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"Indie Grown-Ups"


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Wow. I've never made a post on VC that got so many serious responses. Thanks.

 

Of course I don't actually think hipsters only like hoppy beers. The suggestion I'm trying to make is that many who write off Wilco do so because they lack patience, and they can check into Pitchfork or 30 second samples to conclude Wilco isn't the lastest most-edgy album to tell friends about in an effort to bulster their hipster cache.

 

And I'm sorry if my view is polarizing, but, in my experience, there's nothing more conformist than many a hipster whose busy trying to appear nonconformist.

 

Wilco couldn't possibly pop up as the latest, edgiest thing. They play rock & roll, a genre that is now over 50 years old, and they play in a way that is even more refined than the bands Wilco has been so clearly formed by. It's not really 'hip' to celebrate such a thing, but the 'meh' people are really missing out.

 

Yeah, yeah, I know I'm being subjective, but I'm also one of the ones who wrote Wilco off until I actually gave them the time of day. Wilco has had a weird way of making my whole music collection more interesting, from Hank Williams to the Beatles to VU to Bowie to Televison. It's changed my life. So yeah, all the 'mehs' kinda piss me off.

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Perhaps they write off Wilco because they don't like the music they make.

 

Certainly a valid point. But those who profess to not like Wilco are quick to use terms like "Dad Rock". It is probably the culture that we live in to refer to things we don't like in an insulting and dismissive manner (i.e. hipster, dad rock...).

And it is only natural that people take exception to such a dismissal.

However, it is probably worth noting that by far and away, this record has been very well recieved. Which leads to the (somewhat) natural assumption that adverse reactions by critics (who are supposed to have more accepting and wide ranging tastes) must be a part of a larger agenda.

Probably not. But his interview with NPR that was copied above speaks to the fact that the author was looking for noteriety or reaction.

And...we gave it to him.

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Hah! Touche.

 

Yeah...but you're not the only person to ever use the term hipster.

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. Wilco has had a weird way of making my whole music collection more interesting, from Hank Williams to the Beatles to VU to Bowie to Televison. It's changed my life.

This is such a great compliment to Wilco. I only wish I could be more driven to listen to the music collection in my house... the last few years, it seems like it's all-Wilco-all-the-time. Not much else sounds as good to my ears. I really feel like I'm losing perspective by being so focused on the music of just one band. Note to self.... put all Wilco music away for a month and listen to some different stuff! (Who am I kidding -- I can't live without TWL for a week, let alone a month!)

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This is how I tell it. I'm thankful for the critics whose praise first steered me to Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, but it doesn't matter what they write now. Jeff Tweedy is the Real Deal, an unashamed traditionalist who seems to wholeheartedly believe in family---in every sense of the word. And I'm part of that family.

 

It may be the Midwestern, middle-class, and middle-aged pot we both stew in, but---because of Jeff---WIlco feels like home to me, and I"ll always be grateful.

 

And I wholly love TWL---except for "Sunloathe", maybe.

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This is how I tell it. I'm thankful for the critics whose praise first steered me to Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, but it doesn't matter what they write now. Jeff Tweedy is the Real Deal, an unashamed traditionalist who seems to wholeheartedly believe in family---in every sense of the word. And I'm part of that family.

 

Very well said. I should be more content with my own enjoyment of Wilco, but sharing it with others is my passion, so I continue let some of the critics get under my skin.

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the last few years, it seems like it's all-Wilco-all-the-time.

 

Oh yeah, I go through these spells as well, but then I also think most (though certainly not all) of Wilco's catalogue is a tribute to some previous expression of rock/country music, and so it's fun to act like a crack musicologist of Wilco to find to whom the tribute is directed.

 

Check out the thread on 'I Might' as an example of this search. Kudos to the poster who found the 'Black is Black' youtube. Bingo!

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