Star Wars: Wilco Edition
July 16, 2015 4:53 PM   Subscribe

 
The website's still up, for now. (Probably not going to go down, but that's always my gut reaction to these things.)
posted by Going To Maine at 4:58 PM on July 16, 2015


Now -why- would you go and use that title? Seems like an obnoxious move by a usually-not-obnoxious band.
posted by tunewell at 5:09 PM on July 16, 2015


I'm getting this on vinyl for the cover.
posted by padraigin at 5:12 PM on July 16, 2015


Fantastic, I had no idea that they were even working on anything (though I hoped), and I keep one eye on their website reasonably often.
posted by Pink Frost at 5:17 PM on July 16, 2015


Schrodinger's box full of kittens, would make a great album sleeve. Some songs that I like might to hear, but there's no email addressed to me....
posted by OntologicalPuppy at 5:19 PM on July 16, 2015


Here's the track list:

01) EKG
02) More...
03) Random Name Generator
04) The Joke Explained
05) You Satellite
06) Taste the Ceiling
07) Pickled Ginger
08) Where Do I Begin
09) Cold Slope
10) King Of You
11) Magnetized

I'm starting to think this isn't actually a Star Wars concept album at all...
posted by Faint of Butt at 5:25 PM on July 16, 2015


I gave them my email. I remain skeptical.
posted by grumpybear69 at 5:25 PM on July 16, 2015


Listening now. It's enjoyable. No Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, but solid Wilco rock.
posted by Lutoslawski at 5:26 PM on July 16, 2015


tunewell: "Now -why- would you go and use that title? Seems like an obnoxious move by a usually-not-obnoxious band."

I wouldn't call it obnoxious, just a little trolling meant to screw with people a little.
posted by octothorpe at 5:48 PM on July 16, 2015


I'm going to wait for their "The Empire Strikes Back" album, which many people agree will be better.
posted by lagomorphius at 6:09 PM on July 16, 2015 [11 favorites]


I had heard that a new Wilco record was basically in the can over a year ago before being mysteriously shelved so Jeff could go off and do the "Tweedy" record with his son. I'm curious whether this free-release/cheeky title strategy is just a way of deflating expectations around material that he didn't consider up to par or worthy of big-time support.
posted by anazgnos at 6:46 PM on July 16, 2015


I wonder if his wife's illness has anything to do with this release strategy. Avoids a lot of prerelease running around, I guess. I have no idea.
posted by dismas at 7:52 PM on July 16, 2015


I can't wait to listen to this.
posted by double block and bleed at 9:55 PM on July 16, 2015


By which I mean I will wait, because I still haven't gotten the email after 10 minutes.
posted by double block and bleed at 9:56 PM on July 16, 2015


The download isn't the fastest, either.... I can feel you shiver with antici.....
posted by kaibutsu at 9:58 PM on July 16, 2015


I'm still smarting from the time De La Soul bamboozled me into giving them my email address for the limited time new album download last year, the server blew up and there was no download to be had, and I still get De La Spam on a regular basis.

Plug Tunin' indeed.

Joking aside, I'm always down for some Wilco. But then I'm a dad.
posted by C.A.S. at 11:51 PM on July 16, 2015


Does this mean they're going to go back and mix flash new digital autotune into YHF?
posted by chavenet at 12:06 AM on July 17, 2015


..... pation!
posted by hippybear at 12:48 AM on July 17, 2015


Its really quite good.
posted by Joey Michaels at 2:12 AM on July 17, 2015


"I cried at the joke explained"

Great song.

This is definitely listenable Wilco.

Thank you, Wilco, for the free album!
posted by chavenet at 2:45 AM on July 17, 2015


also: streaming on YouTube: Star Wars

“Why release an album this way and why make it free? Well, the biggest reason, and I’m not sure we even need any others, is that it felt like it would be fun. What’s more fun than a surprise?” --Jeff Tweedy on Instagram
posted by chavenet at 2:50 AM on July 17, 2015 [2 favorites]


why can't I say something to make you well

christ
posted by dismas at 7:01 AM on July 17, 2015


It's available for free on the iTunes Store now, too.
posted by sleeping bear at 7:05 AM on July 17, 2015


I've given up hope of Wilco ever giving us an album as strong as A Ghost is Born but I'm still a fan and this is a pretty nice little present.
posted by octothorpe at 7:06 AM on July 17, 2015


Octothorpe, you misspelled "The Whole Love". ;)
posted by uberchet at 8:10 AM on July 17, 2015 [1 favorite]


I wouldn't call it obnoxious, just a little trolling meant to screw with people a little.

