WILCO

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Monday

How to Fight Loneliness

War On War

Jesus, etc

Spiders (Kidsmoke)

Muzzle of Bees

Hummingbird

Wishful Thinking

Qui a dit que youtube ne servait pas la discussion? merci pour ces liens!

Le nouveau Wilco est prévu pour juin, si l'on en croit Rolling Stone.

Qu'un tel groupe puisse continuer d'exister à l'heure actuelle relève du miracle.

C'est ce que je me dis à chaque fois que j'ai des nouvelles d'eux. Ma façon de dire que ça me fait toujours un plaisir fou de les savoir créatifs, et de savoir que je vais écouter un nouvel album d'eux cet été.

Waou. Tu sais quoi, Yann? Je trouve ton papier sur poin-poin tellement bon que je vais aller le promouvoir sur le forum du groupe! Ils n'ont qu'à apprendre le français, ces cons!

Et je vais m'acheter ce DVD. Il est dispo en zone adéquate chez nous j'espère?

Tiens, sur le forum de Wilco dont je parlais, une critique intéressante du DVD:

Like millions (well maybe thousands) of Wilco fans, I watched the DVD last night. I had seen it at the Music Box a few weeks back so I knew what to expect. I have a few things to say also and the thing about the Tulsa/Nashville thing is something I couldn't know about, but I have some other issues with the movie.

First some of backpedaling before I wade into some shit....I know the band reads stuff here and maybe the film makers do too, I don't know. I am an old fan of Wilco and have talked to all the band members on one occasion or another over the years. They are all massively talented and interesting people. A movie could be made about any one of them and I would buy it or watch it. So just like every other fan here I love seeing and hearing them in the comfort of my livingroom. But if my comments piss some people off, sorry about that.

My issues are not with the band, but with the narrative of the film. I love the concert footage and will watch the movie for that repeatedly in the future, but the flow of the movie (as a film) is so broken up it is very distracting. If all we want (and maybe this is simply a fan movie and nothing else) is to see our favorite band play some songs, this movie fits the bill, but as a movie; well not so much.

Where do I start? Even during the initial viewing at the Music Box, I developed a small internal joke which was "Bye Pat." Seeing snippets of several different shows including some sound checks is really distracting. So we get see Pat wave goodbye in each. The filmmakers never really decided on what they wanted this thing to be about (okay so it is about Wilco, maybe THAT should be enough), then don't have the band talk about random stuff and stick it in. Here are the narrative threads that seem to go nowhere, any of which make a pretty good narrative.

1. Old stuff in America that is disappearing (Pat taking pics around Cains with a Polaroid.) I like this thread because it who doesn't like old stuff that is disappearing in America? I know I do. Great idea, but is only the first one that is giving a few minutes and then never revisited.
2. The death of small towns (John talking about Walmart.) Who doesn't like talking about Walmart? I know I do, it sucks and it sucks the life out of the small towns I have visited. Actually none of the places Wilco even plays in this movie are really small towns. None of the band members even lives in a small town any more.
3. Historic places. Who doesn't love historic places? I know I do. I could have watched an entire concert filmed at Cains, a place I have never been to, but clearly an epicenter of American music. The footage and the feel of the place was great (although the extreme close-ups at the beginning bugged me a bit.) They rushed through each place never giving any of the cities they were in much of their due. Each town is historical and interesting for any number of reasons.
4. How difficult it is being a musican and putting it out every night and the toll it takes on ones body. Of all the narratives that were brought up and dropped, this one was the MOST compelling. The footage of Nels talking about his physical problems and watching Glenn ice down his hands and arms and Jeff being examined (why didn't we get to see the steroid shot?? That would have been great cinema...) were my favorite non-musical parts of the movie. That is not only really interesting as a back story, but something most fans don't think about. They simply think musicians have an easy life and work two hours a day once in awhile. Great stuff, but it was dropped all too quickly.
5. What a brilliant writer and bandleader Jeff is. Who doesn't like hearing that? I knowI do, but once again there was nothing shown about what makes him great and how he writes and what goes into his creative process...zilch.
6. The band members all all talented and unique individuals and make the band what it is. Great. Who doesn't love hearing about the band members?? I know I do. I like all of them. But the sections near the end were gratutious and kind of dumb. How did each member become so wonderful and talented and what brought them to Wilco, which makes Wilco the band it is. All it sounded like was a big circle jerk, no insightinto why these guys are great. If you are fan, like we all are, we know the history of the band members. But to someone watching this who is not aquainted with the band it just sounds stupid. Fortunately John gets the most footage in what was a compelling sequence, although again too short, talking about his musical background. (What were those songs from the 20s and 30s he learned as a kid? I really want to know!!)
7. Fans are important. Who doesn't love seeing the band talk to fans? I know I do, since I love being talked to by the band myself. Those shots are fun and the most compelling footage of this narrative came after the credits with the band's biggest fan of all, Jeff's father, who was funny and engaging.
8. It is a long hard road being in a band and getting gigs and coming up the ladder of success. Who doesn't love hearing about how difficult and long it takes to make it in the music business. I know I do. I talk about this all the time since I have seen bands come and go, some on the verge of making it and just don't make it to the next plateau. What makes Wilco so succussful? This narrative was introduced and dropped. (Incidently it looks like there is a terrific movie about this subject that is just out called Anvil! The Story of Anvil. I can't wait to see this one even though I am not a heavy metal fan. A compelling fllm doesn't even have to be about something you know something about, in fact the joy of seeing a great movie is learning something new about a subject you do now know know anything about, such as an old heavy metal band still trying to make it...)
9.It is possible to pick out a dozen more threads that were not explored. Bands say funny shit in concert, traveling is interesting, boring, tedious, excilerating, stupid (take your pick), it is hard being away from your family as a traveling musician (they miss wives, girlfriends, children, expected children, friends, comforts of home etc.), who are the Total Pros and what is their relationship to the band, why are we showing you soundchecks and not concert footage, how do musicians prepare themselves and practice (OMG the sequence of Glenn practicing, who couldn't watch that all night, I know I could.) Someone else can chime in here if they want before you rip me a new one...

