― jess, Wednesday, 11 August 2004 01:35 (nineteen years ago) link
― gygax! (gygax!), Wednesday, 11 August 2004 01:35 (nineteen years ago) link
i'm not kidding.
― alindall, Wednesday, 11 August 2004 02:42 (nineteen years ago) link
― todd swiss (eliti), Wednesday, 11 August 2004 03:04 (nineteen years ago) link
What should I buy next?
a) Ease On Down The Roadb) The Lost Blues compc) Arise, Therefored) Not these ones you nutd) Bugger it, get them all
BTW, I no longer have the indie guilt referred to up thread. I drowned it in the bath tub last week, most satisfying.
― piers (piers), Wednesday, 11 August 2004 03:54 (nineteen years ago) link
PLUS the "one with the birds"/"take however long you want" single.
― gygax! (gygax!), Wednesday, 11 August 2004 03:57 (nineteen years ago) link
― gygax! (gygax!), Wednesday, 11 August 2004 03:58 (nineteen years ago) link
― piers (piers), Wednesday, 11 August 2004 04:20 (nineteen years ago) link
― Sonny A. (Keiko), Wednesday, 11 August 2004 04:33 (nineteen years ago) link
― roger adultery (roger adultery), Wednesday, 11 August 2004 04:55 (nineteen years ago) link
― |a|m|t|r|s|t| (amateurist), Wednesday, 11 August 2004 12:22 (nineteen years ago) link
― Huey (Huey), Wednesday, 11 August 2004 12:34 (nineteen years ago) link
― Huey (Huey), Wednesday, 11 August 2004 12:37 (nineteen years ago) link
― Huey (Huey), Wednesday, 11 August 2004 13:34 (nineteen years ago) link
― cºzen (Cozen), Saturday, 4 September 2004 19:52 (nineteen years ago) link
― Jim Reckling (Jim Reckling), Monday, 20 September 2004 23:53 (nineteen years ago) link
― piers (piers), Tuesday, 21 September 2004 00:14 (nineteen years ago) link
piers are you looking for a oldham cd to buy next? i'd recommend "i see a darkness" and then probably one of the two "lost blues" comps and then "days in the wake". "master and everyone" is better than "ease down the road," i think, though both are good. i actually find latterday oldham more interesting than earlier oldham even if the records haven't been perfect.
― amateur!!!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 21 September 2004 00:19 (nineteen years ago) link
Arise, Therefore is good so far, but only first listen. Based on what you said I think I'd go with the two lost blues comps and maybe days in the wake. Jess also posted a pretty good S&D way upthread including the first Palace album. He has a fun, if bewildering, back catalog to explore eh?
― piers (piers), Tuesday, 21 September 2004 00:28 (nineteen years ago) link
― BbetaA, Tuesday, 21 September 2004 00:56 (nineteen years ago) link
― tom cleveland (tom cleveland), Tuesday, 21 September 2004 01:00 (nineteen years ago) link
― amateur!!!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 21 September 2004 01:04 (nineteen years ago) link
i have this theory in which i see a darkness is real late at night and ease on down the road is the morning after.
― tom cleveland (tom cleveland), Tuesday, 21 September 2004 01:08 (nineteen years ago) link
well, that makes me feel like a boring old professor, thanks ("yes, mr. amateurist, we've this one already").
that's not a very evolved theory.
― amateur!!!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 21 September 2004 01:09 (nineteen years ago) link
― rsssgnld;s, Tuesday, 21 September 2004 01:47 (nineteen years ago) link
I'm having trouble with BPB sings Greatest Palace Muscic.
― Will (will), Tuesday, 21 September 2004 01:55 (nineteen years ago) link
― Jim Reckling (Jim Reckling), Tuesday, 21 September 2004 02:00 (nineteen years ago) link
― tom cleveland (tom cleveland), Tuesday, 21 September 2004 02:10 (nineteen years ago) link
― amateur!!!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 21 September 2004 02:11 (nineteen years ago) link
I am finding this completely frustrating, since I am obsessed with his "Brokedown Palace" cover, and the other songs are similarly blowing my mind.
Does anyone have an actual copy of this e.p.? Is it available anywhere? Goddamn it, it's amazing.
― Chuckling at the Tomkat's Marquee (Ben Boyer), Wednesday, 12 January 2005 17:49 (nineteen years ago) link
― LSTD (answer) (sexyDancer), Wednesday, 12 January 2005 17:55 (nineteen years ago) link
The Oldham/Tweaker song from that single is surprisingly good (Happy Child). Otherwise, I think Viva Last Blues is probably his strongest release. I also like most of the stuff on the Palace Music disc and the cover of "In My Mind"
― Hurting (Hurting), Wednesday, 12 January 2005 23:20 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ian John50n (orion), Wednesday, 12 January 2005 23:26 (nineteen years ago) link
― Hurting (Hurting), Wednesday, 12 January 2005 23:28 (nineteen years ago) link
xpost. The first album is great!
― Ian John50n (orion), Wednesday, 12 January 2005 23:29 (nineteen years ago) link
He's playing a secret show here near SF in a week and a half.
― gygax! (gygax!), Wednesday, 12 January 2005 23:42 (nineteen years ago) link
So does anyone have the Brightblack split? I am desperate for those tracks.
