Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Boxset | Bootlegs | Alpha Mike Foxtrot
With the release of (and my coverage of on the group blog of) the Super Deluxe, eight-CD boxset reissue of Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, it became a lot harder trying to keep all the working material for this album straight. This album had a notoriously labored recording history, enough to fill three full-length albums and spill over into a fourth outtakes disc. This would be a lot on its own, but this was not the first time some of this was released!
For one thing, there were actually two bootlegs circulated circa the album's official release, the YHF Demos and the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Engineer Demos, each with unique mixes of their respective songs, and both overlap a bunch with this boxset. Further, there's Alpha Mike Foxtrot, another Wilco rarities boxset which also features some of these songs.
In the interests of keeping everything straight and finding the best quality versions of each take, I've gone through the three drafts from the boxset, the outtakes disc, the bootlegs, and Alpha Mike Foxtrot and written a full guide as to their contents. This page is effectively the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot version of LiveNirvana's coverage of With the Lights Out, but that page is supremely useful, so I don't think they'd mind.
I'd also like to direct you to this fantastic blog post covering all the versions of each YHF song. There's enough differences in approach that I'm still bothering with my page; mine's an at-a-glance quick reference for overlap between each set, while he focuses on listing all the unique versions of each song, which is good if you have favorites.
(Note: The "Exclusive?" field of each table is for if you can find this version on other releases. An asterisk (Yes*) denotes when a track isn't totally exclusive, but the version is unique enough or enough of a quality upgrade to make it one you should seek out. For example, several of the bootlegs' songs are sourced from lossy (possibly MiniDisc, possibly early MP3, I'm not sure), while the boxset features them in much better quality.)
YHF Demos
One of the many fanmade covers for the YHF Demos
A 21-track leaked CD circulating online sometime prior to July 2002, originally as MP3s and later upgraded to FLAC. These demos are half discards from the long Yankee Hotel Foxtrot sessions and half earlier, more straightforward renditions of the songs that would appear on the final album.
| Song/"Listed as" | Exclusive? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| I Am Trying to Break Your Heart | Yes* | The same take as the Here Comes Everybody and Engineer Demos versions, but with a unique mix and a truncated intro. |
| Ashes of American Flags | Yes | Exclusive! This one puts the emphasis on the bassline and shakers, otherwise a pretty standard runthrough. |
| I'm the Man Who Loves You | Yes | Similar in structure to the Engineer Demos version, but a different take, shorter, and a more treble-heavy mix. |
| A Magazine Called Sunset | No | Originally released on More Like the Moon. Runs at the incorrect speed and has an audible glitch in one part. |
| Reservations | No | Here Comes Everybody has this version in near-identical quality and mastering. |
| Kamera | No | American Aquarium has this version in near-identical quality and mastering. |
| Laminated Cat "Not for the Season" |
No | Here Comes Everybody has this version in similar dynamic range, but a better mix in my opinion. |
| Shakin' Sugar "Alone" |
Yes* | American Aquarium has this version with an alternate intro, mix, and speed differences. |
| Nothing Up My Sleeve | Yes* | The American Aquarium version, but with better dynamic range. |
| Venus Stopped the Train "Venus Stop the Train" |
No | Here Comes Everybody features this version in near-identical quality and mastering. |
| Cars Can't Escape "Rhythm" |
No | American Aquarium has this version in near-identical quality and mastering. |
| Poor Places | Yes* | The American Aquarium version, but with better dynamic range. |
| Love Will (Let You Down) "Won't Let You Down" |
No | The same take as on Lonely in the Deep End and Engineer Demos; the mastering and mixing most closely matches the former. |
| Heavy Metal Drummer | Yes | This version, Engineer Demos, and The Unified Theory of Everything are all the same take with different arrangements and mixing. |
| Let Me Come Home "Instrumental 1" |
Yes | The same take as Alpha Mike Foxtrot and Engineer Demos with the vocals mixed out. |
| Radio Cure "Instrumental 2" |
Yes | The "American Aquarium" boxset version, but with the vocals mixed out. Groovy! |
| Radio Cure "Instrumental 2" |
Yes | Similar to above, different take, but runs a little fast. |
| Kamera | Yes | Heavy "Kamera"! Similar to the Unified Theory of Everything version, but a unique take. |
| A Magazine Called Sunset | No | Same take as the earlier one on the disc with more audible percussion. Correct speed, but lossy. |
| Shakin' Sugar "Alone" |
No | Same take as the earlier one on the disc with a more treble-heavy mix. Lossy. |
| Laminated Cat "Not for the Season" |
Yes* | Same take as the earlier one on the disc with speed differences and no fadeout. Unfortunately lossy. |
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Engineer Demos
The most common fanmade cover for the Engineer Demos
An 18-track leaked CD of unknown age; the earliest reference I've seen online says 2005, but I'd guess earlier. Ostensibly, this disc was given to Jim O'Rourke as a mixing reference for the final album, but I've seen no evidence of that being the real source of the CD.
| Song/"Listed as" | Exclusive? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| I'm the Man Who Loves You | Yes | Similar in structure to the YHF Demos version, with a more balanced mix and a longer, more jammy outro. |
| Kamera | Unsure | Some copies (like mine) have this track removed because of its official release on More Like the Moon/Alpha Mike Foxtrot, so I can't say for sure. |
| A Magazine Called Sunset | Unsure | Some copies (like mine) have this track removed because of its official release on More Like the Moon/Alpha Mike Foxtrot, so I can't say for sure. |
| Poor Places | Yes | Exclusive! A unique wurlitzer-led version with drums in the choruses and the number station and rocket noises in the background throughout. |
| Shakin' Sugar | Yes* | The Here Comes Everybody version, but with better dynamic range. |
| War on War | Yes | Exclusive! Jeff sings this one in his low register, and the instrumentation has fewer layers than the similar Here Comes Everybody version. |
| Ashes of American Flags | Yes | A stripped-down version of the take on the final album. Unique in how finished it is compared to the rest of the material. |
| Cars Can't Escape | Yes | A more stripped-down mix of the same take on Here Comes Everybody and Alpha Mike Foxtrot. |
| Pot Kettle Black | Yes | Exclusive! Some alternate lyrics and a more mellow, organic arrangement compared to the other demos and the final album. |
| The Good Part | Yes* | The Here Comes Everybody version, but with better dynamic range. |
| I Am Trying to Break Your Heart | Yes* | The Here Comes Everybody version with better dynamic range and a longer outro. Has audible dropouts in parts. |
| Reservations | No | The Unified Theory of Everything has this version in near-identical quality and mastering. |
| Let Me Come Home | Yes* | The Alpha Mike Foxtrot version with better dynamic range. |
| Heavy Metal Drummer | Yes | This version, YHF Demos, and The Unified Theory of Everything are all the same take with different arrangements and mixing. |
| Nothing Up My Sleeve | No | The same take as on American Aquarium and YHF Demos with the percussion mildly louder. Lossy. |
| Radio Cure "Corduroy Cutoff Girl" |
No | "American Aquarium" on American Aquarium, though this version is sourced from lossy. |
| Love Will (Let You Down) "Never Let You Down" |
No | The same take as on Lonely in the Deep End and YHF Demos, though the percussion is slightly louder in this mix. |
| Venus Stopped the Train "Venus Stop the Train" |
Yes* | The Here Comes Everybody version, though with a more vocal-heavy mix, in lossy, and incomplete (cuts out). |
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Boxset | Bootlegs | Alpha Mike Foxtrot