Yeah actually I like Superwolf. On the whole I just feel like he's gone down this Dylan-esque "I am a confounding artist who will keep doing unpredictable things" path. But I should probably give the more recent stuff more of a chance - I heard a song off Lie Down In The Light recently that I liked a lot.
― my jaw left (Hurting 2), Saturday, 8 November 2014 17:54 (nine years ago) link
Oldham is one of those artists I always like when I hear, but rarely enjoy for long when I put it on myself. At this point the catalog is so windy and unwieldy there's really no easy point of entry, save "I See a Darkness," which I still think is all anyone really needs, even if you like the rest of the catalog. Though I guess I am aware that some folks find the guy unbearably moving and deep, which means they get more from him than I do. Obviously it's not fair to compare the guy - or anyone - to Dylan, but Oldham's balance of emotional honesty and humor has always struck me as much more confusing/confounding. I could equally imagine him penning a beautiful song about taking a dump and a stupid song about his mother dying.
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 8 November 2014 19:05 (nine years ago) link
i think there are a few records of his that work more or less equally well as a starting point: i see a darkness, sure, but also the letting go, and the lost blues comp.
― I dunno. (amateurist), Saturday, 8 November 2014 23:22 (nine years ago) link
Lost Blues > I See A Darkness
Lie Down in the Light is a really approachable, more comforting record, it's like his American Beauty
― punk rocketeer (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Saturday, 8 November 2014 23:43 (nine years ago) link
Similarly found it difficult to go beyond Ease Down the Road - like marcos I've come to the conclusion it's the singing as much as anything else, something platitudinous about it, though I think there's been a lyrical drop-off as well. NV's stanning for I Don't Belong to Anyone off Beware did something to win me over to that record and the Black Cab session version of Black Captain is wonderful. Would also second ows's praise of Get on Jolly - 25 off that is probably top 15 Oldham material for me.
The recent album seems terrifically boring - I haven't managed to make it all the way through.
― Fizzles, Sunday, 9 November 2014 13:17 (nine years ago) link
I remember really liking the Trembling Bells collab record but have not listened in a while
― Simon H., Sunday, 9 November 2014 14:13 (nine years ago) link
ha yea it does have a very dead vibe to it, esp that first track which is probably the best on the album imo
― marcos, Monday, 10 November 2014 13:59 (nine years ago) link
the oral sex song starts off very strong but the climax of it is very bad imo
jeez, how many songs about oral sex does this guy have?
― Jimmywine Dyspeptic, Monday, 10 November 2014 14:53 (nine years ago) link
I love this song:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IgTBFlUSeg
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Monday, 10 November 2014 15:54 (nine years ago) link
glad to see folks referencing the licht book. it is very good, not a while lot of musician "biographies" like it. made total sense to have a friend do the book, i always think of oldham as surrounded by friends and collaborators throughout his whole career who he really values and draws from. i could never see him agreeing to such a book with an unrelated journalist or something, and the fact that licht is a friend allows oldham to get much deeper into the questions than i've ever seen in any published interview.
― marcos, Tuesday, 11 November 2014 00:57 (nine years ago) link
not a while lot of musician "biographies" like it.
not sure where the "while" came from. anyways
This is my kids favorite dessert in the world: http://arthurmag.com/2009/04/02/will-oldham-on-his-double-chocolate-chess-pie-as-told-to-gabe-soria/
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 11 November 2014 02:25 (nine years ago) link
haha
When you take a bite of it, it’s like… how you know… it helps you recognize how omnipotent and indescribable God is. Because this food, you know, goes beyond, and obviously God, you know, God would go beyond anything a Pope could tell you, or an imam could say about, or rabbis, you know? They can pretend that they can tell you about God, but it’s way fucking beyond their comprehension, no matter how many books they read or how much they whip their back or do whatever they do. It’s the same thing with the pies when you realize that the way things work is way beyond anything you could comprehend. We can put [the ingredients] together, but we can’t explain why, when you put them together, why they do what they do.
― marcos, Tuesday, 11 November 2014 14:47 (nine years ago) link
did you like the cake?ah some of it was niceI have made a cake like thatin my own home once or twiceit was just as fine as that onewhich we had some of todaynone of it was wonderfulmuch more of it okay
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Tuesday, 11 November 2014 16:18 (nine years ago) link
A+++
― marcos, Tuesday, 11 November 2014 16:20 (nine years ago) link
btw i found this very wonderful picture on the internet
http://www.rockdelux.com/files/article/82/smog_1.jpg
― marcos, Tuesday, 11 November 2014 16:24 (nine years ago) link
is that bill callahan?
― punk rocketeer (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 11 November 2014 16:25 (nine years ago) link
yes!
― marcos, Tuesday, 11 November 2014 16:27 (nine years ago) link
woah!
