Wilco 201 - Intermediate

So, you have two choices with this playlist. You can listen to it stand-alone, or you can add it as a "supplement" to the earlier 101 playlist. Your choice. Much of this is just a little more of the same from the earlier playlist, but some of this stuff does push the envelope a bit more. If you didn't like anything from the first list, then I doubt you'll like anything here.

In retrospect I realize that a few of these songs from Being There would've been better off in the 101 playlist than here... but that's hindsight. If I could go back, I'd probably take one of the Outtasite songs, and maybe Someday Soon and swap them for a couple of the Summerteeth tunes, but oh well. On with the show!

1) Hummingbird from A Ghost Is Born: Severe Beatles rip-off. Think Eleanor Rigby meets something from Abbey Road, complete with the orchestra and bouncing piano. Tycho from Penny Arcade quoted from this one the other day, if that means anything to you.... "His goal in life was to be an echo..." I consider this an intermediate song since it's so far away from alt country and Uncle Tupelo, but yet still upbeat and I think for Beatles fans anyway, very approachable. The "hu-hu-hummingbird" falsetto towards the end, straight into a very distorted clarinet (I'm guessing?) is amazingly "Savoy Truffle"-ish, if you know what I'm talking about.

2) Outtasite (Outta Mind) from Being There: Man, I way underdid the songs from this album in the 101. This one should've probably replaced one of the Summerteeth songs. Oh well, live and learn.

3) What's The World Got In Store from Being There: Still catching up on the Being There songs, this is a much less "posh," much more gritty song than the last one. Again you can hear the mismatch of styles on Being There, and you can hear the struggles of the pop-oriented bubble-gum and the banjo traditional music in Tweedy's head.

4) Someday Soon from Being There: There it is friends, alt freakin' country. Yep, but with a slightly poppy backup vocals "oohing" and "aahing" through the chorus. I'm tellin' ya -- this is the transition album.

5) Outta Mind (Outta Sight) from Being There: The second brother to it's twin up at #2, this one is more of the same. I swear they're different... they really are... but there's some sorta mental voodoo surrounding them that make em run together. I'll be damned if I could spot one from the other. Oh well, they're both great songs!

6) Dreamer In My Dreams from Being There: This one, without a doubt, is one of my favorite Wilco songs. It's epic, weighing in at a svelt 6 minutes and 44 seconds, and it's almost entirely refrain! Listen to that honky tonk fiddle! The boom-chicka-boom-snicka country drums! But the fiddle! OH man! This is definitely one of the last true alt country throwbacks in their catalogue.

7) Hoodoo Voodoo from Mermaid Avenue: If Woody Guthrie was alive today and heard this recapturing of his lost song, I think he'd have only one thing to say. He'd say, "I've got a fever, and the only cure is... more cowbell!" This is a jumpin' song, cat... you dig? They'd play this song again, and his fever would be abated.

8) Hesitating Beauty from Mermaid Avenue: Definitely one of my favorites off the Woody Guthrie rework album, I'd have a hard time saying if I loved this or California Stars more. I guess in the end I'd have to go with Stars, but it would be very very very close. This song is more about lyrics, and California Stars is more about melody... but it has great lyrics too. It's a great song about a young man "twitching" to get married -- an unabashed love song, youthful, gleeful, and just a lot of fun.

9) Nothing'severgonnastandinmyway(again) from Summerteeth: Gee, I hope I spelled that right. Yep, that's how they put it down. This song is quite poppy, but don't make up your mind until you hear the chorus. Oh, and the change in the middle (a la Beatles) heralded by an alarm clock.

10) Candy Floss from Summerteeth: This song is amazing, but I think most people hate it. If you hate it, don't worry just move on... but those of you, who like me are cool and love goofy shit like this, we know, man, we know! I've gone on and on at length about this song in the past... so I might as well repeat myself! This is pure bubble-gum power pop music, cotton candy, twizzler licorice, just as sugary as its name implies... but with a dark inner turmoil. Inside this 1960s Ed Sullivan show refugee (with swirly TV effects and those big tye-dye backdrops!) lies a tortured story of insecurity and awkwardness -- the inability to commit, to understand the relationship, or to be happy with oneself. And lines like "I'm the boy with the poetry power, I'm the boy smells like flowers," which in context make so much more sense, I promise! I *love* this song. I need to write a post analyzing this fuckin' song line by line. I might do that soon, when I want the readership to really drop off.

11) Kamera from Yankee Hotel Fotxtrot: This is really middle-of-the-road Foxtrot stuff, hence it's inclusion in the 201 playlist. It's not the quirky, upbeat, and ear-catching Heavy Metal Drummer, but nor is it the somber, abstract, and difficult (but equally great) Radio Cure. It's got a driving enough beat to get your toe-tapping, enough interesting instruments to make your ears prick up, ("tell em I'm lost"), but with an almost monotone verse recitation that somehow just fits over that beat and strummy guitars...

12) Jesus, Etc. from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot: I love this mellow, moody melody, with hints of violins and under-stated drums, toned down and hollow sounding. And if that subtle beauty wasn't enough for you, add to it the fact that Minnie Driver had it in her iTunes celebrity playlist. (Yum!) Seriously, there's even a little steel guitar in this song, just giving you hints of song stylings, without committing enough to belong to one style or another. This is a deliberate attempt by me to get you ready for the really abstract stuff coming up in the next playlist. "Last cigarettes are all you can get, turning your orbit around..."

13) Pot Kettle Black from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot: End the list on a high note, right? This is a very upbeat little ditty, especially for Foxtrot. "Every song's a comeback, every moment's a little bit later..." Leave em wantin' more.