LMF - Wilco (revisited)

It's no secret that Wilco is one of my favorite music groups overall, and certainly one of my favorite live acts. I've seen them about a dozen times in various venues, most recently a great, intimate show at the Pabst in April. LMF took a good look at an earlier Wilco performance back in the day of the lineup including former Wilco guitarist Jay Bennett, in tribute following Jay's untimely death in May. Today, we'll take a look at what Wilco looks like these days.

What makes a Wilco show worth seeing isn't just the interesting and eclectic music that continues to draw critical acclaim and cult-like fan worship, but also the fact that these dudes are all first-rate musicians who can really play. As a result, they sound great every night, on every song that they play. Wilco brings a wide variety of sounds to the stage. With the innovative and meticulous songcraft of frontman Jeff Tweedy, and the contributions of the talented musicians around him, you get something really special.

The clip I've chosen is from Wilco's fairly recently released concert tour DVD, "Ashes of American Flags," primarily because the production quality is incredible. The song, "The Late Greats," isn't a brand new one, but it is from the post-Bennett album A Ghost is Born, and this performance is a really cool arrangement with the horns and some added twists from new guitarist Nels Cline. Plus, it's a great song with some biting commentary from Tweedy about the pseudo-fan/critic bullshit that celebrates only the obscure music nobody has ever heard of, and automatically criticizes good music just because a large number of people manage to hear it and enjoy it. He fails to understand how a song he wrote can be great in 1996, but no good in 2005 just because more people have heard it and like it. So do I. In the end, this bullshit leads to the idiotic conclusion that the only good songs are those you've never heard.

The greatest lost track of all time
The Late Greats' "Turpentine"
You can't hear 'em on the radio
You can't hear 'em anywhere you go

The best band will never get signed
The K-Settes starring Butcher's Blind
Are so good you won't ever know
They never even played a show
You can't hear 'em on the radio



I've also included below the trailer for the documentary film about the making and attempted release of Wilco's landmark album, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Sure, it's ear-porn for Wilco fans, but it has also been called one of the greatest music documentary films ever made. At least watch the trailer, and that should be enough to get you to Netflix the damn thing and spend a couple hours watching creative musicians, in all of their absurd and anal-retentive glory, battle to make a record they believe in. Plus, don't forget to look for the shot of the mullet kid eating an ear of roasted corn in the bleachers at Summerfest during Wilco's afternoon soundcheck.