Will Oldham/Palace/Bonnie Prince Billie: S&D

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What are your favorites from this massive catalog?

And while you're at it, maybe a few words on what you think makes Oldham interesting (or not so.) I have a few albums, and I like maybe five of his songs a lot, but overall I find him dull. There's not enough melody there for me (I See A Darkness is the exception), but maybe I don't have the right records.

― Mark, Wednesday, 19 June 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

My favorite single song by him is "You have c*m in your hair and your dick is hanging out."

― Mark, Wednesday, 19 June 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

My favorite single song by him is "You have c*m in your hair and your dick is hanging out."

favourite song title, rather. the album from which it's taken, arise, therefor, is very dull though, imo. i'm not an expert on the man, though my brother was very enthousiastic about the palace brothers' there is no-one that will take care of you.

― willem, Wednesday, 19 June 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

"I See A Darkness" is my favourite. "Arise therefore" is just plain WEIRD. What makes him interesting? For me, his obsession with Madonna when he was a teenager. hahah He's actually not that interesting. I don't get it why some people all go gaga over him.

― nathalie, Wednesday, 19 June 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

i thought about doing a wire-style "primer" for ft on oldham when i realized that i own almost all the records. odd, that, as i'd never think to consider oldham a "favorite" in passing coversation, but you can't pick your friends etc. etc.

your appreciation of oldham probably rises and falls with three things: a. your appreciation of his basic shtick (rich indie kid from louisville, ex-child actor playing faux-ozarks ballads), b. the rather...cracked quality of his voice, c. the quality of the songwriting itself (which i think is actually quite high if not exactly immediately memorable...cf. my above comment about not realizing i owned almost all his records.)

it's too early in the morning to do a full on s&d but for right now search:

"there is no one what will take care of you" - the first palace brothers albun, released in its first edition anonymously, not unlike john fahey's first lp. obviously his songwriting and voice are at their earliest but not necesarily weakest: when he stretches out he sounds like a particularly enervated neil young.

"days in the wake" - the most stripped down release in the oldham catalogue, right down to the jandek referencing cover art. mostly just will and guitar, quite a few emotional bombs/great lines dropped, an LP a shade over 27 minutes.

"i see a darkness" - probably his all around best record, 38 minutes, short and sweet. dig the celtic/islands vibe on "madeline mary" and the fuzzed out sub-dub bass of "death to everyone." also, the last track may be the prettiest thing he's ever written.

"ease down the road" - tom favorably compared these to the fat & happy & bearded dylan of the (mid?) 70s. he's right; a contented oldham is not necessarily a happy oldham, but he's certainly janutier than normally.

also SEARCH: the johnny cash cover of "i see a darkness" on american iii: solitary man. a mediation on a vision of death by a man who at the time was staring it directly in the face.

― jess, Wednesday, 19 June 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

Will Oldham = accessible Jandek. It's one step away from/closer to complete Indie Guilt of course. hahahah

― nathalie, Wednesday, 19 June 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

I like pretty much ever release, some more than others. Viva Last Blues has been my favorite for a long time, Days in the Wake a close second.

The only album I rarely listen to anymore is Arise Therefore, the rest are in constant rotation.

Search the Almost Heaven EP too, with Rian Murphy.

― Jeff, Wednesday, 19 June 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

I really, really like "Arise Therefore," more than just about anything else of his. Am I alone in this?

― Colin Meeder, Wednesday, 19 June 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

My favorite song of his is "Gulf Coast", where he sings, "We could watch a blue heron in flight/We could see the sights in town". It's lonesome and funny at the same time and wonderfully perverse. Above all, I think he's a fabulous singer. That's what keeps me listening, even when most of his songs are dull.

― Curt, Wednesday, 19 June 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

It makes me very happy to know Jess is a Will Oldham fan.

Personally though I amn't listening to that kind of music now, I think Will Oldham is a great man. I see a darkness is probably one of my favourite songs ever, I forget if it made my perfect 15 or not.

