Wilco (the album review, kinda)

When Wilco's new record came out, under the deceptive title "Wilco (the album)," I meant to write a proper review. But, you know, work, and summer festivals, and seeing that movie based on a toy I played with as a child, and all that.

So to add a little context to the UIC show review, here are the notes from my first listen through the record, with some editorial remarks for clarity. (Hopefully you'll enjoy my midsummer snark.)

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referring to "Wilco (the song)"... I'm not afraid to admit that I cheered and clapped ("WOOO!!") at the end of the first song. However, it drew a weird look from the co-blogger on the other side of the room.

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There's a reason why the cliche "I prefer their earlier work" exists ... artists in general, and rock musicians in specific, create their best stuff when they are young, pissed off, confused, drunk, heartbroken. Rare is the artist who improves with age; most say their peace and disappear from the scene after a few albums/years. Let us appreciate an artist like Tweedy who, a decade after being the "other guy" in an early 1990s trio, formed his own band out of the ashes and was still producing his best material over a decade later. And yes, Carolyn and others, feel free to substitute "Dave Grohl" for "Tweedy" in that sentence.

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In contrast to Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, which I HAD heard before it was released, this album feels like I've already heard it. I remember the anticipation, the uncertainty of listening to records like Summerteeth and Sky Blue Sky ... what's THIS ONE gonna sound like? Is it weird? Will I like it? None of that anticipation here. Critics elsewhere have theorized that the mundane title "Wilco (the album)" is a tacit acknowledgement that this one marks time while waiting for the next creative burst. To put it another way, Wilco has now accomplished (if that indeed is the right word) something the Jayhawks never did in roughly 20 years as a band: release two straight albums with the same lineup.

A good example: "You Never Know," which I thought was "I Don't Care Anymore." Yes, I have heard XRT play this one a couple times in the past few weeks. (Not "Pure Michigan," mind you, I'm talking once or twice.) But beyond its casual familiarity, it just sounds and feels like an "old" Wilco song (in the old comfortable shoes or sweatshirt sense, not the 1994 sense.) Another is "Sunny Feeling," a pleasant, mid-tempo, mid-Wilco era bouncer.

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Solitaire: I was convinced this was a cover of "Good Vibrations" until the first or second line. I got confirmation from the co-blogger that it wasn't just me. Of course, this isn't anything new. (think "sesame street" on Being There )

Now I see why "Bull Black Nova" gets mentioned in the early reviews. It isn't necessarily the best song, or most noteworthy, it just resembles notable tracks off the last two releases (Kidsmoke and Impossible Germany).

Wilco (the Show Review)

(Football talk resumes soon, hopefully Weds. --ed.)


Wilco (the Show Review): Nothing to Prove

Seeing a band such as Wilco evolve from clubs and theatres to an arena, it's hard not to feel a little like Trent in "Swingers," who declared Mikey "all grows up." Sunday night we saw a band that despite making the jump to arena rock (in literal venue size if not musicality) felt it had nothing to prove in the promotion, and delivered a solid if not spectacular performance for the hometown fans.

None of these men are smiling. Why is that?

There were a couple times where I felt Wilco was getting too love with its weird self, the first coming minutes into the show. During the first two songs, the stage right (Nels Cline and Mikael Jorgensen) were thrashing uncontrollably and unmusically. It stopped after a while, but it was almost as if they were trying too hard to be avant garde-y. The other was how many songs (like "Sonny Feeling") didn't end so much as trickle off into noisy feedback and distortion. While the artist may find the dissonance of interest, the wind-down into noisy garble deprives the fans of the chance to applaud at a proper ending. Wilco might say it's cool; I just found it annoying.

Generally though, this was a band comfortable where it is at this point in time. They segued from an intense, insistent "Bull Black Nova" to the warm "You Are My Face" featuring a co-lead vocal by John Stirratt. Two notes about that: Jorgensen played eighth notes almost nonstop for about six minutes straight during "Bull Black Nova." That's gotta hurt the wrists. And Stirratt got to take lead when he sang the only non-Tweedy-sung work in the Wilco oeuvre, his "It's Just That Simple" off "A.M."

And this show had two highlights from a set-list selection perspective: I'd never heard live (to the best of my recollection) "At Least That's What You Said" and hadn't heard "Kingpin" in forever (possibly since the "Being There" shows in 1997). Plus: not so much a set-list addition as a new instrument: Glenn Kotche finally used the gong behind him on "I'm the Man Who Loves You."

While you never know what exactly will be the highlight of a Wilco show, Sunday night had several fine moments. "Misunderstood" featured about 20 "nothings," gleefully shouted by the audience, knowing the irony that this city, this fanbase, has sustained and supported Wilco throughout the years. "Impossible Germany" featured the face-melting work of Cline, while Pat Sansone and Tweedy* noodled on the counter-line. "Handshake Drugs" similarily ended in a wail-fest on guitar. And a new wrinkle: Tweedy stepped away from the mic to let the audience sing "Jesus, etc." I think we acquitted ourselves okay, considering it came out eight years ago and has a lot of similar verses.

