Wilco - The Whole Love

The Whole Love, released in 2011, saw Wilco return to some of the experimentation that marked 2004's A Ghost is Born.  Never more so than on opening track Art of Almost which sees them go full on Radiohead, complete with glitchy percussion and electronic bleeps.  It's actually really good, though there is a LOT going on.  The track builds gradually to a thrilling, rocky outtro.  

The rest of the album doesn't quite live up to the opener, though it's generally pretty good.  Tracks like I Might, Dawned On Me and the title track are the type of thing Wilco can pull off with minimal effort, a kind of midpaced, rootsy classic rock.  The last of these combines growling guitars with whistling of all things.

There are a couple of moody acoustic tracks such as Black Moon which starts out with a bare picked guitar before being joined by a subtle string part that avoids overpowering the song.  Later Rising Red Lung combines a simple acoustic figure with a bit of pedal steel to great effect. 

Elsewhere?  Born Alone is a pleasant strumalong track with a biting electric lead after the chorus, before a Revolver-style outtro.  The Beatles are never far away on the likes of the pleasant drift on Sunloathe or jaunty Capitol City.

There are tracks where little happens such as the simple, vaguely country Open Mind, yet these deliver just enough to keep you returning.  

They save the best for last with the 12 minute One Sunday Morning.  It's difficult to explain what makes this one so good.  On paper it's a simple guitar and piano tune which doesn't vary much for its twelve minute duration, merely adding a few musical touches here and there, percussion, bells etc.  But try listening to this on a cold, sunny drive, it perfectly encapsulates that feeling of being at peace.  And it feels far shorter than 12 minutes.