October 5, 2005
A Wilco Update
Posted by Larry Karnowski at October 5, 2005 1:22 PMSomething I should've called out in the Wilco 101 playlist is this -- Wilco is not Uncle Tupelo. That's what grinds most of us alt country folks to a halt with them. Son Volt was Uncle Tupelo, and so we understand it. Wilco, however, left that far behind a while ago. It messes with our expectations.
I think of Wilco as a cross between the best parts of R.E.M. and Radiohead, to be honest. They're a band that's constantly striving to push further, break down boundaries, and rip off the Beatles. The Wilco 101 playlist is not very roots rock or Uncle Tupelo-ish for a reason -- neither is Wilco.
Hope this clears some stuff up. The fiddles and twang make a little reappearance later in 201, but for the most part, Wilco is an art rock band that just happens to still kick quite a bit of ass. Oh, and the lead singer/songwriter is very folk-informed and was in the the seminal alt country band in the 90s. But still -- rock band.
Good post, "rip off the Beatles" was exactly what I thought when I first heard Summerteeth. They do a good job at it, though. Still, Tweedy sounds like a jerk, especially if he really did call Farrar's music 'old music' (Sept-Oct No Depression, p 55, next to last paragraph, about the Greg Kot book which I admit I haven't read)
Posted by: Uncle Tom at October 7, 2005 3:26 PM
