Live: Wilco at the Fox Theater in Pomona

Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy gave fans a scare Saturday night at the recently refurbished Fox Theater in Pomona when he declared, 12 songs into the band's set, that the Chicago-based act was "approaching the end of an era," and promised more details later.

Those aren't words to be taken lightly for Wilco followers. Depending on who's doing the counting, the group has had as many as six different eras since releasing its country-obsessed 1995 debut, "A.M." Yet its audience has remained loyal through a host of lineup changes, Tweedy and bassist John Stirratt being the only constants in Wilco's career.

While the comment raised concerns about a future without, say, the participation of local guitar slinger Nels Cline or rhythmic contortionist Glenn Kotche, the truth turned out to be nothing so worrisome. After 45 minutes, Tweedy revealed only that multi-instrumentalist Pat Sansone was turning 40. 

Welcome to Wilco 2009, where playfulness resides on equal footing with anxiety. The group opened the first of its four sold-out dates in the L.A. area -- the band performs Monday, Tuesday and Thursday at the Wiltern -- with a theme song, the drolly titled "Wilco (The Song)" from the band's seventh studio album of original material, "Wilco (The Album)," due for release June 30.

"Is someone twisting a knife in your back," sang Tweedy in the show opener, a mid-tempo feel-good romp that offers the band as consoling device ("Wilco will love you, baby"). It's a long way from the head-pounding skepticism toward rock 'n' roll in "Misunderstood" from Wilco's 1996 album, "Being There," but a more comfortable Wilco isn't a less daring one.

Summer music preview

This summer offers a couple of significant "first times since": It's the first time since the recession really hit, causing many to pull their belts taut, and the first since a new administration helped feed a renaissance in socially conscious, multicultural arts. Personal caution meets communal hope in many people's everyday lives now, and it affects our leisure choices along with everything else.

Yet the healing power of organized sound remains the same. All over the Southland, old favorites return and emerging sensations debut. New albums and late-career gems hit the Internet (and those remaining retail outlets). People will gather to dance and to sing along to their favorite artists. No one trend captures the mood of mid-2009, unless it's the bliss of having much from which to choose.

The following is a selection of some of the best bets for music-related entertainment in Southern California prior to Labor Day.

Read more Summer music preview

--Ann Powers & Margaret Wappler

Photos: Neko Case, left, Lil Wayne and Wilco. Credits: Jason Creps Getty Images, Associated Press

Former Wilco member Jay Bennett dies*

Multi-instrumentalist and former member of Wilco Jay Bennett died this weekend, according to a post on the website for Undertow Music Collective. He was 45.

A cause of death was unknown. “We are profoundly saddened to report that our friend died in his sleep last night. Jay was a beautiful human being who will be missed,” read the update on Undertow. The company released his 2002 solo album, “Palace at 4 am (Part I).”

Representatives from the label and management firm had not responded to requests for comment as of Sunday evening, but the Chicago Sun-Times reached Bennett’s friend and collaborator Edward Burch. "Early this morning, Jay died in his sleep and an autopsy is being performed," Burch told Jim DeRogatis.

In the late ‘80s, Bennett founded the rock band Titanic Love Affair in Urbana, Ill., which lasted into the mid-‘90s. He was best known for his seven years in adventurous rock act Wilco. Bennett split from the Chicago-based group in 2001, and since his departure had been pursuing a solo career, as well as operating Pieholden Suite Sound – named after a song on Wilco’s 1999 album “Summerteeth” -- in Champaign , Ill. 

Bennett released the solo effort “Whatever Happened I Apologize” via the Web late last year, and reported at that time that he was pursuing "another" master’s degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Yet it was Bennett’s time in Wilco that won him the most acclaim.

He had a not-so-amicable split from the band in 2001, which was documented in the 2002 film “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart” and Greg Kot’s book “Wilco: Learning How to Die.” He did, however, play a major role in the band as a writer, producer and musician. The orchestrated pop of “Summerteeth” further stripped Wilco of its country-rock roots, and 2002’s “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot” saw the band move into more atmospheric territory.

First tracks: Wilco album released online, and news on 'Scott Pilgrim,' 'Idol' and more

 

— It doesn't have an official release date until June 30 ("at the latest," reports Wilco's website), but the new album from Wilco is streaming now. The upcoming 11-track "Wilco (The Album)" is available for listening on the band's official site. Pop & Hiss is only four tracks in, so the blog will refrain from offering any sort of opinion here, but the initial reaction is that "Wilco (the Song)" is less silly on record than it was on "The Colbert Report," and the guitar tension in "Bull Black Nova" is pretty riveting stuff. The new album is online in advance of Wilco's summer tour, which launches May 23 and lands in the Los Angeles area for four sold-out dates beginning June 20 at the Fox Theater in Pomona.

