The last time we saw Wilco on film, they were getting dissed and dismissed by Reprise Records in the 2002 documentary I Am Trying to Break Your Heart.  For those not familiar, Reprise unceremoniously dumped the Chicago-based six-piece after refusing to release their new record, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.  The label maintained that the album was not commercial enough, and held it in such low regard that they gave the band the rights to the material at no cost.  Wilco released the album online for free and then later through their new label, and it quickly became the band’s best selling record, garnering endless critical praise along the way.  Their new label, Nonesuch Records, is owned by the same parent company (Warner) as Reprise.  The moral of the story, as always, is that record executives are penis-heads.

That kind of record industry bullshit would knock the wind out of a lot of bands, but Wilco never broke stride.  This is partly because Wilco is in the business of making heart-ache music anyway.  But, as lead singer Jeff Tweedy also points out on their new concert DVD Ashes of American Flags, it is also because “(Wilco) has made its living on the road from the beginning.”  The film documents Wilco as they make said living, drifting through the southern US playing gigs and waxing poetic on the grinds of the road and the decay of the American heartland.  At times it feels more like a tour diary than a proper concert film, though the music itself is outstanding.  They rumble through the titular "Ashes", followed by "Side With the Seeds" and "Handshake Drugs".  The sound quality is remarkable for songs recorded live, and it’s clear that on the road, Wilco is indeed in their element.

Then they arrive at "The Late Greats", perhaps their most recognizable song, and we’re reminded that they haven’t forgotten Reprise.  Under a sunny horn-line Tweedy sings:

The best band will never get signed
K-Settes starring Butcher's Blind
Are so good, you won't ever know
They never even played a show
You can't hear them on the radio.

That the song is from their Foxtrot follow-up (A Ghost is Born) is no coincidence.  They’re suggesting, in the most unpretentious way, that the record industry is such a shit-hole that we’re all lucky they got to record anything in the first place.  And they probably have a point.

While Ashes is not a traditional concert film, it is a pretty innovative one.  Though not the smoothest computing experience, the DVD includes a link that allows you to download all the audio from the film free of charge.  And again, the audio is fantastic.  It’s a small gesture, but one that adds considerable value to the concert-film genre.  It also means they don’t have to cut a record for a while, which I’m sure is just fine with them.