WILCO
YANKEE HOTEL FOXTROT
NONESUCH RECORDS
The word "masterpiece" is tossed around by critics and record promoters as a way of creating a buzz. By planting a particular reference point in the mind of the listener, it supposedly makes it easier to place it in some kind of overall musical oeuvre. After Wilco's untimely release from Reprise, the band was allowed to buy the original masters of their new record and shop themselves around, eventually landing at Nonesuch Records. So was it worth the wait and hassle? Resoundingly, yes. The opening track, clocking in at just under eight minutes, builds itself up only to crumble right before your ears. Songs like "Kamera" and "Jesus Etc." revel in oddball instrumentation - fiddles, trumpets, and even a squeezebox show up at various turns. The record reaches a peak with "Poor Places," a song that slowly transforms itself from a Sgt. Pepper's outtake into a whirling hailstorm of feedback, CB transmissions, and organ distortion. Wilco specializes in the snippet - that little piece of melody, be it a piano, synth line, guitar squeak or vocal effect - that makes a song memorable. This record functions well as a whole; no wasted space - nothing that could or should have been left out. Singer/guitarist Jeff Tweedy calls it the "Prince" rule: a belief that "every part should work even if it were cranked up to be the loudest thing in the song." It is fun to experience a band in the apex of their artistic abilities. This is such a band, caught in such a moment. Album of the year, so far.-AW
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