The Whole Love and Nothing But

“A Veritable sonic stew” This Time Out

Good news from the Wilco camp today as the band has announced details of their upcoming eighth album.   The Whole Love will be released this fall and will be their first for the newly minted dBpm Records imprint.   The cherry on top though, they're touring this fall too!  (Tour details below)

The album, which previously had the working title Get Well Soon Everybody, was produced by Jeff Tweedy with the help of bandmate Patrick Sansone and Tom Schick, and features 12 new songs.

According to the press release, The Whole Love "is a veritable sonic stew, showcasing Wilco's far-reaching musical prowess (multiple guitars, keyboards, synthesizers and percussion plus Mellotron, strings, loops and more) perfectly accompanying Jeff Tweedy's provocative and insightful lyrics."

The Whole Love will be available on September 27th via dBpm Records, with distribution through Anti-. The tracklisting is available below, while album single "I Might" can be streamed here.


The Whole Love:

01.  Art of Almost
02.  I Might
03.  Sunloathe
04.  Dawned On Me
05.  Black Moon
06.  Born Alone
07.  Open Mind
08.  Capitol City
09.  Standing O
10.  Rising Red Lung
11.  Whole Love
12.  One Sunday Morning (Song for Jane Smiley's Boyfriend)

As I mentioned, Wilco have announced the first leg of their North American tour, including Canadian stops in Toronto and Montreal. All dates are available below.
 

Tour dates:

9|13 Indianapolis, IN - Murat Theatre
9|16 Toronto, ON - Massey Hall
9|17 Toronto, ON - Massey Hall
9|18 Montreal, QC - Metropolis
9|20 Boston, MA - Wang Theatre
9|22 New York, NY - Central Park Summerstage
9|25 Columbia, MD - Merriweather Post Pavilion
9|27 Raleigh, NC - Raleigh Amphitheater
9|28 Atlanta, GA - Cobb Energy Performing Arts Ctr
9|29 Atlanta, GA - Cobb Energy Performing Arts Ctr
10|1 Nashville, TN - The Ryman
10|2 Nashville, TN - The Ryman
10|4 St. Louis, MO - Peabody Opera House
10|5 Madison, WI - Overture Hall

I Love My Wilco

It’s been a while since we heard of any new music emerging from Chicago’s finest. News today that the band have announced that the first single from their upcoming album, “I Might” will debut at their own Solid Sound Festival in North Adams, Massachusetts (June 24th - 26th) . Vinyl fetishists should note the single will be available as a limited-edition clear vinyl 7”, and comes with a b-side cover of Nick Lowe’s “I Love My Label”.

“I Might” is the band’s first release on dPM records, the label they launched after leaving Nonesuch Records in 2010. Note that two more versions of the single will be available to the wider public on July 19th; a limited-edition blue vinyl version, which you can pick up at Wilco’s official store and through the -Anti Records store, and a black vinyl version, which you can pick up at traditional retail outlets. The single is available for pre-order today.

Wilco (the Curators)

Ardent road warriors and rock n' roll nice guys, Wilco have just announced their first foray into arts festival organization. Thankfully ‘Wilcopalooza’ was not even in the running as an event moniker... Instead, Wilco’s Solid Sound Festival promises a three-day event with “art, music, comedy, and interactivity.” It will be held in North Adams, MA this summer and will include a headlining set from Wilco, as well as performances by the band’s various side projects: On Fillmore, The Nels Cline Singers, The Autumn Defense, and Pronto. Their involvement won’t stop there though. Other events planned are: An interactive guitar pedal exhibit with Nels Cline, concert poster screening demos, and “planned workshops by luthiers.” The festival site is the huge, multi-building Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, so this might be the first festival that won’t involve nudity, being mud soaked and or getting sunburned. Tickets are $86.50 now, $99.50 after June 1st. Get them at the Solid Sound Festival site or at Wilco World.

WILCO - CAUSES | Free Downloads to Support Haiti

With an extended trip north of the 49th parallel just around the corner the timeliness of this news may be of interest to those clutching tickets to any of those shows. More important though, your keen fandom can benefit the people of Haiti. Wilco have just posted two shows for free download on Wilcoworld. The band have asked in exchange for the free music downloaders make a minimum donation of $15 to one of the organizations listed below if you are able .

