"In Wilco I Trust"

It's been almost a year since my last blog. In that while, many of you have asked me "How's your blog going?". I've sheepishly had to tell them in a quiet tone "Been a while since I've done one of 'em", all with that classic hang-dog look on my face. As I've mentioned in the past, it's not because I've been uninspired, but more because I'm just plain lazy. I'm also pretty hard on myself in that I want to write in a perfect manner. I feel I need to be funny, intelligent, and gramatically sound. Not always easy to do after a long day of work or a gruelling game of pickup basketball.

Over the course of the last year, there have been many moments where I've been damn inspired to write about this, that, or whatever. I've even had ideas which don't relate to music, making me feel that "hey, maybe I could do this writing thing". Not much managed to convince me to sit at a PC to


While this expression may sound cheesy - it's something to live by. Sure, not EVERY Wilco track on EVERY album is "that" track (you know - the one that you LOVE), but what Wilco fan can say that they really dislike any one particular Wilco album? Odds are none. REAL Wilco fans have found varying degrees of charm and endearment in each of the band's 5 previous discs. It may have taken time to get to know one or two of them (for me, it was Summerteeth), but after 8-10 listens of whichever disc it was for you, you probably started to wonder how you didn't love it right off the bat.

Bottom line is that I am willing to give Tweedy and company the benefit of the doubt if I don't like a release of their's after, say, three listens.

I can't say I'm "there" yet with Sky Blue Sky...but after around 5 listens, I can honestly say that I want to keep exploring it, and seeing if it can continue to reel me in with each listen. I think that's all an artist can ask for from a fan: that they just keep giving it chance after chance, hoping that each additional time listened, the listener continues to derive additional utility from the CD. Sorry for the pretentious introductory microeconomics reference, but sometimes you just need to write what flows - exactly as I am doing right now (see how I did that? Clever, eh?).

I think that in the long run, this Wilco disc will hold its own against it's more renowned competition within the WCDF (Wilco Compact Disc Federation). For now, who cares? It's worth enjoying....