His cover of AC/DC Big Balls is pretty good too. I don't have all his stuff but I wish I did. I think what makes him interesting is his voice which can convey desperation and sadness better than almost anyone else I've ever heard.

Search Also:Every Mothers Son, and most of I see a darkness album.

― Ronan, Wednesday, 19 June 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

A lot of his albums leave me fairly cold, but the first half-dozen or so singles, oh MAN. "Ohio River Boat Song," "Trudy Dies," "Horses," "West Palm Beach"... also "Riding" from the first album, which I've heard covered a few times.

― Douglas, Wednesday, 19 June 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

Search: There Is No-One, Days In the Wake, the Hope EP, Viva Last Blues, The Mountain EP, Lost Blues and Other Songs (most of those great singles, all in one place; "Come In" is the one that kills me every time), I See a Darkness (this didn't do much for me until nearly a year after its release; now it's one of my faves), Ease Down the Road (perhaps his prettiest, if no less occasionally befuddling).

I don't know if I would destroy the likes of Arise, Therefore, Joya, and his inumerable EPs and "versions," but they generally don't do much for me. He definitely hit a slack patch there for a while around A,T.

When he first started out, he appeared to be the epitome of something I really hate--the po-faced roots-music dilettante. But there was something so idiosyncratic and cracked about the first single and album that I was hooked anyway. Then I saw him live for the first time: no acoustic guitars, no wood-smoke croon--he was leading a rock band and wearing leather pants that laced up the sides. Confounded again. Then he put out Days in the Wake: solo acoustic, with tons more of those great what-the-hell-is-that-all-about songs. After that I paid close attention just in case I might miss something.

Now I take him at his word that he's feeling his way forward, trying to write about emotional states that aren't always rational, or that he has trouble articulating rationally. And while even the best albums he's done since have their weak songs--or even moments when it sounds like he's just a musical slummer whacking off with both hands-- like as not he comes up with a few tunes that describe or tap into something I've felt but couldn't have described either. And then there's his singing, which is almost always worth a listen, even though it annoys me to distraction when he chews gum while singing live.

As a side note, I also like the way he casually drops the erotic and vulgar into his lyrics. I mean, some of his lyrics are bizarrely, explicitly sex-obsessed, but that stuff is never there to shock or serve as a punchline (well, except maybe that bit about fucking a mountain). In his songs wrong-headed trysts, cum stains, blowjobs, and cunnilingus are just as much a part of life as not knowing how you feel. Seems pretty sound to me.

― Lee G, Wednesday, 19 June 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

here's a pic of Will

― Steve K, Wednesday, 19 June 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

God! I completely forgot about the "If I could fuck a mountain..." line! That was CLASSIC. Viva Last Blues is a very special record, I'll say, search that.

― Keiko, Wednesday, 19 June 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

I remember seeing him play live around 1994 or so--he did an incredible solo acoustic song that it took me years to figure out was actually Bob Dylan's "New Pony." When I heard Dylan's version, I was surprised that he'd noticed it was actually a good song.

― Douglas, Wednesday, 19 June 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

Had a copy of a compilation called Guarapero: Vol 1 (something like that). The live tracks are storming! And there's a nice cover of AC/DC's big balls. The stuff he does with a drum machine isn't so good and I skip it. Its a good collection overall but somehow never got round to getting anything elase by him. Should see him live as well.

― Julio Desouza, Wednesday, 19 June 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

melodious oldham recommendations:

lost blues and other songs (singles/rarities comp) - search "lost blues", "marriage", "west palm beach"
side 2 of viva last blues
"one with the birds", "patience/take however long you want", "little boy blue", "trudy dies" (the 7" version) singles

definitely some melody there for you. check out the peel session of "you have cum in your hair..." which I like better than the original.

i find him interesting because he has a great voice (narrative- wise, but also vocally) uh... is it indie-pride week yet?

― gygax! (i forgot my blog password), Wednesday, 19 June 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

Jason Morphew's better, and he's the genuine article. Ever heard of him?

