TiVo picked up a repeat of the Conan show for me.

Not a great performance, and not a great song either.

I was, how you say...disappointed?

Listening to him for the first time in years.
I think I may have to retract my initial vote of CRAP and switch it to NOT CRAP for quite a few of his records.

Considering covering "You Will Miss Me When I Burn", or maybe "Antagonism" for this solo album month solo album.

Since I have to reinvent my way of making music from scratch, it seems sort of fitting, given Oldham's MO.

Since he cannot "sing", he gives me hope that my voice is not as bad as I think it is.

Also, it's easier to sing a song about heartache written by someone else (in the case of "Burn") to avoid all the "Joe Lies"* type urges.

Will Oldham makes me weepy, as does Edith Frost, but for completely different reasons. Besides, if I covered one of Edith's songs she'd kick my ass. Probably. Don't tell her I said that.

















* I am fully confident that some of you will get this reference and laugh heartily.

burun wrote:* I am fully confident that some of you will get this reference and laugh heartily.

Ha.

He was pretty ding-dang good at the recent Chicago show. Nice venue, too.

On Tom Green's website, in the On Demand section, there is an hour long poolside chat with Will Oldham and Neil Hamburger. If you're a fan you'll probably enjoy it.

"I See a Darkness" is all I've really listened to by the man. I like that a record a pretty good bit though.

Fellow Oldham fanboys rejoice! The new record Lie Down in the Light is arriving imminently. Or mayhaps it has already arrived if you live in Oz, you lucky blighter. Anyhoo, I've heard it and it's a goshdarned hootenanny. Quite bright and mellow but entirely acoustic. Probably his most country-leaning record since the Palace covers record. I like it but then again, I love absolutely everything the man has ever committed to tape.

His recent run of records has been amazing. Nearly as good as the Palace era even.

I havent really enjoyed much of his post "Letting Go" output. I mean, I did like the recent covers record well enough, his Phil Ochs cover was pretty haunting. But, I tracked down that import live disc and the demos from Letting Go and they really didn't get much more than one or two listens.

I am looking forward to the new LP though.

so not crap. where to begin? the only current singer/songwriter i care about.
i heard i see a darkness in high school. it didn't make any impression on me, and only five years later came to understand what i could get out of his music. the album that cemented my fanhood was ease down the road, funnily enough a sort of quirky "minor" album with no standout classic songs. the letting go is a masterpiece, incredible music in all aspects. the new one, lie down in the light, has been getting heavy, heavy rotation, probably two spins a day for the last month. his most straightforward vocal delivery on record yet, and a ton of downright conventionally catchy melodies.
as you can see, most of my love lies with the bonnie 'prince' billy records of the last decade.
my exposure to his earlier works (as palace) has been less obsessive. though i've heard it all, i haven't yet really zeroed in on any particular albums to get to know the songs quite as well as i'd like to. "trudy dies" is incredible, heartbreaking, humble and catchy as hell. scout niblett's cover is great too. one way i've thought to approach the palace material is to make a mix cd of the original versions of all the songs off of sings greatest palace music, an album i heard while just getting into BPB, and which i periodically come back to when i'm the mood for slick country and some great songwriting, if not particularly emotionally affecting performances. (btw, i thought the tortoise collaboration was horrible, though maybe i'll try this same mix tactic with it.)
his live performances are definitely only fully appreciated by those who already know the songs, since he completely abandons the composed melodies used on record and goes with a melodic improvisational style far more risky than even dylan's drastic reinterpretations (which were in themselves still composed). i'm guessing this keeps things more interesting in the moment for will – same thing for having a relatively unrehearsed band. this is also one where you see his affinity for the grateful dead, the low-key and ambling yet unrehearsed and unpredictable nature of the live sets, which lends itself to each gig being worthy of listening to on its own for those deeply invested in the song catalog.
another aspect of his work that i love is his cover songs. between the two EPs of covers (more revery and ask forgiveness) and various other tracks here and there, he's brought my attention to great compositions by r. kelly, tim mcgraw, bill withers, p.j. harvey, mickey newbury, and many others. this also shows his genuine devotion to songcraft and to giving props to underappreciated songwriters of all stripes, as well as his always modest interpretive choices.
lastly, one little rarity that i find fascinating: the song "his hands" which will wrote for the southern gospel/soul queen candi staton. she recorded it as the title track of an album in 2006 or so, and he released his demo recording to itunes i believe, as well as maybe one of the lost blues collections. talk about authenticity becomes moot when you consider that he's writing a song from the perspective of a black woman who has suffered domestic abuse and found refuge with the lord god.
uh... anything else?

ok, and two favorite stanzas, one funny, one not:

"a fireman her husband was,
and so to give him duty,
i duly tried to light a fire
upon his rightful booty"


"the house walls are tighter
the bed it is small
housing just one soul
just one soul at all
where it once held two
it once held two
now it doesn't hold you
it doesn't hold you"