I was thinking that I should stop at 25 as far as top songs go, otherwise I would have three or four songs from each of my favorite albums of the year, and that would kind of get pointless. But then I realized when compiling the list that all of that happened within the top 25 anyway, so I expanded to 40, and here we go. Unlike last year, for those who remember, I will give a short explanation for each track. I won’t compare, because that would be ridiculous, but I hope that my synopses are appropriately glowing for each place in the list. In it are The Walkmen, Born Ruffians, TV On The Radio, Beach House, Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes, the Dodos and much more, but this post is huge – you’ll have to hit the jump for it all. Plus, you wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise immediately, would you?
Posts Tagged Bonnie “Prince” Billy
Blindingly fast Bonnie “Prince” Billy review
Okay, I’m racing against my own closing eyes, so here goes. Bonnie “Prince” Billy’s Lie Down In The Light.
- This is the only album I’ve heard of Billy’s other than his classic I See A Darkness, which was around a decade ago. It is said that Lie Down In The Light is the counterpart to that, what with the former being about darkness and despair, and the latter being all about the affirmation of life and such. This one isn’t quite up to snuff, but it’s still very good in its own right.
- Will Oldham, AKA Bonnie “Prince” Billy, has a voice that has so many quirks that I often wonder if he could possibly sing the way he does intentionally. It just seems like he misses a lot of notes in really charming ways.
- As much as I See A Darkness was a record that skewed the expectations of conventional folk music – when the lyrics were supposed to be heartbreaking, the backing music was warm and welcoming, and in a song called “Death to Everyone”, he sang, “Stars turn, balls burn/Coming kids are raging”, which sounds a lot like it’s about ejaculation, Lie Down In The Light is just plain straightforward folk. There are fiddles, songs of love and companionship, and songs about faith. Sounds about right.
- I was about to say “this is musically unassuming and uncomplicated, but charming,” but then I remembered that I was really impressed by how subtly great the arrangements here are, only after a few listens. If you listen to this album, really roll up your sleeves and listen to it multiple times, because you owe it to this record.
There, that’s it. Sorry about the two hasty reviews in a row, I’ll try to be better tomorrow, but if this blog has taught me anything, it’s not to make promises about future content. Later alligators.
I Ate My DVD Collection 