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Cousin Reviews!

kidsmoke

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kidsmoke

kidsmoke

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The various music publications out there have begun to appraise Wilco's latest, and it all has me proud and brimming with joy & anticipation. :dance This band just keeps reexamining itself and discovering whole new dimensions they want to explore. And then they do it and are brilliant again, in Wilco mode. Sounding like no one else, the band's personality shines through.

It's always intriguing to me, how music hits people, and why. The reviews may be attitudinally all over the map, (that's ok; we're all individuals!) but it sounds already as if this album is really connecting to people both sonically and psychically. Personally. That sounds like all the features of Wilco I love.

Admittedly, I'm rambling. Please share your favorite reviews here! :spider2

 

Here's one:

 

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/sep/02/wilco-review-kentish-town-forum-cruel-country-cousin-guitar-fireworks?fbclid=IwAR3nbuBP7HTydLsD1BiIr_O_F6mFjqzxDJGDy9NyXCknkmf_Uw2JnSSq_2I

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Al.Ducts

Al.Ducts

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I believe the the print-only review in Uncut mag is the only full Cousin record review that's been put out so far, but there have been quite a few lovely, detailed reviews of the recent shows in the UK like the one kidsmoke shared above :) 

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kidsmoke

kidsmoke

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6 hours ago, Brian F. said:

Am I missing something? I see a review of a performance that mentions the new album, but I don't see a review of the album.

More a review of the direction this album is taking the band, I guess. I just really like what I'm hearing. And I wanted a space to share reviews as they appeared, so here you go. The release date is zooming up at us so I expect you, Brian F., to post some actual reviews in this thread.

Thank you and stop nitpicking at your overly busy admin! :lol:spider3

 

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Brian F.

Brian F.

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9 hours ago, kidsmoke said:

More a review of the direction this album is taking the band, I guess. I just really like what I'm hearing. And I wanted a space to share reviews as they appeared, so here you go. The release date is zooming up at us so I expect you, Brian F., to post some actual reviews in this thread.

Thank you and stop nitpicking at your overly busy admin! :lol:spider3

 

 

I wasn't nitpicking! I really thought I was missing something.

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jff

jff

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"There is a sense of musicians seeking sounds rather than musical dexterity or brilliance. Hushed and reverent in many ways but there is a power within the restraint. Repeated plays reveal nuances and moods that swirl around Jeff Tweedy’s careful often wracked vocals. There is celebration after the journey, but it feels hesitant, with an eye in the rear-view mirror. Wilco have made another compelling album, not as immediately accessible as Cruel Country or indeed Sky Blue Sky, but it is one that rewards repeated listening flowering into something both moving and essential. These tracks will osmose into the consciousness over time with some of them potentially becoming favourites within a very strong canon. But some raw emotion would have stirred some spice into the already flavoursome pot."

 

Wilco reviews are interesting things.  This reads like a review of Ode to Joy.   Kinda weird, because this album, from the little I've heard so far, seems like it's not going to be like that one.  Thankfully, IMO.

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5hake1t0ff

5hake1t0ff

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I get the sense that a number of reviewers approach each new Wilco album with very high expectations, like they expect to stumble on the next classic Wilco album. That says a lot about how successful Wilco has been keeping people's attention all these years. I think Wilco approaches it differently. I would guess the mindset of Tweedy and (wil)Co. is not to create what is considered their next masterpiece, rather to create the stuff that keeps themselves interested as artists/musicians. Anyway, I'm hearing lots of tidbits in these reviews that make me think I'll enjoy this next one plenty.

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jff

jff

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29 minutes ago, Albert Tatlock said:

http://www.ladowntownnews.com/arts_and_entertainment/closer-than-we-think-wilco-releases-13th-studio-album-cousin/article_3b5be97e-59a3-11ee-966b-6f3f48bbef84.html

 

Which I can't actually read as it's not available in the UK.

 

 

Here you go:

 

Led by alternative rock legend Jeff Tweedy, Wilco has maintained a steady rhythm for almost 30 years. Not many bands have stood the test of time, let alone released 12, soon to be 13, albums.

 

Wilco’s 13th studio album, “Cousin,” is set to debut on Friday, Sept. 29, through dBpm Records. It comes on the heels of the release of its lead single, “Evicted.” In conjunction with the album’s release, the band is on a U.S. tour, including multiple shows at the Theatre at Ace Hotel from Wednesday, Oct. 4, to Friday, Oct. 6; and Wednesday, Oct. 11, and Thursday, Oct. 12, at the Bellwether. At both venues, Wilco will be joined by My Brightest Diamond, the project of singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Shara Nova.

