Wilco (The Album Review) – 2009
Even though I miss the experimentation that Wilco was known for before 2007’s “Sky Blue Sky”, I have to say that their latest release, Wilco (the Album), is still pretty enjoyable to listen to. One may wonder what really goes on inside Jeff Tweedy’s head but it seems pretty clear that Tweedy & company wanted to focus more on songcraft than the production or the performance end of things this time around. In other words, there are no extended guitar solos or complex layering of instrumentation on this record. It’s “back to basics” for the band and it definitely does place the focus back on the song itself rather than on a jarring guitar solo or a dissonant instrumental jam. and thankfully for the most part, the songs here are strong enough to bear the scrutiny. I do have to say though that there are a few moments on the album that are a bit too relaxed or underdone at times but overall the good definitely outweigh the few misses here. The highlight for me is the song “Bull Black Nova” which is more complex in arrangement than the other songs and features some interesting guitar work by Nels Cline. The song is a dark and twisted snapshot of a murderer. “It’s in my hair, there’s blood in the sink. I can’t calm down, I cannot think. I keep calling, there’s blood in the trunk, I can’t calm down. Pick up! oh pick up!” It’s disturbing and full of tension and it’s simply Tweedy at his best.
RetroGrade: B
Wilco (The Album)
label: Nonesuch Records
released: June 2009
TrackList:
1 Wilco (The Song) 2:59
2 Deeper Down 2:59
3 One Wing 3:42
4 Bull Black Nova 5:39
5 You and I 3:26
6 You Never Know 4:21
7 Country Disappeared 4:02
8 Solitaire 3:04
9 I’ll Fight 4:23
10 Sonny Feeling 4:13
11 Everlasting Everything 4:00
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Here’s Wilco’s performance of “You and I” (with Feist) at the David Letterman Show:
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and catch the band live in a city/town near you:
Thu 08/27/09 Dublin, Ireland Vicar Street
Fri 08/28/09 Dublin, Ireland Vicar Street
Thu 10/01/09 Iowa City, IA University Of Iowa
Fri 10/02/09 Saint Paul, MN The Roy Wilkins Auditorium
Sun 10/04/09 Maryland Heights, MO Verizon Wireless Amph. St. Louis
Tue 10/06/09 Kansas City, MO The Crossroads
Thu 10/08/09 Cedar Park, TX Cedar Park Center
Fri 10/09/09 Dallas, TX Palladium Ballroom
Sat 10/10/09 Memphis, TN Orpheum Theatre
Mon 10/12/09 Columbus, OH Wexner Center For The Arts
Wed 10/14/09 Toronto, ON Massey Hall
Fri 10/16/09 Ann Arbor, MI Hill Auditorium
Sun 10/18/09 Chicago, IL UIC Pavilion
Mon 10/19/09 Chicago, IL UIC Pavilion
Tue 11/03/09 Leeds, United Kingdom O2 Academy Leeds
Wed 11/04/09 London, United Kingdom The Forum
Fri 11/06/09 Brussels, Belgium Ancienne Belgique
Sat 11/07/09 Hohenfelden, Germany Ferienpark
Sun 11/08/09 Copenhagen, Denmark Royal Theatre
Wed 11/11/09 Zurich, Switzerland Volkshaus
Fri 11/13/09 Florence, Italy Teatro Della Pergola
Sat 11/14/09 Milan, Italy Conservatorio
Mon 11/16/09 Amsterdam, Netherlands Paradiso
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