A Best of Wilco on the Moon
 |
| Wilco with their cover star Camel in 2009. |
To me what Blur were to Britpop of the 90's is very similar to what Uncle Tupelo/Wilco were to the Americana/alt-country revival at pretty much the same time. Blur and Uncle Tupelo are both widely credited with producing the first Birtpop and alt-country albums and both did basically the same thing in that they looked to the best music from their own culture, going back to pre rock n' roll times and mixing it with a punk ethic as a reaction to the increasingly mono culture of the modern world. At this they were both very successful and influential but then both Blur and Wilco quickly moved on to expand their musical horizons to create more adventurous and experimental music and again others would follow.
The two main songwriters also have similarities in that they both have a McCartney like ability to write great melodies but both are best working with others and it seems with both the "others" have not always found it easy but with age both may have learnt how to manage it better. The big difference was that Mr Tweedy split with his Graham Coxon when Uncle Tupelo ended and in the dynamic of that band he was not the dominant one - more of a George Harrison in which his songs were infrequent but always great. Another difference is that Mr Albarn has branched out a bit more though Mr Tweedy has done his post rock Loose Fur albums and with Wilco the brilliant Mermaid Avenue project that ended rather fractiously with the legendary Billy Bragg.
Both have or are releasing "solo" albums this year though Mr Albarn worked with Richard Russell and Mr Tweedy has worked with his son on the soon to be released Tweedy album.
The playlist below can also be found on Spotify and Deezer
Unlike many best of collections/playlists this one it not in any chronological order as although there are many different musical styles, ranging from Bluegrass to Post Rock, there is also quite a consistency to the Wilco sound.
Unlike many best of collections/playlists this one it not in any chronological order as although there are many different musical styles, ranging from Bluegrass to Post Rock, there is also quite a consistency to the Wilco sound.
Comments