less than you think

I've been thinking a lot about this. Prepare yourselves to be blinded by the awesome relevance of my thoughts.

I appreciate interesting music. That's a dodgy concept, of course, "interesting music." Schoenberg's 12-tone music is considered by many to be "interesting," but it's unambiguously unlistenable. A friend once described my taste as being concentrated in "demented pop music." This is much easier to handle. Pop music, not to be confused with pap, and by way of definition, should not be construed to encompass Backsteet Boy-Avril Lavigne-esque radio-ready synthesized sludge. Pop should mean catchy, song-based music that's not too brutal, loud, or, shall we say, "urban."

What Wilco has always done well is take pop music a step beyond pop's traditional constraints by playing with the form and making it musically engaging and interesting to listen to. Their songs, at heart, are fairly simple. Usually based on acoustic guitar or piano and accentuated from there, use "California Stars" as an example of just how simple, musically (not lyrically, obvs), their songs can be. What distinguishes Wilco is how they make these simple songs interesting. "Being There" updated classic rock with some new structures, new production, and a willingness to experiment. "Summerteeth" used all kinds of interesting instruments, lots of vintage synthesizers, and inventive harmonies to give a shiny mask to songs that were increasingly fractuous and dark. I would argue for "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" as a direct descendent of Big Star's "Third/Sister Lovers" in that the songs sounded on the verge of disintegration, both structurally and aurally.

Of course, nearly every song on every album has a memorable melody, which can enhance (or distract) the "listenability" of the tracks. Nobody wants to listen to 7 minutes of feedback and nonsensical drumming, but if you put a pretty vocal on top, it's a lot more palatable.

I like Wilco because they make pop music interesting, and interesting music poppy. They also make interesting pop music. Which is neither here nor there. Or possibly both. Maybe I haven't given as much thought to this as I thought. Wheels within wheels, man.