All Eyes Out For You

Best music week of the year?

You can pretty much take your pick of Big Fall Releases tomorrow - though, admittedly, most of them will fly under the radars of the general listening public.

For my part, I expect three of tomorrow's releases to land on my Top 10 list this year (and thanks to NPR, I've heard all of them):

• Robert Plant - Band Of Joy:  Let's see, what's the best way to land in my Top 10?  Hire Buddy Miller to produce and play guitar?  Nab Patty Griffin as your backup singer?  Take the whole enterprise out on the road and blow my feeble mind?  How 'bout all of the above?  I'll admit this record doesn't always rise to the insanely high expectations I had after seeing the band in July, but it's still a fantastic record.  Some will call it a lesser sequel to Raising Sand, but it stands pretty well on its own merits.  However, any failure to capture this band live on disc - complete with the radically reworked Zeppelin tunes - will be chalked up to a missed opportunity.
• Mavis Staples - You Are Not Alone:  I'll admit that I would've love to hear Joe Henry produce this one.  Wilco's Jeff Tweedy fills those shoes, with no real track record to indicate what he'd do.  It is to his great credit that he filled the studio with Mavis' white-hot road band.  The song selections are generally pretty fantastic.  Some will complain that, at times, this record does not capture Staples at her soul-shoutin' best.  But it does capture her still at the height of her powers unafraid to sometimes put that shoutin' aside in favor on contemplative interpretations.  Nuanced and beautiful, this one is a keeper.
• Justin Townes Earle - Harlem River Blues:  There hasn't been much dissent in critical circles that this album represents the fulfillment of the promise Earle showed on his previous two records.  Diverse, focused and showing even greater depth than his terrific Midnight At The Movies, JT Earle is obviously poised for great things.  And oh yeah - that has to be one of the best album covers of the year.  (UPDATE: GET HARLEM RIVER BLUES FOR $2.99 FROM AMAZON'S DIGITAL STORE -- TODAY ONLY!)

Hopefully, there will be plenty more to say about these records over the coming weeks as they dig a groove in my brain through repeated listenings.

And hey, what about this album due next week?

Back to the blog

Well, I can no longer belabor my exile from the blogosphere. In case you were wondering where I disappeared to, my June was mostly consumed by a move to a new home (still in Houston, though John C. will rightly dispute my claim to that based on my new zip code). There was a good three weeks or so where I was mostly checked out from a musical standpoint. Some odd shifts have occurred in my listening habits as of late, brought on by my now-standard summertime obsession over guitars. A few of you might be appalled to find out what I’ve been obsessing over lately, and we’ll get to that in short order. So in the interest of getting back to some regular blogging, let’s get a few bullet points out of the way…