― Todd Brandenburg, Friday, 21 June 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

I See a Darkness is top. Saw a show right before that album was released & it was totally brilliant and scary. He's got some excellent songs (O How I enjoy the light & most of the first singles comp., for starters) & the lyrics tend to not fit properly in a fascinating way..
On the other hand I was in a record shop the other day & one of his new discs was on, and I wanted to scream I HATE Will Oldham! he's off key, he can't sing, this song is slow, and boring, and wretched, and only a college kid stopped up with indie guilt and lowered standards would think this was worth a moment of his/her time, and I HATE Will Oldham! argh!
Any artist that draws that kind of reaction is worth investigating, I think.

― daria gray, Saturday, 22 June 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

???

Finally, something I can sink my teeth into.

― david h(owie), Saturday, 22 June 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

1 year passes...

I think we ought to revive this thread, because Will Oldham rules.

I got Arise, Therefore today. PERFECT for my mood.

― Ian Johnson (orion), Sunday, 30 November 2003 01:44 (9 years ago) Permalink

i am still kind of amazed that "i see a darkness" is ryan pitchfork's favorite record of the 90s.

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Sunday, 30 November 2003 01:48 (9 years ago) Permalink

i mean, it's good and all...

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Sunday, 30 November 2003 01:49 (9 years ago) Permalink

I like him. Of course, there are many clunkers in the catalog, but, like my all time favorite artist Neil Young, Will experiments and follows his muse, which is more than can be said for 90% of the indie giants whose lives were changed forever by their 1993 discovery of Pet Sounds or whatever.

Colin, you're not alone, I am also a big fan of Arise, Therefore. I think it's one of his most consistent works. I am very much looking forward to his upcoming greatest hits record, which I heard will be re-recordings.

It's hard to explain the mystique, I'm aware of the pretense of it all, but somehow, I find him very talented despite the obviously forced illusions. I think he'd be great to have a beer with. I don't own all of his records but the ones I do have I would not trade. Fair enough?

― roger adultery (roger adultery), Sunday, 30 November 2003 02:04 (9 years ago) Permalink

can somebody talk about master and everyone?

― arjun (arjun), Sunday, 30 November 2003 18:15 (9 years ago) Permalink

i cant seem to remember much past the incredibly beautiful first track - i think its possibly too pretty, i dunno.

― jed (jed_e_3), Sunday, 30 November 2003 18:41 (9 years ago) Permalink

master and everyone is good to sleep to. i listen to it alone but 'ain't you wealthy, aint you wise' is ok with people. the song 'maundering' resonates strongly with me. i just recently saw a movie called 'all the real girls' and there is an alternate version of 'even if love' that is striking. i enjoy mark nevers' detailed production but i could do without the extraneous ambient bits. the room sound is fine. i enjoyed seeing and hearing the songs of master and everyone performed live and differently, as a band. i'm glad there is a "greatest hits" record coming out soon (of re-recorded songs!!) does anyone know the release date?

― russ p., Sunday, 30 November 2003 18:56 (9 years ago) Permalink

Don't know about the release date. I too saw him live this summer and he performed everything by himself with an autoharp and an electric guitar. I was somewhat surprised that he changed the melody to every single song. Does he always do that?

― Elliot (Elliot), Sunday, 30 November 2003 19:18 (9 years ago) Permalink

changed the melody to every single song

When I saw him, he didn't so much change as flesh out some of the earlier, sparser melodies. A lot of the really meandering/weird stuff from Days In The Wake, for example, was given a nice full band treatment. He also played with solo electric guitar for about 1/3 of the set, the band coming out to rejoin him for the end.

― Ian Johnson (orion), Sunday, 30 November 2003 23:49 (9 years ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

I too saw him live this summer and he performed everything by himself with an autoharp and an electric guitar. I was somewhat surprised that he changed the melody to every single song. Does he always do that?

