Kentucky's Will Oldham, who also recorded under the monikers Palace Brothers, Palace Songs, Palace Music and Palace, virtually jumpstarted the "alt-country" movement with There Is No One What Will Take Care Of You (1993), an album that displayed the qualities of independent alternative rock while playing old-fashioned country music. Oldham's acoustic folk was not terribly emotional: Days In The Wake (1994) was perhaps his most personal statement.
(English translation by Billy B.)
Apart from his genuine artistic talent, Oldham will be remembered above all for starting the acoustic renaissance of the 90's. He is an old-style folksinger thriving in an era of independent "lo-fi" music.
The Palace Brothers are the project of singer-songwriter Will Oldham who was born in Louisville in 1971. Oldham wandered aimlessly for a number of years. In 1987, at sixteen years of age, he was an aspiring actor in Hollywood and later attended university until 1989. He was a member of the group Box of Chocolate for a few months and in 1991 returned to Hollywood as a television actor before finally ending up once again unemployed in Louisville.
In 1992 Oldham formed the group Palace Flophouse with his brother Ned and Brian McMahon of Slint. The following year they started recording their own songs.
It all began after his second attempt to make a name for himself in Hollywood.
Having returned home broke Oldham formed a group with Brian McMahon of Slint, his brother Ned and Rich Schuler of King Kong (Riding dates back to this period).
The first single, Ohio River Boat Song, is a moving reminisce and presents us with an ultra-realistic image in the purest tradition of the southern short story
(years later the other single recorded around this time, Little Blue Eyes/ The Spider's Dude will be released).
There Is No One What Will Take Care Of You (Drag City, 1993) is one of the most celebrated examples of a conversion from alternative rock to country. It had already been done by Baby Flamehead but it was with the Palace Brothers that it became fashionable.
They specialize in parables of perdition which Oldham sings in tones somewhere between those of Leonard Cohen and Nick Cave (Drinking Woman, the B-side of the first single and Long Before).
What really grabs the listener is the gloomy nihilism of the singer, who, while confessing to incest in Riding, protests in the voice of one who has been condemned to damnation:
"God is what I make of him". Their brand of country music is, however, played with the same melancholy ecstasy as that of the Meat Puppets. And even more depressing are the singles Trudy Dies, one of their more dramatic and moving tracks, and Stable Will, both on the EP
An Arrow Through The Bitch (Domino).
The affected style of the first album gives way to a spartan folk on the following Palace Brothers (Drag City, 1984), later renamed
Days In The Wake (Drag City, 1993), which is practically a solo album by Will Oldham, and was recorded primarily on his acoustic guitar.
The themes of Oldham's songs vary between disillusionment in love (Will You Miss Me When I Burn,
I Send My Love To You), religious torments (Blessed Grace) and compassion for the disenfranchised of America
(No More Workhorse Blues). His gloomy philosophy is clearly expressed in the lyrics: "When you have no one/ no one can hurt you".
Oldham's raw acoustic folk is purer and more traditional than any other, and on occasion (I Am A Cinematographer) attempts to break away into a more melodic tune.
At the end of the year an appendix is also released, the EP Hope (Drag City, 1994), credited to the Palace Songs. . By this time the general impression is more of a nightclub rather than of a saloon and sometimes has the feel of a funeral. The tone, on the other hand, is increasingly like a preacher who mourns the sins of our time in hushed tones diametrically opposed to the likes of Nick Cave. Oldham delves into those abysses rarely seen in popular music. Tracks like the spectral Agnes Queen Of Sorrow and the slow All Gone All Gone (which resembles If It Be Your Will by
Cohen) emit a suffocating sense of the ineluctable and of the "for ever lost", as would the slow-motion image of an old man shaking his head before the ruins of his life.
But what triumphs over all is his favourite style, the waltz which rocks the listener,nearly hypnotically, into a world in which tragedies become fairy tales: Winter Lady, in limbo between the most fairy tale like songs of Leonard Cohen and the most soothing of Dylan on Blonde On Blonde;
Untitled, a sorrowful ode to Harvest (Neil Young);
and the apocalyptic Werner's Last Blues To Blokbuster, interpreted on the piano like a funeral march, the ultimate manifestation of the existential outlook of this bard of the void.
