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 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Colin Meeder, Wednesday, 19 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Curt, Wednesday, 19 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
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 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Douglas, Wednesday, 19 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
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 (twenty-one years ago) link
here's a pic of Will
― Steve K, Wednesday, 19 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Keiko, Wednesday, 19 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Julio Desouza, Wednesday, 19 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
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 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Todd Brandenburg, Friday, 21 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― daria gray, Saturday, 22 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― david h(owie), Saturday, 22 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
I got Arise, Therefore today. PERFECT for my mood.
― Ian Johnson (orion), Sunday, 30 November 2003 01:44 (twenty years ago) link
― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Sunday, 30 November 2003 01:48 (twenty years ago) link
― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Sunday, 30 November 2003 01:49 (twenty years ago) link
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 (twenty years ago) link
― arjun (arjun), Sunday, 30 November 2003 18:15 (twenty years ago) link
― jed (jed_e_3), Sunday, 30 November 2003 18:41 (twenty years ago) link
― russ p., Sunday, 30 November 2003 18:56 (twenty years ago) link
― Elliot (Elliot), Sunday, 30 November 2003 19:18 (twenty years ago) link
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 (twenty years ago) link
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 (twenty years ago) link
There's also a wonderfully twisted piece written by will in today's guardian.
― hmmm (hmmm), Wednesday, 17 March 2004 09:53 (twenty years ago) link
(p.s. THANKS NA!!!!!!)
― amateur!st (amateurist), Wednesday, 28 July 2004 03:13 (nineteen years ago) link
― amateur!st (amateurist), Wednesday, 28 July 2004 03:18 (nineteen years ago) link
― chris andrews (fraew), Wednesday, 28 July 2004 03:29 (nineteen years ago) link
― St. Nicholas (Nick A.), Wednesday, 28 July 2004 20:02 (nineteen years ago) link
― russ p., Wednesday, 28 July 2004 21:23 (nineteen years ago) link
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 (nineteen years ago) link
― |a|m|t|r|s|t| (amateurist), Tuesday, 10 August 2004 03:44 (nineteen years ago) link
― |a|m|t|r|s|t| (amateurist), Tuesday, 10 August 2004 03:45 (nineteen years ago) link
― |a|m|t|r|s|t| (amateurist), Tuesday, 10 August 2004 04:10 (nineteen years ago) link
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 (nineteen years ago) link
― |a|m|t|r|s|t| (amateurist), Tuesday, 10 August 2004 05:05 (nineteen years ago) link
― |a|m|t|r|s|t| (amateurist), Tuesday, 10 August 2004 05:07 (nineteen years ago) link
― |a|m|t|r|s|t| (amateurist), Tuesday, 10 August 2004 05:34 (nineteen years ago) link
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 (nineteen years ago) link
"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 (nineteen years ago) link
― |a|m|t|r|s|t| (amateurist), Tuesday, 10 August 2004 16:18 (nineteen years ago) link
― roger adultery (roger adultery), Tuesday, 10 August 2004 16:56 (nineteen years ago) link
― jed_ (jed), Tuesday, 10 August 2004 23:30 (nineteen years ago) link
― robin (robin), Tuesday, 10 August 2004 23:31 (nineteen years ago) link
xpost
― jed_ (jed), Tuesday, 10 August 2004 23:32 (nineteen years ago) link
― matthew james (matthew james), Wednesday, 11 August 2004 00:56 (nineteen years ago) link
― |a|m|t|r|s|t| (amateurist), Wednesday, 11 August 2004 01:06 (nineteen years ago) link
― gygax! (gygax!), Wednesday, 11 August 2004 01:21 (nineteen years ago) link
― jess, Wednesday, 11 August 2004 01:27 (nineteen years ago) link
― |a|m|t|r|s|t| (amateurist), Wednesday, 11 August 2004 01:27 (nineteen years ago) link
IT US
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Tuesday, 21 May 2019 16:37 (four years ago) link
Haha, didn't recognize them with dry hair
― get your hand outta my pocket universe (morrisp), Tuesday, 21 May 2019 16:38 (four years ago) link
i barely recognized Oldham with hair
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Tuesday, 21 May 2019 16:42 (four years ago) link
I thought he was Beck at first glance.