Further comments... there's a six minute long, full-band version of "No More Workhorse Blues" on this bootleg from Austria I found. Crazy. Parts of it sound spanish, then when the song climax the drums really start to come in. Unrecognizable initially!

― Ian Johnson (orion), Wednesday, 14 January 2004 08:54 (9 years ago) Permalink

2 months pass...

There's an interview, full discography (no values for anything for some reason) and an incredible photo of will in the issue of record collector that came out a couple of weeks ago.

There's also a wonderfully twisted piece written by will in today's guardian.

― hmmm (hmmm), Wednesday, 17 March 2004 09:53 (9 years ago) Permalink

4 months pass...

"a minor place" (??) is so beautiful. especially the drumming--that's amazing drumming, in a very understated way.

(p.s. THANKS NA!!!!!!)

― amateur!st (amateurist), Wednesday, 28 July 2004 03:13 (8 years ago) Permalink

strongo to thread?

― amateur!st (amateurist), Wednesday, 28 July 2004 03:18 (8 years ago) Permalink

i really want to see oldham record some material with brian and maryrose crook - i missed their new zealand tour together..

― chris andrews (fraew), Wednesday, 28 July 2004 03:29 (8 years ago) Permalink

yr welcome.

― St. Nicholas (Nick A.), Wednesday, 28 July 2004 20:02 (8 years ago) Permalink

ease down the road has some great tracks, "careless love" being one of my favorite oldham songs. the album has a bouncy feel, good springtime record

― russ p., Wednesday, 28 July 2004 21:23 (8 years ago) Permalink

I've long been familiar with the early Palace/Oldham albums, but was never really a fan... never heard any of the singles... recently, I bought Lost Blues because I enjoy the Bonnie "Prince" Billy Sings Greatest Palace Music CD, and wanted to hear the original versions of the songs I didn't know... and, my god, what an incredible CD that Lost Blues is. I'm almost embarrassed at how perfectly it hits my early/mid-'90s Drag City sweet spot. "Gulf Shores" is currently my favorite song by anyone.

A question, though: how can I find out who played on/produced the songs, without tracking down the original singles? The big Oldham websites don't seem to have that info. I'd like to know which song(s) were produced by Kramer, Adam & Eve, etc...

― morris pavilion (samjeff), Monday, 9 August 2004 20:15 (8 years ago) Permalink

the bridge on "just to see my holly home" (??) is so lovely-- i like how it keeps going up and up and up when you'd expect it to cycle back to the beginning. it really has a quality of the ecstatic. so nice.

― |a|m|t|r|s|t| (amateurist), Tuesday, 10 August 2004 03:44 (8 years ago) Permalink

sorry morris pavilion i dunno where'd you'd get that info. palace releases are notoriously taciturn when it comes to credits (i find this one of the more annoying aspects of his schtick actually).

― |a|m|t|r|s|t| (amateurist), Tuesday, 10 August 2004 03:45 (8 years ago) Permalink

also what does that guitar part on "lion lair" remind me of (the one that goes up and down the scale pretty straightforwardly)? something about the song's lazy tune reminds me -- pleasantly -- of a lot of half-remembered late 80s/early 90s amerindie records, like maybe the last replacements record, or... crap, i cabn't put my finger on it. any help?

― |a|m|t|r|s|t| (amateurist), Tuesday, 10 August 2004 04:10 (8 years ago) Permalink

i think happy will oldham is more interesting than monomaniacally depressed will oldham (ok, he was never quite so monochromatic as all that, but...)

there's always been a protean quality to his music, which often goes overlooked largely because of the superhuman insularity of his misterioso hillbilly shtick. people tend to link him with these old balladeer types, which a certain prominent vein of his music does encourage. but i hear--sublimated and reconstituted beautifully in the last 3 records--a whole bunch of less-austere influences (sorry mark) there, like a thousand singer-songwriters and alterindie bands.

― |a|m|t|r|s|t| (amateurist), Tuesday, 10 August 2004 05:04 (8 years ago) Permalink

i'm talking about the music more than the words, which remain pretty sui generis.

