Wilco: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

February 23, 2016 by BOB BOILEN Thousands of bands have made strong debuts, and many of those have made good second and third records it s harder, but not unusual. It s truly rare to make your 10th album exciting and relevant more than 20 years on. For all that, I d say Wilco is an American legend. Though Wilco is basically a conventional rock band in form guitars, bass, drums, keyboards, one lead songwriter it defies expectations in so many other ways. In 2001, the group put an entire new album (the instant classic Yankee Hotel Foxtrot) online for all to hear; it s one thing to do that in 2015, as Wilco did with Star Wars, but it was virtually unheardof in 2001. This is a deeply imaginative band, with evocative imagery and relatable storytelling; drummer Glenn Kotche is one of the best around, while Nels Cline s crazy, textured guitar layers add adventure to everything he touches. I could go on, but let s just say that breaking my rule of never bringing a band back to the Tiny Desk Wilco perform