The Letting Go is a 2006 album by Bonnie 'Prince' Billy. It was recorded in Reykjavík, Iceland and produced by Valgeir Sigurðsson, who is known for his work with the Icelandic artist Björk. This album's arrangement was done by Nico Muhly. Dawn McCarthy of Faun Fables also sings on the album.

The album's name comes from the last lines of the Emily Dickinson poem that starts "After a Great Pain, A Formal Feeling Comes."

This is the hour of lead

Remembered if outlived,

As freezing persons recollect the snow,

First chill, then stupor, then the letting go.

Reception

The music review online magazine Pitchfork Media placed The Letting Go at number 195 on their list of top 200 albums of the 2000s.

Personnel

*Emmett Kelly – guitar

*Dawn McCarthy – singing

*Paul Oldham – bass

*Valgeir Sigurdsson – recording, mixing

*Jim White – drums

References

Category:2006 albums

Category:Bonnie 'Prince' Billy albums

Category:Will Oldham albums

Category:Drag City albums

sv:The Letting Go

Artist/Band Information

: Palace Music redirects here. For the racehorse, see Palace Music (horse)

Will Oldham (born December 24, 1970 in Louisville, Kentucky), better known by the stage name Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, is an American singer-songwriter and actor. From 1993 to 1997 he performed and recorded under variations of the Palace name, including the Palace Brothers, Palace Songs, and Palace Music. After releasing material under his own name, he adopted the "Bonnie 'Prince' Billy" moniker for the majority of his output since 1998.

Music

Will Oldham is known for his "do-it-yourself punk aesthetic and blunt honesty," and his music has been likened to Americana, folk, roots, country, punk, and indie rock. He has been called an "Appalachian post-punk solipsist", with a voice that has been described as "a fragile sort-of warble frittering around haunted melodies in the American folk or country tradition."

Will Oldham first performed and recorded under various permutations of the Palace name, including Palace Brothers, Palace Songs, Palace Music, and simply Palace. Regarding the name changes during this period (1993-1997), Oldham said:

Beginning in 1998, Oldham has primarily used the moniker Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, which draws inspiration from several sources:

Oldham has explained that "the primary purpose of the pseudonym is to allow both the audience and the performer to have a relationship with the performer that is valid and unbreakable."

Discography

*There Is No-One What Will Take Care of You – Palace Brothers (1993)

*Days in the Wake – Palace Brothers (1994)

*Viva Last Blues – Palace Music (1995)

*Arise Therefore – Palace Music (1996)

*Joya – Will Oldham (1997)

*I See a Darkness – Bonnie 'Prince' Billy (1999)

*Ease Down the Road – Bonnie 'Prince' Billy (2001)

*Master and Everyone – Bonnie 'Prince' Billy (2003)

*Sings Greatest Palace Music – Bonnie 'Prince' Billy (2004)

*Summer in the Southeast - Bonnie 'Prince' Billy (2005)

*Superwolf – Matt Sweeney & Bonnie 'Prince' Billy (2005)

*The Brave and the Bold – Tortoise & Bonnie 'Prince' Billy (2006)

*The Letting Go – Bonnie 'Prince' Billy (2006)

*Wai Notes – Dawn McCarthy and Bonny Billy (2007)

*Wilding in the West – Bonnie "Prince" Billy (2007)

*Lie Down in the Light – Bonnie 'Prince' Billy (2008)

*Is It The Sea? – Bonnie 'Prince' Billy with Harem Scarem and Alex Neilson (2008)

*Beware - Bonnie 'Prince' Billy (2009)

*Funtown Comedown - Bonny Billy and the Picket Line (2009)

*The Wonder Show of the World - Bonnie 'Prince' Billy and the Cairo Gang (2010)

Response

Some of his albums, such as There Is No-One What Will Take Care of You (1993), Viva Last Blues (1995), and I See a Darkness (1999), have appeared on greatest albums lists.

He is mentioned in the lyrics of the Biffy Clyro song "Saturday Superhouse" and is the main character in the song "Williamsburg Will Oldham Horror" by New York anti-folk artist Jeffrey Lewis.

Johnny Cash recorded a version of "I See a Darkness" on his American Recordings disc, American III: Solitary Man (2000). Oldham provided backing vocals.

Steve Adey also covered "I See a Darkness" on his 2006 LP All Things Real.

Mark Kozelek recorded a version of Oldham's "New Partner" on his 2008 disc, The Finally LP.

Katatonia covered "Oh How I Enjoy the Light" on their 2001 EP Tonight's Music.

In 2009 Mark Lanegan and Soulsavers recorded a cover version of "You Will Miss Me When I Burn". The release is a split single, backed with the Lanegan penned "Sunrise" featuring vocals by Oldham.

Film

Will Oldham began his acting career at the age of 17, when he portrayed a teen preacher in John Sayles's film about an Appalachian mining community, Matewan (1987). Oldham moved to Hollywood to pursue acting in the late 1980s, and landed roles in a couple of films. However, he quickly became disillusioned with the film industry and quit in 1989. He has since had several minor roles in independent films, such as Julien Donkey-Boy (1999), Junebug (2005), and The Guatemalan Handshake (2006). Oldham took a lead role in Old Joy, which was featured at SXSW XX and opened at New York's Film Forum on September 20, 2006. Will Oldham also played the role of a preacher in the "Horse Apples" special of WonderShowzen in series 2 of the show.

Filmography

* Matewan (1987), directed by John Sayles

* Everybody's Baby: The Rescue of Jessica McClure (1989) (TV movie)

* Thousand Pieces of Gold (1991)

* Elysian Fields (1993)

* Radiation (1998)

* Julien Donkey-Boy (1999) (uncredited role), directed by Harmony Korine

* Slitch (2003), directed by Dianne Bellino

* Tripping with Caveh (2004), directed by Caveh Zahedi

* Junebug (2005)

* The Guatemalan Handshake (2006)

* Old Joy (2006)

* Wendy and Lucy (2008)

Photography

Will Oldham shot the black-and-white cover photograph of Slint's 1991 album Spiderland. The photo depicts members of the band treading water in the lake of an abandoned quarry.McCarthy, Shannon. "" Musicianguide.com. Retrieved on 25 November 2007.

Oldham also featured as guest aesthetic designer for the North American literary magazine Zoetrope All Story (vol 11, no 1) in 2007. In a note contained in the issue, he jokes that it would be "really magnificent to imagine this issue as a cocktail party at which all of the contributors, word and image, are present. add a bowl of keys and some mushroom cookies and i am there. "

References