9 posts tagged “wilco”
His jaw's been broken
His bandage is wrapped too tight
His fangs have been pulled
And I really want to see you tonight
After deciding to hold onto my somewhat aged PowerBook G4 for a while longer, I decided to invest in a wireless network upgrade. It's been a while.
It has, in fact, been a while since I've paid for Internet access. When I moved to my current location, there was a Linksys Wireless router in place. Tragically, it was an 802.11b.
All was fine until I recently purchased an Airport Express in order to get music from my computer to my stereo. Keen memories may recall that I had a Squeezebox to do this, but I think a power outage or breaker switch blew it. Sadly, there will be no more Pope Gravely Ill days for me.
The Airport Express is different from the Squeezebox--all of its control and input is provided by the computer. I could have bought an (as yet unavailable) Apple TV unit but this would have meant having the TV on to control music. Since I don't like my TV anyway, I chose to go this route. It was also quite a bit cheaper.
Unfortunately, 802.11b was just not enough to feed the Airport Express. My solution?
Yup. I bought a new Airport Extreme to replace the Linksys equipment. The last Airport base station I bought was one of the first in Canada, served only 802.11b and is still in use some 6 years later in Toronto.
So how did the upgrade go?
As further evidence of the fact thaf if you've been listening to music without listening to Neko Case and Wilco you've been doing it wrong I offer up this clip from YouTube of Jeff Tweedy's performance on Zed.
Jay Bennett was famously ejected from Wilco shortly after the completion of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. The events of that recording were filmed in I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, which remains one of the finist musical documentaries ever filmed.
Jay was also an immensely talented musician. His last solo albo was released on 'Rock Proper":http://www.rockproper.com/ as a free download. It was deeply personal, and quite wonderful to listen too. I was hoping for a solo tour.
It seems that won't happen. Jay passed away in his sleep on the weekend.
I finally managed to get a copy of Ashes of American Flags. The only store in Bellingham to have copies had sold out before I got down there, and for some strange reason Zulu Records didn't get any in on the April 28, 2009 release date. Red Cat Records came to my rescue, though I paid a pretty penny for it.
It was, of course, worth every penny, and I prefer to shop at those two stores whenever I can.
The film is excellent, documenting three separate concerts and the journey through an America that, at the time, struck the band as disappearing. Filmed two summers ago, it's not hard to imagine how the same America would look today.
Wilco released a free song on May 1st on their web site. It's a cover of Woody Guthrie's The Jolly Banker. May 1st is May Day, a day associated with protest, with working people around the world, with the common person. Ashes of American Flags shows a band that hasn't lost touch with itself yet, and one that believes that music is still a force for change in sugar coated pop flavoured world. Watch it.
I'm down on my hands and knees
Every time the doorbell rings
I shake like a toothache
When I hear myself singAll my lies are only wishes
I know I would die if I could come back new
Probably my favourite blog is "Aquarium Drunkard": http://www.aquariumdrunkard.com/ which just feels more...blog like than Paste Magazine or the newly updated No Depression. It has more personality, while the others have a publication kind of feel to them.
Plus they post lots of music, like today's awesome Austin City Limits show that Wilco played last year.
That's what I said last night when four of us were out for dinner with a consultant for work. We were talking about travel, and airports, and he mentioned Tulsa. Tulsa doesn't come up that often in conversation at work (or, frankly, at all) and that's a line from a Cowboy Junkies song that's been on my frequent playlist lately. Specifically, the version of 200 More Milesfrom the Trinity Revisited album with haunting vocals by Ryan Adams
The response from the visiting consultant was instant. "Don't go quoting country music lyrics to me young man."
I laughed long and hard, and the thing is...a prediction from a long long time ago might be finally and fully true.
