Kinda Overdid It

 

The illustrious troubadour duo of Bill & Will takes on a Hank Williams Jr. oldie in grand style, featuring an adventurous Matt Sweeney on guitar. Great stuff! Four tracks have appeared so far, which might just mean there's a whole album of covers in the works. Fingers are crossed.

Bill Callahan & Bonnie Prince Billy - OD'd In Denver

And lest we forget, mr. Callahan's recently released one of his own, too. Gold Record sure does glitter here and there, but the irony factor's so high it's like listening to a Dave Eggers novel set to music at times. Don't overdo it, Bill.

Bill Callahan - Let's Move To The Country

What I Do Well

Boring Prince Billy? Never thought I'd say that, but ever since Mr. Oldham tied the knot a couple of years back the edge seems to have gone out of his music. Coincidence? Who knows, but all I can say is he just doesn't move me the way he used to do, and he used to move me a lot. Bonnie may have made a place alright, but the also made the damp squib of the year.

Bonnie Prince Billy - Squid Eye

See The Beauty

A new Joan Shelley album is always a gift. And Like The River Loves The Sea, recorded in Iceland with prime pickers Nathan Salsburg and James Elkington, might just be her best yet. As it proved real tough to select a  favorite tune, I went for the bittersweet gem below as it features Bonnie Prince Billy on co-vocals. Later it dawned on me that The Fading probably would have been even better without his contribution.

Joan Shelley - The Fading

Grey With Years

His recent marriage and the resulting domestic bliss are probably the reason our Will isn't as prolific nowadays as he used to be. And even his new Songs Of Love And Horror isn't really new in a way, as it finds him mainly looking back acoustically on his own oeuvre. It's always nice to hear the bonnie lad though, especially on this lovely a capella cover of an old Richard & Linda Thompson tune. For further reading: here's an interesting recent profile in Rolling Stone magazine.

Will Oldham - Strange Affair

For Sure

A writer's block for our Bonnie Prince? After last May's rather lacklustre collection of Merle Haggard interpretations, Knoxville's finest has now surprisingly decided to cover the whole of Norwegian singer Susanna Wallumrød's Sonata Mix Dwarf Cosmos album. A polished and somewhat subdued affair prominently featuring banjo and violin, Wolf Of The Cosmos has its moments, like the hopeful track below.

Bonnie Prince Billy - Better Days

Très Belle

A French chansonnier, doing it the Americana way? Check out Baptiste W. Hamon from Paris. The first track is an intriguing duet with the one and only Bonnie Prince Billy, while the second one movingly pays homage to his all-time idol. Got good taste, this mac.

Baptiste W. Hamon - Comme La Vie Est Belle
Baptiste W. Hamon - Van Zandt

Just A Seeker

Let's stay in Louisville a while longer to visit  Will 'Bonnie Prince Billy' Oldham, who has just cooked up a fresh batch of Merle Haggard covers. No surprise there, as he regards the late country legend as one of his 'forever heroes'. Sadly, for the second time in a row here's a Bonnie Billy album that doesn't really do it for me. It's not bad mind, and the arrangements - with saxes and flutes no less - are quite adventurous, but in the end it just made me want to give my trusted Hag records another spin.

Bonnie Prince Billy - I Am What I Am

Light Up My Life

And here's our last tune of the year: a lovely reading of an old Waylon favorite. Bonnie Will Oldham and Mimi Parker from Low provide the fitting backing vocals. Oh, and a happy new year to you all, dear readers. Let's make 2017 a good one. Cheers!

Mark Kozelek - Amanda

They Shine

I do realize that christmas is just a kiss away and 2017 just around the corner and yes you just can't wait to see the famous FTSOTS end of year list... But please be patient, folks. Come snow or come shine, let's observe some other faves first.

This years must-reads:

Josh Rosenthal - The Record Store Of The Mind

Bob Mehr - Trouble Boys: The True Story Of The Replacements

This year's blazing (re-) issues:

Bonnie Prince Billy - Pond Scum
Bonnie Prince Billy - When Thy Song Flows Through Me

Tim Buckley - Lady, Give Me Your Key
Tim Buckley - Marigold
Terry Allen - Juarez
Terry Allen - Dogwood

Bunny Wailer - Solomonic Singles 1: Tread Along 1969-1976
The Wailers - Arabs Oil Weapon
Jack Rose - Opium Musick
Jack Rose - Linden Ave Stomp
various artists - Cosmic American Music

Jeff Cowell - Not Down This Low

On My Mind

Bonnie Billy and the Bells go country in an uplifting live medley, recorded in ye olde Oxford town. Hiya, Merle...

