Wilco - "Sky Blue Sky" (05/15/2007)

I listened to the stream last weekend. It sounded like Being There to me, which is my second favorite Wilco album. I tried not to listen too intently, so the album would be brand new when I buy it.

I liked what I heard. Different, but completely Wilco.

After a couple listens, its slowly growing on me. I do like the psychedelic touches they have kept. The first track is complete garbage, in my opinion though. The guitar work on that one is total musak.

After listening to it some more, I have to add Television to the list of unlikely influences on here, mainly due to Tweedy and Cline's intertwining solo bits.

I guess the surprising thing is that it seems so modest. Being There, Summerteeth, and YHF all had sort of a drive to make things bigger and more expansive; A Ghost is Born undercut some of that energy for the sake of experimentation, but it still sounded like a band striving to reach some different level. Sky Blue Sky sounds like a fully confident band making music that's, by now, fairly easy for them to make, and they're clearly having fun doing it. It's chief character trait seems to be contentedness, which is sort of weird. I still like it, but it's more soothing (and I like the first track specifically because of that quality, actually) than challenging or moving.

Actually "Either Way" sounds like it could have been on one of the Mermaid Avenue discs. Which for the most part is complement I'm not sure it desires. Lyrically, its nearly identical to At Least That's What You Said. I love the organ on Either Way, its just that the guitar solo is so smooth jazz that it throws the track off.

It's not that I don't like soothing music; I'm actually just now getting into Iron and Wine.

For some reason I can't edit right now, so I'll just put that I meant I don't think "Either Way" DESERVES (I mistakenly typed "desires") the comparison to Mermaid Avenue in terms of quality, although it does in terms of style and tone.

Anyway, how about some thoughts about the rest of the track. Some people seem to love Walken and What Light.

I love it. AGIB is my favorite of their albums and I feel like this is a nice follow up. Favorite tracks so far are either way, side with the seeds, impossible germany & walken. I really like the relaxed feel of the whole thing. It seems to me that the mellowness of the album is indicative of Tweedy being in a better place (without the pain of the migraines, etc.) than during the recording of the last few albums.

Some pretty cool recent comments from band members regarding the album and the leak

Nels has this to say about the new Wilco album:

"Out May 15th. There will no doubt be a ton of hype and maybe concomitant dread around this much-anticipated release - the first studio recording of the band with Pat Sansone and yours truly as members. I have never been involved with a "much-anticipated" release! I think I will just sit back and watch the parade... No amount of hype, dread, or blather can detract from my satisfaction with the music on this record. It was recorded totally independently in Chicago in the Wilco loft, and the experience was rewarding, relaxed, and fruitful."

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From Billboard:

In what is becoming something of an unfortunate tradition, Wilco's new Nonesuch album, "Sky Blue Sky," has leaked online, more than two months prior to its May 15 release date.

The group's 2002 album "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" was online for nine months before it was eventually released in stores, and 2004's "A Ghost Is Born" also hit the Internet well before street date. In the latter instance, Wilco fan site Justafan.org asked fans who had downloaded the album early to donate money to Doctors Without Borders, a fund which eventually grew to $15,000.

"There's probably some good argument to be made that it will prevent a few people from buying the record," Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy told Billboard yesterday (March 8) at the band's Chicago loft. "But there's also the idea that I believe is true for us, which is, it's people listening to our music."

"We feel very proud of our record and we want people to hear it. Ultimately, that's the goal," he continued. "I think most people will do the right thing and support us and buy the record, even if they have downloaded it."

"Frankly, I would like to have people get a head start on knowing the material before we come to whatever town they live in," bassist John Stirratt added with a laugh.

To stem the tide, the group will stream "Sky Blue Sky" from 9 a.m to 9 p.m. ET this Sunday (March 11) on its official Web site.

"We've always viewed the whole thing as similar to radio," Wilco manager Tony Margherita tells Billboard. "We were prepared for it to leak as soon as the first advance CD went out. That's just part and parcel of the deal. As with previous records, our plan was and is to give people another way to hear the record besides the download, since these often sound like crap and are a pain in the ass for people who don't have a lot of time or are not super tech-savvy."

Wilco will get busy on the road beginning April 16 in Brisbane, Australia.


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I find the comments about the leak to be a little strange, particularly about them streaming the album to tide the leak, when the only versions currently available online are rips from their own stream from last week. On the other hand, it could be seen as smart marketing to flood the net with a low bitrate stream, so that all the downloaders will still be excited to buy the album and experience it in full quality.

I'm really starting to like You Are My Face.

Okay, I've flipped. Its great.

I am really digging this album a lot more than I originally thought I would. It's a laid back album and it reminds me a little bit of Calexico, just on some songs though.

didn't really grab me the first time I listened to it, but after a couple of listens I"m really starting to enjoy it.

Anybody here own/seen the "I'm Trying to Break Your Heart" DVD?

