken Treasure, Burn to Shine, etc.) Filming took place on the band's February '08 tour and includes material from Cain's Ballroom in Tulsa, The Ryman in Nashville, and more. "Ashes of American Flags" should hit store shelves and the internet in February/March '09. Look for clips and other information at Wilcoworld.net beginning in January.

Post-holidays, the band will head back to the loft to resume work on their next studio album which we suspect will see the light of day in Spring '09. Again more details, streams, photos etc. coming to the site soon. So hang in there.

Re: touring: Well, there's not much until Spring. Jeff Tweedy has a handful of solo shows in late January (Kalamazoo, MI; Champaign, IL; Ann Arbor, MI). Ticket information here. Nels Cline also has a run of shows in January, info here. And there'll undoubtedly be other solo-ish events popping up here and there. But Wilco have no shows planned between now and April as they'll be pretty much hunkered down in the studio. We are in the final phases of working out a handful of gigs in southern US (April) and an extensive tour of Spain (May) followed by, most likely, the usual summer hijinks with a new record and gigs everywhere imaginable.

So, without further adieu, happy sledding through the holidays and into the New Year. And remember, when it comes to gift giving, it truly is the thought that counts (spoken like a true last minute shopper....). On that note, we'd be remiss if we didn't add that there's a sale on in the Wilco store and we've extended it through January 15. So feel free to, you know, order something and put a note in the card, saying "coming soon....", or whatever.

thanks again for everything. Here's to you guys. Happy Holidays... with love.

the HQ staff.

been listening to sky blue sky again lately and i think it might actually be my favorite album of theirs now. simple and pretty, but as if they'd stretched things way out on YHF and now are trying to distill that weirdness back into more measured song forms and instrumentation. and the lyrics are great.

Thread title reminds me of that one kid in the Beasties' "Fight for Your Right" video: "Do you like Willllco?"

Answer: no.

Yes, I like Wilco.

I used to. But hearing/seeing a video of "What Light" on the jumbotron while waiting for the Inaugural weekend Lincoln Memorial concert to start has me convinced that they have become a dull un-pop jam band.

I really like a couple of their albums, and still believe Ghost is the best thing they ever did (and likely ever will do).

No.

Answer: Are you fucking me?

I met a woman once who named her dog after Wilco. I made a mental note never to interact with her again.

loooooool that was supposed to say "Are you fucking KIDDING me?"

Yeah yeah yeah...

yes.

"passenger side" is a great song about having a DWI

i really need to get "Ghost Is Born"
but yeah i love AM, being there, summerteeth still a lot...yankee didn't really hold up that well for me....

i almost suspect, IN SOME CASES, late-2000's wilco hate is the vestigial hangover of some half-remembered rolling stone best-of list from six years ago that will eventually dissipate as people go back and listen again to Ghost and SBS and the rest.

AM was hit or miss for me, wouldn't sell it or anything. loved BT at the time; slightly less now. like Summerteeth. liked the wilco songs on MMA I & II. lost interest around yhf.

xp "again"

srry, will give you credite for yr big, allcaps "IN SOME CASES"

I have to say I resisted them for a long time- living in Chicago, it's sort of like too much to also listen to Wilco. Its like reading "Devil in the White City" on the CTA. And the boring people and middlebrow radio dj's of Chicago are just nuts for Wilco. But that's a stupid reason to avoid them, plus I ran out of music, and I gave in. So now I think they're great. Especially, She's a Jar, Jesus etc, and Handshake Drugs.

― jsimp, Wednesday, March 5, 2008 9:09 PM (10 months ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I used to have a similar opinion to jsimp. Fuckin hated these guys. and yeah, largely due to the lunkhead north-side beer garden lunkhead idiocy of the whole think. But quite frankly I never even liked Uncle Tupelo back in the day. And then I remember when 'A.M.' came out and "Xrt" used to cane that ridic "Passenger Side" track, where Tweedy's all oh yeah dude I am totally ROLLING ANOTHER NUMBER. just sounded so fucking weak. ain't no Neil Young.

but then a couple things happened. Friend had a free extra ticket to one of the Vic shows that ended up on that 'Television' live CD or whatever its called. so I went. and I enjoyed myself. Seeing Nils Cline live was a revelation ( his first stint with the group .. he of course not on 'Ghost is Born' which those shows were supporting.) Also closing that show with the great Charles Wright cover did buy my respect

then 'Sky Blue Sky' came out and random samples trickled over to me .. random tracks where I heard some Cline guitar that appealed and perked my ears up .. then finally stumbling upon them guesting on 'Prairie Home Companion' (i am a fan) where they fucking ripped and i heard the ghost of my guy Cipollina in Cline's liquid flow.

Stumbled into a store a couple weeks later, noticed the 2lp of SBS on the wall, and bought it, fuck it. Really kinda fell in love with it. Still hate Tweedy's voice a lot of the time but the band is swell. Like Tweedy when he does Lennon on 'Hate It Here' and Lowell on 'Walken'. I dig the band.

but yeah, fuck the north side.

― Stormy Davis, Wednesday, March 5, 2008 10:50 PM (10 months ago) Bookmark

This is pretty much my deal with Wilco. Resisted a while due to the North side beer garden crowd/knee jerk reaction to the Rolling Stone idolatry. At the moment I think they're a good band with some great songs, I think they're excellent musicians and I admire their integrity and willingness to deconstruct their sound. But honestly, I never listen to them - there are always a hundred bands I'd rather listen to, and I think YHF is overrated. I like them as they become more experimental and less alt-country, although I like a lot of their early stuff too.

I like Wilco a lot, sometimes have loved them. I could do without the dirgy songs on YHF, but love the shit of "Kamera" esp. A Ghost Is Born was awesomer yet. It's funny to me that this is a band a lot of people have strong opinions about (e.g. the existence of this thread), because while they do a lot for me, I don't see them as representing any greater movement or whatever that compels one to have a view on them.

Rahm Emanuel does:

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/clicktrack/2010/03/in_concert_wilco.html

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/clicktrack/WilcoStrathmore-6.jpg

sitting with all the white people!

hmm .. really good set-list for that Wilco show. no "Sonny Feeling" tho :(

i love the idea of Rahm rocking out to "Bull Black Nova"

what a fucking awful band

Hahahaha I thought you were a Wilco stan ksh? Or are you dropping your April Fools a day late?

yeah Glenn Kotche, Nels Cline, and Pat Sansone are "awful"

rip ksh

jon: just a lil' trolling :-)

jeff tweedy all staring at his computer, a single tear on his cheek

all writin a concept album about a man, walking alone down the KS Highway

*jagged guitar solo*

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was the peak for experimental rock music

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot: pee-pee in modern music

my life would have been so much more worthwhile if YHF had beat Kid A in P4k's decade poll

I like the chorus of one of their new(er) songs - "I don't care anymore". It's a good lesson for some people as well

"You Never Know"

from last year's Wilco (the album)

the "George Harrison" song

Eh, Wilco is up there with George Harrison solo for me. I don't listen to much of either but comparing a top 10 songs for both artists would put them on the same level for me. Who came first is unimportant

think Stormy was just pointing out that a lot of critics were calling "You Never Know" Wilco's aping G.H. song