Palace Music Viva Last Blues ( vinyl LP )

Release date: 26-07-2012 ( originally from 1995)

 

2012 reissue ( vinyl LP ) BONNIE PRINCE BILLY : Classic 1995 Album from Will Oldham feat. 'New Partner' recorded by Steve Albini.

 

Tracks:
A1 More Brother Rides 3:19
A2 Viva Ultra 3:18
A3 The Brute Choir 2:43
A4 The Mountain Low 2:44
A5 Tonight's Decision (And Hereafter) 4:10
B1 Work Hard / Play Hard 2:50
B2 New Partner 3:54
B3 Cat's Blues 3:18
B4 We All, Us Three, Will Ride 2:56
B5 Old Jerusalem 2:16

 

-After the dead-Okie solo ballads of the previous full length release, Will Oldham (Mr. Palace himself) got an under-rehearsed band together and set them loose in the studio. Steve Albini's bare bones production is in plain view as drums scrape into the guitars with all the finesse of a basement tape. "More Brother Rides, " "Viva Ultra," "The Brute Choir," and "Work Hard/Play Hard" are the most rhythmic tracks Oldham's ever attempted and the improvisatory nature of the songs allow for some unexpected surprises (Liam Hayes' piano is a loose canon likely to veer off into another song while Bryan Rich's lead work is curiously incompetent at best). --Rob O'Connor