Star Wars (No, not THAT one!)

Thursday, July 16th 2015 was a Hall of Fame awful day. I mean, really bad.  I almost wish I could tell you about it.  But there were two events in the entertainment world that assauged at least a bit of the aftertaste that day. Criterion finally announced their release of MULHOLLAND DRIVE (coming in October).  Knew that one was coming.  But later that day I discovered that Wilco was offering a new, free album! Called Star Wars! With a fluffy white kitty on the cover!

The album is a little over one-half hour.  Many songs are under three minutes.  Is this a throwaway effort? After a few listenings, I would say no, but I don't expect any new converts, especially when Nels and company perpetuate that grinding dissonance, as on "You Satellite".   As before, I detect some Beatlesque elements in the vocal and guitar. A bit of Sonic Youth, too.   Some tasty, albeit brief, licks on "Pickled Ginger". "Cold Slope" grabbed me on first listen with some staccato phrasing, doubled on the axe.  Tweedy's voice gets some filtering here and there. The melancholia still comes through.  Like just about every Wilco release, it's a grower, soon to be indispensable I'm sure.  Nice job, guys.

NOTE: Star Wars will get an official release on CD in August and on LP in November.  Currently, there are a few ways to download it for free, including through iTunes.