Sky Blue Sky

I listened to the new Wilco, Sky Blue Sky, in my car on the CD I had burnt it to. It is way better than an MP3 ...it makes me think of purchasing everything on CD and then transferring it to my computer. It's amazing what GOOD sound can do for the understanding and message of the song. The simple subtleties in the background really accent the piece and especially a Wilco record which is full of hidden goodness. It makes the music thicker...a little layering never hurt a soul.

I have had this record for quite awhile now but a good record it will take you awhile to really set your teeth into it.
The record is excellent (obviously) and it brings me into the story more and more that I listen to Jeff Tweedy expressing hopeful poetry unlike the brokenness of the past. The record has an honest approach to feelings of loneliness but also of love. It is if he is responding with a healthy image of what is happening to and with his life.

It's lovely.

....I have been sitting with these thoughts a lot lately and then last night I treated myself to reading an interview with Jeff Tweedy at Pitchfork. It was a good interview (not by the interviewer though) with Jeff having some very thoughtful insights to music and culture.

Here are some of the thought provoking comments:

Avant-garde is the one area of music that has never changed. It doesn't mean anything. There are very few terms that mean anything. To me, rock'n' roll-- as trite and as clichéd and as goofy as it is, I don't really give a shit-- is the only thing that stirs up any emotion in me. Alt-country, all of these other things just have something to do with where you're from, or I don't know what the fuck it has to do with anything. Making it easier for somebody to walk around in a record store without looking at shit they don't think they're going to like.

His thoughts on music downloading:
still have a lot of faith that there's very few people who are savvy enough to actually produce a good sounding copy of the record. I also believe that in general there is no good sounding copy of the record other than the vinyl. I think that vinyl versions of the last few records are far superior. This one in particular I think is going to sound great on vinyl. Other than that I think its not necessarily heading people off at the pass. I think that it's good for us to have people listen to our music.

As well as consumption of art:
We liked the idea of people listening to our music. I guess the simplest way of saying it is that I don't think that artists should expend any energy keeping people from listening or seeing or hearing or reading their art. I think that's antithetical to the whole principle of being an artist.

I think this sums up a lot of what I believe in when it comes to music and culture. I think we can learn a lot from these ideals. I think I can learn a lot from what it means to experience, live in, and engage our culture.

Somedays i feel really lucky to be in love with this band.....