pitchfork gives SBS a 5.2

[cryptique]

you guys

Thank you for another sexist, hate-filled post.

[Sir Stewart]

Thank you for another sexist, hate-filled post.

You spelled sexy wrong.

[Kalle]

I've listened to Sky Blue Sky countless times now and at first I was aprehensive but it has grown to be my favourite Wilco record. It's a grower you just have to give it a chance.

[caliber66]

It's a grower you just have to give it a chance.

Do we have to do this again?

[Starry Eyed Squirrel]

Yeah, you guys are having a cow.

 

Fine, you win. Moo.

[caliber66]

Thank you for another sexist, hate-filled post.

You spelled sexy wrong.

 

Fine, you win. Moo.

[zanelotti]

Sorry if what follows is pretentious or sounds like pontificating or over-intellectualizing things: at the least, it is how I feel about the topic of this thread.

 

I am no buddhist, but in zen buddhism there is a concept known as Soshin, or "beginner's mind." This phrase was popularized by Suzuki's Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, where he describes the "beginner's mind" in these terms: "in the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, in the expert's mind there are few."

 

We tend to get in the way of experiencing, on its own terms, a work of art. What I find so challenging about art, and what I think the Pitchfork review exemplifies, is the difficulty of simply encountering a piece of music, without contextualizing it or comparing it to past (and hoped for) works, without mythologizing the past to demythologize the present, yada yadda yadda.

 

What I love about Wilco, and the new album (and, really, all creative gifts) , is that it takes time and effort to experience the work on its own terms. Is SBS an exercise in "experimentalism"? Is it soft-rock pablum? Is it mundane? Is it "dad rock"? etc.. These questions--which seem to inform the Pitchfork reviewer's attitude--reveal expectations that stand in the way of experincing what SBS has to offer. Why not just allow the work to become a part of your creative life as a listener, and, like friendship, slowly strip away what we want X to be and accept X on its own terms?

 

For me, at least, I have found a friend in SBS: it might not have been the friend I wanted (i.e. expected, demanded on preconceived notions), but, then again, the friend we want is rarely the friend we need.

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

I don't understand how folks can simultaneously claim that Pitchfork is irrelevant while having a cow over this 5.2 rating.

 

 

Exactamundo

 

Ratings and comparisons are shorthand for people who don't want to take the time to actually check something out for themselves. Idon't trouble myself with them nor do I base decisions on them.

[radiokills]

no more chanceeeeeeessssss

[Dude]

Casino Queen is awesome. There's nothing wrong with light-hearted, fun music, and Casino Queen nails it.

 

You're missing the point . AC/DC is light-hearted, fun music, too, but nobody listens to AC/DC for their lyrics. (At least nobody with an IQ over 80.)

[Duck Ghost]

[quote name='Đ

[You Can Be The Stone]

I don't understand how folks can simultaneously claim that Pitchfork is irrelevant while having a cow over this 5.2 rating.

 

You called me out; it feels like purposefully staying in an abusive relationship!

[Jesusetc84]

Another person over here who wasn't expecting pitchfork to dig it.

 

Maybe SBS shouldn't be written about. It's great music. It feels good to listen to. What else can you say about it?

 

Wilco has never been to me, just about feel good music.

 

Wilco has always been about the layers of complexity, intellectually stimulating and emotionally gripping. In the five years since YHF came out, I still find a sound on it I've never heard before each time I play it; same with Summer Teeth, and AGIB. Being There, though lacking that complexity, was just a great Exile on Main St cum Gilded Palace of Sin style record. There's no such greatness on SBS.

 

Sky Blue Sky is Wilco's first product; it's not a piece of art as Summer Teeth, YHF or AGIB were. There's nothing challenging about it, and nothing engaging. Just sing songy and disposable. It's not terrible, since Tweedy is still one of the best melodicists of his generation, but that's all that the album has going for it.

 

Sky Blue Sky sounds like the difference between The Beatles and Wings; Everything adventureous has been airbrushed in favor of making a product to appeal to those who prefer "Jet" to "Helter Skelter".

 

That being said, the term dad rock is ridiculous; I'm only 23, and I could technically be a father. Age has nothing to do with music.

[viatroy]

In this case, I think age does have something to do with it. The songs are about working your way through life experiences that you can only experience as you pile on the years.

[Sir Stewart]

Wilco has never been to me, just about feel good music.

 

Wilco has always been about the layers of complexity, intellectually stimulating and emotionally gripping. In the five years since YHF came out, I still find a sound on it I've never heard before each time I play it; same with Summer Teeth, and AGIB. Being There, though lacking that complexity, was just a great Exile on Main St cum Gilded Palace of Sin style record. There's no such greatness on SBS.

Actually, there is.

:shrug

[Saint Genevieve]

It's a grower you just have to give it a chance.

