Customer Reviews

Superwolf

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Up to this point, my knowledge of Bonnie Prince consisted of Master and Everyone, Ease Down the Road, and I See a Darkness (which, in my humble opinion, contains the greatest love song ever written in All Around).

I had absolutely no knowledge of Matt Sweeney.

Given that, when I popped in Superwolf, the sound initially caught me off guard. I persisted, of course, and was rewarded with a fantastically woven tapestry of lyricism and melody. It's chock full of the sweet, easy melodies, harmonizing vocal overlays, and well-placed crescendos characteristic of Oldham's earlier stuff.

Favorite tracks:
Bed is for Sleeping - "Bed is for sleeping, love is for making, you know, love, I am yours for the taking."

Lift Us Up - "People, don't you wonder how the Lord has brought you under?"

Only Someone Running - "If you melted, then I would melt myself all into you"

Will Oldham is an artist who has for years been hovering just outside the lens of the indie genre he is often credited with having birthed. Funny thing is, he never, for a moment, seems to want to let the categorizers of music zero in on him. Most reading this review are probably aware of how he has embraced the alter-ego concept and sent about 5 different monikers flying off into musical space, and how, after 5 incredible albums under his most recent nom de plume, he seems to have settled comfortably on the wonderfully cryptic and nonsensical Bonnie "Prince" Billy. With Superwolf, his latest release with the disgustingly talented Matt Sweeney and the follow-up to the devastatingly dark and beautiful Master & Everyone, Will Oldham the man has taken a bold step forward and assumed his place somewhere alongside the likes of Neil Young and Bob Dylan as a mature and persisting musical genius who can do no wrong with ink or guitar strings-and, in this case, yet unexplored electric guitar strings. In terms of career progression, Superwolf is Oldham's Rust Never Sleeps, his Before the Flood. It is a signed affidavit to all doubters that he is the real deal.

From Sweeney's very first riff on "My Home Is the Sea," one can immediately sense an assertiveness in Oldham's voice that was absent on previous undertakings. This contrasted with dramatic shifts in the shaky, tortured falsetto that has become his trademark, what you have are some unusual flourishes to what has thus been a consistently dark sound, a sliver of light in that ever-darkening canon of his. "Beast for Thee" and "Bed Is for Sleeping" are sad ballads filled with brief glimmers of hope by Sweeney's dreamy guitar playing, while "Rudy Foolish" and "Only Someone Running" are devastating tracks in and of themselves, but with arrangements and harmonies that somehow keep the thing floating above water, up there in the sunlight. The rest of the album is pure aching bliss, with the middle track, "Lift Us Up," serving as the crescendo and centerpiece, making the ebb and flow of agony and ecstasy a symmetrical two-faced beast. When I took a few of my friends to see this sparsely attended concert live, one (who'd never even heard of Bonnie "Prince" Billy) said, "My God, that was triumphant..."

As an added bonus, the album itself is full of interesting little tidbits, like the rather wordy political insert with interesting insights into cannibis and alcohol obsessed cultures, as well as the lovely sadistic artwork. Hearts drawn in blood and beautiful pornography are some of the contradictions offered, reflecting the richness and oddness of the man and his music. And there's a priceless shot of both men on the back cover, Sweeney looking stoned out of his mind in aviator shades, and Oldham in what looks like a mechanics overalls stringing an electric guitar. Given the accessibility of this album, if you've never heard of Bonnie "Prince" Billy (like many of my now-obsessed friends never did), this is a good place to get hooked.

I am a huge fan of Will Olham and all his monikers. But after Greatest Palace Music I was kind of wondering where he might go next musically. I like country (real country, not Toby Keith)but Greatest Palace Music was a little too country for my taste. Needless to say, Superwolf is amazing. Matt Sweeney really adds some hard rock flavor to the mix. This is a great collaboration between two of indie rock's best musicians.

I don't want to write a lengthy review or reiterate what you have already read in the preceding reviews, but let it be said that this album is amazing, and you should at the very least take the time to listen to the previews above in either the Windows Media or Real format before navigating away from this page. "Bed is for Sleeping" or "Beast for Thee" are the popular tracks and contain Oldham's most accessible singing in his entire career. He has come a long way from his shaky, cracking vocals on albums like "There Is No-One What Will Take Care of You" and "Days in the Wake". Sweeney's guitar work here is gorgeous and also not to be missed.

Notes on the limited edition- a bit of a ripoff- no extra tracks or artwork. In fact the only thing better is that it's a cardboard DigiPak. It's even missing out the funny drawing of "Will and Matt" contained in the standard edition.

For a better review, go to:

http://avantbard.com/corral/index.php?p=18

This album took a few listens before I got it, but when I did it blew me across the room. This is heavy stuff, deep, reflective and dark. Listen to Blood Embrace to see what I mean. Wow!

Mr. Oldham pulls it off once again, this time with the help of Mr. Sweeney. Another CD which will find high rotation in my player. Glad to see that the Greatest Palace Music was something that "had to be done" rather than a shift in musical focus (or rather a discovery of predicatbility). What's next...Oldham/Pajo/Sweeney doing Zwan covers? :)

Fans of Palace Brothers/Bonnie Prince Billy will find much to love in this album. It's much richer and more electrified in its arrangement than the spare recordings of earlier days, but I think it really works.