A Ghost is Born, by Wilco

Wilco is ambitious. When other bands could be content with selling some albums and having a faithful following, Wilco makes music that is art, and makes no apologies. Anyone familiar with Wilco's discography knows that Wilco does not compromise, and has never taken any shortcuts. They don't apologize for, and perhaps that is why, the notoriety that came with "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" was so long in coming. The success of YHF could shake a mortal band, but not Wilco. You get the impression that Wilco wasn't all that happy with YHF, as if it were only a series of sketches in preparation for a masterpiece.

That leads us to the brand new album, "A Ghost is Born," and yes it is a masterpiece. Sonic perfection deftly surges and maneuvers beneath Jeff Tweady's vocals. The length of songs varies from 2:30 to 15 minutes in length, but when the album is over it is neither too long, nor to short. Upon completion you are left with the feeling that this album is complete. Its not a collection of songs, its a unified composition.

Hats off to PictureBox, Inc. for the superb design of the album. I have never experienced an album who's packaging played such an important role in the cd experience. I can only compare opening "A Ghost is Born's" packaging to opening my iPod for the first time (anyone who has had this thrilling experience understands what a beautiful experience Apple's packaging is). The plastic wrap has a transparent sticker that says "Wilco A Ghost is Born". Once you get the plastic wrap off, you arrive at the cardboard sleave with the beautifully mimimalistic image of a white egg on a white background. Turn it over and you see the story developing with the same image but with a small crack in the egg. Slide off the sleave, and the egg has hatched and all you see are the two halves of the broken shell. Now we arrive at the heart of the packaging, the cd. It has a small yellow ring at the center, the yolk. Lift the cd out and you see that it was resting in a bed of straw. Close the case, and the back cover is empty except for the titles of the song. A ghost was born. The only evidence left is the cd that you slip into your stereo. You push play, and the ghost has life.

Wilco's collaboration with PictureBox continues in June when a picture book will be released. Accompanying the book is a 40 minute cd of new music by Wilco. That's right, the music accompanies the book. Now that is SOUND DESIGN.

I like it. Thanks for the music reviews--I was getting tired of my same old music.