jw harding Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 I'm a dad and I'm in the top 1% of rocking my face off. Gotta rock even harder now that I have kids. Fuck yeah dad rock! Eat shit childless rockers! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Inside of Outside Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 People are whaling on the guy in the comment section. I found the review to be low stress. He likes Star Wars. He likes cliches. He categorizes a group of fans based on economic status, race, parental status, and age. If it helps him make sense of the world, and Wilco's music, that's fine. Oh, yeah, and eat shit childless rockers! That cracked me up, jw harding. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Blackberry Rust Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 OK, this is the most insufferably hipper-than-thou review I've ever read. But at least the jackass "critic" likes the album. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/07/18/wilco-s-new-free-album-is-the-band-s-best-in-years.html Something's wrong with the world when someone is actually paid to write this stuff. It's more about what the author deems to be "cool" (hint: not you!) than the music. That review (in spite of liking the album) was.... I mean, really...that was like Pitchfork at a low bit-rate. Was there not an editor around? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chisoxjtrain Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 Consequence of Sound: http://consequenceofsound.net/2015/07/album-review-wilco-star-wars/ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Blackberry Rust Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 Consequence of Sound: http://consequenceofsound.net/2015/07/album-review-wilco-star-wars/ Good review. Really good. "The musicianship boasted by this long-running Wilco lineup has always been something to marvel at, but they’ve never opened up their musical engine and let it roar like they do here. There’s true beauty in listening to the band let its wild side off the leash, and with all apologies to the wonderful warmth of the band’s ’70s pop rock era, it makes you wonder why they ever left their artier tendencies behind in the first place." ^ Yup. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gryffe Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review/wilco-star-wars Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Doug C Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 A wordsmith known as redsun at www.jayfarrar.net "Ok. another Wilco stuff, another topic. Short and directly. A big disappointment for me. Even not a single good song... What do you think?" Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bleedorange Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 OK, this is the most insufferably hipper-than-thou review I've ever read. But at least the jackass "critic" likes the album. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/07/18/wilco-s-new-free-album-is-the-band-s-best-in-years.html Something's wrong with the world when someone is actually paid to write this stuff. It's more about what the author deems to be "cool" (hint: not you!) than the music. That guy just wrote a rave review of the album and pretty much nailed Wilco's career arc (while being humorous about the whole thing) and everyone here is giving him shit for it? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Doug C Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 That guy just wrote a rave review of the album and pretty much nailed Wilco's career arc (while being humorous about the whole thing) and everyone here is giving him shit for it?Not everyone... Hell, he's actually stressing some people out. I agree with you. Why do people take a band personally? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bleedorange Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 Not everyone... Hell, he's actually stressing some people out. I agree with you. Why do people take a band personally? True. It is pretty confounding since it is really difficult to read that review as anything less than the highest praise. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cold as Gasoline Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 Just my opinion, of course. But I can't stand the attitude and condescension evident in statements like this: Basically, they make musically adept pop rock with enough fuzz and energy to appeal to aging men. Men who are moving beyond their ability, or emotional bandwidth, to process a constant barrage of heavier or more noodle-y music, and need a chill middle ground, without giving up the cool factor of listening to something “alternative.” Quote Link to post Share on other sites
linclink Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 Glad to see some excellent reviews here... sadly it's not fairing so well over at rateyourmusic.com, where it's currently the lowest rated regular Wilco release ever (only "Wilco The Book" & "Mermaid Ave. Vol. III" are lower)?!?! Go figure, eh?https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/wilco Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bleedorange Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 Read in context, though, I don't think that statement is bad at all. Nor inaccurate. While generally beloved, at least by middle-class white people, college students, and hipsters over the age of 25, Wilco is a band that has found itself on the not-undeserving end of more than a few musical stereotypes. The first, while apt, is also the most tired trope: the whole “dad rock” thing. Basically, they make musically adept pop rock with enough fuzz and energy to appeal to aging men. Men who are moving beyond their ability, or emotional bandwidth, to process a constant barrage of heavier or more noodle-y music, and need a chill middle ground, without giving up the cool factor of listening to something “alternative.” The band’s sound, appearance, and deep pedigree—Tweedy’s short-lived tenure in Uncle Tupelo is the stuff of alt-country/rock/what have you legend—make them the perfect version of not quite adult contemporary, while still having enough cultural cachet to rope in some adventuresome youngsters as well. There is also, no doubt, a whole generation of future fans who are coming of age having grown up listening to them with the old man, even smoking their first father-son doobie to “Impossible Germany.” Wilco may be this generation’s Steely Dan. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jw harding Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 The review itself is fine, but he spends half the article talking about himself and topics other than the music on the album. Seems more appropriate for a blog post. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bleedorange Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 The review itself is fine, but he spends half the article talking about himself and topics other than the music on the album. Seems more appropriate for a blog post. Yeah. A whole 3 paragraphs. Two of which merely disclose his unique relationship to Wilco as a critic due to a previous review. Which is actually instructive to the reader. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
