CHICAGO—The archival music market reached a new level of desperation today as Nonesuch Records announced yet another reissue of the iconic 1998 collaboration between Wilco and Billy Bragg. The label will release the Mermaid Avenue Box Set with hundreds of hours of newly discovered, highly unnecessary audio files. Band members admitted they cleaned out their closets to find enough material to justify the $450 price tag.
1. Woody Guthrie's Unfinished Grocery Lists
The crown jewel of the new collection features Jeff Tweedy singing Guthrie's 1941 shopping lists. Listeners can hear a sparse, emotional acoustic rendition of the words 'one dozen eggs' and 'potted meat.' Critics already call the three-minute track a triumph of dust-bowl minimalism.
2. A 40-Minute Argument About Corduroy
The collection features a legendary, unedited audio fight between Billy Bragg and late guitarist Jay Bennett. The two musicians argued passionately over whether corduroy trousers belonged in the folk aesthetic. 'It represents the true, gritty reality of the sessions,' said Gordon Flense, Deputy Undersecretary for Things That Were Fine Before.
3. Every Single Cough from the 1997 Sessions
Engineers painstakingly isolated every throat clear, sneeze, and sigh from the original recording tapes. Disc 14 of the Mermaid Avenue Box Set consists entirely of Billy Bragg clearing phlegm before a take of 'Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key.' Folk purists claim the phlegm has a warm, analog tone.
4. Jeff Tweedy Humidifier White Noise
To capture the true atmosphere of the Chicago studio, the box set includes a bonus 12-inch vinyl of a vintage Kenmore humidifier. The machine ran constantly during the winter of 1998 to protect Tweedy's vocal cords. The label recommends playing this disc simultaneously with the music for maximum immersion.
5. A Real Piece of the Original Mermaid Avenue
Super-deluxe edition buyers will receive an actual chunk of asphalt dug up from Mermaid Avenue in Brooklyn, New York. Shipping costs will exceed three hundred dollars due to the weight of the municipal debris. At press time, Nonesuch announced the next edition of the Mermaid Avenue Box Set will include the actual bones of Woody Guthrie.
