Download Wilco MP3s
2005 has been a very good year for Wilco. Their 2004 album A ghost is born earned the Chicago rock band two Grammy Awards. Two of their earlier albums, 2002�s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and 1996�s Being There, as well as the DVD I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, have been certified gold. And the band � Jeff Tweedy, John Stirratt, Glenn Kotche, Mike Jorgensen, Nels Cline, and Pat Sansone � have been heralded by critics everywhere: �the world�s most exciting live rock band� said London�s Sunday Telegraph, �capable of nearly anything� said Spin magazine.
Much has happened in the decade since Tweedy assembled Wilco following the breakup of Uncle Tupelo, the band he formed with Jay Farrar in Belleville, Illinois in the late 1980s. In the past ten years, Wilco have released seven albums (including two collaborations with the estate of Woody Guthrie). There has been a well-documented departure from one large record company and a well-documented arrival at a new (small but mighty) one. There has been the birth of the Internet, file-sharing, streaming, downloading, and free culture. There have been books, documentaries, and even a few Grammys and gold records, not to mention the personnel changes, the drugs, the depression, a near collapse, and a triumphant rehabilitation. But for all the tumult there has always been Wilco, a rock band fronted by Jeff Tweedy, creating music and playing it live for its audience, year after year.
November 2005 will bring the release of a live disc, recorded earlier this year in the band�s hometown of Chicago at The Vic Theatre over four nights in May. �It�s really the best it�s ever felt,� said Tweedy to the Detroit Free Press earlier this year. �I would say at this point, I don�t think I�ve ever been in a band that�s felt this connected and unified with the collective vision.�
The live album, mixed by studio veteran Jim Scott (Tom Petty, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Dave Matthews, Johnny Cash) captures the energy, excitement, clarity, and musicality that has earned Wilco continued praise for their live shows around the world. �There is no band in this country matching the blend of avant-garde smarts, twisted leanings and genuine, folk- and country-inflected songwriting genius of Wilco,� said The Buffalo News. �The critical reputation can�t diminish the impact of this band.�
