Delving ever deeper into his personal crusade to reclaim the lost art of The Cover from terrible bar bands and teenage garage groups at open-mic nights worldwide, Mr. Oldham is once again donning his Bonnie "Prince" Billy moniker for another release consisting (almost) entirely of covers, which will again feature on its sleeve a portrait of Louisville's folk hero #1 and his magnificent beard. Following 2006's collection of excellent original tunes, The Letting Go and hot on the heels of Oldham's inclusion in Kelly's Trapped In The Closet series (not to mention Superwolf's brilliant cover of "Ignition"), the Ask Forgiveness EP is to be released November 19 on Domino and November 20 on Drag City, two labels already very well acquainted with Oldham's music, alternate personalities, and facial hair.

The EP hearkens back to 2005's even more excellent collaboration with Tortoise, The Brave And The Bold, an album that wore its music-nerd credentials on its teeth like a platinum grill (featuring hip covers of The Minutemen, Elton John, Devo, Lungfish, etc.). But in what appears to be a conscious effort to abandon such semi-obscure material -- though he still manages to keep it real for us geeks with some forgotten songwriters from the first half of the 20th century, such as Mickey Newbury and Phil Ochs -- The "Prince" of Palace Music has apparently shed his post-rock roots on Ask Forgiveness and fully embraced popular music, be it rock (Danzig!!!!), vocal pop (R. Kelly, Frank Sinatra), or Björk (Björk). Maybe all this is sparked by his Mariah Carey cover for the Guilt By Association compilation?) Anyway, of the eight tracks, one is an Oldham original, "I'm Loving the Street."

Keeping it gangsta, Kentucky style:

Oh, and R. Kelly is totally awesome, no matter what Filmore says.