Will Oldham aka Bonnie “Prince” Billy aka the hardest working man in music has unveiled the new video for his single ‘I See A Darkness’. The track is from his upcoming EP Now Here’s My Plan, a collection consisting of new versions of Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy classics recorded by Steve Albini, due for release in accompaniment with the Will Oldham on Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy book on June 4th and separately through Domino on July 24th.
We’ve had quite a year from Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy. First there was ‘Will Oldham on Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy‘ – a book of conversations with longtime collaborator Alan Licht, now the hardest working man in music has announced that he will re-release six classic recordings dated between 1996 and 2004.
To give you an idea of just how hard working this man is, between his first Palace Brothers record, 1993’s ‘There Is No-One What Will Take Care Of You’ and last year’s Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy album ‘Wolfroy Goes To Town‘, Bonny has released no less than seventeen studio albums, twenty-five EPs and five live albums.
It is in the spirit of celebration of an artistic life so remarkable that Domino Records is this year to re-issue these six seminal records on 30th July. The albums will be ‘Arise Therefore’ (1996) and ‘Joya’ (1997), ‘I See A Darkness’ (1999), ‘Ease Down The Road’ (2001), ‘Master And Everyone’ (2003) and ‘Greatest Palace Music’ (2004).
Is that enough? Not for Billy! Most people would happily sit back and enjoy such a handsome array of releases but he’s releasing a new EP, titled ‘Now Here’s My Plan’, which is a collection of old songs newly recorded with Steve Albini. The EP is out on Domino on 24th June.
Enough? It bloody well should be!
Born in Nottingham and now residing in Portland, Emma Niblett adopted the moniker Scout after Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, the protagonist from ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’. Releasing under Scout Niblett, The Calcination of Scout Niblett is her 5th studio album. One thing that’s evident, having listened to her previous efforts, is that she doesn’t hold with musical evolution; not one to push the envelope with new layers and sounds, textures and structures of musical brilliance. Not Scouty, no. Everybody loves a big new idea but you know what, sometimes it’s just nice to have something brilliant, regardless. Tried and tested? So what. Brilliant’s brilliant, no?
The Scout Niblett trademark sound is a variation of quiet/loud guitar and drums, not necessarily concerned with hitting the right notes every time – a bit scratchy, if you will. Very much verse/chorus/verse and very openly Kurt Cobain-esque. Over the top she layers her PJ Harvey-esque vocals. It’s a tempting sound. I’ve covered the fact that “The Calcination of Scout Niblett” is more of the same formula. The fact is, it’s better. I imagine she looks at people expecting her to push the envelope in the same way that Toyota would look at somebody who expected them to make a toasted cheese sandwich maker; with one eyebrow raised and a big dollop of suspicion.
Sticking to the one sound has allowed Niblett, over the course of the last decade and with the help of producer Steve Albini, to hone and fine-tune her sound to the absolute basics and absolute best. A decade of playing incredible live shows but not ever quite capturing the live sound well on record, “The Calcination . . .” is Niblett at her most driven and intense and the sound comes over like In Utero-era Nirvana with the lyrical drive of Catpower’s Moonpix.
The record begins with”Just Do It!” a song with cuts from moments of buzzing feedback before cutting back to the sparsity of just a single string. The girl deals in beautiful contrasts and wants you to know it early on. “Cheeky Cherry Bomb” spends 3 minutes building between quiet/loud before launching into a menacing crunching, powerful doom-rock sound.
Ultimately nothing new. Just better at it. More honed and refined. Better guitars, better drums, better vocals than previous records. The album ends on the 9 minute wonder that is “Meet and Greet” – a song which uses every shade on the palette to sketch out the sound, just to remind us all what she’s capable of. Blood and guts, heart and soul come in spades though. Basically, it’s all you need.