Specs & Pricing

Music
Rock etc.
an incessant hi-hat, ringing cymbal, and
wailing cry of its leader on “I Thank the
Lord,” a weirdly close cousin of ZZ Top’s
“I Thank You.” Not to be outdone, the
Voices of Conquest don’t depend on a full
band for its message, instead pumping up
cymbal splashes and beats for the exoticsounding
“O Yes My Lord.” Be it heavy
or subdued, shaken or stirred, African or
Motown, percussion is the stirrer of fires
throughout.
Known for detective-like research and
anecdotal liner notes, as well as flushing out
fringe musicians and producers that seem
pulled out of a pulp paperback, Numero
Group retains its high batting average
with this, its tenth release. Good God! is
also the label’s first LP pressing, a move
the makes sense, given its preservation
and documentation goals, and that all of
the tunes originate from analog singles.
While far from audiophile quality, the LP
retains a vibrancy and warmth that isn’t
as intense on the CD, which also lacks
the larger format’s eye-popping artwork.
Head-and-shoulders above a growing
number of fine American boutique
archival labels responsible for exposing
dusty-groove sounds, every Numero
release has something to recommend,
particularly Eccentric Soul: The Bandit Label,
Yellow Pills: Prefill, and Cult Cargo: Belize City
Boil Up. Consult the label’s comprehensive
Web site (numerogroup.com) for
backgrounders on all of its projects.
BG
Further Listening: Sam Cooke: The
Complete Specialty Recordings of
Sam Cooke; Eccentric Soul: The
Bandit Label
Bonnie “Prince” Billy: The Letting Go.
Valgeir Sigurdsson, producer. Drag City 420 (LP and CD).
Will Oldham’s latest outing under the Bonnie “Prince” Billy moniker opens with
the Kentucky native wondering aloud why “love comes to me” and closes with
a meditative “Called You Back,” the singer-songwriter cooing “Every time we
kiss we find ourselves in love
again.” Enclosed between
these bookends is a lifetime
of love, pain, holding on, and
letting go, Oldham singing
of soft kisses in dark rooms,
playful winter days, and tearful
summer nights. Appropriately
falling close to the center of
the album, “No Bad News”
best captures the prevailing
mood: “Thank you for not
letting go of me when I let go
of you.” In other words, The
Letting Go is inherently human,
confronting the pitfalls and tender moments buried in the words “Til death do us
part.”
An indie-rock demigod whose status was forever cemented when Johnny Cash
covered his “I See A Darkness” on American 3: Solitary Man, Oldham has rarely
The vinyl pressing enhances these
subtleties, from Dirty Three drummer
Jim White’s sympathetic percussive work
to an Icelandic string quartet’s
heartbreaking sighs
sounded so at peace. The results are almost alarmingly intimate, his voice only once
rising above a whisper, on the nightmarish “The Seedling,” complete with howlingwind
strings. The remainder of the album is comfortably lived-in, as if it were
recorded at the foot of the singer’s unmade bed while his lover serenely slept at his
side.
Like Oldham’s best work—I See a Darkness and Ease Down the Road—Letting Go has
the warm glow of backwoods Americana, understated instrumentation giving life to
his carefully crafted words. Producer Valgeir Sigurdsson (Bjork) wisely maintains
this natural soundstage, the guitar strings practically humming on the country blues
of “Cold & Wet.” The vinyl pressing enhances these subtleties, from Dirty Three
drummer Jim White’s sympathetic percussive work to an Icelandic string quartet’s
heartbreaking sighs.
The most striking element, however, remains the backing vocals by Faun Fable
singer Dawn McCarthy, who acts as the Emmylou Harris to Oldham’s world-weary
Gram Parsons. This is especially true of “Love Comes To Me,” where her voice
hovers like an apparition that—much like the love the pair is singing about—Oldham
can’t quite grasp. AD
Further Listening: Grateful Dead: American Beauty; Gram Parsons: Grievous Angel
164 December 2006 The Absolute Sound