It’s a veritable cornucopia of music this month! Yesterday saw new releases from three of my all-time favorite artists: Wilco‘s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Luna‘s Romantica, and Mark Eitzel‘s Music for Courage & Confidence.
I, like thousands of others, had heard the Wilco disc online a few months ago, when they were streaming it from their site after a label dispute. It’s brilliant. It’s the icy, disoriented brilliance of something like Big Star’s Third, but brilliant nonetheless. The Luna (which I’m listening to now for the first time) seems pleasantly lively, if not particularly distinguished; it strikes me as a middling addition to their catalog, which still ranks it as a 7.5 or 8 in the Grand Scheme of Music. Haven’t listened to the Mark Eitzel yet, but it’s gotten mixed reviews. Mark’s music has been stuck in second gear for a few years, but my devotion to him (for his stellar work leading American Music Club) is such that I couldn’t possibly not lay down my $15. (Careful readers will remember that this web site is named for an American Music Club song.)
9 thoughts on “new releases from wilco, luna, mark eitzel”
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So, are you saying that the new Wilco album is brilliant? I’ll be picking it up on my next trip downtown. Why that band isn’t 10x more popular than they are is beyond me. I think they have a lot of radio friendly tunes.
I do think it’s brilliant, yes. (So does every other hack music critic around.) Don’t go into it expecting another Being There or even Summerteeth…it’s a much darker place than that. (See the Pitchfork review for more detail.)
To quote from that review: “Complex and dangerously catchy, lyrically sophisticated and provocative, noisy and somehow serene, Wilco’s aging new album is simply a masterpiece; it is equally magnificent in headphones, cars and parties. And as anyone who’s seen the mixed-bag crowd at Wilco shows knows, it will find a home in the collections of hippies, frat boys, acid-eating prep schoolers, and the record store apparatchiks of the indiocracy. No one is too good for this album; it is better than all of us.”
Wilco’s CD?? I have to have it. You know, it’s my birthday soon…..
No offense to Pitchfork, but some of those articles could end up in sorely missed “Review of Reviewers”. This from the White Stripes cd review “I love the rock and roll. There’s always someone new coming along, taking that heavily rooted sound– the music of the Gods– and making the old beast sing anew.”
Rock and roll is the music of the Gods? Yikes.
perhaps it’s time to update us on the m&m hostage situation…
Jennifer: But that’s half the fun of reading a Pitchfork review — getting through the adolescent rock-crit masturbation!
And I wouldn’t argue with an assertion that rock and roll is the music of the gods.
Yes, the Wilco CD is brilliant. I already know the songs (from listening to them again and again on the web site) and yet Jeff Tweedy’s poignant lyrics manage to stab me in the heart every time I listen to them. Although I’m reluctant to choose favorites among my Wilco albums, I suspect this one might become the golden child.
tuesday was The Monster Of All CD Release Days. good thing i had a lot of spare cash lying around …
the new mark eitzel is, uh, challenging. my CD-RW drive threw fits when i first popped the disc in, which should have served as a warning, but i pressed on. i figure it’ll grow on me, like ‘west’ eventually did.