A few more thoughts about Wilco’s A Ghost Is Born

First off, now that I’ve seen the track-listing at Nonesuch I need to say two things. First, Chicagomuzik – usually a good Chicago music news site – was way off the mark while constantly patting themselves on the back for scooping everyone with the news that A Ghost Is Born would be a two-disc set. Apparently not. Secondly, while I assumed the leaked files I’ve heard are rough mixes, I’m beginning to doubt that. I’ll know for sure once they start streaming the disc from Wilco’s own site.

As for the album itself, Jim O’Rourke wields a pretty heavy hand over the proceedings. I like O’Rourke, but I’m starting to feel a little queasy about the bands he’s involved with, Sonic Youth and Wilco, and the fact that their output sounds ever closer to O’Rourke’s own solo material. Also, I think Jeff Tweedy is badly in need of a collaborator, like Jay Bennett, who will provide a counterpoint and perhaps a little creative editing. One of my favorite tracks off the new disc is “Spiders (kidsmoke)” but I think it would have been greatly improved had tweedy shaved, oh say, six minutes off of the song.

The album as a whole is enjoyable and I learned long ago not to expect Wilco to ever really repeat themselves, but the disc does feel a little half-baked and I’m not thoroughly convinced Jeff Tweedy and company were fully engaged in the making of this particular album. Forgive me if I fall on the cliché of, “it’s better than most of what’s out there,” but it falls a bit below the steadily rising bar the band had set for themselves with each of their previous albums.