By Vish KhannaEven though the six men in Wilco are more than adept at conjuring bold textures for their thoughtfully crafted songs, sometimes even they just wish they could get Iggy Pop to snarl on their records. The Chicago band were hard at work on a new song called "I Might" for their upcoming album, The Whole Love, when leader Jeff Tweedy decided to do his best to conjure the raw power of the Stooges' 1970 album Fun House, but he had to take things one step further.
"Well, I had this lyric where I kept singing 'brother,' and in my mind, I kept singing it trying to sound like the end of 'T.V. Eye,' and it was frustrating because I couldn't make it sound like that," Tweedy tells Exclaim!
In fact, Tweedy was so unsatisfied with his own attempts to sing the part, Wilco took the unusual step of actually sampling Iggy Pop's vocal from "T.V. Eye" on "I Might."
"It helps that we live in a digital age and that you can just go ahead and steal that," Tweedy laughs.
Punk rock luminaries like Joey Ramone, Henry Rollins and Steve Albini have all cited Fun House as their favourite record of all time, and younger artists like Jack White and the Sadies' Dallas Good have also praised its revelatory influence. You can now add Jeff Tweedy to this list of devotees.
"Oh yeah, I don't think it gets any better than that, as far as hard rock goes... I dunno why people can't make a record that sounds that good any more. I mean, in terms of a full-on rock record, it's sort of a miracle."
While the myriad sounds produced by the band generally stem from Wilco themselves, this isn't the first time they've sampled another artist.
"We did have a Stravinsky sample on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot that we had to take out because his estate doesn't allow any sampling," Tweedy explains. "So we have tried it before and we may try it again; you just never know."
The Whole Love is due out September 27 via the band's own dBpm Records. Also, Wilco are also taking the album out on a North American tour, which touches down in Toronto tonight (September 16) and tomorrow. See all the dates below.
Tour dates:
9/16 Toronto, ON - Massey Hall 9/17 Toronto, ON - Massey Hall 9/18 Montreal, QC - Metropolis 9/20 Boston, MA - Wang Theatre 9/22 New York, NY - Central Park Summerstage 9/25 Columbia, MD - Merriweather Post Pavilion 9/27 Raleigh, NC - Raleigh Amphitheater 9/28 Atlanta, GA - Cobb Energy Performing Arts Ctr 9/29 Atlanta, GA - Cobb Energy Performing Arts Ctr 10/1 Nashville, TN - The Ryman 10/2 Nashville, TN - The Ryman 10/4 St. Louis, MO - Peabody Opera House 10/5 Madison, WI - Overture Hall 10/24 Glasgow, UK - Glasgow Royal Concert Hall 10/25 Manchester, UK - Manchester Academy 10/27 Bristol, UK - Colston Hall 10/28 London, UK - Roundhouse 10/29 London, UK - Roundhouse 11/1 Madrid, ES - Teatro Circo 11/2 Barcelona, ES - Palau Música Catalana 11/3 San Sebastián, ES - Kursaal Auditorio 11/4 Vigo, ES - Pavillón das Travesas 11/7 Basel, CH - Kaserne Basel 11/8 Frankfurt, DE - Alte Oper 11/9 München, DE - Circus Krone 11/11 Weißenhaus, DE - Rolling Stone Weekender 11/12 Berlin, DE - Tempodrom 11/13 Utrecht, NL - Vredenburg Leidsche Rijn 11/14 Tilburg, NL - 013 11/29 Dallas,TX - The Music Hall at Fair Park 12/1 Austin, TX - Austin City Limits Live at The Moody Theater 12/3 Kansas City, MO - The Uptown Theater 12/4 W. Des Moines, IA - Val Air Ballroom 12/6 Minneapolis, MN - The State Theatre 12/7 Minneapolis, MN - The State Theatre 12/9 Milwaukee, WI - The Riverside Theater 12/10 Detroit, MI - The Fillmore Detroit 12/12 Chicago, IL - Civic Opera House
POP & ROCK: Sleigh Bells - Reign of Terror
Sep 16 2011
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