Wilco - OMG what took me so long?

Wilco is my new favorite band. I had never heard of em before until like a year ago (I know I suck).... But better late than never. Nels Cline is the man!

This video just kills me. :mrgreen: Handshake Drugs on Letterman, and look at all the gear they brought with em. Nels has like 10 guitars... these guys are great!


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Love Wilco.... post some more of their vids in this thread plz, thx...

If you are digging Wilco, check out Uncle Tupelo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncle_Tupelo) which spawned Wilco as well as Jay Farrar's Son Volt (http://www.sonvolt.net/).

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You've got some catching up to do! Being There, Summerteeth, and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is pretty much a perfect trifecta (and made during the Jay Bennett years, RIP).

Son Volt's Trace is probably my #1 of all time, if I had to choose such a thing.

Better late than never!


My faves are Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, A Ghost is Born and Sky Blue Sky

Sky blue sky & wilco are my fav albums mainly cos Nels completes the band and is a perfect complement to Tweedy's traditionalism.

Hey Winny, you're the other guy that likes Sky Blue Sky?

I love Sky Blue Sky!

Not as much into AGIB but those songs came to life live after Nels joined the band. Wilco (the album) is probably my least favorite.

YHF is Tweedy's (along with Jay and the other guys in the band then) masterpiece.

There's three of us!

Make it four, Sky Blue Sky is my favorite Wilco.
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Nels on the lap steel:
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I also like "Sky Blue Sky" the best. I think that the perfect trifecta is "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot," "A Ghost Is Born," and "Sky Blue Sky." (though I do like "Summerteeth...) Their newest album, "The Whole Love" isn't too shabby either...I'm going to see them with Dr. Dog and The Avett Brothers in July...

I'm not gonna lie, I'm pretty jazzed to see Sky Blue Sky get so much love.



Hey Spider, that sounds like an awesome show! I have a Dr.Dog album(can't recall which one off the top of my head) and it's really good

I'm not gonna lie, I'm pretty jazzed to see Sky Blue Sky get so much love.



Hey Spider, that sounds like an awesome show! I have a Dr.Dog album(can't recall which one off the top of my head) and it's really good

Yeah, I don't know where else they might be playing. I don't even know if that combination of bands is playing anywhere else together, but the show that I'm seeing is on July 21st in Camden, New Jersey...I'm looking forward to it...

Sky Blue Sky's my favorite as well. I've been listening since Summerteeth, which came out when I was in high school. The Whole Love, which came out last year, is really, really excellent as well. Great live show. Probably my favorite show of all time was a free show in support of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot downtown Detroit for the Tastefest- they played right outside the Fischer Building, and it was incredible. My favorite show I've ever seen, and it wasn't even my favorite line-up of the band!

I'm not gonna lie, I'm pretty jazzed to see Sky Blue Sky get so much love.


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Wilco has been 2 different bands and I like them both.

Feel real fortunate to see them right after Summerteeth and watch Jay play 4 or 5 different instruments and sing backup - all flawlessly.

I give the bass player credit for sticking around so long - can't have been easy.

Least appreciated/overlooked of the whole crew ? Glenn Kotche - the drummer.

Master musician who doesn't let that get in his way - or the band's.

I am part of the "AM-Being There" Wilco fans that kinda felt left out when they went experimental on us. Check out Golden Smog's first two albums for some of Jeff Tweedy best songs. Wilco's project with Billy Bragg, "Mermaid Avenue" has some really great moments also. Welcome to the gang !

I am part of the "AM-Being There" Wilco fans that kinda felt left out when they went experimental on us. Check out Golden Smog's first two albums for some of Jeff Tweedy best songs. Wilco's project with Billy Bragg, "Mermaid Avenue" has some really great moments also. Welcome to the gang !

I think it's a good thing that they moved on. A lot of bands who reinvent themselves, for lack of a better term, do so unsuccessfully. I think Wilcos new sound is great, and I'm glad they took the gamble. I'm a big fan of that experimental, jam it out til you exhaust it sort of music, and they do a damn fine job of it too.

And Sky Blue Sky is my favourite album - I never really got into their earlier stuff. IMO, the Jayhawks did that sound way better :shock:

I think it's a good thing that they moved on. A lot of bands who reinvent themselves, for lack of a better term, do so unsuccessfully. I think Wilcos new sound is great, and I'm glad they took the gamble. I'm a big fan of that experimental, jam it out til you exhaust it sort of music, and they do a damn fine job of it too.

