Roger Wilco

I've been meaning to do this for sometime. The new Wilco record "Sky Blue Sky" is amazing. A friend lent me an advanced copy a while ago and I've listened to it about 50 times. It consumed me in a time of many great releases.

Wilco has never been a favorite of mine. There were always songs that I enjoyed but nothing to keep me that interested. I always preferred what solo folk guitar stuff Jeff Tweedy did. Last year or a little over a year ago. I watched the "Burn to Shine: Chicago" DVD that had a very sublime live Wilco performance in a house that was about to be demolished. It really impressed me. I then went on to borrow their live CD "Kicking Television" which I liked as well. I think it may have to do with the fact , the band had added one of my favorite guitar players, Nels Cline. I haved seen him in many ensembles. He simply oozes great music from his pores.

"Sky Blue Sky"is a heartfelt and deeply personal album, you can tell from Tweedy's lyrics and the music perfectly matches his mood and tone.I have no idea how they recorded this but it sounds live and organic. It has great part writing that mesh together to unvail an amazing conversation between some talented and empathetic musicians, It echo past great bands like The Band, the Grateful Dead and the Beatles on "Let it Be". The record goes beyond the hipster pop of "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot " and has better songs and more catchy pop hooks than "a ghost is born". This is a very mature and developed sounding record. I might even say classic. I guess, I just did.

I thin k this version of Wilco is the best yet. They seem happy, productive and creative. I can't wait to see them in concert. Hopefully this is just a beginning and we can look forward to plenty of great music. Buy it you will like it.