HomeCultureThis Week in Sound: Wilco, The Olivia Tremor Control, Nick Lowe, Toro...

This Week in Sound: Wilco, The Olivia Tremor Control, Nick Lowe, Toro Y Moi

Wilco (September 16-17 @ Massey Hall) will love you (wait for the chorus). The indie/alt-country godfathers will greet you with open sonic arms and no trace of bitterness, even though they haven’t quite managed to release an album of the seminal Yankee Hotel Foxtrot’s extraordinary caliber. That album was so good that some reviewers and fans lapsed into weird, mystical conjecture about singer Jeff Tweedy’s precognitive capabilities, mostly because the album’s lyrics (written months before the attack on the Twin Towers) seemed to predict the tragedies of 9/11 and offer comfort to its victims. Although subsequent releases haven’t matched — or, seemingly, even tried to match — the astonishing arrangements and cautious experimentalism of Yankee, it’s still physically impossible for Jeff Tweedy to write a bad song; Wilco will always know how to give you a musical hug.

This summer saw the first string of Jeff Mangum solo gigs since Neutral Milk Hotel went Bobby Fischer, and appropriately enough, this week will see the return of reunited pop-experimentalists The Olivia Tremor Control (September 16 @ Lee’s Palace), one of Mangum’s old bands and a member of his The Elephant 6 Recording Company collective. Those familiar with Neutral Milk will recognize certain familiar stylistic elements — fuzzy distortion, horn sections — but OTC trades Mangum’s dirge-y bombast for shiny pop melodies and unexpected structural twists. They are also, apparently, working on a new album, over a decade after the release of their last. Who knows whether they’ll play any new material on Friday; who knows if there actually is any new material, or if it’ll ever see the light of day; who knows anything about what the Elephant Six guys are going to do?

Though he’s perhaps best known as that old guy who penned "Cruel to be Kind" and Elvis Costello’s hit "What’s So Funny ‘bout Peace, Love and Understanding?" back in the ’70s, Nick Lowe (September 16 @ Massey Hall, opening for Wilco) continues to be a capable and cunning songwriter well into his sexagenarian years. He’s also retained the barbed-yet-charming wit that those familiar with his catalogue know him for. And, unlike certain other legacy songwriters — we’re looking at you here, Dylan and Cohen — he can still sing.

Chillwavers looking to chill undoubtedly have visions of Toro Y Moi (September 18 @ Opera House) dancing in their heads, but please beware: he may not be riding the wave anymore. His recent material seems to have moved in a funkier, seventies-oriented direction. That said, it’s still danceable indie with verbed-out vocals, so after your third vodka seven, it’s doubtful you’ll know the difference.

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