indy cd & vinyl

WILCO—SKY BLUE SKY

Wilco has released two of the most critically acclaimed albums of this decade, Yankee Foxtrot Hotel and A Ghost Is Born. Both were characterized by the interplay of leader Jeff Tweedy’s melodic, usually laid-back songs with the avant-garde tendencies of guitarist and helpmate Jim O’Rourke, resulting in an unusual fusion of mainstream pop/rock and avant experimentalism. Now comes the follow up to Ghost, Sky Blue Sky.

Unlike the previous two albums, the emphasis here is decidedly on the more mainstream side of things, with mellow, mid-tempo melodies lending the predominant atmospheres of the album. Jim O’Rourke, while still present, seemingly has a much smaller role on this album. But the avant textures beloved by Tweedy and his band are not entirely absent, as guitarist extraordinaire Nels Cline has been “promoted” from touring member to lead guitarist of the group. Cline is himself highly regarded as an experimental guitarist, and his work here does not disappoint. The highlights of this album involve those tunes where the predominant gentleness of Tweedy’s writing is intertwined with Cline’s liquid, spidery leads. While the tug-of-war between the experimental and mainstream on Wilco’s previous two albums often led to disjunctions between or within songs (e.g., the “white noise” interlude on Ghost), when Cline takes the lead here, Sky Blue Sky joins the two approaches in a much more harmonious fashion. “Impossible Germany,” for example, glides along effortlessly on a Tweedy melody, which then is punctuated by a Cline solo that fits perfectly, but yet seems to come from a different album, altogether. It shouldn’t work, but it does so beautifully. Even more impressive, this interweaving was not accomplished by the usual method of having each musician laying down their parts individually, and then combining them on the mixing desk. Instead, this is the sound of a full band playing together, all captured live on (old-fashioned) two-inch tape. As for the effects of Tweedy’s oft-noted stint in rehab, his lyrics definitely seem to be more reflective and accepting of his surroundings and circumstances, as exemplified in the title song (and in the title, itself, for that matter). Sky Blue Sky, while perhaps not reaching the consistently giddy heights of it’s predecessors, is nevertheless a supremely accomplished effort. And when Cline puts forth his lead guitar lines, Wilco shows it still has the ability to offer, at the same time, something both refreshingly familiar and bracingly new.