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The band's hometown paper, the Chicago Sun-Times, reported Wilco has parted ways with Reprise Records, part of the Warner family of labels, which has released the group's three previous critically acclaimed but modestly selling albums. Sources said the move came during a more general management and roster shake-up at the label.
The paper reported that Reprise had asked the band to change the new album, "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot," to make it more commercial, but Wilco refused. The paper said the band now intends to release the album independently.
But the Chicago-area newspaper the Pioneer Press reported that although the group and the label are at odds, the split hasn't been formalized.
"We have the record on hold pending discussions between the band and the label about their future relationship with us. I can't say anything more beyond that," Reprise senior vice-president Bill Bentley told the Pioneer Press.
Band guitarist Jay Bennett told the paper that the label had been disappointed in the group's recent output, and had hoped "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" would be more radio-friendly.
"This isn't the album they wanted ... They want the Wallflowers," Bennett told the Pioneer Press, adding "I wouldn't be completely heartbroken if (Reprise) didn't want to put (the CD) out."
Bennett also said the group has a clause in its recording contract that would prevent Reprise from both refusing to release the record and denying permission for the band to release it themselves, or through another label -- a fate that has befallen other recording acts at odds with their labels.
Meanwhile, at the Wilco message board Howtofightloneliness, a message attributed to band manager Tony Margherita asked fans to stop trading MP3s of the unreleased album.
"We respectfully ask that you show your support for the band and organization by thinking before you participate in this organized thievery. We have every intention of making Yankee Hotel Foxtrot available very soon both as a conventional cd and online via (the band's website) Wilcoworld."
Wilco's Canadian label, Warner Music, said they were aware of the reports but had not received any official word on the band's status.
The scrap comes just weeks after the group performed before tens of thousands of fans at a July 4 concert in Chicago, where they premiered new music from "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot."
In an article published prior to the show, band-leader Jeff Tweedy told Sun-Times music critic Jim De Rogatis that the new album represented a more experimental direction -- at least partly attributable to the influence of unconventional musician Jim O'Rourke, who mixed the album and has recorded an unreleased record of "experimental material" with Tweedy.
"Jim was like, 'You know, people are gonna say I ruined this record and that I'm responsible for all those weird elements.' In fact, he was way more into working on the pop songs, and it was a lot weirder before we went to mix with Jim," Tweedy told De Rogatis.
"Jim did a good job of pulling in the reigns on a few things -- not that it sounds like the reigns were ever pulled in, but they were, believe me."
Contrary to the roots-rock sound Wilco is typically associated with, De Rogatis likened "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" to the music of German experimentalists Can, Big Star's morose epic "Holocaust", and the off-kilter rhythmic work of Captain Beefheart's Magic Band.
Working in their own studio, Wilco recorded two or three, and in some cases, as many as seven versions of each song, the report said.
References to the new album, including release dates, have been removed from the band's official website (www.wilcoweb.com).
This latest development could make for an interesting post-script to filmmaker Sam Jones' documentary, "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart," which traces the making of the new album. The film, which was shot in black and white, was scheduled for release in 2002. (More on Wilco)