sky blue sky

artwork from Wilco's forthcoming album due for release on May 15th

i had the good fortune today to check my myspace bulletins & saw one from wilco proclaiming that, during a specified window of time, the new album sky blue sky was available as a live stream. i missed a similar opportunity last weekend & was very disappointed. so, today i sat & listened to the new album in its entirety. the sound goes a different direction than what i might have expected, more bluesy less art-rock(y), & was a very easy-going record. very sunday afternoon. i wonder if the laid back quality was influenced at all by the fact that most of the recording took place between tweedy's solo tour dates last fall,[hmmm]? unfortunately, i couldn't get a good feel for the overall lyrical tone through such a quick listen, but i find no reason to assume there will be any disappointment. while the live evolution of a ghost is born made for several very long songs that enabled guitarist nels cline to wander around inside real fuzzy-cool solos, sbs [which actually includes cline this time] does so more often but less sprawlingly [we'll see if that remains once they develop the songs further on tour]. not necessarily better or worse in that regard, but different. sbs's line-up also differs from the past, with the addition of pat sansone, who also has been playing live shows with wilco for some time. keep an ear out for other listening opportunities in the near future. in the meantime you'll just have to take my word for it [&/or download what light to get a feel for yourself].