Ah… So *That’s* Why Wilco Gave Away Their New Album

Ah… so Wilco reveals the impetus behind offering their new album free. From a brilliant email blast today:

This message has arrived in your inbox because you downloaded Wilco’s new album Star Wars. Thanks for that and we hope you’re enjoying the new tunes.

Now a bit of background… We consider ourselves lucky to be in the position to give you this music free of charge, but we do so knowing not every band, label or studio can do the same. Much of the “music business” relies on physical sales to keep the lights on and the mics up. Without that support, well, it gets tougher and tougher to make it all work.

With that in mind, Wilco has put together a list of some of their favorite recent releases. We encourage you to explore it (and beyond) and yep, even march down to your neighborhood record shop and BUY. There’s a lot of great music out there, lets all try to support it. After all, it’s the years of support (and purchases) of Wilco’s music that allowed us to do what we did last week.

Here’s a list of folks Wilco thinks you should listen to:

Adron – Organismo

Cibo Matto – Hotel Valentine    

Empyrean Atlas – Inner Circle

Eleventh Dream Day – Works for Tomorrow

Full of Hell, Merzbow – Full of Hell & Merzbow     

Game Theory – RealNighttime

Girlpool – BeforetheWorldWasBig

Invisible Familiars – Disturbing Wildlife

Landlady – Upright Behavior  

Luluc – Passerby

Ned Doheny – Hard Candy

Parquet Courts – Content Nausea  

Richard Julian – Fleur de Lis  

Scott Walker + Sunn O))) – Soused 

Speedy Ortiz – Foil Deer    

Steve Gunn – Way Out Weather  

William Tyler –  Deseret Canyon 

Maybe I shouldn’t admit this, but I’ve only heard of three or four of those artists. Looks like I’ve got some new tunes to check out.

And kudos to Wilco for using their platform to highlight others!