I still say that, while they played good shows after Bennett left, they didn't really recapture the live spark of the Bennett days until Nels Cline joined up, and, with him, it's an entirely different spark. I saw them three times with Bennett (circa Mermaid Avenue 1, then Summerteeth, then pre-YHF), two post-Bennett without Cline (YHF, just before A Ghost Is Born), and once with Cline. The best shows were easily the first two and the last one. The last show I saw with Bennett pre-YHF was possibly the worst, which I now attribute partially to the band not getting along. The first post-YHF show wasn't so hot either, with the band operating as a four-piece and Tweedy sticking mostly to acoustic guitar and Bach sticking mostly to keys (no lead guitar on "Ashes of American Flags!").

I still wish the new album had more dynamic stuff a la YHF, as well as more opportunities for Cline to tear it up, but I'm starting to like it more than I did initially.

I think this album needs more listens to enjoy it. I didn't like the first time I heard it, but the more I listened to it the more I loved it. I am going to order the CD/DVD soon. Also iTunes has a pre-order with and Extra track and a video.

I don't think they will ever do anything as good as YHF again though.

So I waited and fought the urge to download it. I listened to it late last night as I was falling asleep. It's really quite beautiful. Reminds me of summertime and sunshine. It's like a lullaby for depressed people.

I hope it stays this good.

well so far I keep liking it more and more each time I listen to it. Sat out on my friends dock the othernight and watched the sunrise while listening to it. fantastic experience.

I picked it up yesterday, totally forgetting about the CD/DVD combo that was also released; the DVD sounds pretty cool, too--has anyone watched it? The album itself is great, though. I didn't really have any expectations so, unlike alot of people who I think were expecting the second coming of YHF, I really enjoyed it for what it is. I've only listened through once, so I can't really comment more than that.

I watched some of the DVD last night. It is a Documentarty with some live performances in their practice space. It is shot really well.

I would have to say, in the battle of the post-Uncle Tupelo bands' 2007 releases, Son Volt's "The Search" has a slight edge of this one.

Really? Methamphetamine is certainly my song of the week, but there seems to be plenty of misses for me on "The Search."

I'm really liking this. I'm not the most hardcore Wilco fan (I only have YHFT and AGIB), but I think this ranks up close to those. I like Wilco at their most poppy, so my favorite songs so far are "Impossibe Germany" and "Hate it Here". Sadly, there is no song as catchy as "Heavy Metal Drummer" or "I'm a Wheel".

Picked up the CD/DVD combo last weekend, listened to the CD once, watched the DVD once, went to my wife and said, "I think I love that album just a little bit." Since then I've listened a couple more times and it's only gotten better. There's a breezy intimacy to these songs that I think some reviewers have confused as slight even though the emotional depth is as strong as anything Wilco has previously done.

The songs are also heightened by a production that actually sounds like a live band performance, as opposed to meshed individual playing. Soundscapes and distortion are fine and all, but after the combo of YHF and AGIB, it's refreshing to hear some finely crafted stripped down tunes.

If you like that side of Wilco, you should really pick up Summerteeth. It's easily their poppiest.

The DVD for Sky Blue Sky is enlightening. I'm enjoying the album more and more these days, and that sort of put it over the top (especially "Impossible Germany").

I think it was either in the Onion AV Club or Pitchfork interview that Tweedy dismissed claims that Sky Blue Sky and A Ghost Is Born are less impressive than YHF. I see where he's coming from - they're more naked-sounding with fewer things added after the fact. Additionally, he argues that the compositions are more complex in terms of chord changes and structure. That makes sense, actually. Most of the YHF tracks are quite simple in terms of songwriting, but they're given weight by the layered arrangements and lots of overdubs.

I guess I see his point, but I still have to give YHF the edge. The atmospherics may just be ornamentation, but they're so distinctive and marvelously applied that it kind of stands above the others (this is the case with Summerteeth, to a lesser degree, as well). Still, his comments made me look at Sky Blue Sky in a different way. I also like that the lyrics are Tweedy's most direct in some time.

So I just saw Wilco live the other night, and yeah, they're pretty much the best rock and roll band currently working (Spoon might tie or come in a close second). It was the third time I've seen them and it's pretty amazing how much they've evolved in such a relatively brief period of time (the first time I saw them was immediately post YHF's actual release). The new material sounded great, but I was really surprised by how the Summerteeth/YHF era stuff sounded with the new band--the first time I saw them they had two people on laptops but I don't think there was anything sequenced or programmed this time, and it all sounded amazing (and was amazing to watch). I hope Tweedy sticks with this lineup for awhile. The album may not have been the step forward that people were expecting, but as a band, I really think Wilco is in the best shape they've ever been.

I take it you were at the Merriweather show? That was a great one.

Yes sir. The weather sucked (I was on the lawn) but the band was pretty amazing.