It’s worth checking out the Rhino Web site just to see what new goodies the Rhino Handmade folks have cooked up — stuff you won’t find at most stores or even find out about unless you check in with Rhino. And now they’re getting into the digital-download game with “Rhino Hi-Fives,” five-packs of downloads from various artists for the bargain price of $3.99. I tried Wilco and was surprised to find that all the tracks were from just two of the band’s albums. At least they weren’t the most obvious cuts.
Wilco, “Far, Far Away”
Not the most inspiring song to start, well, anything off with, “Far, Far Away” is a slow, strummy, sad little acoustic number — the first of three from Being There — that finds Jeff Tweedy in a funk over the distance between himself and his love. “I long to hold you in my arms and sway . . . I need to see you tonight.” Yep, some sad, sad stuff, with harmonica moaning in the background to keep you focused on just how lonely our man Tweedy is.
Wilco, “Monday”
Okay, now the band are cooking with a pounding Motown beat, some Stonesy guitar chords, a driving bass line, and lyrics that Tweedy seems to be having some fun with. “Monday/I’m all high/Get me out of FLA,” he shouts with some enthusiasm as those Exile on Main St. horns come into focus and bump the energy level up another notch.
Wilco, “Outta Mind (Outta Sight)”
The energy level stays high for this celebratory lament that falls in the “You’re leaving me but I just don’t care right now” school of rock relationships. It’s built around one riff, a big chord that leads into a big bent string, but there’s so much going on, what with the drum fills, the organ that emerges from time to time, and the tremolo guitar, that it seems there’s more to it.
Wilco, “A Shot in the Arm”
The repetitive piano and queasy strings are just the beginning of the weirdness that takes over on this Summerteeth track, which offers a dose of the experimental side Wilco have been exploring on their past few albums. Tweedy sounds as if he were caught between a dream and a nightmare as he rattles off vaguely surreal lyrics like “Fell in love in the key of C.” This ain’t alt-country anymore.
Wilco, “How To Fight Loneliness”
The naked acoustic guitar that introduces this, the second Summerteeth track, almost brings Wilco back to the moody folk pop of “Far, Far Away.” Except there’s a Spanish influence in the strumming, some backward looping going on, and a nice jazzy piano solo to take some of the weight off a Tweedy who doesn’t sound as if he meant it when he sings “Just smile all the time.”
