wilco

[Kevin Davis]

This is a restrained, almost cold album. There is no screaming or wailing blasts of feedback. For this reviewer, it is the lack of unrestrained emotion or playing that makes this harder to connect with on a visceral level. Wilco bring a wild energy to live performances both in Jeff’s vocals and the group’s playing and dynamic. This is a different beast, almost an exercise in muted sobriety. 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.

Thanks for sharing this and the video of the new song, Trag. I think I'd be a lot more excited by some of those descriptions -- "restrained, almost cold," "a sense of musicians seeking sounds," "nuances and moods that swirl around Jeff Tweedy's careful and often wracked vocals" -- had I not already heard the two advance tracks, which make me fear that this review is just critical longhand for "dull songs cluttered by occasionally compelling production flourishes." I hate being so unmoved by something that the best description I can come up with for it is "dull" or "boring," but man, that is what these songs are doing for me -- I am just not feeling them at all. I've been a Wilco fan since the early 2000's, and have gone to the mat for a lot of albums that others have hated, so I know that their albums have a way of upending first impressions, but there is a consistent flatlining quality to so much of their recent music (both Wilco's and Tweedy's) that I'm finding myself increasingly less motivated to push through. I realize I'm just going off two songs, so I sincerely hope I'm wrong.

[Strat]

This is a restrained, almost cold album. There is no screaming or wailing blasts of feedback. For this reviewer, it is the lack of unrestrained emotion or playing that makes this harder to connect with on a visceral level. Wilco bring a wild energy to live performances both in Jeff’s vocals and the group’s playing and dynamic. This is a different beast, almost an exercise in muted sobriety. 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.

Thanks for sharing this and the video of the new song, Trag. I think I'd be a lot more excited by some of those descriptions -- "restrained, almost cold," "a sense of musicians seeking sounds," "nuances and moods that swirl around Jeff Tweedy's careful and often wracked vocals" -- had I not already heard the two advance tracks, which make me fear that this review is just critical longhand for "dull songs cluttered by occasionally compelling production flourishes." I hate being so unmoved by something that the best description I can come up with for it is "dull" or "boring," but man, that is what these songs are doing for me -- I am just not feeling them at all. I've been a Wilco fan since the early 2000's, and have gone to the mat for a lot of albums that others have hated, so I know that their albums have a way of upending first impressions, but there is a consistent flatlining quality to so much of their recent music (both Wilco's and Tweedy's) that I'm finding myself increasingly less motivated to push through. I realize I'm just going off two songs, so I sincerely hope I'm wrong.

This is me too. I'm not sure why its been so difficult because i generally love Tweedy and certainly Wilco. Recent Tweedy show had me in tears a couple of times.

But the recent stuff seems very detached from any real artistic emotional statement.

[tragabigzanda]

Top 10 maybe?
Hello Morning
Close Captioned
The Kill
Place/Position
Do You Like Me?
Latest Disgrace
Recap Modotti
Nightshop
Break
Life & Limb

I'd maybe bump Life & Limb for Epic Problem

[tragabigzanda]

[dad]

yeah...i'm on my first listen. nothing special.

also, Soldier Child sounds a lot like All Across the World.

[tragabigzanda]

[dad]

i'm sorry for what i said.

[Kevin Davis]

3. Le Bon is apparently “skeptical of sentiment” in songs, and would push Jeff to not try to sell the listener on any sort of emotion.

I am really enjoying the vibe of of “Sunlight Ends” and “A Bowl and a Pudding,” and am loving “Meant to Be” — this is probably the one song on here where it feels like the songwriting is on equal footing with the production. Other than that, unfortunately “no emotion” feels like a pretty apt characterization of how I felt listening to this. I’m not familiar with Cate le Bon but reading the above makes me think that she probably espouses some artistic philosophies that I just don’t identify with.

One thing I don’t care for on seemingly all recent Wilco records is the drum sound — it feels so papery and stiff. Is this an aesthetic choice or is it something inherent to Kotche’s playing style?

[Strat]

geezes christ i dont know how any of the members get through a song without one of them falling asleep.

Infinite Surprise got me super excited with all the A Ghost is Born vibes but it was downhill real quick after that.

Im just over Wilco i guess. I'm tired of the sluggish lullabies they/tweedy have been releasing for 10 years now.

They didnt commit to the Le Bon production i feel. If they fully committed they might have pulled something off for me but this really just sounds like more of the same stuff.

The end.

[Chris_H_2]

hopefully this is a grower. but man, is this dull.

[dad]

you guys are going to bum trag out.

[washing machine]

I'm one listen in and these songs have been sticking with me all morning. Slightly "cold" and "downbeat" are words I would use to describe this album, but I wouldn't say this is dull. There's some textures on here that I feel poking just below the seams. Can't wait to spend more time with this.

This is kind of what I had hoped that The Whole Love was going to sound like after dropping the needle on Art of Almost.

Early favorites:

Pittsburgh
Sunlight Ends
Levee

[spike]

I wouldn’t say “nothing special.” It’s VERY much a Cate le Bon record, and it’s fairly brave of the band to put themselves so completely in her hands.

But I find myself more interested in the sounds than the songs, and that’s a first for me and Wilco. Some notable insights from a bunch of reviews that I was reading yesterday:

1. The songs were selected by le Bon from a larger group that Jeff had sent her, which he characterized as not having found a home yet on an album.

2. Le Bon showed up at the studio knowing how to play and sing every song on the guitar, and began stripping them all down and recreating them.

3. Le Bon is apparently “skeptical of sentiment” in songs, and would push Jeff to not try to sell the listener on any sort of emotion.

I feel like I can hear all that in this album. There’s a lab-grown quality to it. Just can’t decide how much I like it yet.

Artsy fartsy!

[tragabigzanda]

[tragabigzanda]

Top 10 maybe?
Hello Morning
Close Captioned
The Kill
Place/Position
Do You Like Me?
Latest Disgrace
Recap Modotti
Nightshop
Break
Life & Limb

I'd maybe bump Life & Limb for Epic Problem

[Chris_H_2]

I’m seeing Tweedy for the living room show next month. I suspect that he’s going to play a significant number of songs from this new album. I’m looking forward to hearing those versions.

[tragabigzanda]

[dad]

I’m coming around on this one too.

[Strat]

Great read for those falling off the wagon:

Why Is Everyone Always Saying Such Dumb Shit About Wilco?
https://www.insidehook.com/article/musi ... sin-review

That headline makes me not give a shit about what they might be saying

[washing machine]

I love how the existential musing about it being "good to know we die" on the opener is followed by the numb/strum of "Ten Dead".