Yesterday I went to see Sam Jones' new documentary, I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, and really enjoyed it. It felt like a cross between Rattle & Hum and Grant Gee's Meeting People Is Easy.

The film documents the making of Wilco's latest album, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, the loss of co-songwriter Jay Bennett, the dropping of the band by Reprise records and the subsequent pickup of the album by Nonesuch records, ironically both divisions of Warner Bros. Music.

There's a great moment when David Fricke of Rolling Stone speculates on why Reprise let go of such a great band. He says it really has to do with our culture and how things are marketed to us. He uses the anology of a cell phone. He says, "Everyone's got a cell phone. Why? I bet 80-90% of the phone calls taking place right now boil down to this phrase. . . 'I'll be there in five minutes.' Why can't you just f@#$ing be there in five minutes!" (If Chesterton was still alive, this would be the part where he inadvertently blows popcorn all over the guy in front of him). This, Fricke says, is in large part why an album like Yankee Hotel Foxtrot will never be a commercial success, and is likely why Reprise let them go.

Maybe in about 10 years people will realize how significant this album is, maybe they won't, but do yourself a favor and go out and buy it to hear for yourself (pretend like you don't have a cell phone and the earth still takes 24 hours to rotate once). If nothing else, go see the movie; it's worth seeing just for the lush visuals of Chicago in grainy Black and White.