ShortFormBlog

04/02 the last time the site gave the marker to a new album (Wilco’s “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot“); And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead got one two months earlier
11/10 the last time the site gave a 10.0 to a reissue (Weezer’s “Pinkerton“), which is much more common – Pitchfork often gives the hallowed 10.0 in retrospect
04/05 the last time an album got a 10.0 AND a 0.0, which Robert Pollard’s WTF stage-banter oddity “Relaxation of the Asshole” got; technically it’s a 5.0 source

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1. Back in our noise-addled 2002 minds, Idlewild’s “You Held the World In Your Arms” was that explosion of R.E.M.-esque bombast that should have been huge in the U.S., but instead remained on the fringes.
2. Consider this a placeholder for both the Roots and Cody ChestnuTT, who both released killer albums in 2002. (Lala, sadly doesn’t have ChestnuTT’s only album thus far, “The Headphone Masterpiece.”) A lot’s changed since this song came out – The Roots are on Jimmy Fallon, and ChestnuTT is … somewhere. Where did you go, man?
3. When everyone was going gaga over Interpol (we didn’t get the hype), we were putting The Notwist’s “Neon Golden” on repeat. A slice of IDM+pop, “Pilot” is the German band’s best song.
4. It wouldn’t be 2002 if we didn’t give due credit to Wilco’s “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot,” so here we are, giving it. They haven’t been as weird as “Radio Cure” since, but it was weird enough to get everyone to pay attention.
5. Iron & Wine’s success was a starting point for 21st-century indie folk. The fact that Sam Beam’s been improving ever since doesn’t negate the fact that he wrote the template with songs like “Upward Over the Mountain.” source

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1. Before Paul Simon got countermelodies and drum backing, he was a busker in England who happened to find himself in a recording studio, doing lo-fi versions of songs that everyone now knows by heart, such as this ragged version of “Kathy’s Song.”
2. Jandek will never be as successful as Jeff Tweedy. He spent three decades hiding from the world, releasing rickety avant-strangeness and getting mentioned in the same sentences as Roky Erickson and The Shaggs, only to finally play in public in the last couple of years. Jeff Tweedy, whose band’s most recent album debuted in the Billboard 200’s top five, does us a favor and makes “Crack a Smile” pretty and palatable.
3. After posting about Leonard Cohen yesterday, it got us to thinking – which song of his would never get covered on “American Idol”? “Chelsea Hotel No. 2” fits the bill: It’s pretty, but about sordid hotel room encounters with famous singers like Janis Joplin.
4. You can’t have a list of mopey strummers without Elliott Smith. You just can’t. His early albums use their lo-fi setting to focus directly on the darkness in the words. “Condor Ave.,” off “Roman Candle,” set Smith’s template.
5. The Tallest Man on Earth pretty much kills this song. The Swede wails at his guitar, putting everything he has into being the best Bob Dylan acolyte he can, and gets closer than most, especially on “This Wind.” source

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Bennett helped make Wilco weird. The multi-instrumental performer, a member of Wilco from 1994 to 2001, was responsible for key decisions that led to the group’s high water-marks – specifically “Summerteeth” and “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.” His creative perfectionism ultimately drove him apart from the band, but the legacy of his contributions remains. Bennett died in his sleep yesterday morning. source

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The cover of the new Wilco album, “Wilco (The Album)” is officially the coolest thing ever. source

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22 Nov 2010 10:17