Pitchfork

[Posted Thursday, October 23rd, 2003 04:00:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

Early 2004 is shaping up into a shitstorm of Oldham revisionism. In early September, Pitchfork reported that the Palace impresario (see also Palace, Palace Music, Palace Songs, Palace Brothers, Palace "Bonnie Prince Palace" Billy and Caesar's Palace) is in the process of re-recording extant songs for a Greatest Hits record to be released by Drag City early next year. The songs were chosen according to fan votes on the Palace Records website, and will be re-contextualized with the help of a bevy of Nashville session players. New Pitchfork staffer Encyclopedia Brown is hot on the trail of an official tracklist and release date, but so far has only turned up the missing rosin bag from the local baseball diamond and Becky's beeper number. We'll keep you posted.

In the meantime, Richmond, IN indie Tract Records has announced that they are soliciting submissions for a tribute to Oldham, also slated for release early next year. The tribute is to be titled I Am A Cold Rock. I Am Dull Grass. A Tribute to the Music of Will Oldham. While some of your favorites have already been claimed, don't be dissuaded: Tract maintains that it's very early in the selection process and the final selections will not be made until the December 31st deadline has passed. In other words, if your cover of "Riding" is better than what The Strugglers have come up with, Tract won't hesitate to kick them to the curb just because they were first. Should add a nice, competitive edge to the proceedings.

You're also welcome to submit more than one song: The only song Tract has actually received thus far is Aurora Town Council's version of "You Have Cum in Your Hair...," but others have staked out their territory: The Strugglers with "Riding," Rivulets with "You Will Miss Me When I Burn," Broken Family Band with "I Send My Love to You," The Channel with "Black," and Black Heart Procession (who seem perfect for the job; I wouldn't mind hearing an album of nothing but BHP covering Oldham) with a yet-to-be-specified contribution. If Jeff Mangum is reading this in his underground bunker, I beseech him to get in on the action and bestow joy upon us all.