Album: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Artist: Wilco
Born: Chicago, Illinois
Released: April 2002
Genre: Psychedelic Country
From their alt country beginnings, Wilco rapidly evolved into a more experimental band at the start of the 21st century, losing much of their country flavour in favour of a more psychedelic sound. A key event in this evolution was Jeff Tweedy's meeting with Jim O'Rourke in 2000 at a noise pop festival in Chicago, the town that both musicians called home (Yankee Hotel Foxtrot's cover is a picture of Chicago's distinctive 65-storey Marina City). Tweedy and O'Rourke actually recorded some songs together, but these never saw the light of day, and instead Tweedy returned to Wilco and started working on their fourth album. The connection between the two didn't fizzle out though, with O'Rourke brought in by Tweedy to mix their next record, and his work on I Am Trying To Break Your Heart impressed the band. This period was a very tumultuous time for Wilco, with guitarist Jay Bennett leaving the group and record label Time Warner deciding to delay the LP's release, which was originally scheduled for September 11th 2001 (two great albums did appear on 9/11, Jay-Z's The Blueprint and Rockin' The Suburbs by Ben Folds). You can get a flavour of the chaos by watching this documentary about Yankee Hotel Foxtrot's recording. After Wilco's label called the album a "career-ender", the band took the decision to make the record available for download on their website, with tens of thousands of people quick to take advantage. Time Warner finally relented and released the album on small imprint, Nonesuch, in spring 2002.
Unsurprisingly, given the album's low-profile release, there are no promo videos of any of the songs. Instead, in this National Public Radio Tiny Desk concert recorded in 2011, you can see Wilco perform several new songs but finish the set with War On War, one of the standout tracks on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. It's one of the best examples of how Wilco managed to fuse country with psychedelia. Opening track, I Am Trying To Break Your Heart, leans more towards psychedelia and reminded me of Kid A the first time I heard it, until Tweedy's vocals bring the song back into focus, amid clattering krautrock drums and dissonant piano chords. This record has the same experimental feel as Kid A, but Wilco didn't do away with the guitars. These are in evidence on the lovely Kamera, which has a warm folk-rock sound inspired by The Byrds and features great production work by O'Rourke. The guitar sound on I'm The Man Who Loves You is reminiscent of Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere-era Neil Young, while Heavy Metal Drummer has a more modern, upbeat feel. Highlights on the record are Jesus, Etc., Ashes Of American Flags and Poor Places, the first featuring a simple arrangement but some of the album's most stunning songwriting, "Tall buildings shake / voices escape, singing sad, sad songs / tuned to chords, strung down your cheeks / bitter melodies, turning your orbit around". Ashes of American Flags has a similar emotional depth, and sounds like a cut from one of the great dream pop records of the era, as does Poor Places, with its close-miked vocals that give Tweedy's words a real intimacy. As the song fades out, you can hear the sample from the Conet Project of a robotic English female voice saying, "Yankee, hotel, foxtrot". Wilco trod that fine line between experimentation and pop melody, and emerged with a masterpiece.
From their alt country beginnings, Wilco rapidly evolved into a more experimental band at the start of the 21st century, losing much of their country flavour in favour of a more psychedelic sound. A key event in this evolution was Jeff Tweedy's meeting with Jim O'Rourke in 2000 at a noise pop festival in Chicago, the town that both musicians called home (Yankee Hotel Foxtrot's cover is a picture of Chicago's distinctive 65-storey Marina City). Tweedy and O'Rourke actually recorded some songs together, but these never saw the light of day, and instead Tweedy returned to Wilco and started working on their fourth album. The connection between the two didn't fizzle out though, with O'Rourke brought in by Tweedy to mix their next record, and his work on I Am Trying To Break Your Heart impressed the band. This period was a very tumultuous time for Wilco, with guitarist Jay Bennett leaving the group and record label Time Warner deciding to delay the LP's release, which was originally scheduled for September 11th 2001 (two great albums did appear on 9/11, Jay-Z's The Blueprint and Rockin' The Suburbs by Ben Folds). You can get a flavour of the chaos by watching this documentary about Yankee Hotel Foxtrot's recording. After Wilco's label called the album a "career-ender", the band took the decision to make the record available for download on their website, with tens of thousands of people quick to take advantage. Time Warner finally relented and released the album on small imprint, Nonesuch, in spring 2002.
Unsurprisingly, given the album's low-profile release, there are no promo videos of any of the songs. Instead, in this National Public Radio Tiny Desk concert recorded in 2011, you can see Wilco perform several new songs but finish the set with War On War, one of the standout tracks on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. It's one of the best examples of how Wilco managed to fuse country with psychedelia. Opening track, I Am Trying To Break Your Heart, leans more towards psychedelia and reminded me of Kid A the first time I heard it, until Tweedy's vocals bring the song back into focus, amid clattering krautrock drums and dissonant piano chords. This record has the same experimental feel as Kid A, but Wilco didn't do away with the guitars. These are in evidence on the lovely Kamera, which has a warm folk-rock sound inspired by The Byrds and features great production work by O'Rourke. The guitar sound on I'm The Man Who Loves You is reminiscent of Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere-era Neil Young, while Heavy Metal Drummer has a more modern, upbeat feel. Highlights on the record are Jesus, Etc., Ashes Of American Flags and Poor Places, the first featuring a simple arrangement but some of the album's most stunning songwriting, "Tall buildings shake / voices escape, singing sad, sad songs / tuned to chords, strung down your cheeks / bitter melodies, turning your orbit around". Ashes of American Flags has a similar emotional depth, and sounds like a cut from one of the great dream pop records of the era, as does Poor Places, with its close-miked vocals that give Tweedy's words a real intimacy. As the song fades out, you can hear the sample from the Conet Project of a robotic English female voice saying, "Yankee, hotel, foxtrot". Wilco trod that fine line between experimentation and pop melody, and emerged with a masterpiece.
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