WILCO
A Ghost Is Born
(Nonesuch)
www.wilcoworld.net 

Ever watched an award-winning, critically acclaimed movie that left you scratching your head in bewilderment at the end? I’m sure you have. That’s precisely the feeling I had when listening to Wilco’s fifth album, A Ghost Is Born.

In truth, I’ve never quite understood the hype behind Wilco’s last effort – the controversial Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Compared to the textural wonder that was Summerteeth, the last two Wilco album suggests that all is not well in leader Jeff Tweedy’s world.

Deceptively simple, the songs on A Ghost Is Born are annoying fragments of sporadic ideas that drift in and out almost in a sub-conscious manner. It is as if Tweedy just could not be bothered to follow through with the concepts that he came up with in the first place.

Poetically enough, the CD cover portrays an egg, which appears to be cracking open in the back to reveal… nothing! Sums it up totally…for hardcore fans only. C-

(Thanks to Boon Pah & Edward for their input)