― |a|m|t|r|s|t| (amateurist), Tuesday, 10 August 2004 05:05 (8 years ago) Permalink

i know this is just a misreading, but i sort of like how i always forget whether "holly" is the name of his girl or an adjective modifying "home."

― |a|m|t|r|s|t| (amateurist), Tuesday, 10 August 2004 05:07 (8 years ago) Permalink

also i can't think of many songwriters who would risk a song that is: verse. verse. lead-up. chorus. end. full stop. ("raining in darling.") awesome.

― |a|m|t|r|s|t| (amateurist), Tuesday, 10 August 2004 05:34 (8 years ago) Permalink

I can't wait to work my way up to those Bonnie "Prince" Billy albums, now that I'm on an Oldham kick. (I just ordered the "Hope" EP and Guarapero.) I hope I continue to enjoy the new stuff I hear even half as much as I'm enjoying the songs on Lost Blues. (Today's pleasure: the little ascending guitar hook on "O How I Enjoy the Light.")

I don't know why I never really responded to the other Palace albums (though I like some of the songs on "Days in the Wake"). These early singles are just another breed - not just the songs themselves, but the production, the playing, the atmosphere...

― morris pavilion (samjeff), Tuesday, 10 August 2004 15:28 (8 years ago) Permalink

sorry for overposting. maybe in the year 2041 someone will discover this thread and share my predilection for armchair anaylses of will oldham tunes.

"just to see my holly home" is a very funny song. it's about, i guess, the dark side of the whole "nuclear family" thing--the family has a remarkable closeness, but it comes from denigrating and attacking all others and ultimately locking them and the world out forever. oldham cheerfully places mysogynystic musings next to a kind of idealization of his partner/family. anyway this is a boring exegesis but what makes it work is how oldham finds a peculiar balance b/t silliness and earnestness. the balance wouldn't hold if the song had such an insinuating sound.

― |a|m|t|r|s|t| (amateurist), Tuesday, 10 August 2004 16:17 (8 years ago) Permalink

i mean to write, if the song didn't have such an insinuating sound.

― |a|m|t|r|s|t| (amateurist), Tuesday, 10 August 2004 16:18 (8 years ago) Permalink

the Hope EP was my favorite until this recent split with Brightblack (which I STILL don't even own)

― roger adultery (roger adultery), Tuesday, 10 August 2004 16:56 (8 years ago) Permalink

The "Get On Jolly" EP (with Marquis de Tren) is the greatest thing he ever did. indeed, II-IX from it is one of the most beautiful songs ever written.

― jed_ (jed), Tuesday, 10 August 2004 23:30 (8 years ago) Permalink

never really got into most of lost blues but the last song (think its the last one anyway) is incredible
also the brute choir

― robin (robin), Tuesday, 10 August 2004 23:31 (8 years ago) Permalink

Skipping 172 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

Boy, there's a caveat for everyone else, huh? Oh, right, except, umm, Bob Dylan.

― If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Thursday, 2 December 2010 19:57 (2 years ago) Permalink

w/e

― BIG MUFFIN (gbx), Thursday, 2 December 2010 19:58 (2 years ago) Permalink

and yeah, except for bob dylan, because he does the same thing. jam bands ~don't~. jazz dudes DO, but they're playing jazz, and that's sorta the point sometimes. but in the realm of rock and roll or w/e, i can't think of anyone that reinvents their back catalogue as frequently and as often as oldham.

― BIG MUFFIN (gbx), Thursday, 2 December 2010 20:01 (2 years ago) Permalink

i think with jam bands like the dead, it's about extending songs, exploring them in a more expansive manner, not necessarily really changing the actual skeleton of the song. with someone like dylan, he often really reimagines the songs. there was a version of girl from north country few years back that, to my ears, had a completely different chord structure than the original (sounded like friend of the devil, actually). don't know if oldham falls into this camp -- i'm not an obsessive fan, but it is pretty rare.

