Not real familiar with his work, but our local public FM station was playing some songs from it and I liked what I heard. I'll definitely give it a shot.

i've had trouble listening to anything but this guy lately

i'm totes coming to your house tonight to listen to him

do you know what he looks like?

also, lenny, you should check this out

do you find his appearance comical or something?

i think i've heard a song or two from them but i don't remember anything about them...i'll check them out

haha, i love this dude.

I saw him live recently. I don't know, maybe it wasn't the right venue and because I had to work that night, I got there mid-set, but I wasn't blown away. I adore his latest record though

just got these albums:

All Most Heaven
Arise Therefore
Blue Lotus Feet
The Letting Go
Ask Forgiveness
Days in the Wake
Ease Down the Road
I See a Darkness
Joya
Lost Blues and Other Songs
Master and Everyone
Pebbles and Ripples
Seafarer's Music
Singles Collection
Superwolf
The Brave and the Bold
The Continental Op
There is No-One What Will Take Care of You
Viva Last Blues
Black Rich Music
Ode Music
Western Music

Now someone help me navigate through this the best way so that I can get into this guy and not get too lost. I remember giving I See a Darkness a listen or two a few years back and it seemed boring, granted I probably didn't give it the proper listening it needed but I guess what I'm saying is don't have me start there if possible.

You should listen to: Ask Forgiveness, Superwolf, and Days in the Wake, those are my favorites from the ones you got. You should also get the newest one, Beware, plus Bonnie Prince Billy Sings Greatest Palace Music.

Yeah well, just be sure to listen to Viva Last Blues, Arise, Joya, I See a Darnkess, and The Letting Go. Those are all in chronological order too.



Honestly, I haven't been thrilled with his output since The Letting Go. I mean the Lie Down in the Light was good, but it never really resonated with me like The Letting Go had. And even the last LP Beware, I found to be pretty forgettable. Even though the accompanying EP Chijimi is pretty damn good. Personally, I think think The Letting Go his finest album. And if you like that one, there is a disc of demos floating around called Wai Notes that makes a great companion piece.

However, he did redeem himself in my eyes with his most recent appearance. Cheyenne Mize and Oldham just put out a 10'' record of their interpretations of olde time Kentucky songs entitled Among the Gold. (http://www.karatebodyrecords.com/among-the-gold/) And its definitely on my short list of best releases of 2009.

What format are all those in bluenote, mp3s I take it?

yeah from a torrent with all that stuff. when i get into an artist with a large discography for some reason i can't just focus on 2-3 albums at the beginning, i have to dive in and sort it all out over the next couple of weeks/months. but that has been with jazz and improv artists so i figured with someone focused on vocals and a general minimalist style it would help to get some direction or else i might get too frustrated and give up within the first couple days. anyway from looking at some other sites as well as these recommendations i'm gonna start with Viva Last Blues, Days in the Wake, Master and Everyone, Joya and Superwolf and go from there. Sunrise really rekindled my desire to get into this guy and i have a feeling it will payoff sooner or later.

If those were vinyl, you'd be my favorite poster here. It sounds like you've got a good plan, enjoy bud.

It's definitely music you need to pay attention to. Enjoy man.

alright so a month later and i've really gotten into a lot of this stuff, so much so that i think he cracks into my second circle of favorite artists. here are my impresssions so far:

I See a Darkness - Every bit as good as its reputation, I can't even say anything more. 5 stars.
Master and Everyone - Less unique but pretty much just as good. I can't get enough of these songs. 5 stars.
The Letting Go - Just barely a step down from the other two for me, love the female vocals and overall atmosphere. 4.5 stars.
Ease Down the Road - This one's kinda funny as I don't think there's a single song that really ever goes beyond just being pretty good, but I find myself enjoying it a lot as a whole anyway. 4 stars.
Lie Down in the Light - To say I was surprised as the first song was playing is an understatment. The second half drops in quality a little bit but not enough to really affect the album dramatically. 4 stars.
Summer in the Southeast - Cool upbeat alternate performances, though the studios of all are still the best versions. 4 stars.
Lost Blues - My favorite of the Palace stuff, the singing is less annoying and actually pretty affecting during a lot of these songs, almost too much so with west palm beach and gulf shores back to back. 4 stars.
Days in the Wake - Half the time this succeeds in being exactly what it wants to be, he just doesn't have quite enough great songs to pull it off completely. 3.5 stars.
Viva Last Blues - Initial impression of this album was a lot stronger but it kind of tailed off a bit after repeated listenings. More Brother Rides is one of those songs I can listen to 20 times in a row. 3.5 stars.
Beware - Oldham goes 70s country, and its just as bland. Hope this is something he just had to get out of his system. Cool to see Michael Zerang on percussion though, interested in how that came about. 3 stars.
Superwolf - First song and last two are very good, and show what potential this had to be a standout album in his discography. Unfortunately the rest of the songs I found completely forgettable, I can't even remember how most of them go many listens later and the ones I do are because they seemed so annoying. 2 stars.

I bought Beware because they were playing Afraid Ain't Me at the record store I was at and I fucking loved it. Probably my favorite song of the year.

thanks for the reviews...i am also just getting into BPB and was blown away by Darkness...you've given me some good places to go next

between this guy and finally getting into nick drake ive got some good places to go over the next couple months