Wilco (The Album)

no artwork or title as of yet. it's expected to be released on June 30, 2009.

1. "Wilco the Song"
2. "Deeper Down"
3. "One Wing"
4. "Bull Black Nova"
5. "You and I"
6. "You Never Know"
7. "Country Disappeared"
8. "Solitaire"
9. "I'll Fight"
10. "Sunny Feeling"
11. "Everlasting"

a recent interview from Spin: http://www.spin.com/articles/jeff-tweedy-wilcos-new-album-tour

Wilco will embark on a twenty-one show tour to promote the album starting on June 21, 2009. The tour will conclude with a performance at the 10,000 Lakes Festival in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota.

Really looking forward to this. Sky Blue Sky + more studiotrickery + new songwriting angles: should be very good. Now please do some regular shows in Europe and not just festivals...

they might actually keep the name (The Album)

http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/wilco-returns-with-eclectic-new-album-1003969366.story

oh goody. more generic overrated indie-rock, please.

oh goody. more generic overrated indie-rock, please.

I really don't get what's 'indie' about them. Unless non-metal band with guitars = indie. Or everything made in the years 1969-1974.

wilco (the song) from the colbart show

things to notice:
1. the song is a straightforward rock thingy, and my guess the whole album will sound more or less like that
esp. cause it's the direction taken in sky blue sky.
2. you can see the guy who recorded the song from tv sitting on the right side.creepy.

Get it? He's sitting in with the band!

i still sometimes hum a wilco tune in my head, because hey, some good albums there.

but really... really? this is the most zzzzzzzz thing ever.

enjoy, dads in volvos everywhere!! and chicagoans.

enjoy, dads in volvos everywhere!!

On behalf of dads in Volvos everywhere: Thanks. Will do. Enjoy the F---k Buttons.

(I like some of the F---k Buttons, BTW, so j/k . . . sort of).

Jay Bennett is suing them, claiming they owe him money from when he was in the group.

i don't listen to Fuck Buttons... and really, it's not like i'm expecting or even wanting dads to listen to fuck buttons OR the music i like to listen to. it's just that Wilco have turned into such a bland band that it makes me sad.....

and Daniel, no personal offense. sure you're an awesome dad and that your volvo is cool.

Sure it's more of a "straightforward rock thingy" than anything on Yankee or Ghost... but I'll take this over most anything on Sky Blue Sky... okay, barely.

Sky Blue Sky was a good album... for insomniacs

Sky Blue Sky is Wilco second best album!

(False)

not for me.

well, if you like dad rock...

i like what i like. can care less what you call it.

seems I hit a nerve here

not really, i think Sky Blue Sky is vastly underrated. i felt it was an album that had Wilco hit their stride. i understand that is not like by most of their older fans but think it is their lost. it really has some of their more solid songs but most people just say that it's dad rock, so whatever.

i hated ... almost actually actively despised Wilco until 'Sky Blue Sky'. I really enjoyed that album. Now I respect the band. Wouldn't call myself a massive "fan" by any means -- I have still to this point never heard albums like YHF, or Summerteeth, or Being There, in their entirety. But damn, I did like me that 'Sky Blue Sky'. And my fave albums of ALL TIME are like Vincebus, Godbless the RC, Song for Biko, People in Sorrow, first Flipper .. crap like that, so don't gimme any 'dad rock' crap .. i still cringe at some older Wilco when i hear it but damn i think guy is getting a lot better with age

yeah i never used to give one way or another about them but "sky blue sky" is really great; i think rock sucks these days though, so what do i know

sky blue sky is good, better than ghost, summerteeth still rules over all of them though, I wish they'd do something with those kinds of pop hooks again (I know, wilco is not really a pop band, but they did such a good job with it on that album, it's like when elliot smith would break out those great poppy things).

Bring back Summerteeth's pop hooks and this Honda driving Dad will listen again.

Bring back O'Rouke and I'll be rocking this in my Saab

Cline has more more cool avant cred than Fuck Buttons

i'm not going to mount an elaborate defense for wilco here, but it's strange to me that they come in for such a bruising on ILM. If you're into folk rock, slightly psychedelic rock, Neil Young, etc., what's not to like? if you don't like that stuff, then don't bother. Is it just because they were overpraised in the days following Yankee Hotel Foxtrot? Is it because of the mythical volvo driving dad who apparently listens to them all the time?
for the record, i drive a 99 ford escort.

every band needs a self-titled song

also dad rock rules

i think? my dad liked "hot rocks" double LP by the stones, "chronicle" by CCR, and "crown of creation" by airplane

he'd totally like Wilco. i mean, honestly, the definition of dadrock has to be Stones + CCR + Neil Young, right? At least in the USA. And what in the hell is wrong with the Stones + CCR + Neil Young?