― tylerw, Thursday, 2 December 2010 20:07 (2 years ago) Permalink

if the song is entirely re-structured, including chords, what makes it the same song? that the dude remembered to repeat a refrain every so often?

I mean, P-funk does that in their own peculiar jam-bandy way when they play live. They hit a groove and then George recites as many choruses from various songs as he can think of, for ex.

― goat, camel, horse, and water buffalo (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 2 December 2010 20:10 (2 years ago) Permalink

whether or not the song is a "version" of Tear the Roof Off, Get Off Your Ass and Jam, Mothership Connection, Sentimental Journey, etc. is kinda a moot point

― goat, camel, horse, and water buffalo (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 2 December 2010 20:11 (2 years ago) Permalink

if the song is entirely re-structured, including chords, what makes it the same song? that the dude remembered to repeat a refrain every so often?
yeah, i mean, sometimes it sorta seems like Dylan is just awkwardly fitting old words into a new song, but it works on occasion -- like an visual artist painting the same landscape from a different angle, you kinda get a new vibe from the rearrangements.

― tylerw, Thursday, 2 December 2010 20:14 (2 years ago) Permalink

yeah that makes sense, esp given the v nature of a lot of parliament songs in general (~groovy~).

in the case of oldham, it's the "same song" because it's got the same lyrics, and that's about it. phrasing, chord structure (i ~think~), delivery, instrumentation, etc. are all different sometimes.

xps

― BIG MUFFIN (gbx), Thursday, 2 December 2010 20:16 (2 years ago) Permalink

I am going to leave it to GG to express my absolute antipathy towards Dylan, she does it more eloquently than even the biggest lektual on here could or indeed a working class spaz like me could. I personally despise him and consider him one of the most contrived and overrated bags of shite from 20th century music. Will Oldham certainly isn't perfect but he is worth a thousand Dylans.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/jun/30/popandrock.poetry

― Damo Suzuki's Parrot, Thursday, 2 December 2010 20:54 (2 years ago) Permalink

― tylerw, Thursday, 2 December 2010 21:05 (2 years ago) Permalink

Dylan-haters are the equivalent of James Brown-haters imho

― goat, camel, horse, and water buffalo (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 2 December 2010 21:12 (2 years ago) Permalink

like if you hate him I kinda think you don't actually like/understand popular music in the latter half of the 20th century

― goat, camel, horse, and water buffalo (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 2 December 2010 21:13 (2 years ago) Permalink

gauntlet THROWN

― goat, camel, horse, and water buffalo (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 2 December 2010 21:14 (2 years ago) Permalink

oh shit.
i don't even get what that article is saying -- she doesn't think dylan's lyrics work as poetry? fair enough. do they work as lyrics? YES.
also, "not fit to tie woody guthrie's shoes?" was this written in 1962?

― tylerw, Thursday, 2 December 2010 21:16 (2 years ago) Permalink

woody guthrie had SHOES?? what a sellout

― EIEIoOoOO (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 2 December 2010 21:31 (2 years ago) Permalink

germaine greer has some weird opinions + she loves telling everyone abt them

― just sayin, Thursday, 2 December 2010 21:36 (2 years ago) Permalink

if the song is entirely re-structured, including chords, what makes it the same song? that the dude remembered to repeat a refrain every so often?

I mean, P-funk does that in their own peculiar jam-bandy way when they play live. They hit a groove and then George recites as many choruses from various songs as he can think of, for ex.

― goat, camel, horse, and water buffalo (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, December 2, 2010 2:10 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

it's different than that though....

here's a pretty good example: tonight i'll be staying here with you original vs. the rolling thunder tour...one's jaunty pop country one is a raging 70s rocker but it's still fundamentally the same song, even if the arrangements and some of the chord voicings have been changed

― EIEIoOoOO (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 2 December 2010 21:40 (2 years ago) Permalink

like if you hate him I kinda think you don't actually like/understand popular music in the latter half of the 20th century

^^^^

― If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Friday, 3 December 2010 00:33 (2 years ago) Permalink

i honestly can't think of many other contemporary artists (instrumentalists aside) that play it so fast and loose with their stuff.