Thus Will Oldham put himself up there with Beck at the head of the "slacker folk" movement of the nineties. One of his lyrics sums up his poetics well: "Why is the night so long?"
His productivity was constant. The singles
O How I Enjoy The Light and West Palm Beach (one of his most solemn songs),
the EP Mountain (with a version of Mountain Low played on the synthesiser),
the album Viva Last Blues, credited to Palace Music,
the single Every Mother's Son and the EP I Am A Cinematographer
(which has three tracks taken from the albums) were all released one after another.
Prolific but not particularly inspired, Oldham seemed to show a desperate need to communicate.
However, with
Viva Last Blues (Drag City, 1995) Oldham found his true voice.
Left behind the oleographic style that made his reputation, Oldham
began playing what used to be called country-rock
(Work Hard Play Hard, Tonight's Decision, New Partner).
Mountain Low and New Partner on the other hand repeat the same tales of woe as ever.
Old Jerusalem may struck the right balance between the two.
Palace Music (ex Songs, ex Brothers)
slow it down on Arise Therefore (Drag City, 1996), this time with Dave Grubbs on piano and a rhythm box.
Oldham hides himself away in the cocktail lounge of Purgatory of Stablemate,
in the silence blues of A Sucker's Evening
and in the nearly imperceptible gospel of You Have Cum.
If you can find a term which is the exact opposite of "jubilation" ("misery"?), you may use that to describe the hypnotic cadences and the morbid riffs of the bass which proliferate this album.
What stands out in this tangle of terrifying interior stillness is not so much the tone of inebriated philosophy of Will Oldham as the skilful arrangements of the piano (David Grubbs) and the bass (Ned Oldham).
Oldham doesn't always manage to avoid the monotonous and the banal
(the interminable lament of The Sun Highlights The Lack In Each), but in a few years they will be able to put together a very respectable "greatest hits"
(and it will probably include The Weaker Soldier, the simplest song on this album).
Lost Blues And Other Songs is a collection from the singles and EP's.
Next Will Oldham finally throws away the mask and releases an album under his own name,
Joya (Drag City, 1997).
Together with his old name he discards in part his fastidious attitude. As a result the album is the most human of his career so far. For the first time Oldham does not seem like a carbon copy of someone else. He is an original
(O Let It Be, New Gypsy, Idea And Deed).
Existential angst turned into an art form however is not interesting for very long.
Nick Drake (also) had good songs. Oldham really has very few.
If anything he has good lyrics. But one cannot base a musical career on words alone.
Oldham is as prolific as he is paranoid, so nothing gets missed. The mini-album Black Rich Music (Drag City, 1998) is a re-issue of a soundtrack from 1995 (which was released as a limited edition only).
Do What You Will Do, The Risen Lord and Black Rich don't leave a bad impression on his anthology
and as a whole the album suggests that perhaps the medium of cinematography would be suited to the music of Oldham.
The album I See A Darkness (Palace, 1998) was released
Under the moniker Bonnie Prince Billy.
The prolific Oldham tends to fill albums with one or two centerpieces and
then let the other songs simply spread the mood. In this case the centerpieces
are few (the solemn and tuneful, singalong ode of A Minor Place)
but the mood is indeed gripping, especially in the somber and almost gothic
Death To Everyone, I See A Darkness,
and Song For The New Breed,
dirges that sound like a dead man's last whispers but powered by an almost
Sting-esque elegance.
Oldham engages in an art of extreme solipsism.
Another Day Full Of Dread is harrowing like a scared child
humming a nursery rhyme in a dark corner.
That is not to say that the music lags behind the concept. On the contrary,
here Oldham displays an unusually broad horizon, from the piano-based lullaby
Knockturn to the quasi-reggae lament of Madeleine-Mary (with a
melody stolen from Neil Young' Ohio),
from the honky-tonking yodel of Today I Was An Evil One to
Nomadic Revery, a glorious, messy call-and-response all mumbles and
howls.
At least Madeleine-Mary, Nomadic Revery and A Minor Place
rank among his best.
But certainly Oldham has found his true voice. Not just crying for the sake
of crying, the human being behind Oldman's tears can sculpt a musical universe
that is unlike any other, a desolate wasteland of half-alive emotions that
are mercilessly whipped by fate.
