Will Oldham

Will Oldham is the guy behind the Palace (Palace Brothers, Palace Music, etc.) recordings and Bonnie "Prince" Billy. He sometimes also uses his own name.

see Palace, Bonnie "Prince" Billy

Information: The Royal Stable
Suggested first purchase: I See a Darkness

Will Oldham: Arise, Therefore (1996) -- Originally released as a Palace Music recording, this is now credited to Will Oldham. (Somewhere, somehow all these changes--even this retroactive change--make sense if you're into subtleties.) This record isn't as good as previous releases, due in part to the use of a Maya Tone drum machine throughout. C

Will Oldham: Joya (1997) -- Oldham's first release under his given name (after cycling through a number of Palace variations), this one doesn't stand out as well as his Palace work. C

Will Oldham: Western Music EP (1998) -- A four song collection, featuring some pretty music. B

Will Oldham: Black/Rich Music EP (1996/1998) -- Originally released by Palace Soundtrack as Songs Put Together For (The Broken Giant), this organ and guitar music isn't as listenable because of its soundtrack properties. C

Will Oldham: Ode Music (2000) -- Probably the only Oldham release that I simply don't like, but only because it's just a soundtrack and meant to accompany a movie. The themes here are just too redundant for me to enjoy. C

Will Oldham: Guarapero/Lost Blues 2 (2000) -- Another compilation CD (the sequel to Palace Music's Lost Blues and Other Songs), this one infamous in my mind for featuring the AC/DC classic "Big Balls." C

Rian Murphy and Will Oldham: All Most Heaven (2000) -- It's just four songs, but man are they perfect. I know most people probably prefer Oldham by himself with an acoustic guitar, but listening to these very produced (for him anyway) songs sung with Rian Murphy makes me wish that he had more like this. Comparatively slick as this EP is, it still manages to be deeply moving. Perhaps the best EP ever created? A