And Sky Blue Sky is my favourite album - I never really got into their earlier stuff. IMO, the Jayhawks did that sound way better :shock:

Well, I guess we're polar opposites. :mrgreen: Jeff was at his best when he did stripped down, straight forward Alt Country songs, in my opinion.
Some of my faves:

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"A.M." is one of my all-time favorite records. I have purchased it on three different occasions. I bought and liked "Being There", but never understood why everyone seemed to think it was so much better. I bought "Summer Teeth" and traded it in for a used cd within a week. I listen every time they put something out, but I haven't really gotten into any of it since "Being There".

I'm not sure what's going on, for me.

I'm about half committed to this band. Normally, I put a CD in rotation and it drops out or it just sounds better every time you repeat.

I've been listening a lot to YHF and sometimes I'm liking it even more and sometimes I get restless.

Normally I can concoct a message from even the most odd, the most badly mumbled lyrics (from early REM to the Cocteau Twins) but I gotta say, I'm basically unmoved as to the content of Jeff's lyrics mostly. Which is annoying, for me.

I too am late on this bandwagon. Just got into them a year or so ago when I bought their dvd on a whim. Great band

Sky Blue Sky is a nice record now that it's aged and found its place in Wilco's discography. But at the time it came out, it was disappointing because Nels Cline was new to the lineup and many of us were expecting the band to go further 'out there', but instead we got a more subdued record.

If you're new to Wilco I could see how Sky Blue Sky could be your favorite. This is about the time Jeff got sober, and the 2nd record since YHF that he didn't have the dynamic, for better or worse, with Jay Bennett in the studio. More or less, Sky Blue Sky was the first record since AM that Jeff didn't have pills or a creative foil, and we got a 'dad rock' record.

It's a good record but I wouldn't place it in Wilco's top 3. Just my opinion as a long time fan.

Sky Blue Sky is a nice record now that it's aged and found its place in Wilco's discography. But at the time it came out, it was disappointing because Nels Cline was new to the lineup and many of us were expecting the band to go further 'out there', but instead we got a more subdued record.

If you're new to Wilco I could see how Sky Blue Sky could be your favorite. This is about the time Jeff got sober, and the 2nd record that he didn't have the dynamic, for better or worse, with Jay Bennett in the studio. More or less, Sky Blue Sky was the first record since AM that Jeff didn't have pills or a creative foil, and we got a 'dad rock' record.

It's a good record but I wouldn't place it in Wilco's top 3. Just my opinion as a long time fan.

I got into Wilco with Being There and love Sky Blue Sky (for another opinion as a long time fan :wink:).

In the DVD that came with it, Jeff alluded to their previous few records and basically said that sometimes he just wants to hear somebody sing a song, thus the vibe on that record.
And whenever I hear the term "dad rock" I :roll:.

Tweedy on "dad rock" (http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/wilcos-jeff-tweedy-defends-dad-rock-20110930)

Just a note about the Letterman performance...The band is awesome and sooooo comfortable on stage, (something we're trying to work on).

A year or two ago somebody on Letterman starting putting a lot of time and effort into the music acts. The blocking (2:03), knowing when take a shot (2:16,4:31) and the sound mix really make the video.

Impossible Germany
Side with the Seeds
One Wing
Art of Almost

Nels' playing is transcendent and really takes me someplace.

Does being a fan since '98 count as a long time?




I guess I like "dad rock"

Huge Wilco fan and I love all of their releases for different reasons(although I find it hard to get into Wilco (The Album) I would also recommend Uncle Tupelo for all those A.M./ Being There fans ,especially Anodyne. Great Alt Country and the pairing of Jeff Tweedy and Jay Farrar is sublime.

I think one of the best things about Wilco is that they're not afraid to take an older song and tune it to the current band. Things like Handshake Drugs, Via Chicago, At Least That's What you said are so differnent live than the album. Of course, if you have Nels Cline and that band, you can do a LOT.

The version of Ashes Of American Flags at the beginning of the DVD of the same name is chilling. No one sounds like Nels Cline and he totally makes it his own.

Hey Winny, you're the other guy that likes Sky Blue Sky?

Sbs is my favorite wilco album.


They are one of the few rock bands that i run out and buy their stuff the first day it comes out...

Sky Blue Sky is my favorite too. I know it's weird.

I had a friend who was a HUGE Wilco fan. She gave me copies of A.M. and Summer Teeth, but I never got around to listening. Then on the Sky Blue Sky tour Wilco came through Morgantown. I didn't get to go because I had to work, but my wife and said friend did. The catch is that I was working as a night custodian in the building the show was at. I spent a couple hours talking to a guy who I thought was a really cool member of the bands crew. He was one of the coolest dudes I've ever met. When the guy got changed and went onstage I realized I had been hanging with Jeff Tweedy.

So, the next day I bought a used copy of Sky Blue Sky and decided to check out those Wilco CDs. I've been a fan since. Because of my personal experiance, I think I'll always like that album the best. They're all good though.

