Wilco will kick of their European tour in support of their latest album, Schmilco, tonight, and the band has marked the occasion by sharing a video for album track “Someone to Lose,” The bouncy tune is accompanied by a claymation video telling the story of a hungry griffin, an escaped worm and an interrupted wedding. It’s a wedding day turned tumultuous journey: a captive bride, a chivalrous groom and an enigmatic monster. Join along for a trip on this two-winged beast. “Someone To Lose” comes from Wilco’s latest album Schmilco. The band brings Schmilco to European stages starting tonight in Brussels, then off to Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Netherlands, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, France and U.K. You get it — if you’re in Europe, chances are Wilco’s playing nearby.
“Someone to Lose” by Wilco from the album ‘Schmilco,’ available now.
How does a song work? What does it actually do? It doesn’t instruct, exactly, or teach, necessarily. A song, I’d say, causes the listener to assume a certain stance. Through some intersection of melody/lyrics/arrangement, it causes a shadow-being within us to get a certain expression on its face and fall into a certain posture. (Argent’s “Hold Your Head Up,” for example, would cause my 1970s teenage self to assume a, well, Thor-like posture: stoic, windswept, capable of enduring any hardship while, you know, holding my head up.)
In my favorite songs, this stance-causation is essentially moral-ethical — it makes me feel more able to go out and live. In the current bombastic and frightening political moment, I find myself listening obsessively to Wilco’s 12-minute opus, “One Sunday Morning,” which induces in me, reliably, a suite of feelings I might describe as patient quiet-mindedness + firm resolve to love better, and serves as an antidote to the harshness of the moment; a reminder that, with enough patience and fellow-feeling, things can sometimes prove workable between people, even if they disagree.
How does the song accomplish this? Was that the intention? I’m not sure. Like much of Wilco’s work, it’s fundamentally a damned good popular song (simple chords, compelling melody), rendered symphonic by a process by which the song, seemingly rebelling against its own simplicity, seems to be seeking higher levels of emotionality via sonic complexity. This led me to assume the song had to be a result of weeks of arranging. But reportedly the band recorded it in one take, learning it from the songwriter Jeff Tweedy as the tape rolled. The song starts with a catchy eight-note guitar riff, to which it keeps returning, like a well-intentioned guy steering back to his mantra. Via inventive instrumental fills and a false ending (from which it rejuvenates with renewed purpose), it manages the strange task of seeming contemplative while escalating like crazy. It puts me in mind of a group of lifelong pals on a front porch, trying to musically solve some existential problem they can’t quite articulate.
What does the song mean? Well, a great song means beyond simple sense. It means by how it sounds. The lyrics, already beautiful — Jeff Tweedy is one of the great conversational poets of our time — are made additionally beautiful (are made “song-beautiful”) by the way Tweedy sings them. His voice is that of a good friend, singing the story of some strange trip from which he’s just returned: self-effacing, dear — a wry voice, rich with love for the world. The trip cost him something but was so deep that he has to share it. The song is, yes, O.K., “about” a father and a son, “about” religious belief — but really, what it’s “about” is the way it sounds, and the way it keeps joyfully overflowing the formal banks it keeps spontaneously making for itself.
The effect of all of this on the listener — this listener anyway — is transformative. Listening to “One SundayMorning” (every time) fixes me — like some sort of aural medicine. I feel a positive alteration in my body and mind: a renewed sense of humility at the sadness of the world, and a corresponding resolve to keep trying to be better; freshly reminded of the stakes of being alive, and of the fact that there are, at my disposal, more positive resources than I am currently employing. In this, “One Sunday Morning” serves, for me, as a reliable 12-minute prayer.
KEXP presents Tweedy performing live in the KEXP studio. Recorded March 12, 2015.
Songs:
World Away
Summer Noon
The Losing End (When You’re On)
Low Key
Jeffrey Scot “Jeff” Tweedy (born August 25, 1967) is an American songwriter, musician, record producer best known as the leader of the bands Wilco, Tweedy, Golden Smog, Loose Fur, and Uncle Tupelo.
On June 4, 2014, it was announced that he had formed a new band called Tweedywith his son Spencer. The bands debut album “Sukireae” was released on September 16th. The release was followed by a world tour in which half of the set consisted of new songs off “Sukierae” performed by a touring band including Spencer. The latter half of the set Tweedy plays solo, typically perfroming Wilco and Uncle Tupelo classics.
