The Wilco Book is an exploration of the artistic statement presented by the band Wilco

Wilco

Wilco is an American alternative rock band based in Chicago, Illinois. The band was formed in 1994 by the remaining members of alternative country group Uncle Tupelo following singer Jay Farrar's departure. Wilco's lineup has changed frequently, with only singer Jeff Tweedy and bassist John...

. Artwork created by the band, photographer Michael Schmelling, and mixed media

Mixed media

Mixed media, in visual art, refers to an artwork in the making of which more than one medium has been employed.There is an important distinction between "mixed-media" artworks and "multimedia art". Mixed media tends to refer to a work of visual art that combines various traditionally distinct...

 artist Fred Tomaselli

Fred Tomaselli

Fred Tomaselli is an American artist. He is best known for his highly detailed paintings on wood panels, combining an array of unorthodox materials suspended in a thick layer of clear, epoxy resin...

 is interspersed with comments from the band, technicians, and managers, as well as essays by Henry Miller

Henry Miller

Henry Valentine Miller was an American novelist and painter. He was known for breaking with existing literary forms and developing a new sort of 'novel' that is a mixture of novel, autobiography, social criticism, philosophical reflection, surrealist free association, and mysticism, one that is...

 and Rick Moody

Rick Moody

Rick Moody is an American novelist and short story writer best known for the 1994 novel The Ice Storm, a chronicle of the dissolution of two suburban Connecticut families over Thanksgiving weekend in 1973, which brought widespread acclaim, became a bestseller, and was made into a feature film of...

, and poetry from Bern Porter

Bern Porter

Bernard Harden "Bern" Porter was an American artist, writer, publisher, performer, and scientist.In 2010 his work was recognized by an exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.- Biography :...

's collection Found Poetry

Found poetry

Found poetry is a type of poetry created by taking words, phrases, and sometimes whole passages from other sources and reframing them as poetry by making changes in spacing and/or lines , or by altering the text by additions and/or deletions...

. Interviews were conducted by PictureBox

PictureBox

PictureBox is a Grammy Award-winning art, music, photography, and comics publishing company based in Brooklyn, New York; directed by Dan Nadel. PictureBox publishes its own books and packages books and concepts for museums and galleries...

, who edited and designed the book (which is credited to Wilco and Picturebox with photography by Michael Schmelling). Packaged with the book is a CD of previously unreleased experimental music, which is discussed in the first appendix by Mikael Jorgensen

Mikael Jorgensen

Mikael Jorgensen is lead pianist and keyboardist for the band Wilco as well as a member of the band Pronto. He first appeared on Wilco's 2004 release, A Ghost Is Born. On that album, he received songwriting credit for "Hell is Chrome" and "Theologians"...

, who produced and played on the sessions before he formally joined Wilco.

Bonus CD track listing

1. "Pure Bug Beauty" - 7:31
2. "This is New" - 4:26
3. "Diamond Claw" - 3:12
4. "This is New (The Explanation)" - 1:53
5. "What Good Am I" - 1:23
6. "Here Comes Everybody" - 2:56
7. "Hummingbird" - 3:57
8. "The High Heat" - 2:55
9. "Doubt" - 1:27
10. "Barnyard Pimp" - 5:13
11. "Rottnest" - 1:24
12. "Hamami" - 2:54