Track Listing
Click tracks with speaker icon to listen| 1 | At Least That’s What You Said | 5:29 |
| 2 | Hell is Chrome | 4:33 |
| 3 | Spiders (kidsmoke) | 10:41 |
| 4 | Muzzle of Bees | 4:51 |
| 5 | Hummingbird (listen to full-length track) | 3:06 |
| 6 | Handshake Drugs | 6:02 |
| 7 | Wishful Thinking | 4:37 |
| 8 | Company in My Back | 3:42 |
| 9 | I’m a Wheel | 2:33 |
| 10 | Theologians | 3:31 |
| 11 | Less Than You Think | 15:00 |
| 12 | The Late Greats | 2:30 |
News & Reviews
- Friday, April 27, 2012
Billy Bragg Discusses "Mermaid Avenue" Across the BBC; Its "Wealth of Quality Material Is Remarkable," Says Q (Four Stars)
Billy Bragg has been featured across the BBC airwaves to celebrate the release of Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions, on which Bragg and Wilco set Woody Guthrie's words to music. The Sunday Times and Details both dub it a "must-have." BBC Music says that "nobody has picked up on Woody as effectively—or unexpectedly—as this transatlantic get-together." The Mermaid Avenue project "was always an interesting idea," says a four-star Q review. "That it produced such a wealth of quality material is remarkable." Pitchfork too says: "What's remarkable is the wealth of material available to these artists and the number of gems these sessions produced." Drowned in Sound rates this "wonderful reissue" a nine out of ten. "Even for those who already have both of the previous volumes," says DiS, "Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions is a fascinating look at one of America’s greatest writers."
- Saturday, April 21, 2012
Record Store Day Releases from Black Keys, Dr. John, Billy Bragg & Wilco, Sara Watkins, Carolina Chocolate Drops Out Now
Happy Record Store Day! Nonesuch Records has made a series of special releases available today in honor of the fifth annual Record Store Day, a celebration of the unique culture surrounding over 700 independently owned record stores in the USA and hundreds of similar stores internationally. Among the artists releasing albums and singles today are The Black Keys, Dr. John, Billy Bragg & Wilco, Sara Watkins, and Carolina Chocolate Drops. A limited quantity of each Record Store Day title is also available on the Nonesuch Store now.
About this Album
2004 Grammy Award Winner
On June 22 Nonesuch Records will release Wilco’s A ghost is born, the highly anticipated follow-up to the Chicago band’s 2002 recording, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. The new music, recorded at Sear Sound in New York City and Soma E.M.S. in Chicago, features twelve new tracks by Jeff Tweedy and company. It again features the production collaboration of Wilco and Sonic Youth’s Jim O’Rourke.
A ghost is bornmerges traditional rock elements of guitars, drums and keyboards with the band’s signature sonic experimentation, resulting in a record that is arguably the band’s most organic and live sounding effort to date. Much of …ghost was tracked live in the studio with co-producer O’Rourke and engineer Chris Shaw (Bob Dylan). It was mastered at London’s Abbey Road.
Wilco is Jeff Tweedy (vocals, guitars), John Stirratt (bass, vocals), Glenn Kotche (drums, percussion), and Mike Jorgensen (keyboards, laptop). Multi-instrumentalist Leroy Bach left Wilco at the completion of the …ghost recording sessions and the band has just announced the addition of two new members to its touring line-up: Pat Sansone (John Stirratt’s collaborator in The Autumn Defense) on keyboards, guitars and vocals and Nels Cline on guitars.
Credits
MUSICIANS
Jeff Tweedy, vocals (1-12), electric guitar (1, 6, 9, 10), electric lead guitar (2, 3), acoustic baritone 12-string guitar (4, 7), acoustic guitar (6-8, 10, 12), 6-string acoustic bass (11), loops, filters, synths (11)
John Stirratt, bass (1, 3, 6-10, 12), electric guitar (2), background vocals (2, 3 4 5 6), piano (4), electric rhythm guitar (5), acoustic guitar (11), loops, filters, synths (11)
Leroy Bach, piano (1, 6, 8, 12), Korg CX-3 organ (2, 8), bass (4), vibes (7), electric guitar (9), acoustic guitar (10, 11), loops, filters, synths (11)
Glenn Kotche, drums (1-12), hammer dulcimer (8, 11,12), percussion (8), loops, filters, synths (11)
Mikael Jorgensen, synthesizer (1), piano (2-5, 7, 10, 12), RMI Rocksichord (3, 6), Farfisa organ (4, 7, 12), Fenix modular synthesizer (8), stylophone (8), Serge modular synthesizer (11)
Jim O’Rourke, piano (1, 3, 4, 10), bass (2, 5), electric rhythm guitar (3, 6), ARP 2600 (3), acoustic guitar (4, 8), electric lead guitar (5), Korg CX-3 organ (7), loops, filters, synths (11), electric guitar (11)
with
Frankie Montuoro, hammer dulcimer (5)
Karen Waltuch, viola (5)
Tim Barnes, percussion (6)
PRODUCTION CREDITS
Produced by Wilco and Jim O’Rourke
Recorded at Sear Sound, NYC
Engineered by Chris Shaw
Mixed by Jim O’Rourke
Assistant Engineer: T. J. Doherty
Additional Engineering: Jim O’Rourke
Track 8-11 (non-drone section) recorded at SOMA E.M.S., Chicago, engineered by Mikael Jorgensen (Tim Iseler, assistant), with additional recording at Sear Sound, engineered by Jim O’Rourke
Mixed at Sear Sound by Jim O’Rourke
Mastered by Steve Rooke at Abbey Road, London
All songs written by Jeff Tweedy, except tracks 2 also by Jorgensen, 7 also by Kotche, 10 also by Jorgensen/Girard, 11 also by Stirratt/Kotche/Jorgensen/Bach/O’Rourke
Design by Peter Buchanan-Smith with Dan Nadel for PictureBox, Inc.
Photography by Michael Schmelling and Peter Buchanan-Smith
