Wilco - Sky Blue Sky

Fair enough. And it is a very good album.

From FLUXBLOG today:

Some people seem a bit surprised when I tell them Sky Blue Sky is one of my top favorite records from 2007, and maybe a lot of that has to do with the fact that I've barely written about it. It's been a fairly private pleasure for me, particularly over the summer when its calming chords provided some relief from stress and worry. This isn't to say that Sky Blue Sky is an entirely relaxing set of songs -- if anything, I kept going back to it because its emotional state so neatly echoed my own experience of trying to stay cool and collected while quietly freaking out. Most of the worst reviews for the record glibly dismissed the music as "dad rock," which is sort of aggravating because I think that the epithet accidentally touches on the stoicism and maturity that is key to the record's appeal, but favors a kneejerk appreciation of less emotionally (or musically) complicated music. Also, it's a huge mistake to write it off as an album full of wanky, meandering guitar solos. Yes, there's a lot of solos, but they are part of dynamic, meticulously crafted instrumental sections that carry a great deal of the record's emotional weight. The words are fine, and as usual, Tweedy's voice is extremely charismatic and expressive despite his limitations, but for the most part, the major action on the record happens in the instrumental sections -- the climax, the resolution, the postscript. It's both the feelings buried underneath the surface that you can't quite let out, and the things you just can't articulate with words for one reason or another. It's a very sophisticated and subtle work of art, and though it is understandable why so many people would either neglect or dismiss it for not automatically revealing its charms, I promise you that the album has quite a lot to offer.

Yeah!

"Impossible Germany" is one of my favorite songs of the year.

Then again, Wilco is my favorite band.

Wow Daniel, thanks for posting that Fluxblog piece. Matthew is OTM.

He is. I like how he describes Sky Blue Sky as "a work of art." That's totally OTM and it makes the rockist in me happy.

What some people miss about this disc is how great the performances are, especially by Nels Cline. The DVD included in the deluxe version of Sky Blue Sky makes this clear; Cline's solo on Impossible Germany (also one of my favorite songs of the year) is breathtaking and dynamic.

sky blue sky -
songwriting - mediocre.
instrument playing and production - superb.

I like this. I'll probably never not like anything they do though.

Daniel, have you seen the ACL performance of IG or heard the live version on the Sky Blue Sky Bonus EP? Nels shines on both of them (as usual).

i saw the ACL performance of Impossible Germany IN PERSON BABY

zomg

seeing wilco live some months ago was the best show ive seen last year i think.

Daniel, have you seen the ACL performance of IG or heard the live version on the Sky Blue Sky Bonus EP? Nels shines on both of them (as usual).

Live version on the DVD that came with the deluxe version of Sky Blue Sky. Not sure if that answers your question. But yeah, Nels Cline is a monster on the DVD version.

"Impossible Germany" is one of my favorite songs of the year Then again, despite the fact that Wilco is far from my favorite band.

Here's the version of 'Impossible Germany' I saw. So so so so good.

Nels Cline is so fucking ace on this record.

it's year in review time so i have been listening only to 2007 albums. this album has shot into my Top 5, outstanding!

On & On & On is also one of my favorite songs of the year. Those guitars! That keyboard sound! Tweedy's vocals! Incredible.

jaymc otm

*old person voice* this is the best wilco album and it's not close

"walken" is the best wings song i've ever heard

agree with you here, brad. this album is on another level.

I need to try this again. I remember liking most of it well enough but there was some song in the middle that I hated so much it retroactively made the songs before it suck.

another Sky Blue Sky fanatic over here. it is my fav of theirs though i always have to stop and think about it when i look at the Summerteeth tracklist and just see one killer song after another. The clean yet full production on Sky though is some sort of platonic ideal for me

You Are My Face is probably my favorite Wilco song.

Have they ever been polled?

another Sky Blue Sky fanatic over here. it is my fav of theirs though i always have to stop and think about it when i look at the Summerteeth tracklist and just see one killer song after another. The clean yet full production on Sky though is some sort of platonic ideal for me

― Lavator Shemmelpennick, Thursday, January 27, 2022 9:18 PM (fifty-seven minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

summerteeth would prob be no. 2 for me, just too many jams

Don't know where I would rank it, but Sky Blue Sky is the last Wilco album with more than one track I can recognize by name.

Josh, have you checked out the Whole Love? not as consistent but has some great ones. If you like noisy angsty YHF/Ghost era Wilco, the opening track Art of Almost is a welcome return, followed by a banger in I Might. The ballads are not as memorable as on the previous few albums, but I swoon big time for the title track

Oh, I have heard them all, except for maybe the last two, or at least the acoustic one? Anyway, they're always great when I'm listening to them, or when the songs are being played live. I just can't remember any of the songs after.

I need to try this again. I remember liking most of it well enough but there was some song in the middle that I hated so much it retroactively made the songs before it suck.

― Cow_Art, Thursday, January 27, 2022 8:12 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

couldn't Shake If Off, eh?

xxp I agree, The Whole Love is a better album than Sky Blue Sky, which is a bit too conservative for my tastes. Having said that, the last studio album I still listen to in its entirety is A Ghost Is Born, and even then that has a few tweaks (edited down the noise on "Less Than You Think" to about 15 seconds rather than 12 minutes, added "Panthers" after the opening track, added "Kicking Television" after "Less Than You Think"). I still have Being There through A Ghost Is Born, but I condensed the rest of their catalog into a compilation I made for myself.

I do wish "The Thanks I Get" had made it on to Sky Blue Sky. That leads off the compilation I made for myself.

I’ll have to revisit this album at some point. It’s hardly unlistenable but at the time it was where I got off the Wilco train, returning around Star Wars.

conservative my ass

nothing conservative about the dope ass playing on this record

i also find the directness of this record absolutely disarming and daring

LOL, well, compared to the what I liked before, and not politically, musically. (Except for "Impossible Germany," that was definitely a keeper.)

(Brad got what I meant, I just added "politically" in case there was any confusion for anyone else)

agreed with the sentiment that the whole love was their last truly great lp. it's not necessary, but try smoking a blunt to "art of almost" and it will likely open up a new dimension for you. "one sunday morning" also a good suggestion for the 'last songs' thread.

i need to properly revisit the extra material from the sky blue sky era.

'Shake It Off' and 'I'm a Wheel' (the middle stinker on Ghost) feature chromatic melodies that seem to highlight the "unacceptable dad rockness" of Wilco. It's something you don't want in your head while trying to enjoy Wilco. They lyrics are also a bit meta about it, which somehow makes the effect worse.

xxxxxxxp I like Star Wars too, that was more in spirit of the Wilco I prefer, but what I love most about Wilco had both the adventurousness and the songcraft, and a large part of Star Wars seemed a bit lacking in the latter.

xxp "One Sunday Morning" is amazing. It's a low-key song, not a jam or improvisation, and it goes on for so long. It has ONE real hook, a very simple and modest melody, and yet it's more than enough to carry the whole thing. It's really impressive the more I think about it.

Remember the tie-in campaign they had with Volkswagen for this record?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4XxEQwHYUY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-MQuf1Prz8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hkPuIkeZCQ

Love the salesman just giving up and rocking out to WILCO in the last ad.

I love Star Wars & Schmilco so much (I'm listening to the latter right now); but I just can't with most anything else by this band (and I have tried it all). Don't know what it is about those two albums - apparently they were recorded at the same time? - but the songwriting & performance/approach sure seem different from the rest of their catalog..

That's so interesting, nothing they have done since Whole Love has clicked with me. I've given each one a listen or two and found them enjoyable but forgettable. tbh I can't wrap my head around that morrisp. But I think it has more to do with me than the music.

I didn't like the last two albums, but they had some good cuts like "If Ever Was a Child," "Cry All Day," "Someone to Lose," "Love Is Everywhere," "Everyone Hides" and "Hold Me Anyway."

Star Wars is up there with their classic run imo, but Schmilco baffles me. I appreciate its relative oddness to most of their more recent fare, but it appears Stars Wars took all the tunes

Omg, the tunes on Schmilco are so good!

Have you given the Loose Fur albums a spin? Might have some of the qualities you’re enjoying in SW and Schmilco

I actually have! (I have them both). I like a few the songs OK, but the vibe as a whole... (I don't think I gel w/Jim O'Rourke too much).

^missed an "of" and a "not" (you decide where)