lost highway

Okay. I've turned this thing over and upside down and it keeps revealing new treasures. To fully engage in critical listening I've found my short list of things that are less than in 21 songs full of excellence. The Universe- doesn't click for me. The lyrics are pretty cool, but they feel a little sentimental in the delivery. Many Worlds- I seem to be the only listener who is not taken by the ending jam. It doesn't bother me, but it feels just a little too on the mark of new jam band, or maybe what's not grabbed me about the more recent My Morning Jacket material. Maybe

I'm loving the analysis from my fellow VC'ers there's so many insights I connect with I'll try not to repeat them. I think the opening run of a half dozen songs is so strong and well paced it almost feels like they'll accomplish the impossible task of running a mellow double album without a plateau of less essential material, but not quite. Tis the challenge of the form. I'm so taken by a lot of these songs that I'm not fully prepared to label the chaff. I think the observation that this follows the Tweedy solo stylistic character is fair, but I'll be so bold as to sugg

^ To each their own etc etc al, but when it comes to enjoyment of music by an artist I'm invested in the criticism might only be as good as fiction. What's the quote: "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture"? Anyhow I might have been more blustery than was necessary. I know fighting with strangers about music isn't what anyone is here for, so apologies if I made it turn in that direction. Obviously everyone can and will read and listen on their own terms to their heart's content.

Come on now, it's okay. I won't get mad at you. I just thought your bummer sounded potentially avoidable.

So you listened to some of the music and liked it. But reading about the music you haven't heard leads you to determine you won't like songs you haven't heard and that makes you feel sad. Preemptive disappointment is very 21st century.

And my inner misanthrope says, "See?! One of their worst songs charted the highest!". To all who enjoy that song, please ignore my negativity and keep having fun with it.

^ It's really something to have a relationship with an artist that puts out such high quality material for so many years. Like, "Don't ask me about the new Wilco unless you have a couple minutes." I wish I could engage with more things at the same level, but on Friday I'm sure I'll be just as awash in my expectations and the arc of these guys' work.

I think to get anywhere close to comprehending the intersection of art and commerce that is a 'hit' song you have to look and see who is even vaguely stylistically adjacent who's had some kind of hit in the last 3 years. I don't know much about popular music, but I think the closest you get is Mumford and Sons which is still a few years ago and much more straightforward than anything this 6 piece would conjure.

Looks like I'll get my third Wilco Red Rocks outing. Psyched.

^ Yep. Best one yet. I generally dislike when songs have the word 'song' in their title, and almost always dislike a song that says the name of the genre that it is in the title. Somehow the premise of the lyrics makes me like how those traits work here.

I had a new thought relistening to Falling Apart today in light of the "live studio takes" details in the press release. I suspect the baritone guitar solo is Nels and the later phaser tele solo is Pat. I might be wrong, but if it is would that be the first proper guitar solo by Pat on a Wilco record?

Yes. It does that magic thing of being totally a quintessential Wilco vibe, without sounding like any of their many other songs in particular. When the guitar lead and "oooohs" kick in..... yeah.

There's something uncharacteristically on the nose about hearing Jeff Tweedy singing the words "red, white, and blue". This could be a hint of an album that dispenses with exploring the American mythos through abstraction, like the band often has, and instead states ideas plainly.

So who thinks this will actually be a largely country record? In some ways this single is a more faithful channeling of the Bakersfield sound than anything from the "alt country" days of AM. Also, I'm playing the game of what is everyone who isn't the rhythm section doing? Nels- kaleidiscopic phaser country lead kicking ass all over the place Jeff- foundational acoustic strumming Pat- spanky, plucky telecaster part Mikael- ???? Not a lot of organ, or piano on there. I might be picking up on some subtle keyboards. Also, I'm guessing John and Gl

Whoa. Not what I expected! Full on Sun Records slap echo on the vocals. Can't wait to hear the whole thing.

If I had to gauge from the unfinished stuff he's shared on his newsletter (which could be misleading), I'm expecting something multi-layered and vibrant like some of the stuff on The Whole Love. Kind of the yin to Ode to Joy's yang. A little less stark. But who knows. They've been talking about doing a double album for years. I'm excited this one was made with a lot of the team all together for major portions of it.

Yes, and before that AGiB. They've shared a lot but I still suspect there are more oddities from that process lurking in the archives at The Loft.

Annnnnd the black vinyl deluxe edition is already sold out!!

I had some thoughts, but this is a better place to share- the Facebook gets to be a shit show too easily. I really think people being surprised or disappointed is fair. Any longtime Wilco fan might be surprised by a set under 90 minutes. It doesn't match the last couple decades of performances. That said, the intense vitriol is weird to me. I'd also add that any longtime Wilco fan would know that there's no way the band would choose to play less to short anyone. It's not like they don't like playing very much, or are saving something by playing fewer songs. I think we'r

Yeah, he seems like a pretty great combination of having his own identity, having huge chops, but being thrilled to serve the song whether it's really basic, or more technical. Great taste, great tone, seems a great dude. He comes from the 90's midwest emo scene so that makes him a brother in my little tribe.

So it came a few days ago and I've spun it a half dozen times. Definitely a good seven inch. Felt pleasant if not a little slight, but there's more there then I appreciated at first. More than anything these songs feel like the missing link between Schmilco and Ode to Joy, which explains why they might not have made the cut. They have the band on small instruments play some weird, heartfelt folk ditty element I associate with Schmilco, but with the self-imposed "there is no drum set" percussion approach of OTJ. In both cases the effect of the percussion approach is not as striking

This new one is interesting. Whether all of it clicks with me (some of it does), or not (some of it doesn't). Whatever path they took to inspiration is their own and I'm glad they took their journey. They've made their first actual 'jam band' record in terms of process. The others have been pretty carefully crafted, this one has some real 'dudes riffing in the room' strategy. This yields some mixed results in my eyes, especially clear in the back-to-back tracks "Devil Is in the Details" and "Lucky to be Alive". "Devil" has a sense to me that it could go anywhere and any

Same. I don't chime in much because I don't have anything to add, but there's something comforting in these recaps, beyond the vicarious concert-going element. Like I wake up in the morning and drink my coffee and go, well it's a high of 56 degrees today, the Packers won, and ooh, Wilco played Wishful Thinking last night. Paul had to watch Jeff wrangle a couple of drunken hecklers, and then they played a mega rock encore. This world must be a decent place if we know these things are happening.

Surprisingly rock with attitude sound on this new single. They seem to meander from solidly good to amazing, so I'm always down for more.

Pretty solid, which is not surprising. Stripped down Beatles performances is pretty well within Wilco's wheelhouse. I thought the overall energy of "Dig a Pony" was fantastic. A faithful rendition, but still could feel Jeff and the gang in the Loft vibes. "Don't Let Me Down" I liked a little less. Like a B instead of an A. I think I'm so attached to Lennon's ragged performance that Jeff's lighter touch seemed to take some of the urgency out of it. The lap steel was a nice touch.