Wilco
Chicago sounds like this
Thursday, 11 February 2010 12:31
“…and the horse you rode in on”
Bloodshot
Scotland Yard Gospel Choir hasn’t completely abandoned its U.K. pop influences on “…and the horse you rode in on.” But there’s a slight switch in sound from Belle and Sebastian to Pulp and Jarvis Cocker.
Frontman Elia Einhorn emulates Cocker, and the songs have a viciousness with which Pulp fans will connect. To the group’s credit, SYGC doesn’t get lost in the shuffle. The band’s radiant personality shines through, as on “I Pretend She’s You,” “Libertyville or Somewhere” and the bare-bones acoustic number “Praying Is A Heartache.”
Fans are wishing the band a speedy recovery from injuries sustained in a September 2009 van accident.
“Middle Cyclone”
Anti-
Possibly the biggest success story in the history of the aforementioned Chicago-based Bloodshot Records, Neko Case switched label allegiance to Anti- in 2004. That label reissued her early Bloodshot recordings, including “Middle Cyclone,” which is easily her most accessible recording.
With a voice as powerful as, well, a cyclone, Case presents some of her greatest originals, including “This Tornado Loves You,” “People Gotta Lotta Nerve,” “Polar Nettles” and “Magpie To The Morning.” As she’s done in the past, Case exhibits stellar taste in cover tunes, including Sparks’ “Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth” and Nilsson’s “Don’t Forget Me.”
“What To Say”
Vanguard
New kid on the block Daphne Willis blows in on a playful bluesy vibe on the opening track of her debut disc “What To Say.” By the delightful “Bluff,” “Far Away” and “Love and Hate,” the versatile singer/songwriter has moved on to a warm island breeze.
“All I Know” manages to both rock and be brassy, while Willis asserts herself as a modern folkie on “Swirl,” “Still Tryin’” and “Jim Thornton.”
“I’m Going Away”
Thrill Jockey
Like the previously mentioned Neko Case disc, “I’m Going Away,” by The Fiery Furnaces, moves the brother/sister duo into more approachable territory. It’s not that they’ve abandoned their avant-garde pop style – they’ve just made it a little more user-friendly.
The fuzzy title track stomps like a lost White Stripes cut. “Drive to Dallas” has a subtle whiskey-soaked twang, while the keyboards on “The End is Near” are pure 1972.
“Charmaine Champagne” bop-bop-bops like a drunken doll, while “Ray Bouvier” is more swagger and strut. “Take Me Round Again” is a modern day march, and “Even In The Rain” would be a hit single in a perfect world.
“Wilco”
Nonesuch
One of the lone survivors of the major-label raid of the 1990s, Wilco not only endured but consistently improved. Wilco exhibits a refreshing sense of humor right from the get-go with “Wilco (the song),” the opening track on “Wilco (the album),” in which the band declares that “Wilco will love you baby,” no matter how bad things get in your life. How can you not love them for that or for songs such as “Deeper Down” (sound effects and all), “You and I” (featuring a guest vocals turn by Feist), the pure pop of “You Never Know” and the retro bounce of “I’ll Fight.”
Wilco performs Feb. 20 in Overture Hall at Overture Center for the Arts, 201 State in Madison. For tickets, call 608-258-4141.
“Ordinary Riches”
Wind-Up
On their debut disc “Ordinary Riches” (Wind-Up), the trio Company of Thieves doesn’t sound like anyone else currently on the Chicago scene. Imagine Fiona Apple fronting Silversun Pickups, and you’re on your way.
Company of Thieves had an unexpected hit on their hands with the bumping “Oscar Wilde” (from which the album’s title is drawn), which affixed an irresistibly funky beat to the band’s modern blues guitar style. Other highlights include “The Tornado Song,” “Even In The Dark” and “In Passing.”
“Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky”
Capitol
Chicago may be the birthplace of house music, but the funky dance-oriented tunes on “Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky,” by OK Go, owe more to Prince than Frankie Knuckles. The disc is a far cry from the power pop of OK Go’s first two full-lengths, including “Oh No,” which yielded the hit single (and popular “treadmill” music video for) “Here It Goes Again.”
Sure there were hip-shaking Cars-flavored hints, but nothing could have prepared listeners for this shift. Prince is bound to be purple with envy when he hears “WTF?,” “All Is Not Lost,” “Skyscrapers,” “White Knuckles” (which is begging for a Frankie Knuckles remix) and “End Love.”
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