Above: Bonnie “Prince” Billy. I was introduced to Will Oldham more than 10 years ago live at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, where he strutted about the stage with one hand under his overalls as if itching some Napoleonic skin-rash. My high-school buddies were stupefied, and so was I, but having been initially unimpressed by I See A Darkness I held off on exploring the rest of his work until a few weeks ago. Like Biggie and Yellowman, he’s a supremely weird dude who gets a lot of ass, and while his sexual non-sequiturs are my least favorite part of his work, I still admire his swagger and how someone so odd can carry themselves with such confidence (being a former child actor probably helps). His music feels calm and grounded in a way I really needed this month. June and July 2021 were some of the best months of my life, August less so. Bonnie helped me feel centered, secure in aging and comfortable in my own strangeness, and I listened to his music almost nonstop in the latter half of this month.
LOVED
Bonnie “Prince” Billy – Beware (2009)
Bonnie “Prince” Billy – Wolfroy Goes to Town (2011)
Grouper – Shade (2021)
Palace Music – Arise Therefore (1996)
The Radio Dept. – Clinging to a Scheme (2010)
ENJOYED
Akasha System – Echo Earth (2019)
Barker – Utility (2019)
Bonnie “Prince” Billy – Ease Down the Road (2001)
Bonnie “Prince” Billy – The Letting Go (2006)
Bonnie “Prince” Billy – Lie Down In The Light (2008)
Bonnie “Prince” Billy – Master and Everyone (2003)
Brin/Dntel/More Eaze – Futurangelics (2021)
Dām-Funk – Above the Fray (2021) review
Billie Eilish – Happier Than Ever (2021) review
Walt McClemens – A Hole In The Fence (2021)
Space Afrika – Honest Labour (2021)
Matt Sweeney & Bonnie “Prince” Billy – Superwolf (2006)
Matt Sweeney & Bonnie “Prince” Billy – Superwolves (2021)
Topdown Dialectic – Vol. 3 (2021)
Ulrich Schnauss/Jonas Munk – Eight Fragments of an Illusion (2021) review
WAS OK
Faust – Faust IV (1973)
The Modern Lovers – The Modern Lovers (1976)
Will Oldham – Joya (1997)
Ryuichi Sakamoto & David Toop – Garden of Shadows and Light (2021) review
