Twenty Best...Wilco Concert Songs

If I could plan the songs that I'd hear when I see Wilco in August, this is what the setlist would look like (although they're sorted by album, not the order I'd want to hear them in):

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

"I Am Trying to Break Your Heart"
"Kamera"
"War on War"
"Jesus, Etc."

A.M.

"Casino Queen"
"It’s Just That Simple"

A Ghost is Born

"At Least That’s What You Said"
"Spiders (Kidsmoke)"
"The Late Greats"
"Hummingbird

Being There

"Say You Miss Me"
"Outta Mind (Outta Sight)"
"Sunken Treasure"

Summerteeth

"Can’t Stand It"
"ELT"

Sky Blue Sky

"You are My Face"
"On and On and On"

Mermaid Avenue, Mermaid Avenue, Vol. 2

"Remember the Mountain Bed"
"California Stars"
"Airline to Heaven"

Most of yesterday and essentially all day today, I'll be busy working on the semester's final issue of the New School Free Press. I began the year as a simple copy editor and staff writer, and will end it with the aspiration of becoming next year's Editor-in-Chief.

But, outside of that, I'm very happy to report that I bought two tickets to see these wonderful lads from Chicago on August 13 in Brooklyn:



Yes, only a week after my birthday, Nadia and I will be going to see Wilco. With her going to Boston in early-September for grad school, it'll be something to look forward to and a nice near end-of-the-summer activity. After all, I guess if we were to have "a song," it'll probably be "Jesus, Etc." from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot:

Tall buildings shake
Voices escape, singing sad sad songs
Tuned to chords strung down your cheeks
Bitter melodies turning your orbit around

Voices whine
Skyscrapers are scraping together
Your voice is smoking
Last cigarettes are all you can get
Turning your orbit around

Oh, and as long as my Facebook birthday alerts aren't telling me inaccurate information, I'd like to wish a happy birthday to Unkie Ken, the creator of the great Mr. Ken Kurp.

Also born today is Ella Fitzgerald, and also lost this day is the great Bobby "Boris" Pickett, who passed away last year.

Early in the Morning, I'm Callin' YouTube Vol. XII

Even after all these years, it's still mind boggling that a song sung by Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Ray Charles, Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson, among others, could be so bad. But "We Are the World" is overshadowed by bad lyrics, tacky production and the presence of Huey Lewis, Steve Perry and Kenny Loggins, who are only some of the terrible artists that were there on January 28, 1985. A noble cause (and one that brought in millions for famine relief in Africa), but it's still a horrific song.

It's always entertaining when my Unkie Ken sends me a YouTube video because I know it's going to be something I've never heard before, like Freddie Bell and the Bellboy's "Giddy Up a Ding Dong."

Why can't Tom Waits just tour again?

There's something very entertaining about watching Louis Armstrong and Johnny Cash talk about Jimmie Rodgers, and eventually break into a performance of "Blue Yodel, No. 9." Two men who have nothing in common have everything in common here.

Last week, residents of Chicago were lucky to have five straight nights of Wilco in which they performed their entire catalog. What I would have given to be able to go to those shows, but instead, I'm left scrapping for mp3s and watching YouTube videos, like this one of "Kamera."

From one of the Wilco shows:

Five Best...Songs from Summerteeth

#5. “Via Chicago”

I printed my name on the back of a leaf
And I watched it float away
The hope I had in a notebook full of white dry pages
Was all I tried to save

#4. “Nothing'severgonnastandinmyway(again)”

Waste the days, waste the nights
Try to downplay being uptight
Oh, you're right, but I believe
A kiss is all we need

#3. “Can’t Stand It”

The way things go
You get so low
Struggle to find your skin
Oh hey ho
Look out below
Your prayers will never be answered again

#2. “ELT”

I didn't mean to be so stupid
So far from home
Oh, what have I been learning
By being all alone

#1. “A Shot in the Arm”

The ashtray says
You were up all night
When you went to bed
With your darkest mind

Your pillow wept
You covered your eyes
And you finally slept
While the sun caught fire

Five Best...Songs from Wilco's Sky Blue Sky

#5. “Either Way”

Maybe the sun will shine today
The clouds will blow away
Maybe I won’t feel so afraid
I will try to understand
Either way

#4. “Hate It Here”

I try to stay busy
I do the dishes, I mow the lawn
I try to keep myself occupied
Even though I know you’re not coming home

#3. “What Light”

If you think you might need somebody
To pick you up when you drag
Don’t loose sight of yourself
Don’t let anyone change your bag

#2. “On and On and On”

One day we’ll disappear together in a dream
However short or long our lives are going to be
I will live in you or you will live in me
Until we disappear together in a dream

#1. “You Are My Face”

I have no idea how this happens
All of my maps have been overthrown
Happenstance has changed my plans
So many times my heart has been outgrown

NSFP Albums o' the Year

As appeared in Tuesday's issue of the New School Free Press.

