Wilco – Crosseyed Strangers: An Alternate Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (Record Store Day 2023)

This release was on my backup plan for Record Store Day 2023 (RSD)- assuming Taylor Swift was sold out. I assumed this was a mini compilation from the mega box of the 20th-anniversary edition of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (YHF), I figured it would be a nice addition to the Desert Sessions as I have the mega box in Minneapolis. Instead, Crosseyed Strangers is a unique compilation originally released as a bonus CD with the September 2022 edition of Uncut magazine. Taylor Swift ended up being sold out on RSD so I picked up Crosseyed Strangers on vinyl.

The recent mega box of Wilco’s YHF is almost too much. Crosseyed Strangers is a nicely curated alternative YHF in an easy-to-digest format. It is a wonderfully oddball juxtaposition of Jeff Tweedy’s solo material, live Wilco (from both 2002 and 2022), and original YHF session alternate takes. It is not on steaming services (however, all songs, except for the live cuts from 2022 are on steaming in various collections).

• “I Am Trying To Break Your Heart” is from Jeff Tweedy’s 2017 debut solo album Together at Last
• “Camera” is taken from the Wilco compilation Alpha Mike Foxtrot (Rare Tracks 1994-2014)
• “Radio Cure” is a live cut from a show at United Palace Theater (NYC 4/19/22) where Wilco is augmented by the Aizuri Quartet. 
• “War on War” is an alternate take from the original YHF sessions.
• “Jesus, Etc.” is also from the 2022 United Palace Theater show.
• “Ashes of American Flags” is also from Tweedy’s Together at Last.
• “Heavy Metal Drummer” is a live cut from The Pageant (St. Louis, MO 7/23/02).
• “I’m The Man Who Loves You” is another alternate take from YHF sessions.
• “Pot Kettle Black” is another 2002 live cut from The Pageant.
• “Poor Place” is another live cut from the 2022 show at United Palace Theater.
• “Reservations” is another live cut from the 2022 show at United Palace Theater.

I am a Wilco obsessive fan and so in hindsight, I am glad I was “forced” to buy this as some of this is material (2022 live cuts) I could not source from anywhere. It is nice to have this as a vinyl LP to go with the original vinyl LP that is part of the Desert Sessions.