pick of the litter
Wilco Kicking Television (Nonesuch, 2005)
Wilco's new album, Kicking Television: Live in Chicago plays like a sonic collage. All the varied musical and atmospheric fruits of the band's past labors coalesce in a live setting.
Electronic sound experiments, earthy alt-rock timbre and extended forays into white noise come together in a single setting, on a single stage.
The result is a live album that is both dizzying in its diverse sounds and dazzling in its constant cohesion. Kicking Television serves more as a common denominator than a mere live album, a musical unified field theory that melds all of Wilco's disparate sounds.
The album's performances come from four concerts at Chicago's Vic Theatre earlier this year. The continuity of the recordings belie the separate sources, however, as each song segues neatly into the next and the illusion of a single, immaculate concert emerges.
Wilco's regular core of musicians is joined by three horn players, and Jeff Tweedy's plaintive vocals provide the music's anchor as the nine-piece ensemble seamlessly navigates a sea of styles.
From the first strains of "Misunderstood," a nostalgic musical musing from the album Being There, to the title track, "Kicking Television," a song that was offered only on the on-line version of Hotel Yankee Fox Trot, the program tours through Wilco's ambitious menu of music. Although most of the songs come from the band's last two albums, the selection is a tasteful sampling of all of their most bold and brazen efforts.
Songs like "Jesus, Etc." and "Radio Cure" find a sympathetic and dynamic live forum, neatly jumping from the experimental ambience of "Foxtrot" to a more immediate setting. Violin lines from the album are sounded with synthesizers and slide guitars while precisely-timed-feedback effects effectively recreate the more abstract moments. Innovative orchestration goes a long way in these concerts, as the band twists the live setting to suit their purposes. "Heavy Metal Drummer," for example, is executed with all the beat-box flair and synthesized sultriness of the recording, even as it incorporates new elements.
Similarly, the performances from Wilco's 2004 release, A Ghost is Born, seem to find a new life and a new meaning in the more immediate environment. The album's aural tapestries of lush piano and bizarre feedback are expertly recreated, and even gain elasticity as the band takes creative liberties with certain melodies. "Company in My Back" benefits from speedier solos and a more heartfelt vocal delivery, while the improvised and frenzied feedback solos of "Spiders" (Kidsmoke)" give a new sense of spontaneity. Like all of the performances, the performances from Ghost display a remarkable balance between recreation and improvisation. "Hummingbird" loses none of its full feel in the boundaries of a concert hall as the performers display a marked fidelity to the original recording, even as they prefer a more minimalist approach in the performance of "Muzzle of Bees."
Amid all of the album recreations, the album's closing track, "Comment," stands out as an original and fresh addition to this live compilation. Tweedy's words walk the line between intimate confession and earnest advice, hearkening back to folk icons like Guthrie and Dylan.
"All men are born to be free," he sings. "If you enslave me, you'll never rescue yourself."
The song stands out from the rest of the album's lyrical content as a stark signpost in a new direction. Even as Wilco has eloquently encapsulated their musical peaks in the space of one live album, they find a few moments at the end to point toward the unexplored.