The much anticipated, and already thoroughly downloaded, A Ghost Is Born, came to me differently than almost everyone else on the planet. I bought it, in a record store. And I'm kind of proud of the fact. A Ghost Is Born is a well-packaged album and I like the fact I can plug the disc in and listen to soundboard recordings of the band's performances via their Web site. Oh wait, there's actual music to talk about, too.

To escape the pressure of following the huge artistic and commercial success of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, the band and, more importantly, its principal songwriter, Jeff Tweedy, have opted to take things on a bit of a tangent. There are only a few tries at recapturing the rollicking acoustic rock glory of the past, "I'm A Wheel" and "Handshake Drugs," while much of the record takes to electric noodling and experimentation. Blame co-producer Jim O'Rourke and his New York SONIC YOUTH tendencies for it, but Tweedy leaps in full tilt. He and, more importantly, his band find a way to make this new ingredient fit with their established alt-country aesthetic. However, where this fusion actually finds its maximum effect is on the quieter numbers like "Hell Is Chrome" and "Wishful Thinking" and not the drawn out jam of "Spiders (Kidsmoke)." On stage, O'Rourke's presence has been replaced, and thoroughly exceeded, by jazz-fusion guitarist Nels Cline who I talked about in a recent concert review. And while A Ghost Is Born alone doesn't cement WILCO as America's best rock band, the same songs played live among a career-spanning setlist certainly offer a valid argument.

Disappointment of the Week

I'm glad the BEASTIE BOYS are still getting props for being the original white rappers to hit the scene. But after almost 20 years, it seems the "boys" are showing their age. Once high-pitched voices are gruff and rough, like many hardcore rappers of today. The beats and arrangements, while refreshing, sound nothing like the BEASTIE BOYS of old. They are intricate, rhythmically challenging and far beyond most mainstream rap of today but also offer little melody or instrumentation that we've grown accustomed to over the Boys' tenure as top rap trio.

And after absorbing the new rap of "Ch-Check it Out" and "3 The Hard Way," listeners get slapped in the face with a politically inspire "Time To Build." While the underlying message is positive, does anyone want their rappers preaching to them about world affairs? Even though I myself "shift a little to the left," I don't want a rap song trying to rhyme "OPEC" and "come correct." That's seriously a line in the song. "It Takes Time To Build" almost single-handedly ruins the disc.

The album does rebound with good-feeling odes like "Open Letter To NYC" but as a whole this could possibly be the death rattle of the BEASTIE BOYS. And as a lifetime fan whose childhood, adolescence and early adulthood were formed by License to Ill, Paul's Boutique, Check Your Head and Ill Communication (I still know every word to these albums), I'm not disturbed to bear witness to the end.

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