Eight weeks in and we're taking a different approach this week - not a current release but a seminal release: Uncle Tupelo's, 'Anodyne.'
Alternative country-rock group Uncle Tupelo was formed in the Midwestern backwater of Belleville, Illinois, by high school friends Jay Farrar, Jeff Tweedy, and Mike Heldorn. Their marriage of punk rock animus with the simplicity of American roots music ignited a major movement heralding rock's return to traditional country origins.
Heldorn had departed, Ken Coomer signed on, and in 1993 the band released one final album, 'Anodyne,' widely considered their definitive work. Recorded live in an Austin studio, the disc reinterprets country, rock, and folk idioms with the compelling vision that was Tupelo's own.
After parting ways, members went on to found Wilco and Son Volt, but the brief and shining moment that was Uncle Tupelo will forever cast a long shadow on American roots rock.
The rules can't be any simpler for our RSD2010 Vinyl Giveaways. All you need to do to enter to win is to leave a comment in the comments section to that week's giveaway letting us know why you deserve to win that week's LP.
Be creative, funny, incisive—whatever it takes to grab our attention to deem you the winner. Most important however is to leave us a contact email address! You can be brilliant as hell, but if we can't track ya' down, you're out of the running.
All winners will all be notified on Monday (4/5) upon the launch of the next RSD2010 Vinyl Giveaway!
5 comments:
Yes! I have been wanting to get into Uncle Tupelo. I Heard the song whiskey bottle a little while ago for the first time and I loved it. I just have not taken the step to find more of their stuff. I love wilco so I feel like Tweedy won't do me wrong with this band
dunnand @ gmail.com
New Madrid is quite possibly one of the best songs of the 1990s. if the guy above me hasn't heard it yet, he deserves- no needs- to get this record.
bennettstarnes at gmail.com
Anodyne is my favorite UT record, and not just because it's one of the top 3 breakup albums of all time. And I'm not just referring to the impending split between Farrar and Tweedy - if you pay attention to the lyrics, most of them can apply pretty easily to a romantic relationship as well. The musicianship isn't impeccable, but does contain that loose-yet-just-polished-enough feel to make you think that these guys are finally figuring out just how good they've become over the past few years. I can't tell you how many times I've recommended this record to customers when I worked at record stores over the years, but I know that I've never had a single one come back disappointed with their purchase.
baconfat@gmail.com
I've seen Jeff Tweedy and Jay Farrar in WIlco and Son Volt respectively many times over the years, and love their output with those bands, but there's just something about their output in Uncle Tupelo that is affecting and touching in ways nothing since has been. I own many, many cds and records, but for a few of them I still recall the day I bought them, and the first time I listened - Anodyne, obviously, is one of those (purchased at the Virgin Megastore in the Louvre in Paris). I would love to be able to fall in love with it all over again on vinyl, where everything just sounds a little better...
tcote76 AT gmail DOT com
Early in the morning, sometimes late at night...
Really, only four comments? What the hell! This is arguably Tweedy's best record (granted he had some help), and certainly an LP everyone should own...of course, I don't have it on vinyl, hence the comment. Plus, any Doug Sahm cover is destined for greatness in my book! Cheers!
...sometimes I get the feeling that everything's alright!
bobby.a.courtney AT gmail
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