“Unlikely Japan,” Wilco. Somehow, despite my best efforts, “Impossible Germany” has become a favorite at Wilco shows. It’s long and boring and has about 19 different guitar solos, all of which strike me as wankery but never fail to rouse the crowd. When I saw Wilco in Tucson this year, and the band launched into “Impossible Germany,” people went slightly crazy, almost as if Wilco were playing a good song. Stop it, I wanted to shout. You’re only encouraging them. Anyway, in July Kevin turned me on to the “You Never Know” single, which contained an intriguing B-side: “Unlikely Japan,” a kind of exploded, deconstructed version of “Impossible Germany” that eschews rock-god theatrics for something infinitely more chill. Some will find it boring, but I’d take it over the Sky Blue Sky version any day. And is that Jeff Tweedy being Auto-Tuned at the end?
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Pop Intellectuals
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Byline on Grantland. I am seriously giddy. Click, read and listen to my Songs of the Week if you are so inclined.
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“Nobody comes out and says Skrillex-as-Unabomber or Skrillex-sans-fun because Skrillex is uncool.”—
Robert Christgau, from his review of Death...
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Okkervil River to play Sycamore Land Trust benefit at Upland Brewing Co. August 31st
We teamed with Upland Brewing Co. to brin Okkervil...
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zoya:
In other Skrillex news, here’s Hype Machine RTing Skrillex RTing Ellie Goulding RTing the Hype Machine chart robot.