OXFAM - http://www.oxfam.org/en/haitidonate

Doctors Without Borders - http://doctorswithoutborders.org/

Both organizations ask that you donate to their Emergency Relief Funds which allows them to spend the money on situations such as Haiti, but, not expressly limited to Haiti.

The shows are:

07-13-09 - Keyspan Park - Brooklyn, NY
11-04-09 - HMV Forum - London, UK


A reminder that Wilco will be playing Centennial Hall in London with the amazing Califone on February 24th.

Wilco (the Haiku Contest)

I love contests. Especially contests with a slightly creative bent. Well budding poets, haikuers, rhymers and stealers Wilco (the band) have something just for you. The appropriately named Wilco Haiku Contest.

To enter the contest, write a Wilco-themed Haiku and submit it either via Twitter and include the tag #wilcohaiku in your tweet or email it to them at haiku@wilcoworld.net.

The Grand Prize is a Gibson SG (courtesy of Gibson Guitars) signed by the whole band. Deadline for submissions is Friday, November 27th. Watch their website for more details, or follow #wilcohaiku on Twitter.

For those that were sleeping during Haiku class in High School a gentle reminder

Haiku is a minimalist form of Japanese poetry. The writer has 17 or fewer syllables through which to convey an experience. Here's an example of my own Wilco haiku to give you the idea.

Something kinda like this:

singing earnestly
bridegrooms caress, alluring sun

strut ear jesus, etc

Lastly, the hardest working band in show business will be webcasting the penultimate show of their current tour on Monday, November 16th, live from the Amsterdam Paradiso at 9 pm European time, that’s 2 pm in Chicago ‘Tweedy Freeks’. Be sure to tune in, via the Roadcase section of the band's website.

I Am Trying to Break Your Bandwidth

This one might be akin to opening your Christmas presents before the big day, but June 30th is just so far off! This is your chance to hear the new Wilco album (imaginatively) titled Wilco (The Album) streaming on their website. Sure the sound quality is a little hinky and you’ll have to put up with some jerky audio but this is new Wilco and that’s just plain exciting. It’s also very good.

Soooo, what can be found on this disc, their seventh? Eleven tracks, including “Wilco (The Song)”, as heard on The Colbert Report, and “You and I”, a duet between Tweedy and Feist. And the rest:

1. Wilco (the Song)
2. Deeper Down
3. One Wing
4. Bull Black Nova
5. You and I (feat. Feist)
6. You Never Know
7. Country Disappeared
8. Solitaire
9. I'll Fight
10. Sunny Feeling
11. Everlasting

Go here to listen and gaze at the lovely album art below.

This Machine Kills iPods

New Wilco Download Available

This week’s abbreviated Download Lowdown is a goodie; mind you a small donation may be in order. (Providing JPEG proof of your barrel only wardrobe will also suffice.) A new Wilco performance of Woody Guthrie's once-again-timely "The Jolly Banker" is available now on the site by going to http://wilcoworld.net/woody/ with suggested donation to the Woody Guthrie Foundation and Archives. Listen to Jeff Tweedy talk about it on Public Radio's "Marketplace" at http://marketplace.publicradio.org/.

…In the gentle reminder portion of this post. The Wilco tour is on and dates/tickets for the summer portion are available now. The highly recommended and entirely excellent Ashes of American Flags DVD is available pretty much everywhere now as well. Wilco (the album) is out June 30th. Info at http://wilcoworld.net/

Isn't it great to be a Wilco fan?

I Spy With My Little Eye

New Release News for 2009

It’s time to cast our eyes ahead to the new year as one of the best have just announced some very good news. In 2009, Wilco will build on their reign as one of Chicago's most influential and widely-respected bands with a brand spankin’ new DVD and a new LP. The DVD, dubbed Ashes of American Flags (the title of one of the tracks from the band's 2002 album, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot), is scheduled to hit in either February or March, and will be Wilco's first full live concert DVD. It was put together by Brendan Canty and Christoph Green of Trixie Films, and will include footage from the band's winter 2008 tour. You might recall Canty from his work on the excellent Burn to Shine DVD series.

