Lidt ærgelse har der her altid været over den stærkt ændrede kurs Wilco tog efter sit mesterlige alt-popalbum Summerteeth. For det var en sjælden melodisk guldåre, man derved frivilligt vendte ryggen. Siden er kommet en række anderledes ‘seriøse’ udgivelser fra Wilco, der alle har været lettere at beundre end egentlig holde af. Webmaster Pastor, som kan sin Wilco, forklarer, det var nu afdøde Jay Bennett, der i bandet repræsenterede den mere umiddelbare lyd og sangskrivning, der kendetegner Summerteeth.

Under tilblivelsen af efterfølgeren, det album der skulle komme til at hedde Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, opstod kraftig bandsplid om musikalsk retning, mellem især Bennett på den ene side og Wilcoleder Jeff Tweedy på den anden. Utallige numre blev afprøvet og indspillet i vidt forskellige arrangementer og mange af dem efterfølgende fyret. Ikke nødvendigvis fordi disse sange fejlede noget, men fordi deres struktur og udtryk aldrig passede ind i Tweedy’s ambition om at lave den anderledes Wilco-plade, der afsøgte helt nye områder. Tweedy vandt altså magtkampen og efter Yankee Hotel Foxtrott var Jay Bennett en færdig mand i Wilco.

Så yderst berigende – og slet ikke umuligt nu – at høre hvilken ganske anden plade Yankee Hotel Foxtrot kunne have været. For ude på nettet findes et uofficielt album med de uudgivne sange/numre/versioner, der blev vraget undervejs. Som antydet, fordi de nok lagde sig for tæt op af Summerteeth og dens forkærlighed for en mere umiddelbar Brian Wilson-kaleidoskopisk pop. Mange af Tweedy’s rigt melodiske sange blev skåret bort på den bekostning, selvom de isoleret set intet fejler – tværtimod. Hvor vi fandt albummet Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Demos, er følgende beskrivende info med:

“Wilco
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Demos
2001

01 I Am Trying to Break Your Heart
02 Ashes of American Flags
03 I’m The Man Who Loves You
04 Magazine Called Sunset
05 Reservations
06 Kamera
07 Not For the Season
08 Alone
09 Nothing Up My Sleeve
10 Venus Stop the Train
11 Rhythm
12 Poor Places
13 Won’t Let You Down
14 Heavy Metal Drummer
15 Instrumental 1
16 Instrumental 2
17 Instrumental 2 (alternate)
18 Kamera (alternate)
19 Magazine Called Sunset (alternate)
20 Alone (alternate)
21 Not For the Season (alternate)

The so-called “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Demos” — actually consisting of both true demos and completed-but-discarded studio tracks from the YHF sessions — have been called “the great lost Wilco album.” In fact, it sometimes seems that these recordings have inspired as much fawning praise from critics as the officially-released album.

The tracks fall into two basic categories. First, there are early, sometimes radically different versions of songs that ended up on the record. Indeed, fans who aren’t wild about the sonic experimentation on YHF can find more straightforward renditions of some of the songs here.

Second, and even more stunning, are the songs that didn’t make the cut at all, a number of them as good as just about anything in the Wilco catalog. It’s not hard to guess why pop gems like “Magazine Called Sunset,” “Alone” and “Nothing Up My Sleeve,” all of which would have been right at home on Summerteeth, didn’t fit in with what Tweedy was trying to accomplish with YHF, but that doesn’t make them any less wonderful. “Not For The Season” is terrific, too, and was a longtime staple of Wilco’s live set (they still bust it out on occasion), but it didn’t make the grade either, perhaps because Tweedy had other plans for the song. (It ended up, sapped of most of its passion, as “Laminated Cat” on the first album by Tweedy’s Loose Fur side project.) And “Will Not Let You Down” sounds like Wilco brought Exile-era Keith Richards in as a ringer one day — it’s rollicking fun, even if it had no natural place on YHF.

Yet, the omission of two of these songs from YHF defies explanation. “Cars Can’t Escape” is one of Wilco’s loveliest ballads, and although the band gave it away online to anyone who purchased YHF, and even toss it into their live setlist every now and then, they have never treated it as much more than a throw-away. It’s been added to this collection.

But if these recordings do comprise some sort of alternate-universe classic, then “Venus Stop The Train” is THE great lost Wilco track. Achingly beautiful and hauntingly produced, it would have been an absolute highlight of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, and consistent in every way with the sound and ethos of that classic record. Instead, it has never been released, or performed live. Not even once. Until that far-off day when a career-spanning Wilco box set sees the light of day, this is the only way you’ll ever hear this positively gorgeous song.”

Nej, ovenstående lovprisning satser ikke mere end den af Jeff Tweedy kasserede musik kan holde. Har haft Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Demos kørende på iPod et par uger og der er virkelig tale om en Wilco-skattekiste, om en samling helt anderledes YHF-sange, der ubesværet kunne have stået på egne officielle ben. Det i en grad så hidtil hemmelige titler som ‘Venus Stop The Train’ og ‘Not For The Season’ trænger sig ind på dette tastaturs top-10 over bedste Wilco-sange i det hele taget. Og de er kun toppen af isbjerget, fra et album der kunne have været en favorit. For store ord? Find og hør alle disse bortdømte sange selv!