Kicking Television
"You love her,
But you don't know why"
Somewhere in Italy is a huge Wilco fan. His name is Luca Cordero di Montezemolo and he is the Chairman of the Fiat and Ferrari group. He doesn't seem the most likely gentleman to be a fan of one of the finest alternative rock bands of the last fifteen years, but perhaps that's testimony to the broader-than-you-would-expect appeal of Wilco.
From their transition from their beginnings as a shamelessly ordinary alt-country act, they have steadily evolved into one of the worlds best bands. Some lazy hack decided that they were 'The American Radiohead', which is of course nonsense, because unlike Mr Yorke and his compardres, Wilco have kept their heads distinctly out of their own sphincters and never forgot that rock music was about having great tunes rather than being as obtuse and arty as possible.
It's probably no great surprise that the bulk of this fine live album is material from the two Wilco albums that preceded it, this is nothing to be ashamed of though as both Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and A Ghost Is Born are in their own way modern classics. That's not to say that this is an album for those who want to bolster up their indie-cred, because there's a lot here that would thrill a power-pop fan, classic rock enthusiasts, or those that just want to enjoy a great band play live.
It's this ability to be several things at once that lies at the heart of Wilco, having come from a genre that is relatively easy to pigeonhole, Jeff Tweedy and his mates have honed this band into a band that could make a decent stab at anything they wanted to and in a sense it's this flexibility which is allowing them to grow old gracefully without pandering to the pressure of getting onto the radio, having eye-catching videos on MTV or competing with whatever young guns are the flavour of the month at the time. They just continue merrily jogging forward recording Wilco albums and just generally being Wilco.
As live albums go, I struggle to name another released in the last decade which stands up to comparison against Kicking Televison, as it runs the gamut of everything great about Wilco with it's tight yet relaxed musicianship, it's nods to psychedelic swirls, a few stylish guitar solos, and every now and then just cranking up the amps and rocking out like on the title track. I can only assume that it was the title track of this album that Mr di Montezemolo was dancing around his living room to when he took the band far to lyrically and put his foot through his no doubt ridiculously expensive goggle-box on the second of November last year just after Lewis Hamilton won the Formula One drivers championship for Ferrari's mortal enemies. And people said he was a bad loser - he wasn't even watching the race - he was listening to this rather splendid live album!
"I'm serious!"
But you don't know why"
Somewhere in Italy is a huge Wilco fan. His name is Luca Cordero di Montezemolo and he is the Chairman of the Fiat and Ferrari group. He doesn't seem the most likely gentleman to be a fan of one of the finest alternative rock bands of the last fifteen years, but perhaps that's testimony to the broader-than-you-would-expect appeal of Wilco.
From their transition from their beginnings as a shamelessly ordinary alt-country act, they have steadily evolved into one of the worlds best bands. Some lazy hack decided that they were 'The American Radiohead', which is of course nonsense, because unlike Mr Yorke and his compardres, Wilco have kept their heads distinctly out of their own sphincters and never forgot that rock music was about having great tunes rather than being as obtuse and arty as possible.
It's probably no great surprise that the bulk of this fine live album is material from the two Wilco albums that preceded it, this is nothing to be ashamed of though as both Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and A Ghost Is Born are in their own way modern classics. That's not to say that this is an album for those who want to bolster up their indie-cred, because there's a lot here that would thrill a power-pop fan, classic rock enthusiasts, or those that just want to enjoy a great band play live.
It's this ability to be several things at once that lies at the heart of Wilco, having come from a genre that is relatively easy to pigeonhole, Jeff Tweedy and his mates have honed this band into a band that could make a decent stab at anything they wanted to and in a sense it's this flexibility which is allowing them to grow old gracefully without pandering to the pressure of getting onto the radio, having eye-catching videos on MTV or competing with whatever young guns are the flavour of the month at the time. They just continue merrily jogging forward recording Wilco albums and just generally being Wilco.
As live albums go, I struggle to name another released in the last decade which stands up to comparison against Kicking Televison, as it runs the gamut of everything great about Wilco with it's tight yet relaxed musicianship, it's nods to psychedelic swirls, a few stylish guitar solos, and every now and then just cranking up the amps and rocking out like on the title track. I can only assume that it was the title track of this album that Mr di Montezemolo was dancing around his living room to when he took the band far to lyrically and put his foot through his no doubt ridiculously expensive goggle-box on the second of November last year just after Lewis Hamilton won the Formula One drivers championship for Ferrari's mortal enemies. And people said he was a bad loser - he wasn't even watching the race - he was listening to this rather splendid live album!
"I'm serious!"