• Grace Potter & The Nocturnals’ self-titled new album is still my fave of the year so far. In fact, some of the credit/blame for my recent classic rock obsession should be laid at their feet for conjuring such a 1970’s vibe. It’s been a bit disheartening to see that the record hasn’t really caught fire, despite the standard recent appearances on Jay Leno and Jimmy Kimmel (they did manage not to slip from the #184 slot on Billboard’s Top 200 Album chart last week). There’s really no reason this album shouldn’t be some kind of hit, but it certainly exemplifies how ineffective the major-label bag of tricks is these days. Here’s hoping there are still plenty of fans out there to be won over by GPN’s best record yet. Will a second music video make any difference (even one with French strippers)? Probably not.
• Alejandro Escovedo’s new record Street Songs Of Love is probably my second favorite of the year and similarly evokes a certain golden era of rock and roll. If you thought Real Animal was an unapologetic rock album, you ain’t heard nothing to you hear this thing blast from your speakers.
• The Black Crowes are celebrating their 20th Anniversary in high style with the release of Croweology, a double CD collection of acoustic versions of songs mostly from their first four albums. It’s indulgent and overly long, and also a real treat for longtime fans. It’s kind of interesting how smoothly they’ve locked into this Band-like vibe between this and their last album Before The Frost… Certainly not for the casual listener but obviously a must-have for fans. And make special note that their upcoming tour will be the band’s last for some time while the Crowes take an indefinite hiatus after enjoying a creative resurgence over the past few years.
• Sheryl Crow’s new album 100 Miles From Memphis was co-produced by guitar great Doyle Bramhall II, and it does indeed often capture the soulful spirit of the city in the title. It’s my favorite Crow record in a long while, and maybe sometime I’ll bore you with a post about how I’m slavishly devoted to the idea that Sheryl Crow is capable of another great record. This one is better in small doses – none of the tracks are anything less than solid, but they tend to mine the same territory repeatedly. Still, it’s a mildly adventurous album by Crow’s standards, and it’s to her great credit that she’s still giving it her best effort.
• Okay, I admit I’ve been really diving headlong into guitar-hero music lately, and it’s probably not an exaggeration to claim that I’ve listened to almost nothing but Clapton, Hendrix and Stevie Ray for almost a solid three week stretch. I finally picked up Hendrix’s recent Valleys Of Neptune, which is a fantastic album of unreleased stuff featuring several alternate versions of well-known tracks. Even better is the just-released Sony Legacy Edition of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Couldn’t Stand The Weather, which features a few unreleased tracks and an entire show recorded in Montreal. I’d also like to note that Craig Hopkins has created a fantastic tribute book to SRV. He has had 3000 copies self-published, and it will be published by Hal Leonard/BackBeat Books in two parts starting in the fall of this year (pre-order from Amazon here). But the full volume is probably worth grabbing now as a collector’s item. Oh, and in case you were wondering, the new guitar is a Fender Eric Clapton Signature Stratocaster.
• I caught Robert Plant & The Band of Joy out at The Woodlands about two weeks ago. Since the new record is not yet out (due Sept. 14), I was sort of expecting a lot of laid-back material in the vein of Raising Sand. I was also expecting an open revolt of Zep-heads. On both fronts, I was pleasantly surprised. Plant was in awesome form, and I guess it goes without saying that his band – which features Buddy Miller, Patty Griffin and Darrell Scott – was unreal. Plant was generous with the spotlight, and the crowd was deliriously enthralled. Oh, and Bettye LaVette opened the show and I’m pretty sure conjured a violent thunderstorm with her set-closing rendition of The Who’s “Love Reign Over Me”. Incredible.
• I’ve actually been listening The Allman Brothers. Dear God help us all.
• The Derek Trucks Band will be taking a break while Trucks works on music with his wife, Susan Tedeschi (!). The band’s parting shot is a double live album Roadsongs recorded in Chicago last year. It’s fantastic – everything I admire about Trucks’ band amped up to 11.
• Lest you think I’ve lost all touch with my roots, next weekend I’ll be heading to North Adams, MA, for the Solid Sound Festival, aka the Wilco Super-Dork Fest. My good friend Babalugats and I also have designs on visiting the Martin Guitar Factory in Nazareth, PA (which is close to ‘Lugats’ home in PA). He really wants me to try to weasel a “press credential” or something, but I think it’s safe to assume that every attendee at Solid Sound will be a music blogger.

Best Albums of 2009: #3 Wilco - 'Wilco (The Album)'

As Wilco has become increasingly accessible (and decreasingly connected to their Yankee Hotel Foxtrot experimentation), they've become one of the more divisive bands around.  Each new record brings cries of middle-aged mellowing, and frankly those accusations are not misplaced.  Between their previous Sky Blue Sky and Wilco (The Album), their reputation as leading lights of sonic innovation has given way to the sound of a band who just likes to write good songs and play fantastic shows.

But here's the deal - who really cares?  Few bands have even a fraction of the musical talent Wilco brings to the table, and fewer still have their reputation for stellar live performances.  It's difficult to make records that live up to those loaded expectations, but Wilco seem fairly unfazed by the challenge.  If they sound like a band with little else to prove, it's probably because they are.

