Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Double-shot of Jeff Tweedy

Is it just me or has Wilco been all over the place lately? Don't get me wrong, I love Wilco and couldn't be happier for them and all of their successes. But part of me doesn't want to share them with the rest of the world. No I didn't "discover" them, but I did enjoy their music before everyone jumped on the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot train. Ah whatever, I'm starting to sound like one of those music snobs.

In any event, the Sundance Channel is providing our ears and eyes with a Wilco/Jeff Tweedy two-fer this Wednesday (tomorrow):

10pm - Jeff Tweedy: Sunken Treasure Live in the Pacific Northwest
Filmed over five nights, this live concert film, directed by Christoph Green and Brendan Canty, captures Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy in solo concerts held in theaters, ballrooms and college auditoriums from Seattle to San Francisco during the winter of 2006. One of the modern masters of the acoustic guitar, Tweedy performs more than 20 songs, including "How to Fight Loneliness," "In a Future Age," and "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart."

11:30pm - I Am Trying to Break Your Heart

In an ironic confluence of timing, just as Chicago's alternative country rock band Wilco completed what would be their breakthrough album, "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot," their label, Reprise, chose to drop them. Fortunately for anyone with a vicarious interest in the commercial music world, photographer and filmmaker Sam Jones was at work on this revealing documentary when Reprise made its decision. The twists and turns of fate that follow make this tale of art, commerce, clashing creative personalities and rock success a "rare gem." - Chicago Tribune.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I know what you mean about feeling like you now have to share a well kept secret. I was a Phish fan since the early 90's, and I experienced the fanbase change over the course of the next decade. The problem is never with those who enjoy the music. New music lovers are always welcome. It becomes an issue when the new "fans" forget (or don't care) about the music. Whether this is because of profit or just the scene itself, the music and those who enjoy it then suffer. But anyway, I feel like I witnessed the demise of Phish before they eventually called it quits. This in turn led to the end of my infatuation with jam bands and caused me to search elsewhere for musical inspiration and experimentation. And here we are...

Anonymous said...

thanks for the heads up! the DVR is set. Should be a good primer for seeing them on Thursday at Merriweather (plus The National tomorrow, so not too shabby of a week).

Gus said...

I hear you. It's frustrating when those "fans" don't care where a band came from musically to get to the point that they currently are. I'm not saying that in order to be a true fan you have to either know about or enjoy ALL of a band's music, but at least be cognizant of the fact that it does exist. You see it a lot when a band has a breakthrough album. People just assume that it's the band's first album because it's the first one that has gotten airplay – and a lot of the time that’s a bad assumption to make. If you go through life with that mentality, you’ll be missing some quality music.