Track Listing
Click tracks with speaker icon to listen| 1 | Ashes of American Flags | |
| 2 | Side with the Seeds | |
| 3 | Handshake Drugs | |
| 4 | The Late Greats | |
| 5 | Kingpin | |
| 6 | Wishful Thinking | |
| 7 | Impossible Germany | |
| 8 | Via Chicago | |
| 9 | A Shot in the Arm | |
| 10 | Monday | |
| 11 | You Are My Face | |
| 12 | Heavy Metal Drummer | |
| 13 | War on War |
News & Reviews
- Friday, April 27, 2012
Billy Bragg Discusses "Mermaid Avenue" Across the BBC; Its "Wealth of Quality Material Is Remarkable," Says Q (Four Stars)
Billy Bragg has been featured across the BBC airwaves to celebrate the release of Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions, on which Bragg and Wilco set Woody Guthrie's words to music. The Sunday Times and Details both dub it a "must-have." BBC Music says that "nobody has picked up on Woody as effectively—or unexpectedly—as this transatlantic get-together." The Mermaid Avenue project "was always an interesting idea," says a four-star Q review. "That it produced such a wealth of quality material is remarkable." Pitchfork too says: "What's remarkable is the wealth of material available to these artists and the number of gems these sessions produced." Drowned in Sound rates this "wonderful reissue" a nine out of ten. "Even for those who already have both of the previous volumes," says DiS, "Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions is a fascinating look at one of America’s greatest writers."
- Saturday, April 21, 2012
Record Store Day Releases from Black Keys, Dr. John, Billy Bragg & Wilco, Sara Watkins, Carolina Chocolate Drops Out Now
Happy Record Store Day! Nonesuch Records has made a series of special releases available today in honor of the fifth annual Record Store Day, a celebration of the unique culture surrounding over 700 independently owned record stores in the USA and hundreds of similar stores internationally. Among the artists releasing albums and singles today are The Black Keys, Dr. John, Billy Bragg & Wilco, Sara Watkins, and Carolina Chocolate Drops. A limited quantity of each Record Store Day title is also available on the Nonesuch Store now.
About this Album
Ashes of American Flags was produced and directed by Christoph Green and Fugazi’s Brendan Canty and shot in five quintessentially American venues: Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa, OK; Tipitina’s in New Orleans, LA; The Mobile Civic Center in Mobile, AL; The Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN; and the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC. Mixing live concert footage with band interviews, it takes the viewer behind the scenes of Wilco’s 2008 US tour capturing both the expansive experience of rolling across America in a tour bus and the intimacy that happens night after night between the members of Wilco and the music they make, and between the band and their fans who come to experience it with them. While playing at a number of film festivals, Ashes of American Flags was awarded the prize for Best Cinematography at the Big Sky Film Festival. Watch the trailer at nonesuch.com/media.
“It is really interesting to me how the experience of watching the live performances changes when the songs are given geographical, personal and historical contexts," said Christoph Green. " We wanted to make a tour film that would deepen and change the viewer’s relationship with the music.”
“Ashes was captured completely on the fly with a terrifying lack of planning, so everything you see in this film is real," adds Brendan Canty. "The musicianship and their combined will to elevate each song to new heights every night is real. Their appreciation of one another is real, and at the core of the film is their increasingly brilliant body of songs. I can only hope the film conveys the feeling of utter joy, beauty and triumph I feel after I see them play.“
Shot in high definition, Ashes of American Flags is a Trixie production in association with Nonesuch Records and dBpm, Inc. This DVD is formatted for Region 1 Only.
Credits
MUSICIANS
Jeff Tweedy, John Stirratt, Glenn Kotche, Nels Cline, Patrick Sansone, Mikael Jorgensen
PRODUCTION CREDITS
Produced and Directed by Brendan Canty and Christoph Green
Cameras: Eric Martin, Nikos Kourkoulakos, Amy O'Byrne, Adam Krell, Jim Saah, Christoph Green and Brendan Canty
Edited by Christoph Green
Additional Editing by Brendan Canty
Color by Nikos Kourkoulakos
Concert audio recorded by Eli Janney
Audio mix by Brendan Canty
Total Pros: Max Crawford, Paul Mertens, Nick Broste
Wilco Crew: Jason Tobias, Abigail Greenbaum, Stan Doty, John Stovicek, Nate Murphy, Steven Versaw, Matrix Macnamara, Ryan Murphy, Andy Nemcik
Packaging and menu design by Christoph Green
