Keeping track of the movements of Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy is something that not even the NSA with unlimited access to the world’s metadata could achieve. Suffice it to say that, as we could only hope and expect, Will Oldham has a shit-ton (which is actually a defined unit of measurement that only applies to Oldham’s output) of music being released in 2015.
One such release is a collaborative album under the moniker Bonnie Stillwatter that is due on April 28, in which the Bonnie Prince has laid down some “dark cinematic folk-rock” with the assistance of the band Watter and the microbrewery Stillwater Artisanal. Hence the name you see?
Watter, featuring members of Grails and Slint, released a mighty post-rock record via Temporary Residence last year and the label will also take the reigns to ensure the musical output of this collaboration makes it to your ears. It’s a long-form exploration called “The Devil Is People” and features slow-moving slabs of rock with Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy’s signature lyrical musings. The B-side sees “The Devil Is People” being reworked by one-time Tortoise member Bundy K. Brown.
As for the alcoholic element of this collaboration, the details are currently scarce, but in the meantime I’m going to listen to the record drinking non-Stillwater Artisanal beverages just to get myself in the mood.
You can pre-order the vinyl here and listen to the (first) title track now:
Bonnie Stillwatter tracklist;
01. The Devil Is People
02. The Devil Is People (The Cheech Wizard’s Hemiolic Chantey at the Edge of The Anthropocene Epoch)
• Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy: http://royalstablemusic.com
• Watter: http://temporaryresidence.com/artists/watter
• Stillwater Artisanal: http://www.stillwater-artisanal.com
• Temporary Residence: http://temporaryresidence.com
More about: Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Watter, Will Oldham