In the book that accompanies Alpha Mike Foxtrot: Rare Tracks 1994-2014, a four-disc collection of rare and non-LP recordings by Wilco, the former Reprise Records publicist Bill Bentley admits that no less a legend than Doug Sahm thought he was making a mistake when, after Uncle Tupelo abruptly and acrimoniously broke up, Bentley opted to work with Jeff Tweedy’s new band rather than Son Volt, Jar Farrar’s post-UT project. “Come on, Bentley, you gotta go with the other guy,” Sahm said, “he’s gonna happen.” Which was certainly the conventional wisdom when Wilco and Son Volt both launched in 1994 , Most fans seemed certain that Farrar was going to go on to a brilliant career on his own, and Tweedy’s band would be a fine but lesser commodity.
But those bets were off after Wilco released their ambitious, game-changing second album, “Being There”, in 1996, and in the years that followed, it became clear that Tweedy was the stronger songwriter, With a more imaginative sonic visionary, and a keener judge of collaborators than he’d had the chance to show in Uncle Tupelo. Two decades on from their debut, Wilco have created a large and impressively diverse body of work, and Alpha Mike Foxtrot is a massive odds-and-sods collection, bringing together 77 tracks from singles, promo releases, movie soundtracks, bonus discs, and downloads from Wilco’s website.
Alpha Mike Foxtrot plays like an alternate history of Wilco, and most of what’s here is every bit as satisfying as what the band delivered on its first eight studio albums, if more idiosyncratic; it traces the evolution of the band from early solo cassette demos Tweedy cut in his living room to extended workouts from the line-up that solidified after the release of “A Ghost Is Born”, as Wilco grew from a spirited alt-country combo to a rock band as adventurous and eager to innovate as it was engaging and tuneful (Tweedy’s simple but powerful way with a melody is the surest unifying factor that holds these songs together). And the plentiful live tracks here demonstrate how willing Tweedy and his bandmates have been to give their songs new shapes on-stage (a ten-minute live recording of “Spiders [Kidsmoke]” is a tremendous showcase for Nels Cline’s stellar guitar work), and there’s a fistful of studio tracks that didn’t fit on an album but sound splendid in this context, especially the Replacements-styled “Student Loan Stereo,” the soulful “The Thanks I Get,” and the faux-live pop/rocker “The Good Part.” In the strictest sense, nothing on AlphaMike Foxtrot is unreleased, but there’s a lot here that’s never been available for general public consumption, and while the sheer bulk of this set means it’s most likely to be heard by hardcore fans, anyone with a genuine interest in Wilco will find a lot of great music that fell between the cracks on this set, as well as a fascinating map of the many roads Wilco did and didn’t take.
Chronologically ordered, the 77 songs clock in at 4 hours and 40 minutes and there’s much to enjoy. The live version of ‘Impossible Germany’ is mind blowing with the Television style duelling guitars and Nels Cline’s staggering extended guitar solo, it’s better than the studio version. Most of the covers (Big Star, Steely Dan, Buffalo Springfield, etc.) remain faithful to the originals and their guitar heavy cover of the Gram Parsons written ‘One Hundred Years from Now’ is the best recording of the song I’ve heard. Full marks to Tweedy for his falsetto on the third verse of ‘I Shall Be Released’ (funny but cool!) and the memory of the late multi-instrumentalist Jay Bennett lives on with many of his co-writes and playing featuring on Discs 2 & 3. The alternative versions though interesting are never better than the originals but what this collection does highlight, much like the ‘Kicking in Television’ live album, is what a well drilled and impressive live act Wilco are.
Wilco are one of those bands that are always around and always releasing quality music. Whether it be through the Wilco name or through one of the band’s many side projects, there is no doubting the sheer amount of talent in the Wilco camp. In celebration of their 20th birthday, the band have decided to release a massive 77-song collection of rarities, alternative takes, and live tracks that are bound to be essential for any big Wilco fan. And, considering they are so popular that they have their own annual festival, that’s a good amount of people!
Wilco are an American alternative rock band, members are Jeff Tweedy, Mikael Jorgenson, Nels Cline, Patrick Sansone, John Stirratt, Glen Kotche,the band based in Chicago Illinois originally formed after the demise of Alt-country band Uncle Tupelo. the band make consistently interesting music, they also make available live recordings from past shows, The band are set to play a series of live shows in December with a six night residency at the bands home town theatre the Riveria, each performance will feature a completely different set list running through their vast array of songs. Also planned is a four cd box set an alternative history of the band titled “Alpha Mike Foxtrot” it includes 77 songs with rare and live recordings and liner notes from Jeff Tweedy. At The same time there will be a greatest hits album “Whats Your 20” with tracks culled from all eight albums. Both album will be released on Nonesuch Records ,
The Fat Angel Sings 