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I Palace Brothers (in seguito ribattezzati a seconda dell'occasione
Palace Songs e Palace Music e semplicemente Palace)
ebbero la funzione storica di lanciare
il rinascimento acustico degli anni '90.
L'idea fu del cantante e chitarrista Will Oldham,
nato a Louisville (Kentucky) nel 1971 ma per anni inquieto girovago:
aspirante attore a
sedici anni, a Hollywood nel 1987, universitario fino al 1989, membro dei Box
Of Chocolate per qualche mese, attore televisivo di nuovo a Hollywood nel 1991,
infine di nuovo disoccupato a Louisville.
Tutto ebbe inizio dopo il suo secondo tentativo di sfondare a Hollywood.
Tornato a casa squattrinato nel 1992, Oldham formo`
i Palace Flophouse con il fratello Ned, con Brian McMahon
degli Slint e con
Rich Schuler dei King Kong,
e l'anno successivo comincio` a registrare le proprie canzoni
(Riding risale a questo periodo).
Il primo singolo, Ohio River Boat Song, una commovente reminescenza
e vignetta iper-realista nella piu` pura tradizione della novella sudista,
Little Blue Eyes/ The Spider's Dude,
altro singolo registrato all'epoca ma pubblicato soltanto anni dopo,
rivelarono un folksinger all'antica, ma maturato nell'era della musica
indipendente "lo-fi".
There Is No One What Will Take Care Of You (Drag City, 1993) e` uno dei
casi piu` celebri di conversione dal rock alternativo al country.
L'idea era gia`
stata dei Baby Flamehead, ma e` con i Palace Brothers che diventa una moda.
La loro specialita` sono le parabole di perdizione che Oldham canta in un tono
a meta` strada fra Leonard Cohen e Nick Cave
(Drinking Woman, il retro del primo singolo, e Long Before).
A raggelare e` soprattutto il tetro nichilismo del cantante, che,
nel confessare un incesto in Riding, protesta con voce di dannato:
"God is what I make of him".
Il loro country e` pero` suonato con la malinconia estatica dei Meat Puppets.
E ancor piu` depressi saranno i singoli Trudy Dies, una delle sue
sceneggiate piu` emozionanti, e Stable Will, raccolti sull'EP
An Arrow Through The Bitch (Domino).
Lo stile affettato del primo album cede il posto a un folk spartano sul
successivo Palace Brothers, in seguito ribattezzato
Days In The Wake (Drag City, 1994), che e` praticamente un disco solista di Will Oldham,
e suonato prevalentemente dalla sua chitarra acustica.
L'animo di Oldham si dibatte fra
delusioni amorose (Will You Miss Me When I Burn,
I Send My Love To You), tormenti religiosi
(Blessed Grace) e compassione per i diseredati d'America
(No More Workhorse Blues). La sua tetra filosofia e` ben espressa
dai versi: "When you have no one/ no one can hurt you".
Lo sciatto folk acustico di Oldham e` piu` puro e tradizionale di ogni altro,
e raramente (I Am A Cinematographer) tenta di librarsi in una melodia
gradevole.
Alla fine dell'anno esce anche un'appendice, l'EP Hope (Drag City, 1994), accreditato ai
Palace Songs. L'accompagnamento e` ormai da night club, piu` che da saloon, e in
qualche caso da funerale. Il piglio e` invece sempre piu` da predicatore che
piange sui peccati della nostra era, a mezza voce, in maniera diametralmente
opposta a Nick Cave. Oldham precipita in abissi di pessimismo raramente lambiti
dalla musica popolare. Brani come la spettrale Agnes Queen Of Sorrow e la
lenta All Gone All Gone (che assomiglia a It It Be Your Will di
Cohen) emanano un soffocante senso di ineluttabile e di
"perso per sempre", come potrebbe l'immagine al rallentatore di un vecchio che
scuota la testa davanti alle rovine della sua vita.
A trionfare e` soprattutto il suo stile prediletto, il valzer che culla
in maniera quasi ipnotica l'ascoltatore in un mondo in cui le tragedie
diventano favole: Winter Lady, in un limbo fra il piu` fiabesco Leonard
Cohen e il piu` soave Dylan di Blonde On Blonde;
Untitled, una dolente ode alla Harvest (Neil Young);
e l'apocalittico Werner's Last Blues To Blokbuster, scandito dal
pianoforte come una marcia funebre, apice dei brividi esistenziali di questo
bardo del nulla.