Still, if the back half of Wilco (The Album) was a brilliant as the first half, I'm convinced I would be declaring it their new masterpiece.  As it is, it's a pretty great album that I'll enjoy for a long time to come. 

If that doesn't quite live up to my own expectations, that's pretty much my problem.

Beck, Wilco, et al, cover Skip Spence

I don't know if you've been following Beck's Record Club project, but the latest installment is a set of songs from Skip Spence's cult classic Oar.  And this time, he was joined in the studio by Wilco, Feist and Jamie Liddell.

The first track (of eight) is "Little Hands"...

Record Club: Skip Spence "Little Hands" from Beck Hansen on Vimeo.

New fall Wilco dates

A new round of fall tour dates have been added to Wilco's schedule, including two stops in Texas (Austin Oct. 8, Dallas Oct. 9).

For all of you offended Houstonians, recall that the Bayou City has been the second-round stop for their two most recent tours, which means probably to expect a stop here in early 2010.

UPDATE:  The dates have disappeared from Wilco's tour page.  With Oct. 6 in KC and Oct. 10 in Memphis, I'd say it doesn't look good.  Weird.

UPDATE II:  Back on!

Best Wilco review yet?

Perhaps.  Here's Aquarium Drunkard's take.  The short version: lighten up, dude - Wilco is having fun.

Oh, and great interviews with Nels Cline and John Stirratt over at Paste.

UPDATE:  Great article in the NY Times.

Wilco Release Day Roundup

Enjoy some light reading while you're spacing out to Wilco (The Album):

• Interview w/ Jeff Tweedy in Time Magazine
• Lots of cool features in Paste (which is having a "Wilco Takeover" day)
• David Fricke's four-star review in Rolling Stone
• An interview w/ Tweedy on Chicago Public Radio
• Magnet Magazine takes a look at the Wilco DVD's
• Reviews in Washington Post and the Philly Daily News

Have at it, Wil-dorks.

UPDATE:  A very nice review from The House Next Door (one of my favorite film review sites).

'Wilco (The Album)' OUT NOW!!

I'm listening to it as I type.  A review?  I dunno - do you really need me to tell you that you'll love (or hate) this record?  We should just about be to the point where everyone knows how they feel about Wilco.  I imagine the band still has another masterpiece in them, but who really cares when their good shit is so freakin' good.

The pacing is solid, more concise than Sky Blue Sky which came to a grinding halt for Tweedy's lovely folk songs.  More balanced on the whole, but the first half still strikes me as stronger than the back half.  Not sure why Feist is on this record, but the song is kinda cute and fun (probably the weakest on the album though).

Pitchfork gave it a respectable 7.3, which wasn't so surprising since they were pretty tough on A Ghost Is Born and Sky Blue Sky.  I've noticed they tend to periodically decide that bands aren't boring anymore and then hop back on their wagon.  Poor indie-rock fans, just can't decide what's cool these days.

Wilco Weekend Roundup #2

Some reviews roll in:

• PopMatters is not sold.
• Josh Hurst has a solid, fair review.
• Slant Magazine -- less solid, less fair (points deducted for using the term "dad" TWICE - I'm not sure what "doofy dad fodder" is exactly).

Leslie Feist appeared onstage with Wilco last night at The Wiltern for the duet "You and I" - YouTubes surely to follow.

UPDATE:  Stream the album all weekend on NPR!

Wilco Weekend Roundup #1

Around here, we like to get hype going nice and early.  With the release of Wilco (The Album) next week, here's a few tidbits to whet your appetite...

• A four-star review from Glide Magazine.
• Listen to "Bull Black Nova" over at Imeem. 
• See photos of the band's Monday performance at The Wiltern in LA, plus listen to the b-side from the new 7-inch for "You Never Know" (an early version of "Impossible Germany" called "Unlikely Japan").  Both over at Stereogum. 
• Tune into WilcoWorld.net on Saturday for a broadcast of their show at the Greek Theater. 
• Download the new version of the Wilco iPhone app (which will allow to stream Saturday's show). 
• Or watch last night's performance on Conan...