 

Produced by Welsh musician and producer Cate Le Bon, “Cousin” marks the first time an outside collaborator has taken the production reins since the band’s sixth studio album, “Sky Blue Sky.” Le Bon steers the album into a sonically alien landscape compared to Wilco’s usual stripped-back, folk-influenced sound, incorporating elements such as saxophones, inexpensive Japanese guitars and a cinematic, New Wave-style drum machine. The result is darker and more experimental than Wilco’s previous work yet still retains the earnest quality of Tweedy’s lyrics and voice.

 
“I’m cousin to the world,” Tweedy explained regarding the album’s title in a press release. “I don’t feel like I’m a blood relation, but maybe I’m a cousin by marriage.” 

The record — related but not tethered to the present moment — echoes this sentiment and pushes the band’s musical boundaries, resulting in an emotional perspective from the outside looking in. The result is an album that tackles the pain of trying to find connection to others and failing, while reveling in a hopeful truth: we are closer in relation than we remember. “It’s this feeling of being in it and out of it at the same time,” Tweedy explained. 

 

Wilco and Le Bon, long-time admirers of each other’s work, initially crossed paths at the band’s Solid Sound Festival in 2019. The connection was immediate, inspiring Tweedy to invite Le Bon to the band’s famed Chicago studio, The Loft, in 2022 to work on the album. Le Bon challenged the band to oppose habit and enter the unknown while maintaining the fearlessness that has defined Wilco as a band for the last three decades. 

 

“The amazing thing about Wilco is they can be anything,” Le Bon said in a statement. “They’re so mercurial, and there’s this thread of authenticity that flows through everything they do, whatever the genre, whatever the feel of the record. There aren’t many bands who are able to, this deep into a successful career, successfully change things up.”

 

“Cate is very suspicious of sentiment,” Tweedy said, “but she’s not suspicious of human connection.” Connection is the cornerstone of the album, explored in vignettes throughout the 10-track record. In “Evicted,” the album’s first single, a narrator grapples with their responsibility for a love lost, accentuated by Marc Bolan-inspired guitars. 

 

“I guess I was trying to write from the point of view of someone struggling to make an argument for themself in the face of overwhelming evidence that they deserve to be locked out of someone’s heart,” Tweedy commented. “Self-inflicted wounds still hurt, and in my experience, they’re almost impossible to fully recover from.”

 

The project began long before Le Bon stepped into the picture. During the pandemic, for almost 50 days, Tweedy sent out demos of songs or ideas. His five bandmates would add touches and overdubs to the tracks, passing them along until the demos transformed into fully fleshed-out compositions. 

 

Despite this, the band “didn’t want to make a pandemic record,” Glenn Kotche, Wilco’s drummer, explained. The real work began when the group started working on the tracks in the studio. Some songs began to coalesce as more straightforward folk songs, which “didn’t need a lot of fussing with,” Kotche said. These tracks would become the band’s 2022 album, “Cruel Country.” After “Cruel Country’s” release, the band reconvened in December 2022 to tackle the more nebulous tracks along with Le Bon. 

 

Kotche splits the album into three camps, with the experimental, edgier songs alongside the pop-oriented, more psychedelic, folksy tracks unified by Le Bon’s sonic vision and Tweedy’s unmistakable timbre. “Infinite Surprise” — the album’s opener — “Sunlight Ends” and “Levee” remain a few of Kotche’s favorite songs on the album. 

 

Wilco was formed in 1994 by the remaining members of the alternative country group Uncle Tupelo after the band dissolved following singer Jay Farrar’s departure. During its first decade, the band’s lineup changed frequently, with only Tweedy and bassist John Stirratt as a constant. Since 2004, the lineup has remained unchanged, consisting of Tweedy, Stirratt, Kotche, guitarist Nels Cline, multi-instrumentalist Pat Sansone and keyboard player Mikael Jorgensen. 

The six bandmates, spread throughout the continental United States, are all involved in their own solo and side projects. 

 

“When we step away from the band, we come back with fresh enthusiasm and new ideas and skills, which get incorporated into the band, so the band just keeps evolving,” Kotche explained. “(The band) hasn’t gotten stagnant yet.” Even after 13 albums, Kotche said he still feels like the band is just “scratching the surface” of its musical potential. 

