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how of the World
T hat WiU Oldham seems content to
continue releasing records as Bonnie
"Prince'' Billy is a boon to those of us
who can't keep track of the various permuta
tions of the singer's older Palace Brothers
material—or it would be, were it not for the
singer's persistent need to make records with
other musicians. Oldham's collaborative ten
dencies make it difficult to peg him down as
an artist in his own right but may go a long
way in explaining his unique place in today's
musical geography.
The Wonder Show of the World, released
in March of this year, finds Oldham working
with Emmett Kelly, who performs as the Cairo
Gang. Oldham took time out from recording to
talk with Flagpole via email and explains his
motives behind working with Kelly and others.
"Collaboration is why I do this work,"
he writes. "It can happen on the songwrit
ing level, as it did with Emmett Kelly on the
Wonder Show record or with Matt Sweeney
on the Superwolf record or with Chris Vrenna
on the Tweaker records, or it can happen in
arranging or in performing, or in recording,
mixing, releasing...."
The new record is remarkable for the time
it takes to unfold; many of the songs rely
solely on the interplay of Kelly and Oldham's
voices over a pair of heavily reverbed guitars.
Distended verses and oddly placed choruses
both entice and disorient the listener. At first
listen, certain parts catch the ear, but it's dif
ficult to recall where they fit into the songs'
larger context. Oldham's lyrics have a similar
effect, dealing with familiar themes in a way
that suggests the singer's concerns lie with
craft rather than with novelty; Oldham forms
new beauty from old vocabulary.
This strength is present in songs like
"Troublesome Houses," which opens the
album. The song's title refers to a side of the
narrator's character that works to distance him
from his love and his family. The nature of the
speaker's actions are unexplained, but their
effect comes across in succinct, memorable
lines. Shunned by the woman he loves, his
version of the reason she gives is deceptively
simple and thus laden with implications: "She
could taste trouble on my mouth."
Oldham's adeptness at adapting old forms
and his unselfish proclivity for working with
others cast an interesting light on the grow
ing amount of recognition he has received.
Johnny Cash's version of his song "I See a
Darkness" has brought him a larger audi
ence. Last year, The New Yorker ran an article
profiling the singer in his hometown of
Louisville, KY. It's tempting to see Oldham as
a kind of conduit—his music mirroring current
trends on the surface, while underneath some
thing older and more profound is at work.
But the singer keeps well abreast of this
manner of conjecture, acknowledging the
futility of any attempt on his part to guide
the listener's perception of the music. He can
imagine the effect of his musical decisions,
he says, "only insofar as I understand how
I would react, as a member of the audience,
when confronted by the music. I don't know
how people will take the music that is made,
and usually I will never find out. There is no
way to know."
This awareness gives Oldham an under
standing of how performing for a live audience
differs from making a record for a less imme
diate gioup of listeners. "I imagine that the
audience for the records is fairly different from
the audience for the live show. The inten
tion and energy behind recordings versus live
shows is so completely different. The record
ings belong to the listener. There is implied
community, and sharing, but it is all implicit
and internalized. Live, it's all about doing shit
together, undeniably, in-your-face; we're ship
wrecked here together and better make the
best of it."
In pursuit of this goal, Oldham will be
playing with the same group that toured with
him in October, a group consisting of Ben
Boye, Danny Kiely, Angel Olson, Van Campbell
and, of course, Kelly. Just as his approach
to songwriting and recording cherishes the
benefits of a reciprocal relationship with his
collaborators, so does the connection between
Oldham and the audience involve a healthy
give-and-take. "I don't feel that the audience
is a static entity. It is always changing: age,
geography, taste, tolerance. So, I have a rela
tionship to the music, to the records, to the
players, and the audience does, too—fingers
crossed. There are potential collaborators in
any given audience."
Marshall Yarbrough
ifrf
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