Okay so maybe this is not a flim, maybe this is simply a video. That's fine. I have no problem with that, but as a film, it missed the mark on many occasions and frankly missed some great opportunities to enlighted the rest of the world as to why Wilco is one of the best things on the music scene. The great music movies and you all know what the great ones are (Don't Look Back, the Last Waltz, Stop Making Sense, Spinal Tap, etc.) last because they say something universal and something coherent. Music videos are simply product. This one will please the fans. Personally I am sorry that Live at the Vic never got made. A concert of Wilco in their home town during what was a period of this band when things were just starting to gell Ior actually had gelled) would have been great. (Too bad no one filmed the Otto's shows...) Maybe someday someone will finally edit and mix it and release it. That was a very compelling time for the band and I know I would like to see that. Meanwhile we have a movie of the band in full flower singing and playing their hearts out, with very little understanding of what made this tour important to film.

Sorry to piss people off, but I felt compelled to say these things. Great concert footage, not such a great movie. (and it is Sunday morning so there are lapses in spelling and grammar.)

One last thought before I post this. I Am Trying to Break Your Heart IS a great movie. Long after Ashes is forgotten, we have a movie about Wilco that does tell us why they were and are important and gives a compelling and universal story that anyone can enjoy about a band trying to make good music and be successful. There are parts of that movie that are beautiful, funny, upsetting, triumphant, insightful, artistic, etc. Ashes is nice to look at and sounds great, but is ultimately a bit frustrating and deals with the surface only.

LouieB

Il n'a pas tort, dans le sens ou Ashes of American Flags n'est pas un film. Il est vrai que l'aspect documentaire reste a la surface des choses, mais ce n'est pas du Michael Moore. Il s'agit juste de mettre d'excellentes prestations dans leur contexte.
Et pour un resident temporaire comme moi, le portrait des villes americaines que l'on trouve en toile de fond est assez ressemblant, je dois dire.

En tout cas, la nouvelle pochette confirme la tendance prog du groupe depuis Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Pink Floyd avait la vache, alors ils ont choisi le chameau.

Alors, certains disent que le chameau forme la lettre "W".

Moi je pense que Jeff Tweedy essaie d'arrêter de fumer.

Je viens de remarquer le chapeau. Cette pochette commence à m'amuser.

Je n'ai toujours pas reçu le Neko Case. Je vais le recommander avec le prochain Wilco.

Hugues a écrit:Je n'ai toujours pas reçu le Neko Case. Je vais le recommander avec le prochain Wilco.

J'attends cela avec impatience , sky blue sky, est un des albums que j'écoute le plus souvent , et depuis pas mal de temps, .... Post d'une extrême indigence.... J'avais juste envie de le dire et comment rivaliser avec une rousse conquérante, haut perchée au regard délicieusement vénimeux. Depuis le temps qu'oncle Hugues multiplie les invitations, je vais m'intéresser à elle, mais comment l'aborder ? (quel album ? Le plus rock ? Avec des guitares, parce que je suis un mec un peu brut de décoffrage et que j'aime la musique rythmée)

Depuis le temps qu'oncle Hugues multiplie les invitations, je vais m'intéresser à elle, mais comment l'aborder ? (quel album ? Le plus rock ? Avec des guitares, parce que je suis un mec un peu brut de décoffrage et que j'aime la musique rythmée)

Le plus rock:



Pour une voix et une vision encore plus hantées:



Comme on peut le constater Neko aime bien se coucher par terre.

Hugues a écrit:Je n'ai toujours pas reçu le Neko Case. Je vais le recommander avec le prochain Wilco.

Le disque de Wilco est en stream sur wilcoworld.net.

Pour l'album de Neko Case, je dois avouer qu'il n'est pas passionnant. J'ai fait l'effort de l'ecouter deux ou trois fois bien, mais ca ne rentre pas dans ma tete, aucune compo ne retient mon attention a part la reprise de Sparks. C'est bien produit, bien joue et bien chante ... mais je ne sais pas, ca ne marche pas trop sur moi, c'est tout. Parfois, faut pas trop chercher ...

On vient d'apprendre la mort de Jay Bennett

Je lui dois quelques-uns des plus beaux moments pop-musicaux qu'il m'ait été donné d'écouter, puisqu'il est responsable des arrangements de synthés et claviers de Summerteeth, un des plus beaux albums de tous les temps.

Il avait écrit et composé notamment "My Darling" (chanté par Jeff Tweedy):