If that's not enough to excite fans, the band has announced that they will spend the early part of 2009 completing their next studio album, which will follow up 2007's Sky Blue Sky. According to a recent Billboard article, the album is expected to stray from the performance-oriented sound of the last record, instead allowing "a little bit more leeway in terms of sculpting the sound in the studio and doing overdubs and using the studio as another instrument." The record is scheduled for a spring release, after which the band will resume a full touring schedule as the true road warriors these Chicagoans are.

Until then, head Wilco honcho, Jeff Tweedy is scheduled to perform solo gigs in Champaign, IL, Kalamazoo, MI and Ann Arbor, MI. (Hmmmm, I might just have to take a road trip.)

Click here for more information.

Oh, and if you haven’t checked out Jeff Tweedy’s son Spencer’s blog yet do so. As Allison so aptly put it, “Strong writer for a youngin’”.

Reason #562 to Watch the Colbert Report

Nation(s), I am here to tell you to watch the Colbert Report this Thursday October 30th. (Check viewer listings for local times.) In all ‘truthiness’ Chicago’s favourite sons will be special musical guests. Sorry Tessa, it’s not the Smashing Pumpkins but those other favourite sons, Wilco.

In other Wilco news... Wilco have already recorded demos for a new album (the follow-up to their 2007 opus, Sky Blue Sky) and are heading into their Chicago studio, the Loft, this month to start rerecording and fleshing them out. Only conjecture here but maybe, just maybe we might see a new album by next summer.

On the Road Again - Neil Young Takes Death Cab For Cutie, Wilco Along for the Ride

Legendary singer, political activist, enviro-car developer, snappy hat wearer Neil Young is hitting the road once again in North America in support of his Chrome Dreams II release. This time out he's called upon Death Cab For Cutie, Wilco and Everest for opening support. The bands will split the tour, with Death Cab taking the first leg, and intrepid road warriors Wilco the second and Everest for all. It all kicks off in mid-October and if the setlists from this summer are any indication, this one should not be missed. With plenty of Canadian dates you won't have any excuse.

Neil Young Tour Dates:

October
14 St. Paul, MN - Xcel Energy Center D *
16 Winnipeg, Manitoba - MTS Centre D *
18 Regina, Saskatchewan - Brandt Centre D *
19 Calgary, Alberta - Pengrowth Saddledome D *
21 Everett, WA - Comcast Arena at Everett D *
22 Vancouver, British Columbia - GM Place D *
29 San Diego, CA - Cox Arena D *
30 Los Angeles, CA - The Forum D *

November
1 Reno, NV - Events Center D *
4 Kansas City, MO - Sprint Center D *
5 Omaha, NE - Qwest Center D *
29 Halifax, Nova Scotia - Metro Centre W *

December
1 Montreal, Quebec - Bell Centre W *
2 Ottawa, Ontario - Scotia Bank Place W *
4 Toronto, Ontario - Air Canada Centre W *
5 Toronto, Ontario - Air Canada Centre W *
7 Detroit, MI - Palace of Auburn Hills W *
12 Philadelphia, PA - Wachovia Spectrum W *
15 New York, NY - Madison Square Garden W *

D with Death Cab For Cutie
W With Wilco
* With Everest

Fleet Tweedies? Wilcoxes? Fleeco? Whatever... It’s a Free Download

But You Have to Promise to Vote

It’s so nice when inspired collaborations result in a little musical magic. Such is the case this week for your ‘mini’ download lowdown’. The super fantastic Fleet Foxes and Wilco covered Bob Dylan's classic "I Shall be Released" at a recent live show, and they're giving it away online if you promise to vote. Go here to Wilcoworld.net make a pledge and get a free download. It’s a goodie too!

Such tumultuous times. And in the spirit of giveaways that seem to be sweeping the nation, we've got something free for you. No it's not a pile of cash (sorry) but rather an audio postcard of sorts from a summer's night in Oregon with our friends the Fleet Foxes & a lovely Bob Dylan tune. All we ask is you check the "I pledge to vote in the 2008 Election" button below. If you can spare it, we also encourage you to consider a donation to Feeding America . (and please feel free to pass this link along to friends, family members, etc.).

Lollapalooza 2008 Webcast

Watch Lollapalooza 2008 live webcast here. Wilco on tonight at 10:30 PM EST.