The opener was Tortoise, who in accordance with the Wilco's Opening Bands Must Suck Act of 1999, sucked. And though it was, all in all, a fine hometown show, I do have just one more complaint: the absence of the Total Pros.

The encore provided a fitting reward to the hometown fans, an eight-song rumble that could have stood as a fine mini-set list of its own, with a three-song stretch from 1996's superawesome "Being There."

The president of the United States hangs out with Wilco! Or vice versa, maybe. But either way: exciting!!

Wilco (the concert)
UIC Pavilion (the venue)
October 18, 2009 (the date)

Wilco (the song)
Shot in the Arm
Bull Black Nova
You Are My Face
I Am Trying to Break Your Heart
One Wing
Misunderstood
At Least That's What You Said
Deeper Down
Impossible Germany
It's Just That Simple
I'll Fight
Handshake Drugs
Sonny Feeling
Jesus, etc.
Theologians
I'm Always In Love
Hate It Here
Walken
I'm the Man Who Loves You

encore:
You Never Know
(band intros ... recorded sample triggered by Kotche)
Heavy Metal Drummer
the Spongebob song
Kingpin
Monday
Outta Mind (Outta Sight)
Hoodoo Voodoo
I'm a Wheel

* -- Not on purpose, but this might be the first-ever review of anything Wilco-related that has Jeff Tweedy as the sixth-mentioned member of the band.

Barack and Roll: Revisited

Back in April I predicted who some of my favorite artists would back for president. I thought it would be nice to take a quick look, the day before the election, at who these bands actually endorsed.

Bruce. It all started with this article about Bruce endorsing Barack Obama. The Boss stayed true to his word, introducing Obama at a rally in Ohio in the campaign's final weekend.


The Hold Steady: I didn't see or hear anything from the Steady this election season. I did get an email saying that the Koob (Tad Kubler) fell ill with pancreatitis, so maybe they were preoccupied. However, they are from blue-collar Catholic south Minneapolis, and they live in Brooklyn, probably the bluest borough in Gotham. No way they vote McCain.

Wilco: Umm, yeah, this was a no-brainer. They gave away a free song for those who pledge to vote. Republicans don't give anything away for free, except tax breaks to big corporations.


Patty Griffin: PG stayed under the radar this season too. No idea what she's thinking. Hopefully good thoughts.


R.E.M.: Obama.


Dylan: Back when I wrote this, I predicted Dylan wouldn't vote, cause at the end of the day, "Dylan will still be Dylan."

While I would like to think that everyone who is cool (not in the hipster Wicker Park sense, but the overall attitude towards life) would get behind Obama, I figured the famously aloof Dylan would remain aloof.

However! Lookee here! Dylan tells some newspaper in a foreign country that he likes Obama. Hopefully he's not just playing pranks on the European media ... he's done that before. AND he has a new two-disc record out. Double cool.


Old 97's: I passed on this one, but it turns out that they are ready for the end of the Bush years just like the rest of us.

Kelly Willis: No idea. Lives in Texas. Not a good sign.

Kathleen Edwards: Still Canadian. Still can't vote.

Gary Louris: He didn't say anything political when we saw him a couple weeks ago. Maybe he's sitting this one out.


A. Scott Miller: He has a song on his recent demo collection warning about "People Who Rule." Sounds like he's in the "Eight Is Enough" camp. On the other hand, in "I Been Drunk All Around the Town," he did acknowledge that even Republicans get the blues.

Zep: Still British. Still can't vote. (And apparently not touring, either. Damn.)

Josh Rouse: Unknown.

Dolly Varden: As if there was any doubt, I got this email from Steve Dawson the other day: "And for those of us on the radical fringe left, here's [a video clip of] Dolly Varden with Edward Burch at our 13th anniversary concert singing my ode to the Bush years: "Sold Down The River" ... now get out there and vote!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Poor John Maverick! Oh, but he did get one rocker endorsement: the guitarist for criminally underappreciated and underplayed on FM radio Aerosmith*. The self-described "hardcore Republican" waited until five days before the election, or about ten months after the Iowa caucuses, to make his endorsement. Massachusetts, long considered a blue state, may now be on the verge of tipping red*. McCain also got Brady Quinn. Let's hope Ohio is able to overlook that.


* sarcasm.

Barack and Roll

Ladies and gentlemen: the 44th president of the United States is Barack Hussein Obama. You know how I know? Because the Boss has spoken.

But it got me wondering: who would my favorite bands endorse?