It's not obnoxious because it's only a little bit obnoxious and they're doing it on purpose?
posted by LogicalDash at 8:18 AM on July 17, 2015


uberchet: "Octothorpe, you misspelled "The Whole Love". ;)"

Art of Almost and One Sunday Morning are two of my favorite Wilco songs ever but not much else from that album has really stuck with me.
posted by octothorpe at 8:36 AM on July 17, 2015 [1 favorite]


I would say you misspelled Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. But then, I tend to think of Wilco as a, uh, singles band.
posted by Going To Maine at 9:21 AM on July 17, 2015


Hey, a free Wilco album is a free Wilco album. They can call it Battlestar Galactica if they want.
posted by Crane Shot at 10:03 AM on July 17, 2015 [2 favorites]


Going To Maine: "I would say you misspelled Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. But then, I tend to think of Wilco as a, uh, singles band."

YHF was a milestone but in retrospect it sounds a little too airless and fussed over to me. Plus Ghost has Cline on lead.
posted by octothorpe at 10:15 AM on July 17, 2015


in retrospect it sounds a little too airless and fussed over to me

Ah, see, the fussed-overness of YHF is exactly what blows my mind about it, every time. Not every album needs to sound so deliberate, but in the context of that album it really, really works, mostly because so many of the choices are (or were) surprising.
posted by grumpybear69 at 10:35 AM on July 17, 2015


Well, it's Sky Blue Sky that has that cover of that Taylor Swift song "Shake It Off" ;-)
posted by chavenet at 10:39 AM on July 17, 2015


This album is incredible. Really reminiscent of Loose Fur work (right down to the cat). Love the fuzz guitar and double-track vocals. And MY GOD, not a single plinky note or stupid scale run from Nels. Random Name Generator and Pickled Ginger are alone well worth paying for.

I think it's strange that people think Wilco means for this to be a toss-off, that it was hastily put together or that they are offering it for free because it's somehow not worth paying for. They own their own label, people are going to buy it/steal it all the same as if they did a traditional release, and this isn't something they recorded on Monday.

a little too airless and fussed over to me

I love YHF, but it's clear that Jay was becoming way too fussy. Live shows prior to that are some of my favorite (killer version of I'm Always in Love in July 2000 shows), but Jay was overplaying absolutely everything. His solution was always to throw more noise at something and YHF was no different; they never could have made anything like AGIB with him in the band. That being said, the first minute of IATTBYH alone I think shows that the labor was well worth it.
posted by good lorneing at 12:01 PM on July 17, 2015


Plus Ghost has Cline on lead.

He's not on the album, he joined for the tour.

Good call on the Loose Fur. This album is fun. I always wish bands on this level (Radiohead, etc) would cut loose a little more so not everything they put out feels so worked over. It's not a"statement" record and that's refreshing. It sounds like it was all cut at one time with nary a change of setup and Nels (love him, but) is in Full Invisible Mode.
posted by anazgnos at 12:46 PM on July 17, 2015 [1 favorite]


Full Invisible Mode, YES. The fact that he currently takes the solos on Hell is Chrome and Ashes of American Flags kills me. Or that every solo of his at all becomes, "Wilco, a Jazz Experience by Nels Cline."

And I know they had been recording prior to Sukierae, but I'm wondering if they scrapped that? Jeff was talking about how the best thing about Sukieraie was not having six people hem and haw over the album's "direction." I wonder if after that experience he went back to the band with a much looser approach. This sounds like the most relaxed the band has been in the studio since Being There.
posted by good lorneing at 12:51 PM on July 17, 2015


Plus Ghost has Cline on lead.

He's not on the album, he joined for the tour.


Yeah, you're right. I was probably thinking of the live version of most of the songs from Kicking Television which might be my favorite Wilco album. They're a fun band on record but they're really best live.
posted by octothorpe at 7:11 PM on July 17, 2015


FYI, the album can be 'bought' for free on Amazon (and possibly iTunes and other platforms).
posted by unmake at 5:50 PM on July 18, 2015


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