'Wilco the Podcast': Reviewing 'Hot Sun Cool Shroud'

Wilco released a new EP, Hot Sun Cool Shroud, which was a wonderful excuse to hang out with Lance Hill and Matt Morgan on their Wilco-centric podcast to talk about the record. Naturally, our conversation also encompassed the idea of the "summer song" and our general feelings about the warm-weather months. I always enjoy being on Wilco the Podcast. Check it out down below.

'Wilco the Podcast': Reviewing 'Cousin' (Part Two)

You may remember that the guys who run Wilco the Podcast asked me to be on to help them do a song-by-song breakdown of the band's new album, Cousin. Part one of that show is here and covers the first side. Here's part two, which contains my favorite track on the record. Give it a listen.

'Wilco the Podcast': Reviewing 'Cousin' (Part One)

You may remember earlier this year I was on Wilco the Podcast to discuss my book, Wilco: Sunken Treasure. The guys asked me to come back to review Cousin, the band's new album, which I was thrilled to do. The conversation we had was so long, going track by track, that it's actually being released in two parts. This is Part One, which covers the first side of Cousin. (We also talk a little Taylor Swift and fall awards-season movies.) Check it out.

Talking About My Book 'Sunken Treasure' on 'Wilco the Podcast'

Wilco the Podcast is devoted to all things Wilco, so I was very flattered to be invited on by hosts Lance Hill and Matt Morgan to discuss my book Wilco: Sunken Treasure. We also chatted about getting older, how music changes over your lifetime, and the differences between reviewing albums and movies. Lots of fun stuff here. Check it out below.

I Was on 'The Great American Pop Culture Quiz Show'

I had a very fun time matching wits with Will Leitch and Katie Walsh on this episode. Topics included Lee Chang-dong, "When Doves Cry," Wilco, Alfred Hitchcock and MEL's "Women of Action" series. You can see how I did down below.

The Best Albums From Artists in Their 70s (or Older)

In honor of Rough and Rowdy Ways, which Bob Dylan put out at age 79, I spotlighted 11 great albums from musical senior citizens, including the one and only Willie Nelson. Hope you enjoy.

Mavis Staples - "You Are Not Alone"

An open hand
An open heart
There's no need to be afraid
Open up this is a raid
I wanna get it through to you
You're not alone

Written and produced by Jeff Tweedy, sung by Mavis Staples.

Pop Culture and Politicians

For MEL, I spent a little time scouring through movies, TV and music to find some of the best/weirdest/funniest political ephemera. The Simpsons! Spitting Image! Mermaid Avenue! The Candidate! It's all here.

An Excerpt From My Wilco Book

In case you hadn't heard, I wrote a book about Wilco. Published through Omnibus Press, Wilco: Sunken Treasure is a critical biography that traces the band's history and examines their complete catalog. (It's available through Amazon.) Paste is running an excerpt from the book that focuses on the final days of former Wilco member Jay Bennett. For most Wilco fans, Bennett's story ends when he was booted from the group. I dug a little deeper for my biography. Hope you enjoy this excerpt.

uncle tupelo - new madrid

It's now been 18 years since the final Uncle Tupelo album, Anodyne, was released. Here's "New Madrid" off it. Yes, a Jeff Tweedy song. I still prefer Jay Farrar, but this tune just seemed right at the moment.

wilco - 'the whole love' review

I'm one of those weirdos who has preferred Wilco's post-Yankee Hotel Foxtrot/A Ghost Is Born period to all the ones that came before. (If that makes me a proponent of dad-rock, so be it.) Their new disc, The Whole Love, is another superb addition to their catalog. I reviewed the record for About.

wilco (the album) review

Because it leaked online so long ago -- and then the band streamed the album on their website for a little while in response -- it seems weird to think that Wilco (The Album) isn't officially commercially available until this Tuesday. (For a lot of people, it's an album they've already consumed and fully absorbed by this point.) Nonetheless, my review is now up at About. As you'll see from my write-up, I'm not afraid of dad-rock.

wilco - you never know

A song off Wilco's forthcoming album, Wilco (The Album). Between Iran and Michael Jackson, this is one of the few things to make me feel better this week.

thinking about jay bennett, and wilco

If you haven't heard, former Wilco member Jay Bennett died on Sunday.

His untimely passing got me thinking about the band. I used to be a huge Wilco hater, especially around 2002 when the overrated Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was being hailed as some sort of visionary piece of music-making. Soon after the album's release, I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, a documentary about YHF's making, was released, and I was pretty merciless in a review at the time. Looking back on it, I'm clearly responding more to the band's hype than the band itself, although I still think the documentary is too fawning and glossy. But this paragraph from my piece is interesting, in retrospect:

For a songwriter too often referred to as a poet in the press, [frontman Jeff] Tweedy doesn't make for an engaging film presence. Even his aloofness feels unremarkable. And the much-discussed fission between him and chief collaborator Bennett -- a man more than a little responsible for the deepening of Wilco's music over the years -- never really takes hold. What you have here are two strong personalities fighting over the future of a band, but [director Sam] Jones clearly favors Tweedy and therefore reduces Bennett to an easily discarded side character. The real story is far more fascinating: Bennett's assertions in the film that Tweedy is a little bit of an egomaniac, desperate to control the band, have been repeated by others in the past. But the film doesn't even consider the possibility. Tweedy (the hero) triumphs, and Bennett (the villain) is vanquished. No muss, no fuss, no drama, no gray area, no interest.

Of course, Bennett was supposedly a bit of a control-freak himself, so it's hardly as if Tweedy was the only guilty party. Still, re-reading this reminds me of how sympathetic I was to Bennett -- the film is fairly cruel to him. (I still recall how the audience laughed derisively at Bennett when, after he'd been kicked out of the group, he plays a solo show to a small smattering of fans at a tiny club -- what, was this some sort of karmic comeuppance for something he'd done?)

After a while, I got off my anti-Wilco kick -- Sky Blue Sky went a long way to helping in that regard. But with Bennett's passing, it brought back the fact that I still think Tweedy gets too much credit and Bennett not enough for the band's musical evolution.

wilco - ashes of american flags

Wilco's first live DVD, Ashes of American Flags, captures all that's right and wrong about this beloved band. The songs are expertly played and sensitively rendered, but Jeff Tweedy will forever be a touch too "arty" for my taste. My review is here.

wilco - hummingbird

You've had a hard week, reader. Why not sit back and enjoy a cute animated video set to the music of Wilco?