Holiday Gift Guide Review: Wilco, “What’s Your 20? Essential Tracks 1994-2014”

We’d like to welcome back Ted Frank for today’s Holiday Gift Guide review! Ted is taking a look at the new two-CD anthology What’s Your 20?  Essential Tracks 1994-2014 from alt-rock greats Wilco. (Since 2004, the line-up has consisted of vocalist/guitarist Jeff Tweedy, bassist John Stirratt, guitarist Nels Cline, multi-instrumentalist Pat Sansone, keyboardist Mikael Jorgensen and drummer Glenn Kotche.) This first-ever retrospective of the Grammy Award-winning band has been produced for the Nonesuch label by Cheryl Pawelski of Omnivore Recordings – a current Grammy nominee this year for Hank Williams’ The Garden Spot Programs 1950 – with the participation of Tweedy and the band, and has been freshly remastered by Bob Ludwig and beautifully designed by Omnivore’s Greg Allen in a digipak. See here for more information on the companion piece to What’s Your 20?: the exquisite 4-CD rarities collection, Alpha Mike Foxtrot! Now, without further ado…

2014 could easily be considered the year of Jeff Tweedy.

It has been an impressive year for the man who started out in the alt-country band Uncle Tupelo (whose milestone album No Depression was reissued this year). Tweedy and his band Wilco released two career-spanning collections on the same day this past November and Tweedy even played alongside his 18-year-old son Spencer on this fall’s release Sukierae (not to mention having songs featured in two critically acclaimed films, Boyhood and St. Vincent). With these kinds of credentials, it would appear that Tweedy should be a cultural icon. Yet, why is it that when Jeff Tweedy sings, “I am so out of tune with you” on Wilco’s stunning track, “Sunken Treasure” from the breakthrough 1996 album Being There, it rings so true in terms of his and Wilco’s public profile?

As Wilco has never had a Hot 100 radio hit, what is the modus operandi when it comes to compiling a 20-year retrospective of the band – especially when the band on hand might just be content to self-reflexively refer to itself as being “out of tune” with its times? The answer comes in the new 2-CD collection from Nonesuch Records, What’s Your 20?   This year marks 20 years since Wilco originally came together as a band; hence, the album title. Being a coyly titled collection of 38 “essential tracks,” this newly-remastered set poses the question: What makes something essential? The album’s producer Cheryl Pawelski – aided by Jeff Tweedy, Tony Margherita, and Deb Bernardini – doesn’t actually limit the album to 20 songs, “settling” instead for a generous 38! Again, this is not a collection of chart toppers, nor is it the self-addressed love letter that tends to plague bands with those albatross hit singles. Rather, it is the soundtrack of a band working to bring the varied elements of their distinct sound together. To somewhat define this kind of collection, it is not your typical greatest hits collection. It is an album that reconsiders Wilco’s past only to chart out its future.

Despite lacking pop chart success, the songs selected here are timeless, taking in influences as varied as Woody Guthrie to the Beach Boys to Radiohead. To get an idea of how Wilco has evolved from alt-country to pop, just listen to the transition on Disc 1 from the country rocker “Casino Queen” (Track 4, from 1995’s A.M.) to the plaintive swells of “Misunderstood” (Track 5, from 1996’s Being There). A significant leap in style is evident here within the slide of a single track. It’s a progression comparable to that of Radiohead’s Pablo Honey into The Bends.

The anthology’s expansiveness suggests a bliss found in a wealth of riches. As it chronologically propels from Wilco’s first album A.M. to their 2011 release Whole Love, this anthology may be a good starting point album for the newly initiated, but it’s actually much more than a mere introduction. (And if 38 songs on two CDs is too major a commitment for you, how about starting with the timeless Summerteeth and then diving into this set next?  You’ll be hooked.)  Equivalent to a “selected poetry” collection rather than a “collected works,” the compilation demonstrates an artistry of omission and rearrangement; there is intentionality by Pawelski and her collaborators in the placement and selection of songs. On average, there are three-to-four songs from each album represented, with two highlights from The Mermaid Sessions, California Stars and Airline To Heaven, the latter of which (reminiscent of Mark Lang’s brilliant guitar playing on his 1976 song, Strawberry Man) is hard to believe was once a Woody Guthrie original lyric since it has been transformed into such a rocker.   With such a collection, there is not necessarily an expectation in terms of song selections (since, again, these are not hit singles in the traditional sense of the term), freeing the compilers to explore various avenues. What’s Your 20? is not intended to be a greatest hits album; instead, it rollickingly unfolds into a focused listening experience by a band that defies labels.

Hit the jump for more!

Release Round-Up: Weeks of December 23 and December 30

Well, these are incredibly light weeks for new releases!  Thankfully, the Kritzerland and Audio Fidelity labels have stepped up with a quartet of titles to close out 2014 on a high note!

Cy Coleman, John Kander, Harvey Schmidt and Charles Strouse, Classical Broadway (Kritzerland) (available for pre-order now)

Kritzerland remasters this 1992 album (originally released on the Bay Cities label) featuring classical compositions from four of Broadway’s most legendary composers including Cy Coleman (Sweet Charity, Barnum), John Kander (Cabaret, Chicago), Harvey Schmidt (The Fantasticks, 110 in the Shade) and Charles Strouse (Annie, Bye Bye Birdie).  Though these pieces are for the concert hall and not for the musical stage, they still brim with the melody and flair of the composers’ theatre work.  This title will ship by the second week of February, but pre-orders placed directly through the label typically arrive an average of four weeks early.

Patrick Williams, Breaking Away: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Kritzerland) (available for pre-order now)

Here’s the world premiere soundtrack release of Patrick Williams’ score (as conducted by the great Lionel Newman) for the beloved 1979 coming-of-age drama.  This deluxe release features Williams’ original cues, classical adaptations, as well as material cut from the finished film.  This title will ship by the second week of February, but pre-orders placed directly through the label typically arrive an average of four weeks early.

The Guess Who, The Best of The Guess Who (Audio Fidelity) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) (12/30)

Audio Fidelity premieres the 4.0 quadraphonic surround mix of The Guess Who’s 1971 compilation album on hybrid SACD (meaning a stereo layer is playable on standard CD players) – featuring such songs as “These Eyes,” “Laughing,” “No Time,” “Undun” and “American Woman.”  And that’s not the only quad classic coming to CD…

Blood, Sweat & Tears, Blood, Sweat & Tears (Audio Fidelity) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) (12/30)

Following its 5.1 presentation of BS&T’s Al Kooper-helmed debut album, Audio Fidelity revisits the kickoff of the horn band’s David Clayton-Thomas era!  This original 4.0 quad mix of the 1969 smash features “Spinning Wheel,” “And When I Die” and “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy,” all in vivid multichannel on hybrid SACD.

And lastly, we’d like to spread a little holiday cheer courtesy of one of our readers…

The Man Who Saved Christmas: The Original Studio Cast Recording (Take the Cakeable Records) (Amazon U.S.) (available now)

This isn’t a reissue, but what it is, is a charming and unabashedly old-fashioned musical comedy as recorded by a cast of 34 singers and a 14-piece orchestra.  Ron Lytle’s bright musical is inspired by the life story of A.C. Gilbert.  The inventor of the erector set, Gilbert was dubbed “the man who saved Christmas” for his crusade against a proposed ban on toy sales during one pivotal holiday season!  The Studio Cast Recording of this charming show is available now at Amazon, and more information on the show can be found at its website.  Merry Christmas, everyone!