I’ve been listening a lot to Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot lately. It’s a great CD, but not SO great as to account for all the critical raves. So part of the listening has to do with trying to figure out WHY it was so well received, and why I like it so much.
And I think I’m on to something:
It’s warm. Very warm.
What I mean by that is that it seems during the recording and mixing they made a conscious effort to roll off some of the high end and they ended up with something that is a joy to listen to, instead of what I find so often (even in my own music occasionally): that there is only so much you can endure before your ears become fatigued. Lesson learned.
You shouldn’t have to endure music, it should be something that flows into your ears like candy mixed with morphine that produces a feeling of euphoria.
EDIT 4-3-2008: ok I’m wrong. It is that great. The more I listen to it, the better it gets. Damn that’s some laid back bad ass shit.