Dan Bejar / Destroyer kinda does this but not to the same extent

I saw him on the tour for Your Blues and it was raggedy crazy electric versions of those songs (w/ Frog Eyes as the backing band)

― dmr, Friday, 3 December 2010 00:45 (2 years ago) Permalink

Yep, Bejar definitely fits that category, and, FWIW, he's a far, far better songwriter than Bonnie at his best

― If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Friday, 3 December 2010 00:49 (2 years ago) Permalink

there are recorded versions of those Your Blues reworks on the Notorious Lightning EP, fwiw.

― Clay, Friday, 3 December 2010 00:51 (2 years ago) Permalink

I don't even have to make the Dylan comparisons or fuel the controversy anymore! My work here is done.

― Badmotorfinger Debate Club (MFB), Friday, 3 December 2010 01:24 (2 years ago) Permalink

xpost - yep I almost mentioned that it became an EP. I think he used to do this kind of thing a lot more (friend who saw him at SXSW circa Streethawk/This Night barely recognized the songs until the choruses came in) and it was a little maddening b/c he didn't play out very much. nowadays he's kind of toned it down I think.

― dmr, Friday, 3 December 2010 01:48 (2 years ago) Permalink

"like if you hate him I kinda think you don't actually like/understand popular music in the latter half of the 20th century"

[Disparaging Voice]Yes mate you are totally correct, the essence of 20th century popular music has simply passed me by because I dont like one strand off its entire fabric.

I hear more about the human condition in one simple song by luminaries such as Skip James or Lightning Hopkins than in Dylans entire back catalogue (and I have tried many of his albums).

Admittedly they arguably were making music in the early half of the 20th century, but quite close to his era.

Your response is just the archetypal Dylanapologist arrogance I would expect from folk who cant just settle for him being merely their own particular favoured strand of 20th century popular music. You have this pathological need to elevate him above everyone else in the world, sort of like inverted adult teenyboppers with yer Bobbie Williams. Are you suggesting he is the motherlode of all 20th century greatness? Very shortsighted, deluded and plain wrong.

Obviously because a lot of folk with pallid dungeon-tans and wavering eyes spend a lot of time disserting his greatness, he is obviously not a mere strand but a godlike enigma etc zzzzzzzzzzz. He isn't Mozart, do you realise this?

― Damo Suzuki's Parrot, Sunday, 5 December 2010 22:08 (2 years ago) Permalink

u mad

― kanellos (gbx), Sunday, 5 December 2010 22:17 (2 years ago) Permalink

#Mozartapologist

― ball (Hurting 2), Sunday, 5 December 2010 22:19 (2 years ago) Permalink

first palace bros singles/rarities comp (lost blues) works for me as his most solid work.

― i love you but i have chosen snarkness (Steve Shasta), Thursday, December 2, 2010 1:00 PM Bookmark

^^^

― ball (Hurting 2), Sunday, 5 December 2010 22:21 (2 years ago) Permalink

Mozartapologist

Quack Quack Chortle!

― Damo Suzuki's Parrot, Sunday, 5 December 2010 22:25 (2 years ago) Permalink

the sound of a man choking on a message board post

― ball (Hurting 2), Sunday, 5 December 2010 22:28 (2 years ago) Permalink

Not really ballbag, just laughing at Mozartapologist.