― punk rocketeer (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 11 November 2014 16:27 (nine years ago) link
"What a bummer that my hair is thinning. Maybe I should grow a beard? Hmmm ... "
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 11 November 2014 16:30 (nine years ago) link
Shhh, It's Actually About Oral Sex
the new record from Bonnie Prince Billy
― my jaw left (Hurting 2), Tuesday, 11 November 2014 16:33 (nine years ago) link
tbrr i cherish the memory of the time i sneezed at a show (bert jansch!) and someone behind me put a hand on my shoulder and said "bless you" i turned around to say thanks and it was will oldham
― cross over the mushroom circle (La Lechera), Tuesday, 11 November 2014 20:49 (nine years ago) link
Surpised he didn't say https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Efk9p00mEJA
which borrows heavily from Billy Bragg's "I dreamed I Saw Phil Ochs Last Night" and samples Julee Cruise's "Falling" in reverse.
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Tuesday, 11 November 2014 21:01 (nine years ago) link
We can put [the ingredients] together, but we can’t explain why, when you put them together, why they do what they do.
will, say hello to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_science
― I dunno. (amateurist), Tuesday, 11 November 2014 23:06 (nine years ago) link
bonus reading: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/03/19/291406696/why-a-sweet-tooth-may-have-been-an-evolutionary-advantage-for-kids
― I dunno. (amateurist), Tuesday, 11 November 2014 23:08 (nine years ago) link
sorry i just hate that "only god could make something so perfect" stuff. love you, will.
As a food science denier, I say tis God that makes it taste good.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 11 November 2014 23:25 (nine years ago) link
i mean save your "only god..." for stuff that science truly doesn't understand well. a chocolate cake is easy.
― I dunno. (amateurist), Tuesday, 11 November 2014 23:26 (nine years ago) link
But who invented chocolate? God, that's who. Advantage: Bonnie Prince Billy.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 11 November 2014 23:27 (nine years ago) link
A friend of mine saw an early Oldham show in NYC at some small place and was impressed when Oldham went around the room and handed everyone a photocopy of a typed lyric sheet for all the songs he was going to play
― punk rocketeer (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 12 November 2014 01:30 (nine years ago) link
― cross over the mushroom circle (La Lechera), Tuesday, November 11, 2014 3:49 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
whaaat that is so awesome
― marcos, Wednesday, 12 November 2014 15:29 (nine years ago) link
yeah it was pretty awesomei wish i were like 10% as confident as will oldham dude is a weirdo but he seems to have it figured out
― i give up (La Lechera), Wednesday, 12 November 2014 15:37 (nine years ago) link
for himself at leasthe also doesn't seem like a prescriptive person
― i give up (La Lechera), Wednesday, 12 November 2014 15:38 (nine years ago) link
however i do worry a little when he veers too far in the self-baconing direction
― i give up (La Lechera), Wednesday, 12 November 2014 15:40 (nine years ago) link
yes you are very right about all of this
― marcos, Wednesday, 12 November 2014 15:41 (nine years ago) link
huge regret I never saw him dancing with mark e smith at ATP because I was too busy vomiting, but friends I was there with did.
― Fizzles, Wednesday, 12 November 2014 16:03 (nine years ago) link
marcosPosted: November 12, 2014 at 10:29:10 AMtbrr i cherish the memory of the time i sneezed at a show (bert jansch!) and someone behind me put a hand on my shoulder and said "bless you" i turned around to say thanks and it was will oldham
lol
― lag∞n, Wednesday, 12 November 2014 16:08 (nine years ago) link
new vid released today:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIWWsreneG8
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Wednesday, 12 November 2014 16:27 (nine years ago) link
good song
― marcos, Wednesday, 12 November 2014 16:48 (nine years ago) link
but lol does he have tusks in that video
― marcos, Wednesday, 12 November 2014 16:49 (nine years ago) link
He transforms into a werewalrus.
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Wednesday, 12 November 2014 16:57 (nine years ago) link
it does not take much to make a noticeable slip into parodythat's the problem
― i give up (La Lechera), Wednesday, 12 November 2014 16:59 (nine years ago) link
"come in" from lost blues is just destroying me. it's so brutal. i can't quite pin down exactly what the scenario is he's singing about but it is just so powerful.
― marcos, Friday, 14 November 2014 14:49 (nine years ago) link
always figured the subject of that song was a still-pined-over ex that'd come back to town out of some necessity and had nowhere else to stay but is only in town for the night, and all the possibilities therein.
― moz.gov (Clay), Friday, 14 November 2014 19:01 (nine years ago) link
ooh la lais that the emo stuff men write songs about?!
― i give up (La Lechera), Friday, 14 November 2014 19:02 (nine years ago) link
idk it fits the weird obtuse lyrics of that song!
― moz.gov (Clay), Friday, 14 November 2014 19:03 (nine years ago) link
or it's as literal an interpretation as ever made sense to me for a song about cooking a final time for someone leaving for "Egypt" while implying a bunch of long lost intimacy.
― moz.gov (Clay), Friday, 14 November 2014 19:06 (nine years ago) link
yea that's a fine interpretation!
― marcos, Friday, 14 November 2014 19:08 (nine years ago) link
it's about oral sex song iirc
― circa1916, Friday, 14 November 2014 19:09 (nine years ago) link