Then on the Sky Blue Sky tour Wilco came through Morgantown. I didn't get to go because I had to work, but my wife and said friend did. The catch is that I was working as a night custodian in the building the show was at. I spent a couple hours talking to a guy who I thought was a really cool member of the bands crew. He was one of the coolest dudes I've ever met. When the guy got changed and went onstage I realized I had been hanging with Jeff Tweedy.


Now THAT is a cool story, bro! :mrgreen:

The blocking (2:03), knowing when take a shot (2:16,4:31) and the sound mix really make the video.

I started the video and kept scrolling down reading posts, and about halfway through I forgot it was a clip. :shock: I was surprised by the applause at the end.

I was never able to get through a whole Wilco album without cringing until Sky Blue Sky. It's a masterpiece.

Saw them play a minor league baseball stadium a few years ago, and it was one of the best shows I've been to in recent years. I might have to fork over the cash to see them in Prospect Park in a month. Or maybe I'll just go listen in the park for free!

AM is an incredible album. Wilco and I drifted apart after the first few albums, most of the stuff from Yankee/ Ghost was too wilfully obscure for my tastes. I must check out Blue Sky Blue.

Been listening since Being There. It's my favorite, probably more for personal reasons. I also love SBS though.

I think the band got better, with Nels and Pat, the guitars "conversation" and all, but Tweedy's writing got worse, or at least less inspired.

I have a love hate relationship with Wilco. I love A.M. and Being There. Every record since and everytime I see them live I sort go back and forth where one song I'll be like "That was brilliant. One of the best things I've heard!" and next song I will be bored to tears and can't get to the bathroom/beer line quick enough.

Love this...

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Tweedy is one of the top ten songwriters of the last twenty years. Been a fan since buying a used copy of No Depression in the 1990s.

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I've been a fan since the Summerteath days. That is one of the greatest power pop/rock albums of the last 30 years in my opinion. Terrific songwriting all over that record. From there, I went back and bought all of the previous albums including the Mermaid Ave. album with Billy Bragg and the Uncle Tupelo albums. I've also bought every album since. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is still their greatest achievement in my eyes.

I've loved every record through Sky Blue Sky. Since then, though I still enjoy their albums overall, they have declined a bit. Still, a terrific live band and better than most bands out there. I've seen the band live once and Tweedy in a solo setting once. Both were incredible shows.

Wilco is my new favorite band. I had never heard of em before until like a year ago (I know I suck).... But better late than never. Nels Cline is the man!

This video just kills me. :mrgreen: Handshake Drugs on Letterman, and look at all the gear they brought with em. Nels has like 10 guitars... these guys are great!


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Love Wilco.... post some more of their vids in this thread plz, thx...

That gear overdose is seriously ridicolous! I mean, sure if they have roadies who has to be payed either ways, and stages to fit on, but gimme a break....

I don't know the band, this is the first time I watched through a whole song, and I still don't get it. As a non-native speaker, I don't know what he sings about , it normally takes me a few listen to catch the verbal part of any new music, that is if I find the non verbal part interesting enough to give it another go.
So is it the lyrics?
'Cause musically, don't know, it sounds mellowy flat 'n dull to me. No dynamics, and Nels Cline, yeah he might be a nice addition to the group, but this kind of kontrapunkted guitar bits are done to death by others, so that's not really a novellty either.

I don't mean to be starting a flame war, different strokes for different folks, yada-yada, maybe there's not more about it in this case either,
but seriosly wondering if I miss out on something, that would make me share your enthusiasm.

Sorry and thanks

I generally prefer Uncle Tupelo.

All good stuff here, but don't forget about The Jayhawks.

yep Jayhawks are good,I love "blue" and "What Led Me to This Town", I heard (from here) a lot of people were disappointed in their last release though

As I mentioned earlier, I'm in the camp that thinks older is better when it comes to Wilco. HOWEVER... 'One Sunday Morning' on their new record is definitely among Wilco's best songs, regardless of old or new or what version of the band.

Sorry for not embedding this as video but I'm on my iPhone and wasn't sure how:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNUG6-E2RQg&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Listen to "hate it here" it's one of my faves

Jayhawks are good,I love "blue" and "What Led Me to This Town", I heard (from here) a lot of people were disappointed in their last release though

They really deserve their own thread. I found the latest uneven at first, but it's really grown on me.

Saw both Wilco and The Jayhawks (separately) within the past year and both shows were great.

I got interested recently in Wilco because I wanted to know more about Jeff Tweedy who produced a good record for Mavis Staples... So, thinking he was playing some sort of soul music (never heard Wilco before), I got my hands on this live album ("Kicking Television") and was initially quite surprised, and somewhat disappointed (as it is, obviously, no soul music!). I'm usually not fond of that genre of music (esp. the 'prog' flavour of it, may I say), but it slowly began to grow on me. This thread inspires me to get YHF.

