This is not the first time it happens, but it always sound like a weird way to release a new album. Without any publicity or any warning, Wilco has just dropped a new album in my mail box a few minutes ago. And you can have it too, you just have to go to their website, and enter your email address below the blinking eyes white cat.
To add a little more weirdness, the album is called ‘Star Wars’ – is George Lucas happy about this? – and yes this painting of the white cat is on the cover. It has 11 tracks with strange titles like ‘Random Name Generator’, ‘You Satellite’, ‘Taste The Ceiling’, ‘Picked Ginger’… and I am streaming it right now.
I have learnt about the album on Twitter but Jeff Tweedy announced it via Facebook and Instagram: ‘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?’
To be honest, I have lost contact with Wilco since their ‘Yankee Hotel Foxtrot’ and that was in 2002! It was a great album, but since, their indie alt-rock hasn’t really been in my musical universe, although I am ready to change this for a few minutes tonight, since I only have a few minutes before posting this! So far, my brain is rather blank, but I am enjoying the intensity of the song ‘You Satellite’ which transports you in a trance psychedelia, while Tweedy’s voice shines on the very Wilco-esque ‘Taste the Ceiling’ or ‘Magnetized’… And do I hear some T Rex influences here and there? ‘Pickled Ginger’ is totally rocking.
In this Spotify era, it seems that bands have no choice but to release a free album, it’s a good way to get noticed and even more appreciated by their fans, so go to Wilco’s website immediately!
‘Star Wars’ tracklist:
1 EKG
2 More….
3 Random Name Generator
4 The Joke Explained
5 You Satellite
6 Taste The Ceiling
7 Pickled Ginger
8 Where Do I Begin
9 Cold Slope
10 King of You
11 Magnetized