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Album Review
by SashaS
24-2-2003
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| The Minus5 get down with Wilco 4 ace CD |
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The Minus 5: 'Down With Wilco'
(Cooking Vinyl)
The Minus 5’s studio hanging with Wilco
After reportedly talking about collaboration for about 15 years, the ‘threat’ is finally fulfilled: The Minus 5 union with Wilco for an album recorded as a band. There is muso kinship but there are also differences, more rock-leftism versus Americana, a recipe for a rich meal, if you ask me. The Minus 5 has been experimenting a lot along his erratic career and ‘Down With Wilco’ is another treat for musical fans obsessed with searching for soulful haven in the world gone mad, bad and bloodthirsty.
The Minus 5 is a pop collective formed by Scott McCaughey of The Young Fresh Fellows/Tuatara/REM (touring member) and from the latter, the ‘regular’-guest, Peter Buck as well as Ken Stringfellow of The Posies. ‘Down With Wilco’ is the follow-up to 2001’s ‘Let the War Against Music Begin’, and it marks big departure in McCaughey’s creativity; his historic process of recording basic parts and gathering additional recorded pieces from participants is replaced with much more collaborative effort.
McCaughey explains: “I actually went into the studio for four or five days at a time and recorded the songs together with Wilco, playing as a band on many of the tracks, though we experimented with the building block approach as well. The night before each session, Jeff (Tweedy) and I would pick out, and in some cases, change around, or finish, songs that seemed to fit our concept for the record. I felt like letting everyone have a say in the arrangements and production, facets that are usually pretty much left to me on Minus 5 projects”.
The result is 13 new songs performed by McCaughey, Tweedy, John Stirratt, Glenn Kotche, Leroy Bach, Peter Buck and Ken Stringfellow, plus special guests Rebecca Gates, Christy McWilson, Sean O’Hagan, Charlie Francis, Jessy Greene and Brian Paulson. Some cast that delivers mainly dreamy, psychedelic songs that float by like a beautiful butterfly that wings away before you have time to enjoy its delicate features. The first three tracks, at least, recall something like a George Harrison fronted Beatle cuts from the latter period (without getting too Indian about it.)
‘The Town That Lost Its Groove Supply’ picks up pace but don’t expect a funk; this is a little jig that is decorated with so many marvellous little sonic details to make it an early fave. The step is quickened also on ‘Where Will You Go?’ that is counter-balanced by a distorted guitar and collapsing-ending only to segue into ‘Life Left Him There’; a gem that drags its blues roots openly and proudly as much as the pop element, as if it were canned by Pink Floyd circa 1967!?
There are moodier, more dramatic moments, more pensive, deeper, fragile notes, a tad of noise (‘What I Don’t Believe’); the final feeling is like a magic potion inducing an inner emo-tsunami.
To understand this album better, the press notes contain reading suggestions as well as listening ones: among the books is one of greatest ever written, James Joyce’s ‘Ulysses’, while records that should be referred to are Howlin’ Wolf’s ‘Memphis Days’ and ‘Nick Lowe’s ‘Basing Street’.
The Minus 5, as usual, provide full service and class is not optional.
9/10
SashaS
24-2-2003
The Minus 5 album is released on 24 February 2003 by Cooking Vinyl
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