― Damo Suzuki's Parrot, Sunday, 5 December 2010 22:31 (2 years ago) Permalink

u mad

― ball (Hurting 2), Sunday, 5 December 2010 22:36 (2 years ago) Permalink

Will Oldham certainly isn't perfect but he is worth a thousand Dylans.

like if you hate him I kinda think you don't actually like/understand popular music in the latter half of the 20th century

^ equally ridiculous

― phish in your sleazebag (contenderizer), Sunday, 5 December 2010 22:41 (2 years ago) Permalink

OTM

― ball (Hurting 2), Sunday, 5 December 2010 22:43 (2 years ago) Permalink

Your response is just the archetypal Dylanapologist arrogance I would expect from folk who cant just settle for him being merely their own particular favoured strand of 20th century popular music. You have this pathological need to elevate him above everyone else in the world, sort of like inverted adult teenyboppers with yer Bobbie Williams

huge lols at 'dylanapologist'

1) why make it one word? there's no trailing 'a' in dylan!
2) that a well-respected musician can even have 'apologists' is a fucking hilarious idea, and one that can only be held by someone who is taking shit way, way, waaaaaaaaaaay too seriously. apologists are for people that are actively making the world a worse place.
3) you might be right about dylan getting too much love, i dunno, i never got into him that much (tho you have prompted me to put on john wesley harding), but actively hating dylan and his place in the pantheon is webelos grade challoping, try harder.
4) u mad, doggy

― kanellos (gbx), Sunday, 5 December 2010 22:58 (2 years ago) Permalink

Will Oldham certainly isn't perfect but he is worth a thousand Dylans.

like if you hate him I kinda think you don't actually like/understand popular music in the latter half of the 20th century

^ equally ridiculous

You might be right but that is my humble opinion and I am not going to tell you that you know nothing about 20th century music because you beg to differ. Its different with Zimmerman though, isn't it?

― Damo Suzuki's Parrot, Sunday, 5 December 2010 23:04 (2 years ago) Permalink

"zimmerman!"

― kanellos (gbx), Sunday, 5 December 2010 23:06 (2 years ago) Permalink

*audible sneer*

― ball (Hurting 2), Sunday, 5 December 2010 23:15 (2 years ago) Permalink

dude is so phony he doesn't even use his real name

― tylerw, Sunday, 5 December 2010 23:39 (2 years ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

will oldham interviews r kelly - http://www.interviewmagazine.com/music/r-kelly/

― just sayin, Wednesday, 2 February 2011 21:15 (2 years ago) Permalink

6 months pass...

ILM needs a revived Will Oldham thread like it needs a hole in its head, but fuck it. Arise Therefore is a weird, weird record, even more so than I remember.

― If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Thursday, 25 August 2011 14:36 (1 year ago) Permalink

10 months pass...

this self-cover has been killing me

― j., Sunday, 15 July 2012 23:48 (10 months ago) Permalink

love it

― catbus otm (gbx), Monday, 16 July 2012 00:15 (10 months ago) Permalink

2 months pass...

Can anyone ID the band in this, especially the singer to his right?

― has important things to say about gangnam style (Hurting 2), Monday, 8 October 2012 20:40 (7 months ago) Permalink

those outfits are the fucking best

― rap game klaus nomi (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 8 October 2012 20:43 (7 months ago) Permalink

The female singer is Angel Olsen. The backing band is the same as Wolfroy.

― lil queequeg (peter grasswich), Monday, 8 October 2012 20:57 (7 months ago) Permalink

Angel Olsen

― lil queequeg (peter grasswich), Monday, 8 October 2012 21:12 (7 months ago) Permalink

this self-cover has been killing me

― j., Sunday, July 15, 2012 7:48 PM (2 months ago) Bookmark

man what the hell did i just watch

― turds (Hungry4Ass), Monday, 8 October 2012 21:15 (7 months ago) Permalink

been diggin' that all summer. initially because I was all "HEY IT IS ASHTON LANE AND BYRES ROAD IN GLASGOW" but then the song just took over.

― Legendary General Cypher Raige (Gukbe), Monday, 8 October 2012 21:17 (7 months ago) Permalink

yeah i love that video

― well if it isn't old 11 cameras simon (gbx), Tuesday, 9 October 2012 01:03 (7 months ago) Permalink

3 months pass...

this new everly brothers tribute CD is about half great, half meh. "kentucky" is gorgeous.

― tylerw, Friday, 25 January 2013 20:50 (3 months ago) Permalink

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