Myself and two other reporters on the paper, Kyle McGovern and Joe Veix, picked what we thought were the best albums of the year.

Sky Blue Sky by Wilco

Upon first listen, I was a little disappointed in the album but as time went by, I realized how good it actually is—which is why it’s my pick for one of the year's top albums. There’s a restraint throughout, which only occurs when a band has a total understanding of themselves. Maybe in a better year for music (2006, for instance), *Sky* would have placed lower, but with songs like the haunting “On and On and On” and deceptively solemn “You Are My Face,” it’s something for the boys from Chicago to be proud of.

-By Josh Kurp

Dandelion Gum by Black Moth Super Rainbow

If Boards of Canada stopped sampling, purchased real instruments and dropped Prozac like jellybeans, they'd sound a bit like Black Moth Super Rainbow. BMSR found an unexplored niche between electronica and psychedelic rock somewhere in the boondocks of western Pennsylvania. Compared to other records released this year, Dandelion Gum sounds thrillingly different.

We All Belong by Dr. Dog

With their third record, Dr. Dog have fully established their sound, proving that a classic rock framework doesn't have to sound overly derivative. We All Belong has a subtle, tight production that glues together each harmonious, hook-laden track into a beautiful, cohesive whole.

-By Joe Veix

Boxer by The National

The cover of Boxer couldn't be more fitting: the black and white photograph of the National performing at a wedding fits the record's cinematic arrangements and the band's professionalism. The guitars beautifully complement one another, the drumming is precise and Matt Berninger's slightly-drunken slur makes his wordy lyrics romantic. The National aren't doing anything new, but they have made one of 2007's tightest records.

In Rainbows by Radiohead

The off-balance drums of “15 Step” are familiar—expected even—until that sugary riff sinks in, opening what is Radiohead’s loosest album in years. Free from their contract with Capitol Records, Radiohead actually sound somewhat relaxed. Nothing on In Rainbows resembles Hail to the Thief's tense tantrums. The closest relative is "Bodysnatchers," when Thom Yorke expresses the frustration of being under contract: "I'm trapped in this body and can't get out."

-By Kyle McGovern

Five Best...Songs from I'm Not There

#5. "As I Went Out Morning" by Mira Billotte

One of the more "obscure" songs on the soundtrack, it's also one of the few women on it. Although I've never heard of Mira Billotte, I'm damn surprised at how good she is. Just like how it appears on John Wesley Harding, the song is commanded by the bass line and drumming, making the guitar almost pointless, while Billotte clearly knows how to maneuver her way through a Bob Dylan song--something that many people have tried and failed at.

#4. "Simple Twist of Fate" by Jeff Tweedy

It's not a surprise that I'm a huge fan of Wilco, and this became the first song I listened to after buying the album (I already possessed a copy of Dylan's "I'm Not There," so it wasn't a big deal for me.) Tweedy does an impressive job of sounding like Dylan in his straining vocals, and the backing musicians make the sadness of "Simple Twist of Fate" come into the foreground.

#3. "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" by Ramblin' Jack Elliott

I've never been a big fan of Ramblin' because I could just easily listen to Woody Guthrie, and get basically the same song but better. But here, when he's impersonating Dylan, I might have to change my mind. Unlike the Highway 61 version, this one goes acoustic; something that I didn't think would work, but in the execution, you realize how much Ramblin' respects "Tom Thumb's Blues," and does it justice...and then some.

#2. "Ballad of a Thin Man" by Stephen Malkmus

The original "Ballad" is not a favorite of mine; in fact, I normally skip it while listening to Highway 61 Revisited. But as for the version on The Bootleg Series, Vol. 4, I'm left in awe at how good Dylan sings and plays the piano, and how amazing of an organ player Garth Hudson is. Thankfully, Malkmus covers the live version, not the studio one, and he just totally owns the track.

