![\"Wilco](\"http:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Wilco-Blinking-CAt.gif\")
<\/a>Chicago based indie-rock band Wilco is back with a new album, Star Wars, <\/i>out for free on the band\u2019s website<\/a>\u00a0and released through their own label dBpm Records.\u00a0The album was a surprise release let loose the day after the band played Crossroads in Kansas City. The current tour is commemorating the group\u2019s 20th anniversary, although singer\/songwriter Jeff Tweedy and bassist John Stirratt are the only remaining original members.<\/p>\nThe group assembled in 1994 after the disbanding of a previous project Tweedy was involved in with Jay Farrar and Mike Heidorn under the moniker Uncle Tupelo. Current drummer Glenn Kotche joined the band 2001 but the band has been recording and touring with its current lineup since 2006.<\/p>\n
A change the revitalized the band and pushed the boundaries of where Wilco had gone in the past came in 2006 with addition of multi-instrumentalists Mikael Jorgensen and Pat Sansone, as well as acclaimed jazz virtuoso Nels Cline who took over lead guitar duties following the departure of Tweedy\u2019s old right hand man Jay Bennett in 2001. Bennett was removed from the group finishing the recording process of their 2002 Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, an album initially rejected by the band\u2019s label Reprise Records but held onto by the band and later released on Nonesuch Records.<\/p>\n
Star Wars<\/i> begins with an unfamiliar start for some Wilco fans with the 1:16 track \u201cEKG.\u201d A small, instrumental taste of Nels Cline\u2019s experimental jazz influences. Tweedy\u2019s voice quickly appears on the following track \u201cMore\u2026\u201d and comforts listeners with a voice they\u2019ve not heard from since the band\u2019s previous studio release The Whole Love <\/i>in 2011.<\/p>\n
Next is \u201cRandom Meme Generator\u201d, a track that odes to the wonderful worldwide web like the album\u2019s title and cover which features a regal, white feline posed before a vase of flowers. The records proceeds with consistent and mellow rock ballads like \u201cYou Satellite\u201d and \u201cTaste the Ceiling\u201d from the hands of Tweedy that reflect the band\u2019s mature sentiment and resulting easily listening qualities.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere Do I Begin\u201d is Tweedy at his most tender and acoustically armed and is sure to please any Wilco aficionado who might argue the band has fallen off. Star Wars<\/i>, simultaneously maintains old expectations of the band while bring fresh, rhythmic song approaches like \u201cKing Of You\u201d with slide guitar from \u2013 yeah, Nels Cline again.<\/p>\n
The record comes to a close with the somber, ethereal finale \u201cMagnitized\u201d where Jorgensen begins with a minute of echoing keyboards met with Tweedy and Stirratt\u2019s gentle influence passing over. Cline\u2019s guitar quietly whines in the background like an old phonograph record as the group sings in unison \u201crealize we\u2019re magnetized.\u201d Star Wars <\/i>joins a varied discography of alternative country and rock as the band\u2019s ninth studio album. As Wilco turns 20, no end seems emanate.<\/p>\n
Recommended If You Like<\/strong>:\u00a0Uncle Tupelo, The Jayhawks, Nels Cline Singers<\/strong><\/p>\n Recommended tracks: 6, 1, 11, 8, 5<\/strong><\/p>\n Do Not Play: None<\/b><\/p>\n Reviewed by Harrison Hipp 07\/24\/15 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 20 years of Wilco in 11 songs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1602,"featured_media":35931,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3235,3230,181],"tags":[2639,3339,3337,3340,3338,3246],"class_list":["post-35832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","category-music-reviews","category-new-music-rotation","category-rock-rotation","tag-harrison-hipp","tag-nels-cline-singers","tag-star-wars","tag-the-jayhakws","tag-uncle-tupelo","tag-wilco"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Wilco-Blinking-CAt-e1456300928940.gif","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1602"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35832"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35832\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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