calvino Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 I thought the below was funny: Starting with “Pickled Ginger,” which will have you gunning that minivan V6 at stoplights as the opening riffs and buried vocals drive tension to a fever pitch before exploding into fuzzy madness. It kicks the record from “great” to “fuck yeah!, even though it’s not all rock n’ roll from here on out. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jw harding Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 Yeah. A whole 3 paragraphs. Two of which merely disclose his unique relationship to Wilco as a critic due to a previous review. Which is actually instructive to the reader.Speak for yourself. It wasn't instructive to me, and it seems other "readers." You actually took the time to count the paragraphs. Can I get a word count? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bleedorange Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 Speak for yourself. It wasn't instructive to me, and it seems other "readers." You actually took the time to count the paragraphs. Can I get a word count? It is instructive to know if a certain critic has a cozy relationship with a band, or has an axe to a grind, or has been treated poorly, etc. It's similar to when publications disclose when they are part of a corporation that they happen to be reporting on. Also, it's fairly easy to count to three. Didn't really take any time at all. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rhino4evr Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 So what's the pitchfork prediction? Considering they basically released a new album in promotion of their P4k set, you would hope they would be a little kinder then they have in the recent past Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Al.Ducts Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 "The musicianship boasted by this long-running Wilco lineup has always been something to marvel at, but they’ve never opened up their musical engine and let it roar like they do here. There’s true beauty in listening to the band let its wild side off the leash, and with all apologies to the wonderful warmth of the band’s ’70s pop rock era, it makes you wonder why they ever left their artier tendencies behind in the first place." Yeah this resonates with me as well. Before this new record popped up, I expressed a hope for less Tom Petty and more Tom Verlaine, and I think that's what they delivered for the most part. I sincerely hope they keep this trajectory. I'm a 25 year old Wilco fan, and the truth is most of my peers seemed to be of the mind that Wilco is easy-going, predictable, soft, whimsical etc. and I was beginning to agree. WTA and TWL were mostly just like...folk/country-rock with a thin layer of Beatle-y psychedelia spread across the top. That's fine for a lot of folks, but I got into Wilco because they didn't seem to take the easiest path to get from A to B. I didn't like their music because it was reassuring or warm or obviously pretty (clearly, I'm not a fan of Open Mind). It became those things to me over time, but it took time to feel that way. There were small flourishes here and there on the last couple records that echoed the qualities I fell in love with, but Star Wars is the first time in a long time that I haven't had to convince myself that the new Wilco record has legitimate teeth. Weirder, weirder, weirder, please. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rhino4evr Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 http://www.stereogum.com/1816829/premature-evaluation-wilco-star-wars/franchises/premature-evaluation/ This one is not so positive Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Boss_Tweedy Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 I think they like it: http://www.avclub.com/review/wilcos-star-wars-roughhewn-fuzzed-out-blast-222533 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kwhitehead Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 My review, fwiw. Tremendous on so many levels and (sort of) the record I've been waiting for Wilco to make for years. Both Nels and Glenn both own this, for the most part. Selfishly, I wish they would have played some of this at Solid Sound. I also think that with more listens I will be rewarded even further. Also, I love that it blows by in 34 minutes. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
I'm braggin' Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 OK, this is the most insufferably hipper-than-thou review I've ever read. But at least the jackass "critic" likes the album. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/07/18/wilco-s-new-free-album-is-the-band-s-best-in-years.html Something's wrong with the world when someone is actually paid to write this stuff. It's more about what the author deems to be "cool" (hint: not you!) than the music.To be fair, it's a little silly that anyone is being paid to write a review for a free album. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Beltmann Posted July 21, 2015 Author Share Posted July 21, 2015 The Atlantic's Spencer Kornhaber: "Star Wars, the band’s ninth album, released by surprise and for free on the Internet, reminds that Wilco aren’t just reliable, safe rockers; they’re some of the most generous experimentalists to ever pick up guitars." Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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