It’s no secret Will Oldham likes a good cover, and just to prove it, see: here, here, here, here.
What I particularly love (and respect) from Oldham’s cover choices is that he consistently executes them without irony, no matter the origin, making them his own. Sure, it would be easy to have turned R. Kelly’s “The World’s Greatest” bombast into a farce, with a wink and a nod, but Oldham, per usual, opts to inject his own agenda into the composition’s space. You can find the Kelly cover, and six other covers (and an Oldham original) on the recently released Ask Forgiveness EP.
Download:
MP3: Bonnie “Prince” Billy :: The World’s Greatest
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Video: R. Kelly – The World’s Greatest
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Amazon: Bonnie “Prince” Billy – Ask Forgiveness
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yea, i echo your applause of the new bonnie record! it’s been in heavy rotation
1 | swope December 3rd, 2007 at 6:58 pmon my table for a few weeks… this man knows how to do covers. danzig’s ‘am i demon’ is just that great! wishing he’d come back to the west coast as his performance last year at the Malibu Performing Arts Center was nothing short of a religious experience.
My favorite part of the Billy cover is definitely that he recreates Kelly’s pronunciation of “ask” as “axe”/”acks.” Talk about dedication to re-creation. I like it.
2 | j. neas December 4th, 2007 at 1:21 amreally good cover !
3 | slobbo December 4th, 2007 at 9:32 amWhy are none of the other previous tracks still available? I can’t download any of his other tracks from your links….
4 | Yerfdog December 4th, 2007 at 10:07 amAQ, do you have a Will song called “New Partner”? I can’t find a way to get it….
5 | Taft December 4th, 2007 at 1:02 pmYerfdog , mp3 files are only ‘live’ for 14 days.
6 | Satisfied '75 December 4th, 2007 at 1:54 pmI’m not sure how irony-free a few of his covers are. I mean, he does them sincerely, no doubt. But come on, his Kelly version of ‘Ignition’ is hysterical. I think he’s just the world’s best straight man, and does a good job selling the idea that he’s not in on the joke. His cameo/appearance in the Kanye video with Zak Galafinakis should be proof he’s at least winking and nodding a tiny bit.
His cover of ‘I’ve Seen it All’ KILLS, though
7 | barry December 4th, 2007 at 6:16 pmBarry, excellent point. i thought about that very video with Zak while writing that. I agree, he is more of a straight man in some instances that 100% reverent.
8 | Satisfied '75 December 4th, 2007 at 7:37 pm