 

You know what? I don't care about "growers." If an album doesn't grab me in the first few listens, why should I bother? Why should I listen to an uninteresting album twenty times in the hopes that it MIGHT "grow on me" when I could be listening to something that actually moves me? This finally occurred after listening to SBS yet again in the spirit of "giving it another chance" and realizing I'd rather just listen to YHF instead.

 

SBS is a pleasant, inconsequential album by a band which is capable of so much more. I don't hear much that's challenging, moving, memorable, attention-grabbing, thought-provoking, innovative, or even catchy and fun - which all of Wilco's previous albums (even the much-maligned AM) have delivered in spades. It's not a terrible album by any means, but "not terrible" is hardly the same as "brilliant." And no matter how many times I listen to it, I still feel the same way - and so do a lot of other people, by the sound of it. Will we all magically be converted on the 57th listen? Maybe - or maybe in a few years - but I somehow doubt it. I really don't want to waste any more of my time when there's so much better stuff out there.

[Derek Phillips]

I think that's one of the better (if not flattering) Pitchfork reviews I've read in a long time. I didn't find it all that snarky and I can't argue with this passage at all:

Case in point, the drowsy opener "Either Way" sleepwalks through a list of indecisive sentiments ("maybe you love me, maybe you don't") before breaking for a Cline solo that's straight-up Weather Channel Local on the 8s.

 

It's OK to appreciate the craft of rcok criticism without agreeing with the content. This was a pretty nicely written and honest criticism. What more can you ask for?

[bobbob1313]

Sky Blue Sky sounds like the difference between The Beatles and Wings; Everything adventureous has been airbrushed in favor of making a product to appeal to those who prefer "Jet" to "Helter Skelter".

 

So it's the difference between a great ground breaking hard rock song and a great rock song?

[tongue-tied]

well, since this has gone into general impressions, i went out and bought the album today and drove around town listening to it and i thought it was great. reading this place had me a little worried, but it isn't a snorefest, it too has its edgy parts, and after completing the listen it occured to me that nothing i heard sounded "jazzy". the guitar solos are great. the album sounds good too, my only complaint is that jeff's voice is a little too loud in the mix making some s's and sh-sounds a little earsplitting when i'm playing it loud (hoping for some O'Rourke mixes to show up out of interest, but definately not complaining about the final version). SBS seems like the most inoffensive thing, maybe that's why people hate it, but it's good tunes done by great musicians. i can't wait for my vinyl to arrive.

[You Can Be The Stone]

I think it's misguided to call SBS "easy listening" just because it has a very laid back exterior; Just like how if there's a shitload of Conet Project samples drowning out a weak folk song, it's suddenly daring and experimental. A lot of the rhythms on this album are very simple, as are the arrangements, but when it comes to actually playing the melodies, and the chord progressions from the "lyrics and tabs" section, it's probably the most musically rich piece of work they've done.

[froggie]

another thing, if they've matured beyond casino queen, why release a simple like What light as the single?

[tongue-tied]

sing what you feel seems more enlightened than gamble like a fiend.

 

also, O'Rourke is on You Are My Face, What Light, and Hate It Here, so he's still part of the wilcoworld.

[brianjeremy]

You know what? I don't care about "growers." If an album doesn't grab me in the first few listens, why should I bother? Why should I listen to an uninteresting album twenty times in the hopes that it MIGHT "grow on me" when I could be listening to something that actually moves me? This finally occurred after listening to SBS yet again in the spirit of "giving it another chance" and realizing I'd rather just listen to YHF instead.

 

SBS is a pleasant, inconsequential album by a band which is capable of so much more. I don't hear much that's challenging, moving, memorable, attention-grabbing, thought-provoking, innovative, or even catchy and fun - which all of Wilco's previous albums (even the much-maligned AM) have delivered in spades. It's not a terrible album by any means, but "not terrible" is hardly the same as "brilliant." And no matter how many times I listen to it, I still feel the same way - and so do a lot of other people, by the sound of it. Will we all magically be converted on the 57th listen? Maybe - or maybe in a few years - but I somehow doubt it. I really don't want to waste any more of my time when there's so much better stuff out there.

 

I agree with you 1000%. You say things so much better than I could.

 

It's okay not to think this album is brilliant. There, I said it.

[lost highway]

You know what? I don't care about "growers." If an album doesn't grab me in the first few listens, why should I bother? Why should I listen to an uninteresting album twenty times in the hopes that it MIGHT "grow on me" when I could be listening to something that actually moves me?

 

Man, you should never read a novel then. They grow real slow sometimes.

Okay, that was shitty. I'll stick with my David Fricke quote "If you don't get it, thats just kinda too bad."

There are some stunning new ones from: Feist, Blonde Redhead, and Low if you're looking to spice up your summer listening.

[aricandover]

also, O'Rourke is on You Are My Face, What Light, and Hate It Here, so he's still part of the wilcoworld.

 

 

yeah, I was more than happy to see that he plays on a few songs.