I Am a ‘Canadian’ Aquarium Drinker

Wilco Reissue LP, Announce Month-Long Tour

The other night I was listening to my iPod and I Am Trying to Break Your Heart by Wilco came up on random shuffle. I was immediately whisked back to the summer of 2002 when I was listening to this record with fresh ears and I remembered the huge effect it had on me at that time. Tempered by occasion and familiarity, the disc has now become one of my all time favourite recordings; that song, particularly responsible for that.

In the ‘Every Thing Old is New Again’ Department… Wilco have reissued that breakthrough recording, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot in a deluxe audiophile vinyl package. The Chicago six-piece will also kick off their recently announced tour tomorrow with the 2008 edition of Lollapalooza in their hometown. Select tour dates to follow, alongside such indie darlings as Bon Iver and Fleet Foxes. Jeff Tweedy will follow that up with a number of solo dates overseas.

Wilco Tour Dates:
August

August 2 - Chicago, IL - Lollapalooza
August 4 - Indianapolis, IN - White River State Park (with Bon Iver)
August 6 - Jacksonville, FL - Florida Theatre (with Bon Iver)
August 7 - Charleston, SC - North Charleston PAC (with Bon Iver)
August 8 - Cary, NC - Koka Booth Ampitheatre (with Bon Iver)
August 9 - Baltimore, MD - Virgin Music Festival
August 10 - Wilmington, DE - Grand Opera House (with Jennifer O'Connor)
August 12 - Lenox, MA - Tanglewood (with Andrew Bird)
August 13 - Brooklyn, NY - McCarren Pool (with Jennifer O'Connor)
August 16 - Jackson Hole, WY - Jackson Hole Music Festival
August 18 - Salt Lake City, UT - Red Butte Garden (with Fleet Foxes)
August 20 - Boise, ID - The Winery at Eagle Knoll (with Fleet Foxes)
August 21 - Spokane, WA - INB Performing Arts Center (with Fleet Foxes)
August 23 - Bend, OR - Les Schwab Ampitheatre (with Fleet Foxes)
August 24 - San Francisco, CA - Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival

Jeff Tweedy Solo Dates:
September

September 2 - Heineken Green Space - Valencia
September 3 - Palma Auditorium - Palma de Mallorca
September 5 - Palau Altea - Altea
September 6 - Auditorio Y Centro de Congresos Victor Villegas – Murcia

Wilco on Saturday Night Live

If you perused my Best Music of 2007 compendium you would have seen I included Wilco’s sublime, Sky Blue Sky in the list. Since it’s release last Spring I have grown to love the album from start to finish. A true rarity for “Gen -I’ers”* with bi-shuffle disorder. (But I digress, we’ll save that for another days blog topic…) Dear readers, please set your PVR’s; the band are going to be on Saturday Night Live this Saturday night (March 1st) playing live of course- with guest host and Canadian “it” girl, Ellen Page.

I guarantee a stellar performance, Jeff Tweedy and Company have never let me down performing in a live environment. This is where they truly shine. Who know’s, perhaps they'll work Monsieur Tweedy into a sketch a la Michael Stipe’s appearance as a silvery Christmas sprite several years back.

We sure do miss you Mango!

*My apologies to Douglas Coupland but every generation deserves its own letter now.

PLAYLIST 13 - Every Good Painter Paints What He Is

This compilation is a concerted attempt to recreate the feeling of reading Jack Kerouac’s On the Road for the first time. The songs were selected not as overt references but rather a converyance of the book’s well developed themes. A soundtrack for reading if you will. The book remains a pivotal creative influence on me.

Every Good Painter Paints What He Is

01. Amon Tobin – The Killer’s Vanilla
02. LCD Soundsystem - All My Friends
03. Talking Heads – Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)
04. Matmos – Solo Buttons For Joe Meek
05. Arthur Russell - A Little Lost
06. Jack Kerouac - The Subterraneans
07. John Fahey - America
08. Wilco - Either Way
09. Townes Van Zandt And Willie Nelson - Marie
10. Bettye LaVette - Joy
11. Dusty Springfield - Natchez Trace
12. Shearwater - Red Sea, Black Sea (Original Mix)
13. Sufjan Stevens – The Witch Mistress From McClure
14. Jack Kerouac – Ain’t We Got Fun
15. M Ward – One More Goodbye