My Morning Jacket vs. Wilco

Jacko

Tweedy, the forgotten Jackson

PW w/ timely out-o-tha-blue first-response cherrypick!

Oh boy.

I'm not sure I see the reason for comparing these two acts (except they are both sort of "rootsy"). I prefer Wilco, but they appeal to a totally different vibe.

I think, at one point, someone did a MMJ v. Fleet Foxes poll. Those two acts are a more natural point of comparison, I think. I'm not sure who I'd pair againt Wilco in a poll (if it was just after Sky Blue Sky came out (which I still love), I could see a Wilco v. Eagles poll, but I'd hope and assume Wilco would slaughter The f---g Eagles).

Although they first emerged in 1998 as devotees of Neil Young's country-tinged classic rock, My Morning Jacket steadily widened their sound throughout the following decade, embracing everything from neo-psychedelia and Americana to funk, prog, and reggae. By the time Evil Urges arrived in mid-2008, they had successfully molded themselves into Kentucky's answer to Wilco, with unexpected detours and sonic experiments adding complexity to the band's alt-country roots.

...and yet they still sound dull as ditchwater.

I stand corrected.

By whom, exactly?

And I kinda hate both of these bands despite really wanting to like them. MMJ live were more String Cheese Incident than A Ghost is Born and Wilco have always bored the shit out of me.

By whom, exactly?

AMG, I think (see ilxor's quote, above).

"but I'd hope and assume Wilco would slaughter The f---g Eagles"

any one of a dozen eagles songs beats anything i've heard by wilco. heck, any one of a dozen joe walsh songs beats anything i've heard by wilco.

I could see a Wilco v. Eagles poll, but I'd hope and assume Wilco would slaughter The f---g Eagles).

I think you underestimate the challops.

Anyone else care to chime in?

OK I'm willing to reconsider MMJ a little bit as I really enjoy the first album with some whiskey and a cigarette on my patio in June but everything since At Dawn is just meh to me.

4 truly great songs and a whole lotta noodlin' between the two of em

vote mmj cause of OFF THE RECORD's dubby outro

Z is really solid, but overall, Wilco's body of work is more tuneful and interesting. And I like their Dadrock sound.

^ Kinda dig the dadrock live too. But if we're going by recorded output there are just two obvious Wilco albums that I think beat MMJ for me.

i like summerteeth the most out of the combined catalogue of the two bands, but prefer MMJ overall. and i vastly prefer the way the earlier MMJ records sound out of all of it.

This poll makes me want to kill myself, thanks

Do Wilco have songs?

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Voted Wilco.

if for nothing else, nels cline people

Right!

wilco. summerteeth + yankee hotel foxtrot > z. except for songs here and there, all the other albums i could take or leave. early mmj live was better than wilco though. now i don't know, or care much either

oh come on Wilco is miles better than MMJ

live mmj was on fire when they started out. saw them open up for guided by voices a long, long time ago, and they were the best garage band i'd never heard of. if only they'd kept that up. wilco's always been okay live but nothing i'd lose my shit over or anything

^^saw that GBV/MMJ tour

i like (not necessarily love) both bands a good deal. even so, i haven't listened to much of anything on either band's last two records. being there & at dawn are both faves

if MMJ had stopped at It Still Moves I'd pick them easily.....but Z is pretty weak and Evil Urges is bad-bordering-on-terrible

Califone vs. Wilco, now there's food for thought

if for nothing else, nels cline people

― otm and his package (M@tt He1ges0n), Tuesday, June 30, 2009 3:25 PM (2 hours ago)

M@tt so so otm

Wilco and MMJ = limper than you'll ever be.

i voted wilco despite them being pretty boring and inexplicably treated like Important Artists. i like some of their stuff -- still dig being there pretty well -- and they were a good rollicking rock band the one time i saw them play. mmj i might enjoy live, but aside from a few songs they've never done anything much for me. (the live version of "one big holiday" is as good as they get, at least from what i've heard.)

mmj definitely wins on the headbanging front:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0Q9iAcPjzc

i voted wilco despite them being pretty boring and inexplicably treated like Important Artists.

I voted for Wilco too, although the level of enthusiasm they provoke is inversely proportional to the unexciting music they write. YHF is half a decent album in search of a zeitgeist.

That zeitgeist came two years later and was called A Ghost Is Born... their best album!

Objectively, I think Wilco makes better art (& I do really dig the tunes in a lot of cases) but I went w/ MMJ just b/c I hava a major personal reaction to their sound, even some of the stuff on Evil Urges, but mostly that whiskey-in-the-grain-silo plaintive reverb-ocean thing from their first three. Dubby suff on Z was nice too. Inexplicably, I've missed every opportunity to see them live thusfar, but if Okonokos is any indication, they fucking own.

i was really confused when i saw mmj cause i came expecting epic sad space country and got a bunch of dudes in haiwaiian shirts and leis playing funky bluegrass

yeah i had a much more visceral reaction the two times i saw MMJ compared with the handful of times i saw Wilco.

lolz xpost

(what can i say, "a pirate looks at 40" makes me tear up!)

(j/k)

"i was really confused when i saw mmj cause i came expecting epic sad space country and got a bunch of dudes in haiwaiian shirts and leis playing funky bluegrass"

okay, hoos is the first person to ever make my morning jacket sound interesting to me. i might have to youtube.

likewise!

Ah yes, that was the Austin City Limits 2007 show. They dressed up in beachy shirts, leis, visible sunscreen, arm floaties, swimsuits, etc. and had a huge backdrop and then Hawaiian exotic dancers on stage after a few songs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84xyX_OQrGI

hoos, I know MMJ have been adopted by jam doodz (I mean, so have Ween, but whatevs), but have the band actually started catering to them by evolving into Widespread Panic? That is sorta what you make it sound like & that is really unfortunate, mostly b/c I missed my chance(s) to see them back in the day! (I'm guessing you saw them in their post-Bonnaroo headliner incarnation?)

yeah that clip ilxor posted is the show i saw, but iirc (and i may not!!) everything else they played was v v upbeat and jam oriented

i'm so glad people have a thread like this to vent their opinion about wilco being boring. we need more outlets for fresh thinking in 2009

mmj's unapologetic jamminess is i think their most endearing characteristic

HOOS, here's a better representation of the show:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yU9TSIZNNtU

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