Wilco: Learning How to Die

By now the story has become music-industry lore--part cautionary tale, part barometer of the times. When alt-country-cum-experimental rock indie...more

By now the story has become music-industry lore--part cautionary tale, part barometer of the times. When alt-country-cum-experimental rock indie heroes Wilco turned in their 4th album (Yankee Hotel Foxtrot) to its label, Reprise, a division of Warner, fans looked forward to the release of another challenging, genre-bending departure from their previous work. The band hoped to build on their previous, modest sales and critical acclaim but was instead asked to compromise its artistic integrity for what the Reprise record execs promised would be "radio-friendly" success -- and higher record sales. When Wilco wouldn't give, they found themselves without a label. The ultimate irony? Nonesuch, another division of Warner, bought the record for three times the money and the album debuted at 13 on the Billboard charts, posting its strongest sales to date. Already the subject of I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, a music documentary released to glowing reviews at the L.A. Film Festival, Wilco is the band that critics have called both "the greatest band you've never heard" and "the greatest band of its generation." But its reputation is growing. Since the band's humble inception in southern Illinois over ten years ago, it has built a national following of underground followers—more reliant on word-of-mouth recommendations, the indie club scene, and free internet downloads. But their story is not just one of the David-and-Goliath struggle against corporate influence on musicians, it is also a compelling, intimate look at making music and the difficult but wonderful collaborative process of being in a band.   less