If you actively dislike Creedence Clearwater Revival, then I can never respect anything you have to say about anything.

ooops
If you actively dislike Creedence Clearwater Revival, then I can never respect anything you have to say about anything.

I think the attitude of ILM toward Wilco is basically backlash (see also: Death Cab for Cutie, the Shins) plus a preference for 1970s folk rock over later varieties. For the record, I loved these guys back in the day, went to their last show at the Lounge Ax, saw Tweedy a bunch solo around the end of the century...I've seen them live way more than I've seen any other band, and mostly by choice even. I don't think any of their records are as good as Anodyne but I think from YHF and AGIB and the EPs from these records I can make one of my favorite albums of all time. I haven't yet had the heart to listen to Sky Blue Sky, though, for stupid personal reasons (mainly, I want to hear it with an open mind), though I'm planning on doing it soon.

also I am a dad

A Ghost Is Born is their finest hour IMO. I have yet to father a child, though.

i am not a dad. lately the first one sounds pretty good, just good stonesy shit

"passenger side" is a great song about drinking and driving

mythical vulva driving dad

yeah "passenger side" is great

live versions of "Who Were You Thinking Of?" at the time of the first album were top-notch good times

i mean, i get why somebody who's steeped in more experimental/out there music might be annoyed when Wilco is described as being this really innovative, experimental and out there band. i think i was annoyed, post-YHF by that kind of thing too. i mean, essentially, they're a great classic rock band who allow themselves the room to dabble a little outside of that genre. Even though their dabbling in more out there stuff isn't anything that, say, the Beatles or Big Star hadn't already done.

yeah, like at the time of YHF reviews were comparing it to Another Green World, which doesn't really work as a comparison. But where would we be without wishful thinking?

yeah i guess.

a friend told me that a ghost is born (which i haven't heard) is basically zuma-trying-to-be-krautrock which sounds like the best thing ever

well, that would describe "Spiders" to some extent ... rest of the album, I dunno.

the krautrock thing is yeah just that one song; but the solos elsewhere on A Ghost Is Born are really expressive...Tweedy is I think a pretty bad lyricist but the solo on e.g. "Muzzle of Bees" covers for that in a way worthy of hype.

ah gotcha, i figured it was somewhat hyperbole.

but hey zuma-trying-to-be-zuma is cool w/me too

"Box Full of Letters" is my fave from the first one.. don't really love "Passenger Side".

basically it's a totally different band.

really excited to hear the new one

AGIB is an album of some average and some truly superb tracks, as I've said elsewhere

(fortunately, the longer tracks tend to be the superb ones, along with the out-of-nowhere closer)

i am all things to all people

Wilco (The Album) is actually making me appreciate Sky Blue Sky - which is saying something. I mean, this new album isn't horrid but by and large it leads me to wonder why I get even a little excited when Wilco releases stuff at this poinr.

God, Summerteeth was amazing, wasn't it?

I took my dad to see Wilco a couple of years ago. I mean, I'm 34, with a family of my own, but these older fans were all, like, it's so cool you brought your dad! No one said that to me when I took him to see Tool. He liked both shows, but liked Wilco better, probably because he's a dad, right?

Probably!

all of the above true about 'you never know'; did they sample harrison on this or just do a very good approximation? I noted in another forum that I don't see how Wilco haven't gotten in trouble for this kind of thing yet; 'outta mind outta sight' borrowed 'sesame street' and 'pot kettle black' was based around 'inbetween days', and 'you never know' has that harrison riff from 'my sweet lord' and also recalls 'everyday people'.

"Always In Love" does a pretty good "Virginia Plain" too.

Still love this one. Still can't stand Sky Blue Sky. After about another month of playing them on the regular.

Stick with it, Dr. Fever! You'll love Sky Blue Sky . . . eventually.

A devoted effort 2 years ago, and then again for the past month? Probably not gonna happen.

Sky Blue Sky is my favorite from Wilco.

New album is boring. Will probably give it one more try, but I'm skeptical. Felt the same about Sky Blue Sky, the only song of which I really remember/like is Impossible Germany. I'll take people's word for Cline being a genius but I feel nothing.

YHF and Summerteeth are what I love them for.

Now off to listen to Son Volt, which is at least occasionally tuneful.

"180g double vinyl + CD version" ftw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2TxLT-Xg8c

man, this thing is really pretty grand

it's just a whole different thing from SBS, is all.

i like both

so i bought this today, remember when we got excited about buying new albums?

i have that song "Wilco (the song)" in my head all day.