The Hold Steady: The Steady likes to drink beer and rock out. They've been called America's greatest bar band and was the subject of the first really long essay on this blog. A guy like Craig Finn who understands the impact of using the right words and the power of dreaming for a better tomorrow would support Obama. Now, if it ever were determined that Barack got drunk once under some railroad tracks in Minneapolis, that would totally seal the deal.

Wilco: Obama. Hometown pick.



Patty Griffin: Hillary. Not just because of the gender, but because Hillary represents toughness and feminity at the same time. She can legislate with the boys by day and have a pajama party with the girls at night*. It's the same complexity that permeates PG's songs and characters.


R.E.M.: I am sure that they believe in the hope of the Obama campaign.



Dylan: wouldn't vote. He did enough world-changing 40 years ago, and no matter who the next president is, Dylan will still be Dylan.



Old 97's: I'll let TM take a swing at this one. You got four guys from Texas. They believe in rock and roll, Merle Haggard covers, marrying supermodels, writing killer ballads, God and microwaving chicken ravioli. So who the 97's got?


Kelly Willis: Kelly is a mom (unfortunately, now a stay-at-home mom) in Texas, a bastion of Republicanism. I think she'd see Hillary and Obama as too slick, too big-city for her taste. She'd probably appreciate the "guns" candidate, which is McCain. (I have no idea if Kelly is pro-gun, anti-gun or gun-indifferent. She's from Texas, people. I'm going on stereotypes here.)

Kathleen Edwards: Canadian. Can't vote.

Gary Louris: Gar, being from the upper Midwest, probably trusts the Midwestern guy over the slick New Yorker. (Yeah, I'm aware she grew up in Park Ridge. Does she seem like a trustworthy Midwesterner, or a cutthroat Manhattanite? Yeah, you know I'm right.)

A. Scott Miller: Scott Miller is a Southerner. He likes a shot and a beer--and not the photo op kind. I think he'd go Obama, if only for "whut the hell man, this country's in the shitter anyway. Let's give this guy a chance. Areyawithme, America??"

Zep: Zep, as Carolyn pointed out, is fabulously wealthy and would probably support the Republican no matter who he is. However, Zep is British. Can't vote.


Josh Rouse: He lives in Spain now, so I think he's probably better attuned than anyone on this list to how America's global standing has plummeted under the Bush administration. The world hates us because our dumbass president started a preemptive war on bullshit evidence. (Do I have that right, Parnell?) So Josh Rouse is going to vote for whoever is not George Bush, whoever will restore America's image as the beacon of hope for the world. That man is Barack Obama.

Dolly Varden: I kinda sorta know Steve and Diane through my friend Sarah, who knows them very well. A few years ago, (early November 2004 to be exact) TM and I went to a photo exhibit of Sarah's (she's very talented, check out the photo credit) at the Old Town School of Folk Music. At one point, when I was standing nearby, someone walked into the room and asked Diane how she was doing. "Oh you know, we're upset..." she said, and then added, almost unnecessarily, "about the election." So I'm damn sure they ain't voting for Bush, anyone who looks like Bush, thinks like Bush, or has an "R" after their name like Bush. Because I kinda sorta know Steve and Diane and do not wish to make jokes about their preference**, let's just say they would split their vote, with Steve picking Obama and Diane picking Hillary.

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* This is a real story I read, showing her "softer side" and how she can giggle with her girlfriends like a regular adult woman. I couldn't find the link, but that was a deliberate reference.

** If Steve or Diane or Sarah stumbles across this, please leave your thoughts in the comments box, and I promise to update accordingly.

Wilco's Winter Residency at the Riviera

Super-cool photo taken by Richie Wireman, who I am appreciative of, since I really wanted this image but did not want to go back up to Uptown just to take one photograph in the freezing cold. Photo from Wilco's official website, Wilcoworld.net.

The battle for No. 2 has begun--on the XRT 2008 Listener Poll for Best Live Show. You probably could have predicted that on December 10, 2007, when Lin Brehmer announced this five-night stand where Jeff Tweedy vowed to play every track off all six studio albums. But now it's official: the Winter Residency was a phenomenal success. We were there for Night 3 (Monday, I'm all high), and had the chance to hear Nights 4 and 5 courtesy of XRT and Wilcoworld, respectively.

Wilco has changed so much over the years, that for the 2008 lineup to play all six albums really requires them to be a Tributosaurus of themselves: the rootsy first record, the warm pop of the Jay Bennett years, and the sonic noisefest of the newer releases. And while the old Wilco can never be recaptured or re-created, this was as close as I've felt (and probably ever will feel) to the shows when Wilco was at its absolute peak. For example, on "Should've Been in Love," I felt I was hearing the Wilco of Summerfest in 1996, the Wilco from the Blue Note in 1997. To ask the current band to always be like that is impossible, which is what made this residency so special. (In fact, as I'm writing now I'm listening to the 2007 Hammerstein show, and it feels like a totally different Wilco than Chicago 2008.) This really was a thank you and a gift to the hometown fans.

