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Listening to the new Wilco album (now streaming on their website) my initial reaction the first time through was that it sounded fine, but that it was the first time I'd ever heard a new Wilco album and not been seriously surprised by some aspect of their sound. In that respect, I was disappointed, and wondered if they had now found a comfortable rut, and I could expect them to be sticking to it.
But I just played it through a second time, and while I only had it on the background while I worked, and didn't really give it a close listen, I already liked it more, and was able to pick out at least 3 songs that with a few more listens I'm pretty confident I'll grow to LOVE...so I'm going out on a limb to say that--as usual--this one's going to be a grower.
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3 comments:
i have a few thoughts:
1.you really can't deny Wilco (the song). Totally awesome and so catchy.
2. they've dropped the jam band thing and they now sound like the Travelling Wilburys, which though affirming their 'dad rock' status in the eyes of Pitchfork, is A-Okay with me.
3. Track 3 is their best Kraut-rock extended jam since Spiders Kidsmoke!
4. I'll Fight is a totally great rewrite of On And On
5. Already seeing them at Keyspan...i'm on the fence as to whether to see them at Dutchess Stadium in upstate NY a few days later....Anyone want to go????
LA shows sold out before I could blink, but I scored a ticket in Berkeley on 6/27. Anyone wanna fly out and join me?
As for the album, heard it 1.5 times. I like the songs themselves quite a bit. I am initially disappointed by how little we hear the sound of 6 people playing together.
Now I'm sure all 6 are playing at any given time. But it very rarely sounds like something that a quartet wouldn't be equally capable of producing. Tweedy has assembled such an all-star band, highlighted by virtuosic studs Glenn Kotche and Nels Cline, and yet he has them playing with such restraint that it seems a bit of a waste.
Listened to Sky Blue Sky in the car today and was reminded of why it was my hands-down #1 album of 2007. You Are My Face, Side With the Seeds, Hate It Here... wow.
I'm streaming Wilco (the album)right now, listening to Wilco (the song), and recently picked up tickets to Wilco (the live performance) when they come through Portland (ME) in July. By coincidence, I'm going to the show with my father, which I suppose only affirms Pitchfork's "dad rock" label, but hey--if your dad has good taste in music, so much the better, right?
At first listen, I was struck once again by WIlco's use, conversely, of sweet, breezy melody ("You and I") and bursts of loud, repetitive, almost dissonant bursts ("Bull Black Nova"). As for the Travelling Wilburys reference, for my money, "You Never Know" could be a George Harrison song (in a good way)! I like it so far, and since you all have listened to it at least .5 times more than I have, I'll defer to Q's judgment of it as a "grower"...
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