Dusted lays on the hate (same old arguments): http://dustedmagazine.com/reviews/5120

Wow, that one almost takes joy in being particularly negative.

(though I've slammed SBS here and a few other places, so I understand the impulse)

yeah sorta sounds like the writer was beaten up once by a guy singing "heavy metal drummer" or something.

i've read a couple of that dude's pieces, he's pretty terrible

lol, I've met that dude. Apparently he's friends with erstwhile ILXor J. Blount.

jaymc mention my name to emerson next time you see him!!!!! DO NOT MENTION ILX PLZ THX. TELL HIM YOU MET ME AT TOPPERS.

― j blount (papa la bas), Tuesday, June 7, 2005 3:20 PM (4 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

tell him i hung with emily who posts here and he dated when she was 13 and he was decidedly NOT 13 hahahahaha. and that i said 'what up!'

― j blount (papa la bas), Friday, December 23, 2005 5:07 AM (3 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

lol

haha

yeah sorta sounds like the writer was beaten up once by a guy singing "heavy metal drummer" or something.

"Vicious, you hit me with a flower..."

haha

B-side of "You Never Know" is an alternate version of "Impossible Germany"!

Paging Daniel Esq.:
http://harmonizewithsongs.blogspot.com/2009/06/unlikely-japan.html

i have grown very fond of this album, it's much better than i thought it originally was. still like Sky Blue Sky more but this album isn't bad for a band that has been around for this long...

Jaymc, thank you! I'm on it.

I like the new one but I wish they could put a little more energy (rock) back into their sound. Their albums are starting to get a little too mid-tempo every time out. A little more variety next time please.

underrated, even though i found it a bore at the time too

first four songs are just so goddamn good

OK, my verdict: first four tracks really good, rest average

― sorry for british (country matters), Wednesday, 13 May 2009 22:24 (twelve years ago) bookmarkflaglink

cute that Brad agrees with me from 12 years ago lol

i really liked the feist feature at the time, but it is very dadrock, isn't it? honestly trying to remember much of anything about this album. i liked the camel on the cover???

(camels are cool, btw)

are we doing ILM Wilcofest in preparation for the new Big Thief album btw lol

yeah, why not? wilco is a fine band to dive into it every so often.

like Madonna

"c'mon, children. you're acting like children."

i've been listening to a lot of allman brothers band and etc. and like out of a reflexive memory of sky blue sky being a record of languid and beautiful songs and guitar solos, i listened to it for the first time in probably ten years last week and loved it more than i ever have, and the resulting discussion on that thread made me want to revisit the classic records—which were my favorite albums of all time in high school, and which i've drifted so far from since that it feels like i'm exploring the taste of a different person—as well as give late wilco more of a focused and fair shake

i really wish they'd do another live album, seen them a couple times in the last 5 years and they are really something

oh wasn't questioning it Brad! it's been really interesting to see people's reactions to this music, which is often overlooked as an influence now (on bands like Big Thief for instance)

i've been appreciating sky blue sky more these days -- i like how it sort of *seems* like a reversion to more straightforward songwriting, but is actually packed with weird structures/chord progressions/rhythms etc. kind of along the lines of some old Band records -- stuff that sounds sorta folksy on the surface but has a lot of layers underneath.

― tylerw, Friday, May 8, 2009 9:26 AM (twelve years ago) bookmarkflaglink

great old true post tylerw

jesus, i've been here too long. I'll stand by that post, though!
I think Wilco (The Album) is the worst Wilco album though.

Jesus (I've Been Here Too Long), etc is the best Wilco song

Anyone need a pink toilet? pic.twitter.com/KCbneWrkSC

— Spencer Tweedy (@spencertweedy) January 31, 2022

W(TA) was probably the most disappointed I've been in an anticipated album. I played it a few months ago and it wasn't quite so bad, but the possible bottom of the pile for me too

yep my least fav as well

this is one of their least essential, it's not bad but just doesn't have a whole lot going for it compared to most of their albums. it's not really committed to anything in particular and suffers for it.

It's not a favorite, but I don't think it's a bad album either. "Wilco (The Song)," "You and I" and "You Never Know" are good, and "Bull Black Nova" really became a monster live. (It's typically amazing, but I wonder if there's any particular concert performance that fans consider THE one to find.)

Might be starting to come round to it now. At the time I was crushed by how earnestly bland Uncut free-CD fodder it felt back then. It'll probably always be a near least fave but One Wing and I'll Fight in particular are sounding so much more appealing than in 2009/10

Here's a good one - not a different arrangement, but the studio version sounds a bit tame in comparison:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pi-gwT_biME