― get your hand outta my pocket universe (morrisp), Tuesday, 21 May 2019 16:46 (four years ago) link
good grief that guy really did get all the breaks didn't he?! does anyone know/care to share how it happened that he was opening for big star as his first show? i am curious
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Tuesday, 21 May 2019 16:48 (four years ago) link
No Pajo, I think that's Grant Barger on banjo.
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Tuesday, 21 May 2019 16:49 (four years ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/94g42Uv.png
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Tuesday, 21 May 2019 16:54 (four years ago) link
i love seeing photos of young bill! what a gem.
― meaulnes, Tuesday, 21 May 2019 19:59 (four years ago) link
thank you for the response! From what I can tell, the answer is "there was somehow an offer"? i am not satisfied! from whom? why?
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Tuesday, 21 May 2019 22:03 (four years ago) link
It was at University of Missouri... maybe some of the guys had connections to the student bookers? (I'm totally just guessing)
― get your hand outta my pocket universe (morrisp), Tuesday, 21 May 2019 22:17 (four years ago) link
Maybe. There is definitely something more factual behind "there was somehow an offer". Still curious.
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Tuesday, 21 May 2019 22:23 (four years ago) link
I remembered that my wife works with a guy who was one of the two college DJs who organized that Big Star reunion show... I asked her to pick his brain and see if he knows/recalls anything about the Palace booking.
― get your hand outta my pocket universe (morrisp), Tuesday, 21 May 2019 22:31 (four years ago) link
hey that's awesome! i just want to know how something like that actually happens, not how it is reflected in the lore or whatever. it probably does boil down to "friends"
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Tuesday, 21 May 2019 22:32 (four years ago) link
I'm interested too!
― get your hand outta my pocket universe (morrisp), Tuesday, 21 May 2019 22:37 (four years ago) link
Got an amazingly great anecdote / reminiscence back from the guy. Don't think I can post it verbatim (and won't use his name), so figuring out how to whittle it down...
― get your hand outta my pocket universe (morrisp), Tuesday, 21 May 2019 23:01 (four years ago) link
Wish I had DM capability and/or your trust!
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Tuesday, 21 May 2019 23:18 (four years ago) link
(a Louisville friend "well-actually"'d me and said that Will, Todd & Grant performed at a cafe "a couple of times" before the Big Star gig.)
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Tuesday, 21 May 2019 23:20 (four years ago) link
(which morrisp's link goes into much better detail, haha, sorry for posting before clicking all links)
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Tuesday, 21 May 2019 23:21 (four years ago) link
The core of it is that this guy (the college DJ and Big Star fan) was friends with Bob Nastanovich, and Bob "knew Will from Louisville and suggested we put him on the bill." He continues: "I didn’t really know what we were getting. But I knew Will from the movie Matewan. I think maybe we gave him $500. We definitely didn’t have 5g. If it was his first show, I didn’t know that at the time (or until now)."
He included a few other personal recollections which are v cool but I probably can't share here.
― get your hand outta my pocket universe (morrisp), Tuesday, 21 May 2019 23:23 (four years ago) link
xp: (though I can confirm that is Grant on banjo in the pic which the meticulously detailed website is uncertain of w/r/t early lineup)
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Tuesday, 21 May 2019 23:23 (four years ago) link
Bob "knew Will from Louisville and suggested we put him on the bill."
They were roommates at the time iirc.
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Tuesday, 21 May 2019 23:24 (four years ago) link
What a great revive, this!
― Uptown VONC (Le Bateau Ivre), Wednesday, 22 May 2019 07:23 (four years ago) link
The new arrangements with Eighth Blackbird are gorgeous. It really shows where he is as a singer to hold his own with this ensemble.
