Influence On Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
By winter 2000, Wilco had completed enough material for an album release. However, Tweedy was dissatisfied with the "emotional center" of the recordings. He wanted the release to sound more like the music he had recorded with Loose Fur, although he "couldn't put his finger on why." Tweedy wanted the album to advance the sound of Wilco in a similar fashion as Being There and Summerteeth. He became irritated by Wilco drummer Ken Coomer because Coomer disliked playing consistent drum patterns each time that the band played a song. Wilco guitarist Jay Bennett also soured on Coomer because of the drummer's lack of patience and consistency. Although he briefly considered adding Kotche as a secondary percussionist, Tweedy decided to replace Coomer with his Loose Fur bandmate:
| “ | Playing solo shows, playing with Glenn, playing in Loose Fur made me realize how important it was to have Wilco feel like those experiences. I played this whole show in December with a drummer who theoretically didn't know any of the material, and it felt more fluid and exciting than 90 percent of the shows I'd done in the last three or four years. That was too much information to ignore. I became certain that this is how music is supposed to feel, and I got braver about doing something about it. | ” |
Kotche re-wrote the drum parts for the album almost immediately upon his acceptance into the band. In one instance, he reworked "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart" by adding parts played on hubcaps, crotales, and floor tiles. Although some members were unsure about the decision to replace Coomer with Kotche, the band unanimously supported the decision after hearing Kotche's new percussion parts. According to Bennett:
| “ | Glenn made the songs happen. He could do what was asked of him and brought good ideas to the table. He's an extramusical drummer—not more or less talented than Ken, but certainly different in the kinds of things he was able to bring to the songs. After that, no one could curse Jeff for sponsoring this great musician into the band. It was the right decision. | ” |
Coomer wasn't the only band member that struck a nerve with Tweedy during the recording sessions. Tweedy was unhappy with the way that Bennett mixed parts of the album, particularly the sequences between songs. Tweedy felt that Bennett was "burning out" while mixing the album, and invited Jim O'Rourke to remix "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart". Although Bennett conceded that O'Rourke did a better job of mixing the song, animosity arose between the two engineers. O'Rourke continued to remix more songs, and attempted to increase the drama of the album by reducing the contributions by the backing members of Wilco. He removed so many parts on some songs that only music by Tweedy, Kotche, and himself—the three members of Loose Fur—appeared on those pieces.
Read more about this topic: Loose Fur
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