#1. "Goin' to Acapulco" by Jim James

It's haunting how much James sounds like Dylan on this Basement Tapes track. The voice is a little more echo-ing and slightly more nasal, but he sings with the same style that made Dylan's vocals from those sessions so great. The addition of the horns as a key instrument makes the song sound contemporary and from another decade at the same time--no small feat.

Honorable Mentions
"Stuck Inside a Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again" by Cat Power
"Pressing On" by John Doe
"When the Ship Comes In" by Marcus Carl Franklin
"I'm Not There" by Sonic Youth

At 9:15 p.m. tonight, I'll be in the Film Forum finally seeing I'm Not There. I bought tickets for my girlfriend, Nadia, and I months ago, and my excitement is reaching a point that only a movie like The Simpsons Movie could attain.

When I first heard about I'm Not There, I was understandably questionable. I mean, do we need something that contains the words "Dylan" and "surreal?" But as the movie premiere has gotten closer and people I respect have told me that they loved the movie (Greil Marcus, for instance), I'm expecting something wonderful for 2 hours and 15 minutes tonight.

Other Bob Stuff:
Cover story from the Village Voice
Review from the New York Times
My current Facebook picture

Early in the Morning, I'm Callin' YouTube, Vol. VII

The best thing I've found on YouTube this week is a clip of Billy Bragg singing both the Carpenters' "Superstar" AND Dylan's "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright." He asks the crowd which of the two artists they'd rather hear, and they choose the Carpenters. After getting up to the chorus of "Superstar," Bragg gets sick of it and changes over to a fierce version of "Don't Think Twice." Gotta love Billy.

A few years back, Bragg and Wilco released Mermaid Avenue, Vol. 2 after the success of their first album together, the not-surprisingly titled Mermaid Avenue, of unrecorded Woody Guthrie songs. My favorite song of the bunch is "Airline in Heaven," a track that proves Guthrie was more than just the guy who wrote "This Land Is Your Land."

I wasn't a huge fan of Springsteen's Tom Joad period, but this live version of "Atlantic City," recorded in 1997 while touring for the album, is pretty impressive. Not as good as the original or the Band's version on Jericho, but those are both pretty much perfect.

While Harvest Moon is no Harvest, there are still some worthy-of-your-time tracks on it: "Natural Beauty," "Old King" and "From Hank to Hendrix," an improvement on Neil's other big namedropping song, "My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue.)"

This clip is of Howlin' Wolf singing "Dust My Broom." Enough said.

While watching this great clip of Tom Waits performing "Downtown Train" in Italy in 1986, it struck me as odd that he was holding a guitar. I guess I'm much more used to see him with a bullhorn or something that makes a loud clank noise in his hands, rather than an actual instrument. But then I realized how stupid it was to take note of that, and got back to listening to it.

Five Best...Songs Mentioning "Spiders"

#5. “Save Ginny Weasley” by Harry and the Potters

Are you scared to walk through the hallways?
Are you worried that the spiders run away?
Are you petrified of being petrified?
Are we going to have to save the school again?

#4. “Safe as Milk” by Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band

Well, my cigarette died when I washed my face
Dropped some drops in an ashtray, hit a wrong place
Woman at my blinds to see spider’s spinning lines
It’s a-safe as milk, it's a-safe as milk

#3. “Apeman” by The Kinks

I'm an apeman,
I'm an ape, apeman,
Oh I'm an apeman
I'm a King Kong man,
I'm a voodo man,
Oh, I'm an apeman
‘Cause compared to the sun that sits in the sky,
Compared to the clouds as they roll by,
Compared to the bugs and the spiders and flies, I am an apeman.

#2. “Ziggy Stardust” by David Bowie

Ziggy played guitar, jammin' good with Weird and Gilly,
The spiders from Mars, he played it left hand
But made it too far
Became the special man, then we were Ziggy's band

#1. “Spiders (Kidsmoke)” by Wilco

Spiders are singing in the salty breeze
Spiders are filling out tax returns
Spinning out webs of deductions and melodies
On a private beach in Michigan

Why can't they wish their kisses good
Why do they miss when their kisses should
Fly like winging birds fighting for the keys
On a private beach in MichiganD

Five Best...Songs from Yankee Foxtrot Hotel by Wilco

#5. "Heavy Metal Drummer"

#4. "I'm the Man Who Loves You"

#3. "Jesus, Etc."

