Dark Green Enough To Be Blue

Wilco “Side With The Seeds” – Some people seem a bit surprised when I tell them Sky Blue Sky is one of my top favorite records from 2007, and maybe a lot of that has to do with the fact that I’ve barely written about it. It’s been a fairly private pleasure for me, particularly over the summer when its calming chords provided some relief from stress and worry. This isn’t to say that Sky Blue Sky is an entirely relaxing set of songs — if anything, I kept going back to it because its emotional state so neatly echoed my own experience of trying to stay cool and collected while quietly freaking out for three solid months. Most of the worst reviews for the record glibly dismissed the music as “dad rock,” which is sort of aggravating because I think that the epithet accidentally touches on the stoicism and maturity that is key to the record’s appeal, but favors a kneejerk appreciation of less emotionally (or musically) complicated music.

Also, it’s a huge mistake to write it off as an album full of wanky, meandering guitar solos. Yes, there’s a lot of solos, but they are part of dynamic, meticulously crafted instrumental sections that carry a great deal of the record’s emotional weight. The words are fine, and as usual, Jeff Tweedy’s voice is extremely charismatic and expressive despite his limitations, but for the most part, the major action on the record happens in the instrumental sections — the climax, the resolution, the postscript. It’s both the feelings buried underneath the surface that you can’t quite let out, and the things you just can’t articulate with words for one reason or another. It’s a very sophisticated and subtle work of art, and though it is understandable why so many people would either neglect or dismiss it for not immediately revealing its charms, I promise you that the album has quite a lot to offer. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)