Wilco released their new album yesterday - for free DL on their website

[Facelift]

It's called 'Star Wars'

After playing it twice, I would say that it sounds kind of like Sonic Youth and power pop - often simultaneously (which results in something that also sounds kind of like T. Rex) and other times more one or the other. It's only 34 minutes long.
It's not the most original thing you'll ever hear, but apart from 'Taste the Ceiling,' and 'Magnetized' it does not sound much like any other prior Wilco album, either. I look forward to spending more time with it.

According to the site, free downloading is available until 08/13/2015. The CD release is for late August and the vinyl is scheduled to be released on Record Store Day Black Friday.

Wilco should be a good test case for this strategy. They're a "known quantity" (but still well short of being considered really popular) 20 year-old band whose fan-base has probably been fairly stable over the last 10 years. It will be interesting to see by how much the CD and LP sales of this album will differ from the previous album, in light of the DL being given up for free this time.

[mike_hunt]

Been listening to this quite a bit. Very strong album. Nels Cline really shines here and his atmospheres and textures support the songs in a very interesting and musical way.

[Pekka]

After reading a review that put the album down I was pleasantly surprised when I got a chance to listen to it. Almost no keyboards at all and I was also reminded of Sonic Youth. Sounds warmer than then 'though.