[video] Wilco - "Not For The Season"

For the past few weeks I’ve been drafting my favorite albums and songs lists during some of my free time. Wilco’s “Not For The Season”, in particular, has me stumped. Reason being is that I don’t feel there has ever been a “definitive” version of it laid down. There could possibly be a “definitive” Wilco version recorded sometime after Yankee Hotel Foxtrot sitting in the vaults somewhere, but who knows? The acoustic versions Tweedy played live prior to YHF (and captured in the I Am Trying To Break Your Heart documentary) are fantastic, but don’t tap into the expansive power of the live full-band arrangements. The YHF Demos version is a very cool Springsteen-esque take, but lacks the spacious slow-build into a scorching guitar frenzy of the 2002-2003 live versions. And the Loose Fur take (to my knowledge, the only officially released studio version) seems like the band was just learning the song at the time - again not really capturing the song’s full potential. So, does this song, easily one of my favorites of the decade and one of my favorite Jeff Tweedy-written songs ever, make the cut? Ah, the difficult decisions a sub-par music blogger battles with…

My friend Marty (hi Marty!) passed along the link to the really well made Wilco version up there, and I found this version on Youtube as well from the Sunken Treasure DVD. Enjoy…

-----------------------------------------------------------------

MP3 :: Not For The Season (YHF Demos version)
MP3 :: Not For The Season (Tweedy - Live acoustic)
MP3 :: Not For The Season (Wilco - Live, Toronto 4/02)
-----------------------------------------------------------------