« Back to Top Level | Will Oldham

Will Oldham - Guarapero: Lost Blues 2 (2000)

Track listing:
  1. Drinking Woman 2:29
  2. The Spider's Dude Is Often There 4:17
  3. Gezundheit 2:48
  4. Let The Wires Ring 5:20
  5. Big Balls 3:15
  6. For The Mekons Et Al 5:36
  7. Stable Will 4:27
  8. Every Mother's Son 6:05
  9. No More Rides 5:06
  10. The Risen Lord 5:20
  11. Boy, Have You Cum 2:52
  12. Patience 3:10
  13. Take However Long You Want 3:55
  14. Sugarcane Juice Drinker 3:33
  15. Call Me A Liar 4:20
  16. O Lord Are You In Need 3:03

Notes

Guarapero/Lost Blues 2 gathers seven years' worth of rarities from Will Oldham, including an unusual reading of D.H. Lawrence's poem The Risen Lord, with a clunky, cheesy drum machine in the background, as well as a radical reworking of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Every Mother's Son." Several of these songs come from BBC sessions, but the sound quality on tracks like "Gezundheit" and "Let the Wires Ring" suggests they were recorded on wax cylinder and transmitted by a crystal set, which, of course, only amplifies the songs' sparse, timeless feel. "The Spider's Dude Is Often There" and "For the Mekons Et Al" are among the most exuberant Palace songs on Guarapero, while Oldham tracks like "No More Rides" and "Sugarcane Juice Drinker" trace his development as a performer and songwriter. Due to the time span it covers, it's natural that Guarapero/Lost Blues 2 is a bit disjointed; nevertheless, it fills in the gaps for Oldham completists and is an entertaining, if scattered, look at some of his musical sketches over the years.