A forewarning: a lot of the band and album links in this post link directly to the iTunes Music Store. Don't have iTunes? Get it here.
I'm a huge Wilco fan. Despite country roots, Jeff Tweedy and Co have managed to truly pick up the falled mantle of Lou Reed, John Cale, et al of the Velvet Underground. Being There and Summerteeth are rocking good times, one a sprawling epic about life touring on the road, the other a poppy polished gem. Great music, and granted "She's a Jar" and "Via Chicago" are absolute gems, but still just pop.
Then came Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Or, as my co-worked and friend Alex noted last night, the morse/radio/military code for "YHF." Brilliant--and somehow had completely slipped me by, in my all too frequent musical ignorance--I had thought it was some sort of abstract political statement. So, I go on a kick to determine exactly what "YHF" stands for, besides a random Canadian airport. And I find this sparkling review. The quality of writing recalled Rolling Stone's heyday, back in the days carved into celluloid in the rock n roll epic Almost Famous, from the always brilliant Cameron Crowe. So anyway, read the writeup. It completely blew me away--and now I have quite the heightened appreciation for an already stellar album. To think it almost got buried in the dustbin! O--if you're curious, YHF is a shortwave radio band used by Israeli intelligence, apparently. Curious and curiouser. A Ghost is Born.
1 year ago
2 comments:
Steve, first of all thank you for your kind words above. I'm not sure I earned them, but I'm happy to take them.
Regarding Wilco, do you have the YHF demos (obviously, it's a bootleg)? They show the evolution of several of the songs, as well as highlighting some that didn't make it (some you already know, like "A Magazine Called Sunset".) Also, if you're interested, I have the entire four-disc set of the Conet Project that inspired Jeff (and resulted in a lawsuit).
While we're on the subject, since Wilco is a tape friendly band, I have in my posession an amazingly high-quality audience recording of their recent show at the Fox. Good stuff. Sadly, you can't hear the guys behind me who were begging for "Heavy Metal Drummer".
Gary, I don't know how I originally stumbled on your blog, but it's always a fantastic read.
Can't say I have the demos, but I'd be very interested to hear them, particularly the unreleased tracks. Always interesting to see what didn't quite make the cut--eg how "Good Vibrations" was dropped from "Pet Sounds" or the differences in "Let it Be" and "Let it Be Naked." Rather amusing actually--Wilson moves more and more towards Phil Spector while the Beatles seem to have resented his dabblings a bit (that, or EMI just wanted to rake in more money and release something new).
Not attending the Fox show was quite a difficult decision for me. My fellow Wilco devotees felt Jeff Tweedied-out, after something like 4 shows in 1.5 years, and no one else was familiar with "A Ghost is Born" yet.
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