ALBUM SPOTLIGHT: "No Depression", Uncle Tupelo

The importance of Uncle Tupelo is impossible to overstate. Did they invent what they became known for? Oh, sweet love of God, no. The mixing of punk rock swagger with traditional country and rural folk elements had become common enough (particularly in the LA music scene) that the term "cowpunk" was already common parlance by the mid-80s. And, especially early on, there were definitely cornerstones of the Tupelo sound that owed nearly everything to the by then stale cowpunk scene:

"Before I Break"



But in our haste to reach for antecedents let's not undersell the more exploratory side of the band's legacy, which came when they turned the volume down and got introspective. At that point they tended to jettison punk rock altogether and became something more akin to Neil Young acolytes:

"Life Worth Livin'"



Eventually Uncle Tupelo - Jay Farrar, Jeff Tweedy and drummer Mike Heidorn - would outgrow these formative influences and forge something unique, something elemental, out of that decidedly un-chic foundation, but when No Depression was unleashed on the public in 1990 the trio was still in full on deconstruction mode, stripping cowpunk and Neil Young's patented proto-grunge down to the frame, dowsing it with half full cans of mismatched primer and taking it for a fast ride down the country lanes of Southwestern Illinois. It was that alchemy which would prove prophetic and vastly influential.

"Whiskey Bottle"



Lastly, it would be remiss not to mention that the title cut from Uncle Tupelo's debut, itself a cover of an old Carter Family song, became the moniker of the magazine No Depression, a bi-monthly publication first appearing in 1995 that arguably did more to define the nascent musical genre "Americana", as well as consolidate it into an actual "scene", than any other band or entity on the planet.

"No Depression"

1990: ALBUM SPOTLIGHT: "Violator", Depeche Mode

You can hate Depeche Mode altogether if you're just determined to do so, but if you hold the band in even the slightest regard - and you're not just trying to score hipster points by being contrary - you surely recognize their 1990 effort Violator as the peak of the band's artistic talents.

Such was the wealth of goodness surrounding this album's release and the attendant b-sides that we can afford to completely ignore the actual singles altogether. So in no particular order of greatness:

"Blue Dress"


"Waiting for the Night"


"Halo"


I didn't even know there was a promo video made for this song until just now, but I don't think I'm cheating by not considering this a "hit" single. Watch it now before WB swoops in with their caped attorneys and snuffs this clip for good, at which point I'll naturally have to replace it with one of those bullshit camera phone live vids.

"Clean"


"Dangerous" is one of the catchier and most well known of DM's b-sides, but frankly I have no problem with it not making the cut on the album. Whereas Violator was largely a step into new, artsier territory for the band, "Dangerous" sounded pretty retro by comparison.



DM may have been getting largely away from dance beats on their albums, but the singles often found them immersing themselves in the latest club sounds, which in 1990 meant full on techno.

"Kaleid [remix]"