Neil Young’s 40th album, Chrome Dreams II, comes out today. Now, even for a serious fan, a new Neil Young album is not generally a landmark event. He’s been steadily releasing albums throughout his career and, in recent years, he’s been working at a young man’s pace churning out seven albums since 2000’s Are You Passionate? This one doubles the standard expectations by positioning itself as a sort of sequel to the famously unreleased and, according to some, utterly nonexistent 1977 album, Chrome Dreams.

Wait. Now even I’m confused. Does that say that this new album is a sequel to an album that possibly never existed? Why, yes it does. To keep the story short, I’ll quote the wikipedia:

Chrome Dreams is the name of a 1977 unreleased album by Neil Young, and also of an acetate from that period which claimed to be of that album.

Jimmy McDonough’s Shakey: Neil Young’s Biography supports the claim that Chrome Dreams is indeed a bootlegged acetate with said title. A document that accompanied the acetate (which Young’s archivist Joel Bernstein has denounced as a fake) gave the impression that Young had officially given Chrome Dreams as the title, inspired by rumors in the press of a new album with the same title. Young is quoted as saying “What Chrome Dreams really was, was a sketch that [David] Briggs drew of a grille and front of a ’55 Chrysler, and if you turned it on its end, it was this beautiful chick…I called it Chrome Dreams.” (McDonough)

Scrapped or imaginary, Chrome Dreams circulates among fans as a well complied masterpiece. Most of the songs resurfaced on later releases in some form or another. Neil’s stirring ode to composer/arranger Jack Nitzsche did not officially resurface until Unplugged in 1993. Other tracks include, “Pocahontas”, “Like A Hurricane”, “Will To Love”, and “Powderfinger.” One of the strengths of the compilation is it’s movement through a variety of sounds and tones while maintaining a connective thead, a theme of moving on in the face of loss, separation, and change.

This is something that Neil Young has cited about the new record:

“It’s an album with a form based on some of my original recordings, with a large variety of songs, rather than one specific type of song. Where Living with War and Everybody’s Rockin’ were albums focused on one subject or style, Chrome Dreams II is more like After the Gold Rush or Freedom, with different types of songs working together to form a feeling.”

Additionally, Neil has reached back into his vault to find a few older songs that suit his message. The record opens with a trio of tunes that each date back to a different segment of Neil’s 1980s output. “Beautiful Bluebird” a graceful opener with crisp dobro lines dates back to the original lineup of the Old Ways album. “Boxcar” goes back to Times Square, an album that was shelved in 1989. “Ordinary People,” the first single from this album, is an eighteen minute sprawling mural of life in the United States recorded back in 1988 with the Bluenotes. For those of you who don’t know your Neil Young backup bands, that means horns. At first listen, I wasn’t feeling the horns but, honestly, they work well.

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Another day, counting down to my next Wilco show… I can’t resist. Today I’m going to talk about how awesome Nels Cline is (again.)

For starters, check out this preview of Tuesday’s Wilco show in the Columbus Dispatch. It’s a good read, but doesn’t say much in particular about Nels Cline. This review, however, tells a different story.

“Cline is the band’s MVP, in fact, a veteran avant-garde musician passing as rock star who challenges the group constantly and contributes a good many of Wilco’s most exciting concert moments.

The sound he created with lap steel guitar, sometimes akin to the lead line emanating from a sitar, and the steam he generated on country tunes as well as rockers found much of the promise in Wilco’s distinctive style. When the band figured out how to make its unique sound feel fresh on the stage, it was generally Cline who could be thanked.”

Now check out Nels Cline’s solos on this live performance:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STvoZMkpRpY[/youtube]

Handshake Drugs

Cline is clearly on fire. As a guitar player, I see the things he does, hear them, and I cannot reconcile them with anything that I can even begin to perform. That could be largely due to my own ineptitude but… wow.

Have a look at this. I absolutely adore the way the guitar parts intertwine and complement one another:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97IT0-EDTtw[/youtube]

Impossible Germany

The video is from Shake It Off; the DVD that accompanied Sky Blue Sky.

Anyway, it’s Friday and long are the odds against me posting on a weekend so, I’ll catch you next week with a recap of the show! Oh, and somebody has a new album coming out that I want to talk about…

“Wilco, Wilco, Wilco… Is that all you think about?”

Well, no. But I try to keep this site family friendly.

Today I’m going to beat more Wilco into your brain and hip you to one of my favorite radio shows/podcasts.

Sound Opinions, billed as “The Worlds Only Rock & Roll Talk Show” is produced by Chicago Public Radio (WBEZ) and American Public Media and is hosted by pop/rock critics, Jim DeRogatis (Chicago Sun-Times) and Greg Kot (Chicago Tribune.) They pick apart, not just the current releases in music, but also the news and the history in an entertaining and insightful manner. I check them out every week and I think you should too.

One of the other great things they do is host artists in their studio. Recent guests include: John Cale, Midlake (first time I’d heard them and I loved it), The Flaming Lips, Yoko Ono, The Decemberists, and Wilco. (You knew it was coming, right?)

Yep. Wilco was playing a show in their hometown of Chicago so Greg and Jim stopped by the venue for an interview and private performance. Check it out.

In case you’re too unmotivated to go to the Sound Opinons website witout some proper baiting, I’ll link you to one song from Wilco’s performance. For the rest you’ll have to go to the site (It’s worth it!)
Side With The Seeds (stream)

itunes podcast