by Michael Sanchez
Daily Lobo
"I Am Trying To Break Your Heart" is a new rockumentary from first-time director Sam Jones, chronicling the now infamous story of Wilco's album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.
Hailed by fans, Rolling Stone - who called it "a masterpiece" and "the first great album of [2002]" - and alternative press alike, the incredible journey this album took on its way to finally being released is now well-known.
Wilco arose from the ashes of Uncle Tupelo, the founding father figure of the genre known as Alternative Country. Since the first album A.M., Wilco continued to churn out albums that critics loved and fans bought at a steady, if not furious, rate. Upon delivering the final mixes of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot to its label, Reprise Records, Wilco was informed that the lack of commercial hits made the album inaccessible and that Reprise was dropping Wilco from its roster.
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During the fiasco, Sam Jones was invited by the band to film the process of the making of the album, hoping to get the creative process on film. Jones, an award-winning photographer, got a lot more than he had originally bargained for. Suddenly, he was with the band at its most troubling time, magically capturing all of these events on camera. Jones shot the movie on 16 millimeter black and white film, and the mood the lack of color connotes speaks volumes.
Jeff Tweedy, lead guitarist and vocalist for Wilco, is an extremely intelligent man, who justifiably takes a good deal of the credit - and blame - for the band's successes and failures. In the film, he was fed up with the practices of the record company that he felt the band no longer needed.
"They've never pushed to get any of our songs on to radio, they're not interested in selling our album," he said.
Wilco found itself to be a sought-after commodity in the record label business again. Finally narrowing 25-or-so suitors to four, the band settled with Nonesuch Records, and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was put on the market and embraced.
Wilco is one of those rare American bands in the current music scene making truly engaging music and loving what they do.
This ambitious film follows musicians struggling to show the world their art and succeeding.
"I Am Trying To Break Your Heart" opens this Friday at Madstone Theaters at 5660 San Mateo.
