It's the sort of thing over-educated, under-worked and semi-detached white Americans do very well: from the Miracle Legion to Galaxie 500 and up to Mark Eitzel and Sparklehorse, reflective acoustic alienation is almost worth a category all of its own in record shops. Sometimes a tad too sombre, occasionally embarrassing and frequently over-earnest, this sort of sad-core music always carries an element of fascination - and if you dig deep enough into the sub-genre, you'll find some of the best songs that you're ever likely to hear. Anywhere. If ever there was going to be anything as energetic as a vanguard in this type of music, it would be led by Kentucky native Will Oldham, who has performed above and beyond the call of duty in the fraught, emotional stakes over the years. Putting his music out under various names - The Palace Brothers, Palace Music, Palace Songs and plain ol' Palace (is there a Freudian in the house, by any chance?) - his most recognisable work is as the Palace Brothers, with guitarist Brian McMahan and drummer Britt Walford providing the backing to Oldham's limited but effective voice.
Half new-country, half acoustic lo-fi slacker ramblings, the Palace Brothers' debut, There Is No One What Will Take Care Of You, was a re-appropriation of traditional country music concerns with a Nick Cave apocalyptic twist added on. No matter what state-of-the-art, 280-track studio he records in, Oldham's work always sounds as if it has been recorded in a shack with the wind howling and the sound of duelling banjoes in the air. I suppose a handy reference for all you Kajagoogoo fans out there would be "neo-Leonard Cohen" - but it's even a bit too oblique for that. With song titles like Today I Was An Evil One and Death To Everyone hinting at some of his Gothic charms (and that's Goth with a capital G) and a quick raid on the cliche box throwing up terms like "fragile beauty" and "mournful magic", you sort of get the idea that Fatboy Slim is unlikely to remix any of Oldham's work. Ditching the "Palace" name, the new album sees him going under the name of "Bonnie `Prince' Billy" (can't wait for that West Belfast concert). Called I See A Darkness, it's not much of a stylistic change from anything that's gone before - but lo and behold, there are still melodies (however understated) here a-plenty. Like most of his work, it's oddly intriguing.
I See A Darkness by Bonnie "Prince" Billy is on the Domino label. Will Oldham (and band) play Whelans, Dublin tonight and The Lobby Bar, Cork tomorrow night.
By a spooky coincidence, the band which had a major influence on Will Oldham, Smog, also has a new album in the shops. Smog is basically Bill Callahan, who is very much a pioneer in this type of music (other acts to acknowledge his influence include Pavement). After trundling along for a number of years without disturbing the hit parade, Smog hit something of a critical and commercial high point with the wonderful Red Apple Falls album last year - which, with the benefit of hindsight, could have been construed as a very early blueprint for Mercury Rev's Deserter's Songs - or maybe not, I don't know. The new album, Knock Knock (Domino) features a slightly fuller, and even - at times - a rockier sound than previous albums, and the spare and austere feel of old is missing as a string section and a choir make their presence felt on this one. It's like Callahan has gone from 33 r.p.m. to 45 r.p.m., but traditional fans will console themselves that all the typical lyrical concerns are still present and correct.
This is straight from Jean Baudrillard territory: ex-Stone Roses, now Primal Scream bassist, Mani, is doing a DJ slot at the Mean Fiddler on Saturday February 6th. All well and good, but the live band on before him will be the Stone Roses tribute band, The Complete Stone Roses - and all indications are that Mani will assume bass duties with the band (just for a laff, etc;). I could be wrong but I don't think this has ever happened before in tribute land. Where all of this leaves the idea of the "simulacrum", I don't know.
