What were we all doing in August? Well, I don’t know about you, but I sure missed this one. L’ville’s own dark-folky/Civil War reenacter, Will Oldham, put out another collab album. C’mon you didn’t think he could go a whole 6 months without putting something out there, did you? Unlike his previous work with Tortoise and Matt Sweeney, Silent City features Mr. Billy with conceptual artist/field recorder Brian Harnetty. Well, frankly, it’s mostly Harnetty’s work with Mr. Prince Billy’s collab, tho 3 songs feature Oldham centerstage on the mic. Here’s what Harnetty says about the project:
made with the collaborative help of bonnie ‘prince’ billy, ’silent city’ is a mix of songs, instrumentals, and field recordings that are loosely centered around a small, rural town.late at night, just before closing; sleepy, between awake and dreaming; old jukebox, conversation, laughter––and then, transformation.
as with ‘american winter’, samples were used from the berea college appalachian sound archives, and with their generous support and encouragement.
Harnetty even has a couple beautiful and haunting videos featuring the Oldham sung tracks and filmed in southern Ohio.
Buy it here.
Tags: bonnie "prince" billy, Brian Harnetty, field recordings, Silent City, Videos