2 + 2 = 5 (bonus all Wilco edition)

I realize that it's not Tuesday, but I've been so consumed with Wilco lately and wanted to blog about various Wilco related things that I thought I would throw an extra 2 + 2 = 5 up.

(1) A Ghost is Born.

The new album is finally here. I need to listen to it a few more times before I pontificate on it at any length, but on the first few listens it didn't disappoint. Things I especially like:
Tweedy's raw, skeletal guitar solos.
The Neu-like groove of "Spiders (Kidsmoke)."
This lyric from "I'm a Wheel": "Once in Germany someone said 'nein' / One two three four five six seven eight nine."
The re-recorded "Handshake Drugs."
Etc.

(2) The packaging/art direction of A Ghost Is Born (art direction by PictureBox Inc.).
The crew of PictureBox did an outstanding job. The photography, the egg motif, the typography... Some of the nicest, most cohesive packaging I've seen for an album in a while. I especially love that the title reads (I have to type it out as I don't know how to recreate the symbol here): Wilco (is less than or equal to) a ghost is born. Excellent.

(3) Chapter 7: "There Was A Time, That Time Is Gone" (chapter from Greg Kot's Wilco: Learning How to Die).
A breathless recounting of Uncle Tupelo's breakup. Might just be the best chapter in the entire book.

(4) The deleted scenes on the I Am Trying to Break Your Heart DVD.
A wealth of great material that just didn't make the cut. Personal favorites: watching Jeff Tweedy do the running man while listening to "I'm The Man Who Loves You" and Fred Armisen imitating Tweedy ("I am Jeff Tweeeeedy... I am from the New York... I like the discos...").

(5) "A Magazine Called Sunset" outtake from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.
Too poppy and upbeat for inclusion on YHF, it found its way onto the internet-only ep More Than The Moon. This is a good thing as this song is just too damn great to be lost forever. If you don't have it, seek it out.