 

Experimentation has defined the band from its inception. What began as an alternative country group has since shifted to incorporate more experimental aspects, including alternative rock and pop elements, touching many eras and genres. 

 

“We like being challenged,” Kotche said. “What excites us maybe the most is not only music that has some resonance to it, but also something that is surprising to us or something that we haven’t heard before on other records.”

 

Kotche likens Wilco’s musical process to a sprouting seed. The core of an album begins with Tweedy’s songs, often rooted in a certain folk sensibility, which are then dressed up in various ways. “We explore and experiment to see which versions resonate or excite us the most,” Kotche explained.

 

The setlist in LA will vary from night to night, incorporating tracks from the new album and songs from the rest of the band’s extensive repertoire, providing fans with a multi-genre buffet, from folk to rock to pop and everything in between. Coming to LA is always “fun; we know so many people there,” Kotche said. “It’s a lot of busy days, with friends coming to the shows.”

 

Seeing Wilco live is wildly different than listening to an album at home. “The songs take on a new life during live performances,” Kotche explained. “Seeing different songs from different records all in the same space gives the audience a better idea of what the band is all about than listening to any one record.”

 

 

 

 

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jackpunch

jackpunch

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54 minutes ago, jff said:

 

Here you go:

 

Led by alternative rock legend Jeff Tweedy, Wilco has maintained a steady rhythm for almost 30 years. Not many bands have stood the test of time, let alone released 12, soon to be 13, albums.

 

Wilco’s 13th studio album, “Cousin,” is set to debut on Friday, Sept. 29, through dBpm Records. It comes on the heels of the release of its lead single, “Evicted.” In conjunction with the album’s release, the band is on a U.S. tour, including multiple shows at the Theatre at Ace Hotel from Wednesday, Oct. 4, to Friday, Oct. 6; and Wednesday, Oct. 11, and Thursday, Oct. 12, at the Bellwether. At both venues, Wilco will be joined by My Brightest Diamond, the project of singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Shara Nova.

 

Produced by Welsh musician and producer Cate Le Bon, “Cousin” marks the first time an outside collaborator has taken the production reins since the band’s sixth studio album, “Sky Blue Sky.” Le Bon steers the album into a sonically alien landscape compared to Wilco’s usual stripped-back, folk-influenced sound, incorporating elements such as saxophones, inexpensive Japanese guitars and a cinematic, New Wave-style drum machine. The result is darker and more experimental than Wilco’s previous work yet still retains the earnest quality of Tweedy’s lyrics and voice.

 
“I’m cousin to the world,” Tweedy explained regarding the album’s title in a press release. “I don’t feel like I’m a blood relation, but maybe I’m a cousin by marriage.” 

The record — related but not tethered to the present moment — echoes this sentiment and pushes the band’s musical boundaries, resulting in an emotional perspective from the outside looking in. The result is an album that tackles the pain of trying to find connection to others and failing, while reveling in a hopeful truth: we are closer in relation than we remember. “It’s this feeling of being in it and out of it at the same time,” Tweedy explained. 

 

Wilco and Le Bon, long-time admirers of each other’s work, initially crossed paths at the band’s Solid Sound Festival in 2019. The connection was immediate, inspiring Tweedy to invite Le Bon to the band’s famed Chicago studio, The Loft, in 2022 to work on the album. Le Bon challenged the band to oppose habit and enter the unknown while maintaining the fearlessness that has defined Wilco as a band for the last three decades. 

 

“The amazing thing about Wilco is they can be anything,” Le Bon said in a statement. “They’re so mercurial, and there’s this thread of authenticity that flows through everything they do, whatever the genre, whatever the feel of the record. There aren’t many bands who are able to, this deep into a successful career, successfully change things up.”

 

“Cate is very suspicious of sentiment,” Tweedy said, “but she’s not suspicious of human connection.” Connection is the cornerstone of the album, explored in vignettes throughout the 10-track record. In “Evicted,” the album’s first single, a narrator grapples with their responsibility for a love lost, accentuated by Marc Bolan-inspired guitars. 

 

“I guess I was trying to write from the point of view of someone struggling to make an argument for themself in the face of overwhelming evidence that they deserve to be locked out of someone’s heart,” Tweedy commented. “Self-inflicted wounds still hurt, and in my experience, they’re almost impossible to fully recover from.”