Listening to Summerteeth the other day - first time in ages - something did strike me though (and not just about that record either) :



Tweedy is kinda responsible for at least partly inspiring some dreck that came later.

My Morning Jacket is Wilco plus U2. Anthemic in spots but sparse on hooks* and very pulse-y.

Arcade Fire, Band of Horses - I can hear Tweedy in a lot of their stuff.


*Tweedy can write 'em and he has but in the last 3 or four records there are quite a few nappers that just pass you by and are pretty hard to remember.

I always liked "Kicking Television: Live in Chicago"

I don't know the band, this is the first time I watched through a whole song.....

I think this explains your viewpoint. There are many layers, and much history, to this band. I personally wouldn't ever describe the whole of their music as counterpunctual.

Not sure what took you so long, but welcome to the family. Probably my favorite currently-touring band. The fun now is the fact that they're so prolific that you have so much out there of their material to keep discovering. I firmly believe "Being There" will go down as a top-20 all-time rock 'n' roll record.

I adored Uncle Tupelo, and when they split, everybody around here was wondering who the real talent behind UT was, and if he would emerge from the two new bands. So in the race-to-put-out-the-first-post-UT-album, Wilco comes out with A.M. Meh. Not bad, straightforward rock songs centered on an acoustic guitar, nothing jaw-droppingly amazing. Son Volt comes out with Trace, and it's a great record. Debate solved, right? Wrong. Then Son Volt proceeds to make the same album two more times. Meanwhile, Wilco keeps pushing their music further and further along, constantly doing new things and growing, never re-treading the same tires.

I love all Wilco albums, but I think I prefer their sound before Nels Cline joined the band. He's a great picker, but his style is a little noodley and progressive for my taste. I still like their work, but Being There and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot are still my favorites.

I was a fan of Uncle Tupelo first, and I still miss them. But I respect very much Wilco's evolution. They don't need to stay the same on my account.

I'm going to see them play in Salt Lake City next week with my brothers. All four of us live in different parts of the country, and we're converging at the Wilco concert. Can't wait.

You guys might need to revoke my Wilco fan card, I just can't get into Being There.

I was promised a sloppy, freewheelin', rambunctious, Exile-like album, and I just can't get into it! Now, it's been awhile since I tried it, maybe I should try again?


(And yes, I feel ashamed, but please give me the credit for admitting such an, uhh, admission?)

Listening to Summerteeth the other day - first time in ages - something did strike me though (and not just about that record either) :



Tweedy is kinda responsible for at least partly inspiring some dreck that came later.


You can't hold an artist responsible for what came later.

You guys might need to revoke my Wilco fan card, I just can't get into Being There.

I was promised a sloppy, freewheelin', rambunctious, Exile-like album, and I just can't get into it! Now, it's been awhile since I tried it, maybe I should try again?


(And yes, I feel ashamed, but please give me the credit for admitting such an, uhh, admission?)

But that's exactly what Being There is, a sloppy, freewheelin', rambunctious collection of songs about being on the road in a band!

But if you got into Wilco later and are working backwards I can see not being as into it as someone like me who heard Outtasite and Someday Soon being played by a hip radio station in '96 and saying - "what the hell is this?!!"

It's OK. :cool:

Well, I guess we're polar opposites. :mrgreen: Jeff was at his best when he did stripped down, straight forward Alt Country songs, in my opinion.
Some of my faves:

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:shock: time for me to revisit Wilcos back catalogue - I liked that a lot more than I did a couple of years ago.

I owned Being There on vinyl, but let it go when I moved back east. I don't miss it. I kept the plastic shrink wrap on it, and made sharpie marks next to the good songs. If I recall, there were four of them. The rest just didn't interest me, musically or lyrically.

For years, I felt they were the most overrated band going. Then Nels joined the band, and I heard Sky Blue Sky. Impossible Germany is just undeniably great. Seeing them live sealed it.

But I'll still take Hollywood Town Hall over anything Wilco's ever recorded!

I think this explains your viewpoint. There are many layers, and much history, to this band. I personally wouldn't ever describe the whole of their music as counterpunctual.

I didn't do that either. I said Nel's guitar is conterpunctual to the rest of the music.


The reason I went through a complete song for the first time, is that I tried several times but never got to the end any of them. Not even when Frisell sat in with them - who I worship heavily, or past tence would probably more appropriate, since I am a fan of his edgy 80's early 90's stuff -but never got through any of it. The reason to come here in the first place was that a whole thread was entusiasthically dedicated to them, and I thougth that I can possibly have that heureka experience too what the op had.

Layers? History? I sure don't know anything about them. But if some unexperienced ears bump into any new music they never give a damn about layers and history, they just want to be pleased with what is audible.