Twins’ double lives: Nels & Alex Cline

Drummer Alex and guitarist Nels grew up as jazz hounds around L.A., yet they ended up taking parallel but divergent paths.

For a pair of identical twins, it's surprisingly easy to tell Nels and Alex Cline apart.

Dressed in a T-shirt and dark, slim-cut jeans, spiky-haired Nels Cline looks the part of distinguished "guitar god," even at 52 years old. Rolling Stone paid the angular musician the compliment in 2007 after he rose through the L.A. jazz and improvised music scene to join Wilco, a band he wryly admits many of his contemporaries have only heard of through their kids.

Drummer Alex Cline, by contrast, bears the softer edges and serenity befitting a man who has studied under Buddhist thinker Thich Nhat Hanh. Alex also has been a fixture on the L.A. scene for 30 years, but with his wire-rimmed glasses, he looks more like a professorial dad on a Saturday afternoon -- mostly because he is.

Read more Twins’ double lives: Nels & Alex Cline

Wilco touts its own love on 'The Colbert Report'

(And this is the last thing we're saying about Wilco today, we swear!)

Joining the esteemed company of Talk Talk and Metallica as bands who write songs with their own name in the lyrics, Wilco debuted "Wilco the Song" last night on "The Colbert Report" after the fake-news personality sat for a typically awkward interview session with frontman Jeff Tweedy. (Finest moment? When Colbert sagged his shoulders in an attempt to match Tweedy's barely-there energy.)

Though it's hard to imagine much time (or straight-faced effort) was spent on a chorus of "Wilco'll love you, baby," the band's usual head-bobbing hallmarks are chugging through the song in force, and it's always good to see Nels Cline maiming his guitar on national television. And, if you're possessed of the right mindset and Wilco nerd-dom -- something I freely admit -- that little hook will still worm its way into your head, even when Tweedy pays tribute to Colbert by subbing in his name for the chorus midway through.

Wilco also debuted two new songs at Neil Young's annual Bridge School Benefit last weekend, but good luck finding audio of those out there. Until then, tide yourself over with this little slice of mostly sincere Halloween candy.

--Chris Barton

Update: No Wilco Blu-ray ... for now

Plexifilm has stated that it will postpone indefinitely the Blu-ray release of Wilco's 2002 documentary "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart" after the band e-mailed fans and suggested they not buy it.

Plexifilm founder Gary Hustwit e-mailed Pop & Hiss and directed us to a post on the company's website entitled "I am trying to release a Blu-ray."

In part, it reads, "We don’t feel comfortable releasing a version of the film that Wilco might have reservations about. So here’s what we’re doing: we’re postponing the Blu-ray release, to give us an opportunity to show the band the differences between the HD and standard definition versions."

As noted earlier, Wilco, in an e-mail to fans announcing tour dates and this week's appearance on "The Colbert Report," urged people not to buy the Blu-ray edition of the film.

The band wrote, "Without consulting us, the DVD company (not WB/Nonesuch) that released "I am trying to break your heart" is about to issue a Blu-Ray Edition which, no surprise, costs considerably more (nearly 2x) than the standard DVD ... there is, in our opinion, not much to be gained by spending the extra cash. It's your money... and in this case you should probably hang onto it. "

On Friday, Hustwit and Plexifilm posted an extensive response on the company's website, detailing the benefits of Blu-ray, and also stated that the decision to release a hi-def version of the film belongs to the filmmaker, in this case Sam Jones, and not the subject, in this case Wilco.

Wilco: Save your money, don't buy our Blu-ray!*

* This version updates an earlier post; please see the jump.

In this tough economic time, Chicago-centered rock band Wilco is looking out for you. For those die-hard Wilco completists out there, the band is trying to save you some money. Don't, says the band, buy a new Blu-ray edition of its 2002 documentary "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart."

At the end of an e-mail announcing tour dates as well as an appearance Thursday night on "The Colbert Report," the band had a "CONSUMER ALERT" (the caps, Pop & Hiss wants it known, are all Wilco). Reads the notice:

Without consulting us, the DVD company (not WB/Nonesuch) that released "I am trying to break your heart" is about to issue a Blu-Ray Edition which, no surprise, costs considerably more (nearly 2x) than the standard DVD. We're unsure as to the rationale for the release, given that the film was shot in beautiful grainy B&W and has a stereo-only audio track... there is, in our opinion, not much to be gained by spending the extra cash. It's your money... and in this case you should probably hang onto it.

On Amazon.com, the single-disc version of the film costs $17.99, the two-disc DVD set will run you $24.99, and the Blu-ray edition, which will be released Nov. 18, is selling at a pre-order price of $30.99. Or you can find the used copy of the VHS (VHS! Was 2002 really that long ago?) for about $12.