 

The project began long before Le Bon stepped into the picture. During the pandemic, for almost 50 days, Tweedy sent out demos of songs or ideas. His five bandmates would add touches and overdubs to the tracks, passing them along until the demos transformed into fully fleshed-out compositions. 

 

Despite this, the band “didn’t want to make a pandemic record,” Glenn Kotche, Wilco’s drummer, explained. The real work began when the group started working on the tracks in the studio. Some songs began to coalesce as more straightforward folk songs, which “didn’t need a lot of fussing with,” Kotche said. These tracks would become the band’s 2022 album, “Cruel Country.” After “Cruel Country’s” release, the band reconvened in December 2022 to tackle the more nebulous tracks along with Le Bon. 

 

Kotche splits the album into three camps, with the experimental, edgier songs alongside the pop-oriented, more psychedelic, folksy tracks unified by Le Bon’s sonic vision and Tweedy’s unmistakable timbre. “Infinite Surprise” — the album’s opener — “Sunlight Ends” and “Levee” remain a few of Kotche’s favorite songs on the album. 

 

Wilco was formed in 1994 by the remaining members of the alternative country group Uncle Tupelo after the band dissolved following singer Jay Farrar’s departure. During its first decade, the band’s lineup changed frequently, with only Tweedy and bassist John Stirratt as a constant. Since 2004, the lineup has remained unchanged, consisting of Tweedy, Stirratt, Kotche, guitarist Nels Cline, multi-instrumentalist Pat Sansone and keyboard player Mikael Jorgensen. 

The six bandmates, spread throughout the continental United States, are all involved in their own solo and side projects. 

 

“When we step away from the band, we come back with fresh enthusiasm and new ideas and skills, which get incorporated into the band, so the band just keeps evolving,” Kotche explained. “(The band) hasn’t gotten stagnant yet.” Even after 13 albums, Kotche said he still feels like the band is just “scratching the surface” of its musical potential. 

 

Experimentation has defined the band from its inception. What began as an alternative country group has since shifted to incorporate more experimental aspects, including alternative rock and pop elements, touching many eras and genres. 

 

“We like being challenged,” Kotche said. “What excites us maybe the most is not only music that has some resonance to it, but also something that is surprising to us or something that we haven’t heard before on other records.”

 

Kotche likens Wilco’s musical process to a sprouting seed. The core of an album begins with Tweedy’s songs, often rooted in a certain folk sensibility, which are then dressed up in various ways. “We explore and experiment to see which versions resonate or excite us the most,” Kotche explained.

 

The setlist in LA will vary from night to night, incorporating tracks from the new album and songs from the rest of the band’s extensive repertoire, providing fans with a multi-genre buffet, from folk to rock to pop and everything in between. Coming to LA is always “fun; we know so many people there,” Kotche said. “It’s a lot of busy days, with friends coming to the shows.”

 

Seeing Wilco live is wildly different than listening to an album at home. “The songs take on a new life during live performances,” Kotche explained. “Seeing different songs from different records all in the same space gives the audience a better idea of what the band is all about than listening to any one record.”

 

 

 

 

 

I wonder if that's the article from this month's Uncut magazine. It's more of an interview/press release than any sort of review of the album.

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Brian F.

Brian F.

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8 hours ago, RainDogToo said:

ALBUM REVIEW: Wilco taking risks again on ‘Cousin,’ and it shows

https://riffmagazine.com/album-reviews/wilco-cousin/

 

This reviewer sells Wilco (The Album) and The Whole Love really short, not to mention Cruel Country.

 

Does anyone else have trouble reading reviews of music that they've never heard? I have difficulty formulating an idea of what something sounds like from a written description without actually hearing it. It makes me think of that line, "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture."

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jff

jff

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49 minutes ago, jackpunch said:

 

I wonder if that's the article from this month's Uncut magazine. It's more of an interview/press release than any sort of review of the album.

 

No, that was from an LA based publication.  More a promo piece for their show than an album review.

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jackpunch

jackpunch

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55 minutes ago, jff said:

 

No, that was from an LA based publication.  More a promo piece for their show than an album review.

 

Apologies, I realised after posting my comment it wasn't very clear. 

 

What I should have said was I wonder if they have had permission to reprint all or some the article that's in this months Uncut magazine 

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