Will Oldham is in the thick of a busy summer yet again, having just wrapped a free record store/radio tour along Puget Sound shores, turned in a Fleetwood Mac cover with Superwolf cohort Matt Sweeney, and hopped a plane for Switzerland before stopping by Italy as well. Good news for fellow Bonnie “Prince” Billy fans in a region he’s skipped of late: two of said efforts are online in official form.
First up Wolfroy came to town for an intimate set on Seattle’s KEXP, in which Bonnie paid homage to the late Maurice Sendak with “Night Noises” — alluding to Sendak’s surreal children’s book In the Night Kitchen. He also deconstructed “I See A Darkness” (complete with facial contortions) and played the solo live debut of “Time To Be Clear” B-side “Whipped.” Catch the uncut show here, while two highlights are above and below.
Meanwhile, Oldham and Sweeney’s studio rendition of “Storms” employs perhaps the most appropriate use of a rainstick to reach these ears. Their inspired cover of the Nicks-penned Tusk tune:
Matt Sweeney and Bonnie “Prince” Billy | “Storms”