In a setting such as this, you had no idea what they would open with. It turned out to be "Blue Eyed Soul," going all the way back to A.M. There was no banter, no pomp, the band just eased into an unlikely opener. Dobro and pedal steel from Nels Cline and Mikael Jorgensen gave the song a warm, alt-country feel that, if not captured the "original Wilco" feel, at least acknowledged it.

In fact, the first seven tracks covered six different albums (considering the two Mermaid Avenues as separate albums), a feat unimaginable from a Wilco recently unwilling to reach deep into its past. On "Remember the Mountain Bed," bassist John Stirratt joined in on backup vocals for the fifth verse. For a song that I'm used to hearing in a Tweedy solo set, the embellishments beyond just the acoustic guitar were a welcome addition.

Through the next few songs (including Glenn Kotche plinking a xylophone on another "solo" song, "Bob Dylan's Beard"), Wilco remained in slow to mid-tempo mode, as if they too were warming up on a cold night. (On the cab ride up, we passed a bank sign that said it was 11 degrees. On the way home four hours later, it was 10 degrees.) The nostalgia couldn't last all night, and I knew something was up when before the sixth song, I saw Kotche drape towels over his two main drumheads. Although "Wishful Thinking" is not one of the angrier songs, it was particularly violent, especially coming after the mellowness of the first few songs. And it wasn't until the next song, "You Are My Face," that Tweedy first played an electric guitar.

After that June 2007 show at the Hammerstein, I read a review (I thought it was the New York Times but couldn't find it) where the reviewer mentioned the line "I'll side with you if you side with me" as Tweedy's sales pitch for the new, noisy Wilco: a deal he's offering fans. I thought of that during "Side With the Seeds," because in his body language and the way points back and forth at the words "I" "you" and "me," he really does seem to be saying, "look, here's the deal, this is the band today. Take it or leave it."

The first song that the crowd really got into (remember, it was a mellow-starting show) was "Shot in the Arm," an explosive burst where the band channeled the audience's disaffection. The singalong/shout of "maybe all I need is a shot in the arm" and "what you once were isn't what you want to be anymore" were some of the loudest of the night.

The classic Tweedy banter was evident all night. At one point he said, "Now we're going to play a couple songs off the first record," and was cheered. A roadie or somebody whispered in his ear. "Really?....(checks his set list)... Whoops! You're right. (turns back to audience) Now we're going to play a couple songs off the first record--you bought." To which he got some good-natured boos, because it was a YHF song.

As nice as the career retrospective of the first set was, the highlight for me was the second set: of the 14 songs, 11 were pre-YHF. Nine of the first 11 songs off Summerteeth were played. Being There wasn't represented until the 23rd song of the night...but then got four total, including the too-rare "Red Eyed and Blue/I Got You" combo. "Say You Miss Me" reminded me of the great Being There tour, with Tweedy, Bennett and Stirratt all lined up and singing with passion and joy. This time it was Tweedy, Stirratt and Pat Sansone...better than not hearing it all, I guess.

There were other highlights too: when "I'm the Man Who Loves You" exploded into the controlled shitstorm of noise that is the hallmark of post-YHF Wilco. The way the Chicago crowd reacts to "Via Chicago" (even if the band has, in my opinion, messed up that song with the sonic wall of "fireworks" in the verses). The face-melting solo of Nels Cline on "Impossible Germany." The horns, the guest appearance of Andrew Bird, even the best PA music I think I've ever heard. (Bowie's "Starman" at halftime, CSNY's "Our House" as we filtered out into the biting February wind.)

If you were there, let me know what you think in the comments. It was an incredible night, like seeing an old friend from the 6th grade who grew up and got super rich and lives a different life now. But for one night (or five), he was back in his old neighborhood, and for that one night, he was kinda sorta that same kid you knew back then.

Not the same band I knew and loved a decade-plus ago. But I got glimpses of them Monday night.

Click here for the set list, broken out by album and color-coded for your reading ease. The two Mermaid Aves are listed as one, for convenience and at any rate, those records were not a factor after the beginning. The one thing that really stood out for me was the heavy emphasis on Being There and Summerteeth in the second half of the set. Those were the albums with the biggest Jay Bennett influence, and his absence was most felt on those songs.

A comment on "Handshake Drugs": I consider this a YHF outtake, because that's how and when the song first surfaced. Since it also appeared on Ghost, I've noted it with an asterisk on the set list. But for tallying, it's counted as a YHF outtake. I listened to that YHF version on my MP3 player the day after the show, and was taken by how slow it was. By the time it made it to Ghost and then to the live stage, it pepped up quite a bit.

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You can read the Chicago Tribune's non-Greg Kot write-up here.

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