#2. "Pot Kettle Black"

#1. "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart"

When There's a Wil, There's a Co

When I was young, the way my family would judge how much fun I was having was by the amount of perspiration I was, well, perspiring. If that connection proved to be true, then I had one hell of a time seeing Wilco on Tuesday night at Warsaw in Brooklyn.

There’s so much about the concert I could focus on (from Tweedy coming out looking like a young Bob Dylan or Neil Young with shabby looking clothes, harmonica holder and beat up acoustic guitar to the fact that they performed for roughly two and a half hours because there was no noise curfew) that I’m just going to do a

Five Best…Performances by Wilco on June 26th at Warsaw

#5. “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart”

Wilco playing this song is like The Ramones doing “Blitzkreig Bop” or Tommy Tutone performing “Jenny (867-5309),” so it wasn’t exactly a surprise that I’d hear it. But it’s one of the first Wilco songs I ever knew (the first was “Jesus, Etc.” which they performed and got a sing-song’y feel to it) so for sentimental reasons, it was great to hear it. If Wilco ever had a hit, I suppose this would be it. The Warsaw version was very similar to the one appearing on Yankee Foxtrot Hotel: Tweedy’s vocal leading the way, lots of feedback, a sneaky piano in the background and great drumming by Glenn Kotche.

#4. “On and On and On”

Nearly every song that they performed from Sky Blue Sky, their new album, got a reworking—with the exception of this song, the last on the album. I’m not a huge fan of Sky in the same way I am of Yankee or Being There, but the songs really came alive when hearing them in concert. “On and On and On” was the last song played before the encore, which made my concert counterpart, Nadia, quite happy because it’s her favorite song on the album. The song starts slowly and the lyrics are near schmaltz (“On and on and on we’ll stay together, yeah/On and on and on we’ll be together, yeah”) but Tweedy saves it with his passion and as it continues, the band kicks in and gives a very convincing feel. I think it’s become a favorite on Sky.

#3. “Outta Mind (Outtasite)”

Putting it on the list is bittersweet because it was the last song performed of the night. But to end the concert on something some upbeat and just plain rocking is a great choice. It’s also just a fun song it sing: “Well I know we don't talk much/But you're such a good talker/Ooh, whoa.” As the counterpart of “Outtasite (Outta Mind)” on Being There, they’re both pretty much the same song except “Outta Mind” is slightly slower and has the emphasis on the words, not the music. But live, this song kicked ass and took names—you know, if songs could take names, that is.

#2. “Hoodoo Voodoo”

A rarity of Wilco to perform, “Hoodoo Voodoo” is actually a Woody Guthrie tune that appears on their album with Billy Bragg, the fantastic Mermaid Avenue. While the Avenue version is one of the best on that album, it became that much better live. To quote a famous someone, they “played fucking loud.” The lyrics are nonsense (“Jinga jangler, tinga lingle, picture on a bricky wall/ Hot and scamper, foamy lather, huggle me close”) but you forget you’re saying words like “chooka” when Wilco kicks it out. But it was nothing compared to…

#1. “Spiders (Kidsmoke)”

Never in my the furthest reaches of my mind could I think about someone writing a song about spider going through tax forms. But that’s exactly what Tweedy does and, wouldn’t you know it, these archanids accountants were the highlight of the night. The song is long (the A Ghost is Born cut is slightly under 11 minutes while the live version must have run nearly 15) and I had this drunk girl push her away in front of me, but the only song I think it could rival hearing live was Television’s “Marquee Moon” from the week before. Even thinking about it now, they got more sound of their instruments than a band like Metallica could any day of the week.

Recap: It was a short run for Richard Thompson being my all-time favorite concert.

Full Setlist:
Sunken Treasure
You Are My Face
I Am Trying to Break Your Heart
Handshake Drugs
Pot Kettle Black
Side With The Seeds
A Shot in the Arm>
Wishful Thinking
Impossible Germany
Sky Blue Sky
Why Would You Wanna Live
War on War
Jesus, etc.
Theologians
*happy birthday to Matrix (the guitar tech)*
Walken
I'm The Man Who Loves You
Hummingbird
On and On and On
-----------------------------
Either Way
Ashes of American Flags
Reservations>
Spiders (Kidsmoke)
-----------------------------
Hate It Here
The Late Greats
Hoodoo Voodoo
Outta Mind (Outtasite)

Next Up: Levon Helm Band today! Bob Dylan tomorrow!