Pitchfork

2005 was a banner year for Mr. Bonnie Prince Will Palace Billy Oldham, with both the fantastic Superwolf collaboration with Matt Sweeney as well as a live album, Summer in the Southeast, hitting stores. And nobody can break-a his stride, because 2006 is shaping up to be just as prolific for the great bearded one.

On January 24, Oldham's much anticipated collaboration with Tortoise, the covers collection The Brave and the Bold, will finally be released on Overcoat Recordings (It comes out a day earlier on Domino in the UK). We haven't printed that tracklist in a little while, so here it is again:

01 Cravo e Canela (Milton Nascimento)
02 Thunder Road (Bruce Springsteen)
03 It's Expected I'm Gone (The Minutemen)
04 Daniel (Elton John)
05 Love Is Love (Lungfish)
06 Pancho (Dan Williams)
07 That's Pep (Devo)
08 Some Say (I Got Devil) (Melanie)
09 Cavalry Cross (Richard Thompson)
10 On My Own (Quix*o*tic)

Following that release, Oldham and company, or "multiples musicians" according to the folks at Drag City, will visit New Zealand and Australia to play some shows. Makes sense, since it's summer there, and "superwolf" is Australian for beer...

The bonnie crew will take a few months off after this sojourn before paying a visit to the land of kilts, whiskey, and indecipherable accents for a short April tour. That would be Scotland...sorry, no American shows seem to be written in the stars at the moment. The dates:

01-27 Raglan, New Zealand - AquaVelvet Café
01-28 Leigh, New Zealand - Sawmill Café
01-29 Leigh, New Zealand - Sawmill Café
02-02 Wellington, New Zealand - Indigo Bar
02-03 Nelson, New Zealand - Mean Fiddler
02-06 Golden Bay, New Zealand - Mussel Inn
02-09 Oamaru, New Zealand - Penguin Club
02-10 Dunedin, New Zealand - Sammy's
02-11 Christchurch, New Zealand - Creation
02-16 Melbourne, Australia - Forum
02-17 Melbourne, Australia - Forum
02-18 Sydney, Australia - Newtown
02-19 Sydney, Australia - Newtown
04-10 Aberdeen, Scotland - Lemon Tree
04-11 Glasgow, Scotland - ABC
04-12 Edinburgh, Scotland - Queens Hall
04-13 Gateshead, England - Sage
04-16 Perth, Scotland - Perth Theatre

And that's not all. On January 31, Tract Records will reissue the 2004 Oldham tribute album I Am a Cold Rock. I am Dull Grass., featuring a bevy of bands nobody's heard of and a smattering of better known acts, including Calexico, Iron and Wine, and Scout Niblett. Originally a double-disc affair, the collection has been paired down to a single for the reissue.

However, the new version features six additional artists that didn't appear on the original release: Jolie Holland, Elephant Micah, Court and Spark, Viking Moses, Unbunny, and tribute king Mark Kozelek. According to the label, Sufjan Stevens was originally slated to contribute a cover, but he got wrapped up in a little record called Illinois and had to withdraw his offer.

The first 400 people to order the album directly from the label will receive a bonus disc filled with Tract artists and their associates covering each other's songs. Feel the love!

Tracklistings:

I Am a Cold Rock. I am Dull Grass.:

01 Mark Kozelek: "New Partner"
02 Moyra Mcbride and Maxon Blewitt: "Disorder"
03 The Strugglers: "Riding"
04 Boy Omega: "A Sucker's Evening"
05 Jolie Holland: "Drunk at the Pulpit"
06 The Impossible Shapes: "Rider"
07 Calexico: "I Send My Love to You"
08 Pinetop Seven: "Minor Place"
09 Elephant Micah: "Ohio River Boat Song"
10 Sodastream: "Southside of the World"
11 Pink Nasty: "May It Always Be"
12 The Court and Spark: "The Sun Highlights the Lack in Each"
13 Iron and Wine: "We All, Us Three, Will Ride"
14 Racingpaperplanes: "Careless Love"
15 Viking Moses: "When Thy Song Flows Through Me"
16 Rivulets: "You Will Miss Me When I Burn"
17 Unbunny: "For the Mekons, Et Al"
18 Scout Niblett: "Trudy Dies"

Engano Bonus Disc:

01 Everything Is Fine: "Trenchcoat Blues" (Pink Nasty)
02 The Strugglers: "Pendleton" (The Virginia Reel)
03 Racingpaperplanes: "By Car" (Jeffrey Fields)
04 Boy Omega: "Rejection Letter" (The Strugglers)
05 Derek Joe Brockett: "Long, Long Time" (Theath)
06 Tiger Saw: "Mt. Erebus" (Everything Is Fine)
07 Theath: "Lover's Lane" (Derek Joe Brockett)
08 Viking Moses: "Best Suit" (Tiger Saw)
09 Pink Nasty: "Sandstorms" (Viking Moses)
10 Jeffrey Fields: "Melt to One" (Racingpaperplanes)

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