Walked in this evening to find the deluxe edition of the Wilco album on the floor. I hadn't thrown it there, nor had it crept in during the day and arranged a provocative pose for itself - it had simply come through the door from an online shop. My initial quibble is with the phrase 'Deluxe Edition'. It has a card sleeve - like all Wilco albums on Nonesuch - and the booklet and discs come in a normal jewel case. The only 'deluxe' thing about it is the bonus DVD. But then surely you just say 'Bonus DVD' on the packaging. If it's deluxe I expect it to be in a ridiculous book that doesn't fit on the shelf or in a digipack made of old egg boxes - not a bloody jewel case. If anything this is a sensible edition - with a bonus DVD. It's a minor gripe because the DVD is great. For a start the audio is LPCM 48/16 rather than Dolby Digital. If that means bugger all to you, all I'm saying is that the audio is excellent quality. The interview with Jeff Tweedy is nicely chopped around some live performances. He comes across as a decent enough chap who just wanted to make a good record. Thankfully he succeeded.
I feel obliged to point out that all of the naysayers that have been calling this album average are talking out of their, no doubt perfectly formed, fundaments. It's a cracker of an album and one which has rarely been away from my cd player for the last few months. It's certainly gentle, and less spiky than the last couple of albums but the songwriting is meticulous and the tunes gradually ensnare you until you keep wanting to go back and hear them again. So, in closing, it's great. Just not deluxe, like.
The Manics managed a No.2 album with 'Send Away The Tigers', I notice. It's great compared to the absolute stillborn release of 'Lifeblood', but I read with interest that it got there with sales of 38, 697 - only 700 or so copies behind the number one album from the Arctic Monkeys. 'Lifeblood' sold 23,000, or thereabouts, in its first week, missed the top ten and was never seen again. I have to confess to being slightly surprised by their resurgence - not because the music's shite, simply that I never thought they'd be 'cool' again. I'll be seeing them on the current tour and will feedback accordingly.
The Moz singles boxset for the years 91-95 was also on the doormat this evening as I'm on a bit of a Smiths/Moz kick at the moment. Currently digesting two books on his music and will attempt to form my thoughts, feelings and interpretations of his work into something here fairly soon. It's pretty, by the way. I'm a sucker for these things.
Here's a track from the spiffing Wilco record, entitled 'What Light'.
More soon.
I feel obliged to point out that all of the naysayers that have been calling this album average are talking out of their, no doubt perfectly formed, fundaments. It's a cracker of an album and one which has rarely been away from my cd player for the last few months. It's certainly gentle, and less spiky than the last couple of albums but the songwriting is meticulous and the tunes gradually ensnare you until you keep wanting to go back and hear them again. So, in closing, it's great. Just not deluxe, like.
The Manics managed a No.2 album with 'Send Away The Tigers', I notice. It's great compared to the absolute stillborn release of 'Lifeblood', but I read with interest that it got there with sales of 38, 697 - only 700 or so copies behind the number one album from the Arctic Monkeys. 'Lifeblood' sold 23,000, or thereabouts, in its first week, missed the top ten and was never seen again. I have to confess to being slightly surprised by their resurgence - not because the music's shite, simply that I never thought they'd be 'cool' again. I'll be seeing them on the current tour and will feedback accordingly.
The Moz singles boxset for the years 91-95 was also on the doormat this evening as I'm on a bit of a Smiths/Moz kick at the moment. Currently digesting two books on his music and will attempt to form my thoughts, feelings and interpretations of his work into something here fairly soon. It's pretty, by the way. I'm a sucker for these things.
Here's a track from the spiffing Wilco record, entitled 'What Light'.
More soon.
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