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Bonnie Prince Billy


liesabath

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Amazon.co.uk Review

A decade after forming the Palace Brothers, Kentuckian Will Oldham has decided to reinterpret his vintage repertoire, with Sings Greatest Palace Music rerouting the material via Nashville. That original combo had subsequent incarnations as Palace and Palace Music, while the reclusive Oldham has been known as Bonnie "Prince" Billy since 1998. Here, he's more openly country than ever before, roping in a team of sessioneers on honky tonkin' piano, merry fiddle, chicken-pluckin' mandolin and seepin' pedal steel guitar. There are even a few unlikely saxophone solos. The instrumental interplay is immediately impressive, the players making brief statements and never stepping on each other's stirrups. He's looking back at Gram Parsons for principal inspiration, giving the sing-along harmony backing-vocal treatment to these curiously uplifting songs of melancholia. The Prince is intent on celebrating misery, turning morose sentiments into positive anthems. All the elements are in place for a sincere invocation of a cowboy's dark side. Oldham's husky delivery has a faint strain in the throat, his lyrics always taking a sideways step. The album boasts a stylistic unity that draws together its songs, with some of the most rousing and fraught numbers arriving towards the end. "Viva Ultra" has Oldham singing with a totally broken conviction, "Pushkin" resounds with a persuasive "God is the answer" chorus, and "No More Workhorse Blues" pushes the levels even further, towards total commitment. --Martin Longley

Impressive!! :good job:

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