― Chuckling at the Tomkat's Marquee (Ben Boyer), Wednesday, 12 January 2005 23:52 (nineteen years ago) link
― Chuckling at the Tomkat's Marquee (Ben Boyer), Wednesday, 12 January 2005 23:53 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ian John50n (orion), Wednesday, 12 January 2005 23:54 (nineteen years ago) link
― gygax! (gygax!), Wednesday, 12 January 2005 23:55 (nineteen years ago) link
― Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, 13 January 2005 01:35 (nineteen years ago) link
Although (and big surprise) - AC/DC is such the clear winner here:
http://users.bart.nl/~ljmeijer/oldham/lyrics/balls.htm
― morris pavilion (samjeff), Thursday, 2 March 2006 18:12 (eighteen years ago) link
― chris besinger (chris besinger), Thursday, 2 March 2006 18:55 (eighteen years ago) link
"and my balls are always bouncingmy ballroom always fulland everybody cums and cums again"
vs Oldham's
"we could be eating pudding but we'd rather place our balls in their mouths when they are eating"
― chris besinger (chris besinger), Thursday, 2 March 2006 18:57 (eighteen years ago) link
― morris pavilion (samjeff), Thursday, 2 March 2006 19:02 (eighteen years ago) link
As mentioned, he's a very unique personality that somehow defies the rich boy charlatan role he could've easily fallen into. As a lyricist he's particularly interesting, simultaneously arcane, profane, and abstractly eloquent. Musically, he rarely repeats himself, making him confounding and exciting in equal measure. If his new single Cursed Sleep is any indication, expect his new album to be heavily orchestrated (swelling strings) with r&b/soul-inspired vocals (see his live cover R. Kelly's Ignition for reference).
His discography is intimidating, so I'll give a rundown of what you might want to start out with.
1) I See a Darkness - easily Oldham's most accessible and some would say best. Bleak yet very listenable.
2) Lost Blues and Other Songs - the perfect introduction to Palace era Oldham, contains nearly all of his classic singles. Essential.
3) Ease Down the Road - a great companion piece to I See a Darkness. A bit bouncier, the lyrical bent favors sex over death this time around. Here's a little rundown of the rest of his more prominent releases, in roughly chronological order.
1) 'There is no-one, What will take care of you' - his first LP, very ramshackle and primitive (in a charming way of course).
2) 'Days in the Wake' - sparse and lo-fi, sounds like it was recorded on a boom box. Just Oldham and a guitar for the most part.
3) 'Viva Last Blues' - probably the best Palace LP. Rocking in a woozy, drunken kinda way. Solid Albini production.
4) 'Arise, Therefore' - Dirge-like, methodical, repetitive. Some use of the drum machine. A few songs remind me of Smog honestly. As evidenced by the thread, it's a fairly divisive album.
5) 'Joya' - No real explicitly defining characteristics. Sounds like an Oldham record. It's a solid release, nonetheless.
6) Guarapero: Lost Blues 2 - A collection of rarities. Very hit or miss, as would be expected.
---- entering Bonnie Prince Billy era ----
I've already mentioned I See a Darkness and Ease Down the Road, so i'll give them a pass.
1) Master & Everyone - very gentle, front porch, hushed-whisper acoustic album. It's all very pretty, lead off track 'The Way' is particularly stunning.
2) Sings Greatest Palace Music - Incredibly divisive album. Sees Oldham revisiting some classic Palace songs with glossy Nashville production. Very bizarre to say the least.
3) Superwolf - Skeletal and guitar driven. 'Spindly' seems like an appropriate adjective. Matt Sweeney provides a great backdrop for Oldham's vocals.
4) Summer in the Southeast - A fairly rocking live collection. Oldham reworks a lot of older songs to interesting effect.
5) The Brave and the Bold - Oldham teams up with Tortoise for a covers album. This didn't work for me at all, two great tastes that do not taste great together. His covers of Elton John's 'Daniel' and Springsteen's 'Thunder Road' are the only memorable cuts.
-----
Well, that about covers the big ones. Jump in.
― paid in cigarettes (paid in cigarettes), Friday, 14 July 2006 23:41 (seventeen years ago) link
I, personally, love it so much that it no longer bothers me when it comes on after I've forgotten it's in there. Even my wife, who so rarely likes anything I do, just accepts it as beautiful wallpaper. It's so damn tasty in so many ways.
― matt riedl (veal), Saturday, 15 July 2006 19:50 (seventeen years ago) link
I've been enjoying Joya a lot lately - Oldham's last couple of releases have been a bit saccharine for my taste, and I stopped listening to him for a while, so it's nice to remember what the Oldham I was originally taken in by sounded like.
― Hurting 2, Sunday, 3 June 2007 13:09 (sixteen years ago) link
Search: Ask Forgiveness EP (Nov 20th)
1. I Came Here to Hear the Music (Mickey Newbury cover) 2. I’ve Seen It All (Björk cover) 3. Am I Demon (Danzig cover) 4. My Life (Phil Ochs cover) 5. I’m Loving the Street (Will Oldham original) 6. The Way I Am (Mekons / Merle Haggard / Sonny Throckmorton cover) 7. Cycles (Frank Sinatra cover, written by Gayle Caldwell) 8. The World’s Greatest (R. Kelly cover)
― StanM, Wednesday, 14 November 2007 20:02 (sixteen years ago) link
oh woah the mickey newbury record that song is from is TOTAL lost classic, great tune.
― M@tt He1ges0n, Wednesday, 14 November 2007 21:10 (sixteen years ago) link