Ask Forgiveness | 
 enlarge | Artist: Bonnie "prince" Billy
Label: Drag City
Category: Music
List Price: $13.98
Buy New: $11.86
You Save: $2.12 (15%)
New (5) from $11.86
Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 552611
Format: Ep
Media: LP Record
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 12.3 x 12.2 x 0.2
UPC: 781484035411
EAN: 0781484035411
ASIN: B000XJ5TQS
Release Date: November 20, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: This item is BRAND NEW and factory fresh (sealed if applicable). May have store or price stickers affixed.
| |
| Tracks:
| • | I Came to Hear the Music - Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Newbury, Mickey | | • | I've Seen It All - Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Sjon | | • | Am I Demon? - Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Danzig, Glenn | | • | My Life - Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Ochs, Phil | | • | I'm Loving the Street - Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Oldham, Will | | • | The Way I Am - Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Haggard, Merle | | • | Cycles - Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Caldwell, Gayle | | • | The World's Greatest - Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Kelly, R. |
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
This is a mini-album with seven covers and one original tune by Will Oldham (a.k.a. Bonnie 'Prince' Billy). Cover records by alt-rock types are often a risky venture, whether they reveal shortcomings in a young artist or come filled with ironic, cheeky takes on old standards. Of course, Oldham has covered a judicious amount of seemingly incongruous songs over the years, including Mariah Carey on this year's (largely throwaway) Guilt By Association compilation and fare as diverse as AC/DC, Bob Marley, and even a number from "Evita." Ask Forgiveness—where Oldham covers Bjoerk, Danzig, Thom Yorke, Phil Ochs, and (most spectacularly) R. Kelly—ranks among that slim collection of covers albums worth owning. It probably helps that this doesn't sound like alt-rock; The songs are sung in Oldham's usual soft-spoken, troubadour acoustic mode, and they thankfully feature lovely female backing vocals throughout. Clearly, he is very interested in these songs, and he mines their narrative and emotional core to truly make the material his own. His delivery is irony-free, compelling and strikingly straightforward (if quavery-throated). Huzzah! Now, no one else needs to make another record like this for another dozen years. Right? --Mike McGonigal
Album Description
The prolific Bonnie 'Prince' Billy returns to delight and intrigue with Ask Forgiveness released on the 19th November. A collection of cover version victories, effortlessly (it seems) making each one of these songs his own, having taken them within and loved them — and then singing them out again in his own idiosyncratic interpretation. Covering a handful of wildly diverse artists as varied as Bjoerk Gu mundsdottir and R Kelly, these renditions were recorded off the hoof in Philadelphia with a stripped down ensemble including Meg Baird of Espers on acoustics and vocals, Greg Weeks on electric guitar, aided and abetted by Maggie Wienk on cello.
|
| Customer Reviews:
 Only an occasional fan -- but I adore this record. May 3, 2008
Chris Estey (Seattle, WA)
I have a hard time keeping up with everything the Bonnie "Prince" releases, and have found some well reviewed materials pretty resistible. But this record is so delightful, for the reasons Mike lists in his synopsis -- great choice of songs, sweet background vocals, and just charming (if oddly haunted) laid-back singing and playing. Possibly one of the finest of the year, and rewards persistent playing.
 Nice little album April 29, 2008
L. Sewell (australia)
After the at-times breathtaking but inconsistent "The Letting Go", comes this very much consistent album. I give them both 4 stars, for very different reasons of course.
I am tempted to compare this to his earlier album "Master and Everyone", but this album has a lot more going on in terms of instrumentation. Pretty guitar work and nice harmonies help add sparkle to lyrics that are at times pretty conventional by Bonnie Prince Billy's standards. That doesn't mean that they are bad lyrics - except for Cycles, which is probably the most obvious country lyric I've ever heard. I hate straight country music, but Oldham's earnest delivery makes it all ok.
Bonnie King of Covers December 16, 2007
Thomas Blakiston (Saint Paul, MN, USA)
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
A few years back Will Oldham recorded an EP of cover songs as Bonny Billy called "More Revery", which I love. Based on his performance on that EP, which was rockin', I purchased "Ask Forgiveness" as soon as I heard about it and have not been disappointed. Oldham's gentle style here is much like his last few albums. However, as I found Dawn McCarthy's back vocals on "The Letting Go" to be distracting I have been itching for some "new" Oldham to listen to. "World's Greatest" is this EP's gem; Oldham takes words that are gaudy and boastful and makes them humble and endearing. Heartily recommended.
keep on coming December 5, 2007
AWD (Arvada Colorado)
11 out of 12 found this review helpful
When Will Oldham puts out a full album it is almost always a masterpiece. His last several were brilliant, "Letting Go", "Master And Everyone", "Ease Down The Road", "I See A Darkness", just one great album after another. In between albums he puts out a lot of "projects". With the exception of his collaboration with Matt Sweeney, "Superwolf", none of these projects are as great as his fully conceived albums, but all of them are still good, still worthwhile. This album is not quite as diverse and interesting as the collection of covers Oldham did with Tortoise a few years ago, but it is a bit more accessible and certainly has some sublime moments. This new set of covers has a couple of numbers that will take you away. R. Kelly's tune, "World's Greatest" is mostly empty posturing in the hands of Kelly, but Oldham somehow imbues the song with an everyman quality that inverts the cockiness of the song by making "greatness" seem attainable to everyone. Danzig's "Am I Demon?" further explores a long running conceit for Oldham, that of embracing the darkness within. Phil Ochs comes back alive with Oldham's melodic and sincere take on Och's intimate song "My Life". Like Dylan, BPB is not afraid of putting one of his own great songs in an obscure place and the one original here "Loving The Street" is an upbeat laid back feel-good Oldham cut that would, in turn, make a great cover song for someone else. It's always a bit of a surprise when Oldham isn't brilliant and a few songs here feel like retread oldham. But nonetheless, the big moments make this compilation worthwhile to own, and the overall listening experience is smooth and subtle, everything fitting together like a worn in puzzle.
Ignore the odd 1 star reviews - Will Oldham continues to weave gold out of his strawy beard November 29, 2007
sageturk
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
Will's back - if I See A Darkness or Superwolf are in your record collection, get this album. Then again, you were already planning on it, right? Closer to his collaboration with Tortoise (The Brave and the Bold) this is a collection of mostly-covers - so fragile and delicate and fargone from the source material as to make it all his own.
Achingly beautiful stuff from the hush-voiced master.
|
|
|
