Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Pond Scum [CD]
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Barcode: 781484064626
There are no Peel sessions
anymore - that tradition was buried in the pyramids with John Peel himself upon
the great man's passing. Of the thousands left in the wake, six are ascribed to Bonnie 'Prince'
Billy - and of those six, three have been combined to form the deeply congruous
experience of Pond Scum. A span of eight years is covered, in reverse, and many
chestnuts are rolled out, freed of former contexts with sparse arrangements.
"(I Was Drunk at the) Pulpit" feels, ten years from inception, more
vividly worn; "Death to Everyone" is loosed from its frame, the bones
decoupled and spread out, giving the song a reflective air (as opposed the
biting declamation of the original); "Arise, Therefore" adapts its
metronomic base, the evangelic twist of its roots made palpable. With the
center of the performance in stark relief, the gnomic qualities of two
"Get On Jolly" pieces are intensified. Further accenting the devoted
spirit of this collection is the inclusion of Bonnie's
take on Prince's
"The Cross", as well as the previously-unreleased original
"Beezle." Bonnie's lone
shadow casts over this lot, accompanied on the first four tracks by David
Heumann, but otherwise playing solo through a set of original songs (and two
covers) representing a decade of progress in the almost unbearably
intimate-yet-unknowable manner that was so often the vibe of those strange and
wondrous days. Layers
peel to reveal the subtle artistry and refinement contained within these sessions,
so begin to dig deep into the vault on January 22nd, 2016! But wait, there's more! Listen below to a new
arrangement of "Rich Wife Full of Happiness" (which is similar in
tone, but not found on Pond Scum!) and get your tickets to see the Prince on his Midwest tour and at Big Ears
in April!
- Genre: Rock
- Format Detail: CD
- Handling Note: **Please allow an additional 72 hours for this item's shipment.**
- Internal ID: JITRE
- Released: 2/5/16
- Format Detail: CD
- Released: 2/5/16
- Format: CD
- Format: CD
- Genre: Rock