SBS reviews

[awatt]

In this morning's paper.

 

FIRST LISTEN

Dreamy solo flights on Wilco's 'Sky Blue Sky'

Guitar riffs take hold despite more conventional approach

 

By NICK MARINO

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 04/15/2007

 

Before their 2002 masterpiece "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot," singer Jeff Tweedy and his Chicago rock band Wilco were a more or less traditional roots-rock outfit. Since then, they've gotten weirder and better.

 

Their tones are cooler, and their song forms are more abstract. Their guitars probe like needles.

 

Wilco makes serene, spacey sounds on their new album "Sky Blue Sky," to be released May 15.

 

Fuzz washes through their soundscapes. Listening to late-period Wilco enhances your awareness of time and space.

 

The band's new album, "Sky Blue Sky," won't be released until May 15, but it's been leaked to the Internet for a while now. (This probably won't bother the band much; Wilco made "Yankee" available online before finding a label that would release it.)

 

"Sky" is more conventional than "Yankee" or the band's last studio release, 2004's "A Ghost Is Born," and yet the album still feels like late-period Wilco. The songs evoke an odd, narcotized serenity. One commenter on the music blog Idolator has publicly worried about one day hearing the tunes in a dentist's office.

 

Fans of the old Wilco will gravitate toward the title cut, a country shuffle. But the standouts

[WaronWar]

I don't think that guy has any idea what he is talking about. His ideas are all over the place.

[theologians]

"Weirder and better", I agree

[jc4prez]

hahaha

 

i've read two sky blue sky reviews the first compared them to the dead (david fricke) and now phish.

 

 

 

I'm loving it. lol

[Col. Hapablap]

I often compare SBS to Wilco. I find that the comparison fits perfectly.

[yankhotelfox]

hahaha

 

i've read two sky blue sky reviews the first compared them to the dead (david fricke) and now phish.

I'm loving it. lol

 

 

This strange review compared the style of "Seeds"' guitar solos to Trey's style, not to Phish as a group. In my opinion that's quite a compliment. Yes, I am one of the few Phish allies on this board. Trey may be a douchebag but he is a sick guitarist.

 

As far as Fricke's article goes, I like his comparison of Jeff's progression to the Dead's (from psychedelic records e.g. "Anthem of the Sun" to more complete records like "Workingman's Dead"). Fricke is a bit of a fruitcake but I think he loves Wilco.

 

I (and I'm probably not alone) give Nels a lot of credit for the maturity and depth of SBS. His solo work allows Jeff to do his own thing without the pressure of impressing anyone. They compliment each other very well. Good stuff.

[jethro]

The "Seeds" solo echoes the work of Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio

[awatt]

"Weirder and better", I agree

 

That stood out to me too.