popularity...

[So Long]

Is it just me, or does Wilco seem to be gaining a lot of popularity nowadays...seriously.

[TCP]

Really? I still get the "who?" when I talk about Wilco. But if I bring up Modest Mouse or The Arcade Fire, everyone knows what I'm talking about. grr.

[YouAReMYface]

yeah i get who? alot when talkin about wilco still. But i did happen to see the article about SBS in rolling stone today

[tongue-tied]

they're going to get a lot of press as the album is released, but i still don't know too many people who listen to them.

[bjorn_skurj]

I would say I have three or four close friends who are really in to Wilco.

[yermom]

I know I've encountered a lot of competition while bidding on Wilco stuff on ebay lately.

[Harold Pinto]

I think Wilco actually might be at the start of their leveling off period. They have had a lot of press in the last number of years and yet A Ghost is Born sold less than YHF. Sky Blue Sky isn't going to change that trend, I would guess. Not really a record that will grab the ears of those not already committed to them. I have noticed too that a lot of musician friends were really into Wilco post YHF and now don't really seem to be into them that much.

[shabba rich]

Sky Blue Sky isn't going to change that trend, I would guess. Not really a record that will grab the ears of those not already committed to them.

 

Funny, I see it just the opposite. It's maybe the most accessible album they've ever made. No 10-minute tracks of churning krautrock. No two-minute crecendos of noise. No 7-minutes of drone. Just beautifully written and performed songs. SBS may turn off the hipsters, but it just might be the album to break through to the hoi polloi.

[hawthorne]

Funny, I see it just the opposite. It's maybe the most accessible album they've ever made. No 10-minute tracks of churning krautrock. No two-minute crecendos of noise. No 7-minutes of drone. Just beautifully written and performed songs. SBS may turn off the hipsters, but it just might be the album to break through to the hoi polloi.

 

 

agreed.

[socbret]

I've had people who I wouldn't in a million years have though listened to Wilco mention the album to me recently, so I'm starting to see some changes. I also have a bunch of musician friends that didn't really listen to Wilco a few years ago and are really into them now. More and more young bands are citing Wilco as one of their main influences it seems, just in the last week I've seen so from Okkervil River, Limbeck, and Tapes 'n Tapes.

[froggie]

a few weeks back, i was listening to them in the office and a guy that i've known for a few months now overheard and said "oh, kamera!"... there must be underground fans out there

 

on the other hand, i had a t-shirt on one day which had tour dates on the back, and had this conversation

 

him: "what music does he play?"

 

me: "just straight rock with a bit a twang sometimes"

 

him: "what's his real name?"

[zebra]

Every now and then I get somebody who knows them, but I mostly hear, "who". However, since Glenn said spread the word, I have been and some people I know are really getting into Wilco. So, keep spreading the word people!

[SarahC]

yeah, i get "who's that" from people at school, but i know a handful of folks who are fans in chattanooga.

[awatt]

9:50 am, Atlanta radio station Dave FM, 91.9, played What Light. First time I've ever heard Wilco on mainstream radio and nearly fell out of bed! I agree, this one could be quite popular.

[WaronWar]

Their status will rise, but not on a large scale. Heck, there are about 7 people in my high school of 3,200 that know who Wilco is. You think their popularity or status would have risen with Reprise incident because that got lots of headlines, but it is hasn't. "A Ghost Is Born" only sold a little above 350,000 in the U.S., which is good, but not a sign of popularity.

 

But I don't care if they become popular because I just love listening to their music. The only thing I care about if their popularity rises is that hopefully it won't prevent me from obtaining good tickets.

[So Long]

Their status will rise, but not on a large scale. Heck, there are about 7 people in my high school of 3,200 that know who Wilco is. You think their popularity or status would have risen with Reprise incident because that got lots of headlines, but it is hasn't. "A Ghost Is Born" only sold a little above 350,000 in the U.S., which is good, but not a sign of popularity.

 

But I don't care if they become popular because I just love listening to their music. The only thing I care about if their popularity rises is that hopefully it won't prevent me from obtaining good tickets.

 

I know how you feel...in a quite selfish way, I don't want them to become mainstream popular either....

[Guest Jules]

From my experience, many many people seem to own YHF and that's it. They've sold about half as many copies of AGIB as YHF, so they obviously didn't carry everyone over from that bump. Say what you will about the music, but I think SBS will bring it back up, and I still maintain this record will go gold quickly and probably outsell YHF.

[HighFives]

90% of my friends found out about wilco because of me I'm pretty sure.

[chisoxjtrain]

I know how you feel...in a quite selfish way, I don't want them to become mainstream popular either....

 

i kind of feel the same way, but then again its not a total god-awful thing for them to go mainstream.

 

on another note, didnt A Ghost Is Born debut at #8 and YHF #13. i dont know if that means anything about popularity and records being sold, but i think its a good thing.

[mountain bed]

Their status will rise, but not on a large scale. Heck, there are about 7 people in my high school of 3,200 that know who Wilco is. You think their popularity or status would have risen with Reprise incident because that got lots of headlines, but it is hasn't. "A Ghost Is Born" only sold a little above 350,000 in the U.S., which is good, but not a sign of popularity.

 

But I don't care if they become popular because I just love listening to their music. The only thing I care about if their popularity rises is that hopefully it won't prevent me from obtaining good tickets.

Wow. First off, 3200 peeps in your HS ? Damn, that's bigger than any school in the state of Indiana!

 

Also, I totally understand the worry about popularity. When I was in HS & just out of school, I was raving to anyone who would listen about the greatness of the GD. Low & behold, someone must have heard me... a few years later I was having to pre-order months in advance just to make sure I got a ticket anywhere in the venue!

 

Fast forward... 10 years later...I'm raving on & on & on about Phish. Next thing you know, they're selling out everywhere they play. 20,000 seaters & larger.

 

Apparently I will never learn. I've spent the last number of years telling all my buds about Wilco, burning shows for them ,etc.. now they're all getting interested & shit. If they really take off, at least we'll be able to say "oh, I remember seeing these guys in a club or half-filled theatre".

[cryptique]

Aside from people on this list, I know of fewer than five people who've even heard of Wilco.*

 

When we got back from the Tweedy LR show last month, the only bummer was that there wasn't anyone I could talk to around here who would even understand how cool that evening was.

 

The one exception: the young woman at the frame shop where I took our posters knew exactly who Tweedy is, and when one of her co-workers asked her "who's that?" she said "You've heard him before -- we sometimes play his stuff here in the shop."

 

That restored a little of my faith in humanity.

 

 

All of that to say, no, I've not noticed any upwards trend in popularity, at least around here.

 

 

 

 

* - Though that isn't necessarily saying much, because I'm a misanthrope with few friends.

[So Long]

All of that to say, no, I've not noticed any upwards trend in popularity, at least around here.

* - Though that isn't necessarily saying much, because I'm a misanthrope with few friends.

 

aww...we'll always have Via chicago...

[Kalle]

There are very few people who listen to Wilco here in the Sault. I usually get the same question: "Wilco? Are they emo?".

[entropy]

Who's Wilco?

[Col. Hapablap]

My position on the topic of Wilco's popularity is this: In 10-20 years their music will be appreciated much more than it is now. I think they will be this generation's answer to the Velvet Underground, at least in record sales. The VU were a band who during their existence sold very few copies of any of their records, but who are now mentioned as an influence by almost every popular artist/band who followed them. Of course, as a fan, i'd want as many people to hear and realize how great a band Wilco is as possible, but If i were in a band, i'd rather leave a lasting and timeless musical legacy then sell a few million copies of one record.