Here’s a live one of “One with the Birds”:https://vimeo.com/179383778
― ... (Eazy), Friday, 30 August 2019 12:11 (four years ago) link
<3 that
― Joe Proroguin' (Noodle Vague), Friday, 30 August 2019 12:42 (four years ago) link
same! going to get the album on the back of it
― Fizzles, Friday, 30 August 2019 12:42 (four years ago) link
new single off new album, sounds like 8th Blackbird is still involved:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhMz9pvRNCQ
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Tuesday, 10 September 2019 16:15 (four years ago) link
'Superwolves' came out a couple of weeks ago. I'm on track 3. Great stuff so far.
https://www.dragcity.com/products/superwolves
― neilasimpson, Thursday, 13 May 2021 20:29 (two years ago) link
Reading posts from a year ago discussing the show at the university of Missouri. My good friend, Jeff Breeze, was the student who called Alex and pitched the idea of a Big Star reunion gig on campus. This was a few years before I went to school there and became friends with him, though.He sadly passed away very suddenly last November. I know he was working on writing up the whole experience and shopping it around for publication, but he wasn't getting much traction.
I am not at all certain about any of the details surrounding the event. It had already become the stuff of college radio legend by the time I got there.
― trip maker, Thursday, 13 May 2021 20:59 (two years ago) link
Gonna be a luddite and hold out for my physical copy of Superwolves. I've been waiting years for a follow-up, so a few more months ain't gonna kill me. I know pressing plants and schedules are still out of whack, but I'm surprised by how far behind Drag City's physical releases are lagging.
― soaring skrrrtpeggios (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, 13 May 2021 21:02 (two years ago) link
Having now listened to Superwolves fully a few times I am delighted to report that it is magnificent. A worthy successor to Superwolf.
― neilasimpson, Monday, 17 May 2021 09:52 (two years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xzjahqr9wGs
― JonR345, Monday, 10 July 2023 06:11 (nine months ago) link
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/aug/24/bonnie-prince-billy-i-cant-regret-working-with-r-kelly-it-made-me-better-able-to-judge-my-behaviour-and-that-of-others
Didn't know about the Birdman thing.
― lord of the rongs (anagram), Thursday, 24 August 2023 14:38 (eight months ago) link
Thanks for that, the "Birdman" thing is nuts.
His new album is terrific, one of my favorites of his in recent years.
― Maxmillion D. Boosted (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, 24 August 2023 15:19 (eight months ago) link
I didn't know he took that Slint cover photo.
― Clientless (Scooter's Version) (morrisp), Thursday, 24 August 2023 15:28 (eight months ago) link
feel like the title 'Good Morning, Popocatépetl' is some sort of infringement
― mookieproof, Tuesday, 29 August 2023 00:34 (eight months ago) link
new record is great imo
― LaMDA barry-stanners (||||||||), Tuesday, 29 August 2023 08:56 (eight months ago) link
absolutely, def top tier Oldham.
― Maxmillion D. Boosted (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 29 August 2023 14:16 (eight months ago) link
Bonnie "Prince" Billy is headlining Supersonic festival in Birmingham this August/September... I'm hoping this means there will be some other UK dates around that time.
― brain (krakow), Friday, 1 March 2024 11:55 (two months ago) link
he’s playing QMU in aug. presale is open
― LaMDA barry-stanners (||||||||), Friday, 1 March 2024 18:07 (two months ago) link
Thanks, obviously I'd totally missed that! When was it announced? I blame wretched social media algorithms.
― brain (krakow), Friday, 1 March 2024 19:00 (two months ago) link
He also has a small role in the upcoming movie The Bikeriders
― bbq, Friday, 1 March 2024 19:07 (two months ago) link
Every now and then I become convinced “Troublesome Houses” is one of the greatest songs ever written.
― H.P, Friday, 1 March 2024 21:20 (two months ago) link
H.P otm
also this news today: https://www.instagram.com/p/C3-jBRyunnM/"ryan daly made this film. i witnessed and nudged. @criterionchannel is now streaming it. the idea was to give audiences a time and space to listen to an intentional grouping of songs, in this case the Bonnie Prince Billy record KEEPING SECRETS WILL DESTROY YOU. it was shown in movie theaters across the western world. i am a card-carrying Criterion subscriber and have found it a tremendous resource for uplift, edification and, at times, escape. we are honored and grateful to have our work on the channel. @dragcityrecords @dominorecordco"
― pitted (blue6ave), Saturday, 2 March 2024 05:24 (two months ago) link