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May 02, 2007
privately wristed for you
Q: Is Wilco's new album, "Sky Blue Sky", their Steely Dan record?
A: Yes, it sounds like it, in parts. I thought it sounded a lot like Steely Dan at first, but now less so. The extensive use of polished guitar lines to do a lot of the expressive work of each song, the singlemindedly claustrophobic production, and just the overall complicated melancholy that pervades the album all remind me of Steely Dan a whole lot though, esp. songs like 'Impossible Germany' and 'Walken'.
Q: Is Wilco's new album, "Sky Blue Sky", a break-up record?
A: It seems like it might be, although that interpretation is merely based on the number of times that Tweedy sings phrases like, 'I'm here without you', or 'if you need to go', etc., which just from a cursory listen, is quite a lot. It sure sounds like pretty much every other song is a break-up/divorce song, although maybe that doesn't capture all of it. Tweedy said that he wanted to eliminate (for whatever reason) some of those more abstract, indirect turns of phrase that he used on the last two albums, but some of his sharp language-figetry still shows up on songs like 'You Are My Face', and the title track (I especially love "houses hemmed into homes"- maybe one of the best lines on the whole album). 'On and On and On' is wrenching, pretty, such a nice valentine between a son, a father, and a mother. It's such a different album for them, and I feel like a lot people might not like it after the lapidary, torqued beauty of "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" and "A Ghost Is Born", but it is satisfying in another way, in a lighter way, in a more functional way. Tweedy said something like "Sky Blue Sky" was the album he wanted to hear, "I want to hear somebody just sing me some songs.", and it is that, but it's a whole lot more too.
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Sorry for the extended absence. No excuses, just busy with working, doing, listening. Thanks to XXJFG's constant endorsements, I finally got hooked on Tim Sweeney's ridiculously well-done radio show, Beats In Space. Tim plays the absolute best mixes, somehow creating perfect, seamless, stretches of totally mysterious music, and on top of that he invites great people by the show to spin records for the first hour and a half, and the results are, without fail, pretty jaw-dropping. Last night's show (it's on from 10:30 to 1:00 a.m. EST) with Juan Maclean and the guys from Holy Ghost was a highlight (new LCD Soundsystem track, 'Freak Out/Starry Eyes' is the first thing Juan plays)- the intra-set interview that Tim does with Juan is 1) hilarious, and 2) pretty informative (new album from J.M. in the near future, feat. the lovely Nancy Whang in a major role). Tim has all the shows archived, so you can go back and check out anything that piques your interest (the XXXchange and Chris Rockwell show was also mindblowing).
Posted by Kevin at May 2, 2007 03:08 PM