Will Oldham si pone cosi` con Beck alla testa dello "slacker folk"
degli anni '90. Un suo verso ben riassume tutta la sua poetica: "Why is
the night so long?"
I suoi dischi hanno si` il difetto di essere auto-indulgenti e monocordi,
ma Oldham sta maturando come storyteller degli Appalacchi, la parte che
sembra aver sognato fin da bambino.
L'attivita` discografica rimane intensa. Escono a catena i singoli
O How I Enjoy The Light e West Palm Beach (una delle sue canzoni
piu` solenni),
l'EP Mountain (contenente una variante di Mountain Low arrangiata
per sintetizzatore),
l'album Viva Last Blues, accreditato ai Palace Music,
il singolo Every Mother's Son e L'EP I Am A Cinematographer
(che raccoglie tre brani tratti dagli album).
Prolifico ma non particolarmente ispirato, Oldham sembra soprattutto sfogare
un bisogno disperato di comunicare.
Viva Last Blues (Drag City, 1995) afferma comunque la sua vera voce.
Abbandonato lo stile oleografico con cui si era fatto rispettare, Oldham
si mette a suonare quello che una volta si chiamava country-rock
(Work Hard Play Hard, Tonight's Decision,
New Partner).
Mountain Low e New Partner ripetono invece le nenie di sempre.
Old Jerusalem trova forse l'equilibrio giusto fra le due maniere.
I Palace Music (ex Songs, ex Brothers)
scalano marcia con Arise Therefore (Drag City, 1996), questa volta
con Dave Grubbs al pianoforte e una rhythm-box. Oldham si rintana nel
cocktail lounge del Purgatorio di Stablemate,
nel silenzio blues di A Sucker's Evening,
nel gospel quasi impercettibile di You Have Cum.
Se trovate un termine che e` l'esatto opposto di "tripudio" ("coma"?), usate
quello per descrivere le cadenze ipnotiche e le figure di basso cadaveriche che
popolano questo disco.
Cio` che svetta su questo groviglio di spaventosa quiete interiore non e`
tanto il tono da filosofo alcoolizzato di Will Oldham quanto gli accorti
arrangiamenti di piano (David Grubbs) e basso (Ned Oldham).
Non sempre Oldham riesce a evitare monotonia e banalita`
(l'interminabile lamento di The Sun Highlights The Lack In Each), ma
fra qualche anno potranno mettere assieme un "greatest hits" di tutto rispetto
(e probabilmente ci metteranno anche The Weaker Soldier, la canzone
piu` facile di questo disco).
Lost Blues And Other Songs raccoglie un po' di singoli ed EP.
Will Oldham getta la maschera e pubblica finalmente un disco a suo nome,
Joya (Drag City, 1997).
Insieme alla vecchia denominazione abbandona anche parte del
suo fastidioso atteggiamento. L'album e` cosi` il piu` umano della sua
carriera. Per la prima volta Oldham non sembra un nastro registrato da
qualcun altro, ma un uomo
(O Let It Be, New Gypsy, Idea And Deed).
L'inedia innalzata a forma d'arte ha pero` un fascino che dura pochi minuti.
Nick Drake aveva (anche) delle buone canzoni. Oldham ne ha veramente poche.
Semmai ha delle buone liriche. Ma non si puo` costruire una carriera musicale
sui testi.
Oldham e` tanto prolifico quanto paranoico che nulla vada perso.
Il mini-album Black Rich Music (Drag City, 1998) e` la riedizione di una
colonna sonora del 1995 (apparsa soltanto in edizione limitata).
Do What You Will Do, The Risen Lord e Black Rich non
sfigurano nel suo canzoniere,
e nel suo insieme il disco dimostra che forse il mezzo cinematografico sarebbe
adatto alla musica di Oldham.
Sotto lo pseudonimo di Bonnie Prince Billy esce anche
I See A Darkness (Palace, 1998), album ancor piu` dimesso, sul quale
spicca soltanto il suo testardo solipsismo.
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