Spending the past two weeks with Wilco’s Sky Blue Sky has completely turned around the way I look at this album. When I first heard it, I thought it was bland and sugarless. Not quite a 5.2, but definitely not a Yankee Hotel Foxtrot kind of 10 (note: I put that on my own, then found out Pitchfork actually did give it a 10)

Then I kept listening to it.

I listened to it at work. I put it on while reading or browsing the internet. “Either Way” let me enjoy lengthy drives across the roads of Kentucky, while the funky middle section of “Shake It Off” made me strut and dance through Lexington’s streets and parks. Over the past month it slowly worked its way into my blood stream and found its way to every valve and chamber of my heart.

MP3: Wilco – What Light

The best / weirdest thing about Sky Blue Sky is that for all its melancholy ways, it still manages to be downright uplifting. If you ever find yourself in need of a mix tape to explain life lessons to a child, or carry an inspiring message to someone hurting, you can fill your cup at Wilco’s well. “What Light” and “Either Way” carry a truth we pick up as kids, but seem to need to relearn at every turn as adults: soldier on. Bad things happen, but you pick yourself up and carry on.

Buy Sky Blue Sky
(I suggest getting it on vinyl, as it comes packaged with the CD)

I’ll be seeing Wilco at Bonnaroo, which starts in THREE DAYS. See pictures from their performance at Tallstacks here.