Bonnie Prince Billy and The Cairo Gang: The Wonder Show of the World (Palace)

 |   |  <1 min read

Bonnie Prince Billy: The Sounds Are Always Begging
Bonnie Prince Billy and The Cairo Gang: The Wonder Show of the World (Palace)

My guess is that because Bonnie Prince Billy aka Will Oldham aka Palace aka Palace Brothers etc has done so many albums that, like Woody Allen movies and local buses, you can afford to miss one because another will be along soon.

This low-key, mostly acoustic outing framed by Neil Young-styled folk and Billy's default position of analytical introspection with a leavening of love songs is probably one that could go by.

Almost absent of things such as choruses or even much by way of lyrical repetition, these songs have an intimacy which can be quietly compelling and you certainly hang in as allusive, hard to pin down narratives or emotions are unveiled with touches of electric guitar and backing vocals.

One of the best here is The Sounds Are Always Begging (see sample track) but too many others just drift into the ether.

Another will be along soon. 

Share It

Your Comments

post a comment

More from this section   Music at Elsewhere articles index

Blair Parkes: Blue Cloud (digital outlets)

Blair Parkes: Blue Cloud (digital outlets)

Multi-instrumentalist/producer Blair Parkes has appeared a number of times at Elsewhere under his own name and as part of Running Club. He's not easy to pigeon-hole because he has effortlessly... > Read more

Louisa Nicklin: The Big Sulk (digital outlets)

Louisa Nicklin: The Big Sulk (digital outlets)

There are albums where, as a reviewer, you are tempted to quote great swathes of lyrics because the writer is so astute, descriptive, insightful or moving.  On her second album Louisa... > Read more

Elsewhere at Elsewhere

Magazine: Real Life (1978)

Magazine: Real Life (1978)

If there was a godfather of the Manchester scene in the Eighties there's a good case to be made that it wasn't Tony Wilson (who founded the Hacienda and Factory Records) but that it was Howard... > Read more

Elsewhere Art . . . Wayne Shorter

Elsewhere Art . . . Wayne Shorter

As I mention in the story which this collage accompanied, this record by Wayne Shorter literally came to hand when I was going through a bunch of albums my eldest son left behind when he moved to... > Read more