Jeff Tweedy is the subject of a feature article in this Sunday's New York Times, about the making of the new record, the band's story, life as a family man, and the much healthier, more content place in which he now finds himself. The Times calls Wilco (the album) a "splendid" record from "one of alternative rock’s most consistent and respected bands." It's a sign that, "unlike the rock trope that only chronic agony produces important music, the absence of mayhem has been good for the work." To that end, the record serves as "a kind of compilation of a band at the height of its powers." Jeff also answers a very eclectic set of questions in the Times Magazine.
When Wilco was in Los Angeles last week, the band played three sold-out shows at the Wiltern Theater and stopped by the Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien to perform the single "You Never Know" off their latest Nonesuch release, Wilco (the album). Even before all of that was under way, Jeff Tweedy sat down to speak with New York Times writer David Carr about the making of the new record, the band's story, life as a family man, and the much healthier, more content place in which he now finds himself. It's the subject of a feature article appearing in the Times's Arts & Leisure section this Sunday.
In the article, Carr calls Wilco (the album) a "splendid" record from "one of alternative rock’s most consistent and respected bands." It's a sign for Tweedy that, in Carr's words, "unlike the rock trope that only chronic agony produces important music, the absence of mayhem has been good for the work."
That lack of mayhem in Tweedy's life has coincided with the longest-tenured lineup in the band's history, with "players who can match his demanding vision," allowing for greater group cohesion and a heightened understanding what makes the band work so well. Rita Houston, the music director at New York radio station WFUV, sees this reflected directly in the album title. "I think they called it Wilco (the album) because this band knows who they are," she tells the Times, "and they are ready to own that identity in a very confident way.”
To that end, the record serves as "a kind of compilation of a band at the height of its powers," says Carr. "They brought in more directness and songcraft that leans harder on melody and hooks. The lyrics are also more engaged, less concerned with the alienation of modern life than with finding a way around it."
Read the complete article at nytimes.com.
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Jeff is also the subject of the "Questions for ..." section of the New York Times Magazine. In the Q&A, interviewer Deborah Solomon recognizes the band's cross-generational draw when she offers that "it appeals with equal magnetism to aging boomers and our teenage kids" and goes on to ask the band's front man a broad range of questions, including the band's choice to stream the new album early, the origins of the band name, his younger days in Illinois, bar mitzvahs, and Barack Obama. Read the interview at nytimes.com.
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