Ready to rock: 'Scott Pilgrim' has Michael Cera. Music?

Michael Cera is in. Now what about the rock 'n' roll?

Inspired equally by music and video games, Bryan Lee O’Malley’s “Scott Pilgrim” series is a “High Fidelity” for those weaned equally on Nintendo and record stores. The six-part comic series -- Parts 1-4 are out now, and O’Malley hopes to have Book 5 in stores by the end of 2008 -- is being turned into a film by Universal Pictures, with shooting pegged to begin later this year.

Nearly every page of O’Malley’s books is loaded with some sort of a musical reference. Some are obvious -- Stephen Stills is the name of a principal character -- and some are more for the in crowd, such as a magazine headline that’s ripped direct from a lyric from power-pop band the New Pornographers.

The books may not come with a soundtrack, but music has a starring role. For instance, the title in Book 3, “Scott Pilgrim and the Infinite Sadness,” is a nod to a certain Smashing Pumpkins album, and  the main character himself is named after a song from little-known defunct indie rock band Plumtree.

"I loved the band, and they're long broken up," O'Malley said. "I mean, one of the best things about the books is that I've gotten to speak to the girls in the band, who were my idols in high school"

But "Scott Pilgrim" is not simply another book for the dating inept written by a dude with a deep music collection. O'Malley's characters aren't just obsessed with pop-culture -- they're pop-culture creations themselves, living even the most mundane moments of their lives as if they are levels in a giant video game.

A power-up -- or a life-damaging blow -- can be just a successful pickup line or a bad haircut away, turning even a quick stop at the library into the ultimate reality show. "Scott Pilgrim," essentially, is what life would be like if everyone alive warranted an action figure.

The hero of the story is a 20-something Canadian indie rocker who battles his insecurities in the same way Mario & Luigi tackle giant lizards -- with a jump and a kick and a prize of gold coins at the end. In O’Malley’s world, characters fret before talking to an old flame, but life, as in a video game, comes with “save points,” just in case things don’t go according to plan.

“Juno’s” Cera has been cast as the young Scott Pilgrim, a character who tempers his self-proclaimed awesomeness with a bevy of neurotic ticks. The bassist in a band called Sex Bob-omb, Pilgrim will approach the cute girl at a rock club, but immediately profess his obsession for her, and then freak out about the caloric content of garlic bread on the date.

While it looks the part of kid stuff -- O’Malley’s round drawings and big-eyed characters draw influence from Japanese manga –- the four Scott Pilgrim books deal with the transition from teenage to adult relationships, and all the baggage that comes with them.

The crux of the series: Pilgrim is smitten with the roller-blade punk rocker Ramona Flowers, but to date her, he must grow up and conquer his fears. This is done by defeating Ramona’s ex-boyfriends in all-out, Ninja-styled battles -- scenes that come complete with “demon hipster chicks” and vegan-eating bass players.

Here, O’Malley breaks down the influence of music on the books. And does he offer a hint as to what one may hear in the movie? Scroll on.

Postscript: Wilco's Chicago residency

And so it ends: After five nights, and about 13 hours of music, Wilco's residency in Chicago came to a close Wednesday night. It did so with a wallop of feedback rather than a celebratory rock 'n' roll bang. Guitar notes howled like freezing winds off Lake Michigan, and violin strings were teased and left to sway like a creaky door in a blizzard.

"There's so much less to this than you think," were the last pre-encore lyrics sung by singer Jeff Tweedy, a humble, almost guilt-ridden bow out of five ambitious nights of music. At 30 or so songs per night, it was one of more than 150 songs Wilco sang over the past week in its hometown. It also completed the band's goal of performing all 81 songs from each of Wilco's six official studio albums.

Live, "Less Than You Think" proved no less self-indulgent as it does on record, a beautiful keyboard-driven lament for about two minutes. Then some agonizing, un-listenable noise for the next 12 minutes. But it was fascinating to watch guitarist Nels Cline file his guitar notes, and see Glenn Kotche lightly decorate each piece of his drum kit while bassist John Stirratt left his instrument to create a dooming bellow.

The message seemed clear. While Wilco may have gone into this residency with a chance to explore its past, it would leave it with a promise to be no less brave in the future. It would have been easy to end the night with concert staples such as "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart" and "A Shot in the Arm," but even in a week meant to celebrate its back-catalog, Wilco would find a way to challenge and test its fans.

And anything less from this band of alt-country rockers-turned-pop-experimentalists-turned-soulful-explorers would have been a disappointment.

Earlier in the week, I reviewed the first two nights of Wilco's residency. For the final three, I put down the notepad (after all, I was watching the shows on vacation rather than work), and here are five final observations from this week-of-Wilco: