Wilco's Sky Blue Sky is good. But don't take my word for it, here's literary theorist and Dead Armadillos vocalist/guitarist C. Elijah Ewing:

I think it's more interesting from an instrumental perspective than Ghost. There's a fair amount of intricate two- and three-guitar interplay. On that note (as it were), I think Pitchfork misjudged BSB (5.2). The album's edge is beneath the surface, and it is, in my opinion, more complete than Ghost.

After one listen, this strikes me as Summerteeth's slightly countryfied, all grown up sequel. Once again, the album centers around an on-again-off-again relationship. Domestic images feature prominenintly in both albums, but instead of drug use and threats of physical abuse SBS focuses on the humdrum of daily life (e.g., Hate It Here). Whereas Summerteeth teetered from glossy-eyed (really, manic) celebration of puppy love (e.g., Candyfloss,
nothingsevergonnastandinourway again) to morbid fixations on lost love, fear, and distance (via Chicago, She's a Jar), SBS's narrator drifts listlessly from longing (Impossible Germany) to cautious optimism: "On and on an on we'll stay together yet." SBS's homespace may be broken, but may yet be fixed.

As in Summerteeth, the band is playing with pop themes, albeit a set of different genres. This is not "dad-rock" anymore than summerteeth was bubblegum pop. Tweedy and co. are playing with popular themes in a, well, subversive way. But to appreciate that, you have consider SBS in relation the rest of the Wilco catalogue. One doesn't have to love it, but it's not an attempt to market to fifty year-olds.

In this long interview with Pitchfork, Jeff Tweedy argues that SBS is no less "experimental" than previous records, but to the untrained ear such as my own, it's hard to argue that the new album isn't more straight-forward than its two most recent predecessors. It's not that the album is boring, but it definitely seems to lack some of the edge and purpose that made YHF and A Ghost is Born so compelling, instead relying on a calmer, more pleasant sound. Which immediately sounds like a knock on the album, but it's still very good, just in a different way. Maybe that's not surprising given Tweedy's personal life isn't the mess it was during the previous album. Still, the new album seems to flow from song-to-song in a way Ghost did not, but to be honest that impression is mostly due to the fact that Ghost has the 11 minute blast of krautrock that is "Spiders (Kidsmoke)" plopped into the middle of it.

Along with the special DVD of performances included in the deluxe edition, I also got a 2-song EP for free from Newbury Comics. On it are the unreleased song "One True Vine" and a live version of the fantastic "Theologians":

Wilco / "Theologians (Live)"
Wilco / "One True Vine"

******

• Of all the summer blockbusters, Transformers is the one I'm most looking forward to; here's the newest trailer which shows tons of huge robots fucking shit up.
• Ridiculous video of a dude on a motorcycle answering that age old question--how fast can you go while popping a wheelie?
• I love watching people breakdance, and I love watching little kids get kicked in the head, so you can guess what I think of this...
• One of the weirder swerves you'll see on a free-kick.
• Judging by the practice these guys obviously put into it, ladder-racing is apparently a real sport