Trembling Bells & Bonnie Prince Billy - Bottom/No God/Bottle

Except For You

That huge new Grateful Dead covers collection for the Red Hot Organisation sure is a lot to take in. Here's one of the stand-out tracks for me so far, featuring a remarkably mellow Bonnie Billy in a lesser-known song from the Dead canon.

Bonnie Prince Billy & Friends - Rubin And Cherise

Curveball

Shaky gamelan-like drones complete with flute from the Bajas, mumbled fortune cookie mantras from our bonnie lad, all recorded in one daylong jam session. Sounds interesting? I thought so, too, initially, but fell sound asleep both times I tried to play Epic Jammers And Fortunate Little Ditties all the way through. File under art wank.

Bitchin Bajas & Bonnie Prince Billy - May Life Throw You A Pleasant Curve

He Is Coming

Very welcome and out now on the mighty Drag City label: Pond Scum, a fine collection of stark and intimate performances by our bonnie lad Will Oldham, recorded way back when at a couple of John Peel's famous sessions. And guess what? He even pays homage to another Prince.

Bonnie Prince Billy - The Cross

In Excelcis

Heard our Bonnie lad devoutly covering a song penned by magical Dutch lofi loner Broeder Dieleman yet? Well worth it. "Go on ahead, I'll come by foot..."

Bonnie Prince Billy - Gloria

Want a taste of the original, too? Thought so. Sung in pastoral Dutch, while the unmistakable brogue of Zeeland province adds just that special flavour. Like it as much as I do? Disappear here.

Broeder Dieleman - Gloria

Love Somebody

As endorsed by Will Oldham in a cool recent list of favourite albums. Bonnie statement: "It is my firm belief that Glen Campbell could not speak to (even prior to the Alzheimer's) his insane abilities as a singer and guitar player, while Webb can and does speak excessively about his own abilities as a songwriter and producer. It is our good fortune that they encountered each other."

Glen Campbell - It's A Sin

Pieces Of Kindness

As before on Greatest Palace Music and Now Here's My Plan, our Will decided on the brand new Singer's Grave - A Sea Of Tongues to re-record a couple of songs from his back catalogue, most of them from the acclaimed Wolfroy Goes To Town (2011). Not because he was unhappy with the originals so much I guess, but rather because he recognized the potential to do something different with them. For an example, check out the two versions of We Are Unhappy - the first one quite subdued, the second much more exuberant - below and see what you think.

Bonnie Prince Billy - We Are Unhappy (Wolfroy version)
Bonnie Prince Billy - We Are Unhappy (Singer's version)

How It's Been

"Lie there by the fire and watch the evening tire..." Dawn and Will delicately tackle John Denver by way of the Everlys. Hang around some.

Dawn McCarthy & Bonnie Prince Billy - Poems, Prayers And Promises

Welcome To The Desert

"Living on Tucson time..." Giant Sand mastermind Howe Gelb's been at it again. The man who gave us the wonderful Alegrías with his band of authentic Córdoba gypsies two years ago, the man with the whispery voice like a hot desert wind, now poses as a Coincidentalist. On the ultra-relaxed opener Vortexas he shares vocal duties with the one and only Bonnie Prince Billy. Beauty!

Howe Gelb - Vortexas

Never Lost Together

Never a dull moment with mr. Oldham. This time around our bonnie prince recorded a breathtaking, acoustic solo album without a title which - and here it comes - he distributed in person to just one record store, in his native city of Louisville, Kentucky. Cool, huh? No idea if this will ever be released on a broader scale, so you just have to try and track down a copy (vinyl and cassette only) somewhere I guess. Happy hunting!

Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Triumph Of Will

Questions Questions

No answers. My man Bonnie Billy's recent plan to remake some of his older songs has given us another beauty though. Check out Three Questions, featuring the impressive Angel Olsen on co-vocals. Space guitar courtesy of Emmett Kelly. "The birds have stopped their singing, and the insects have shut up..."

Bonnie Prince Billy - Three Questions