Lost Blues & Other Songs

lody Maker - "...And so, quietly and spectrally, like a daguerreotype of the unseen or hymns in language ancient and merciless, these songs startle and dazzle like the coming of electricity....It's the sound of the body weary as dust, but of the soul gazing on treasures untold." Rolling Stone - 3 Stars (out of 5) - "...superior examples of subtle hearbreak....proves that whatever else Oldham may be, he still isn't predictable..." Q - 4 Stars (out of 5) - "...Drawing on [Will] Oldham's already considerable oeuvre- LOST BLUES...runs the gamut of the man's visceral obsessions....with a novelist's eye for detail and the Louvin Brothers' ear for a melancholic refrain..." Option - "...there's no denying that the cumulative weight of these little projects form the most diverse and interesting--and solid--Palace record yet." Entertainment Weekly - "...On these early singles, outtakes, and oddities, the music consistently underlines Oldham's connection to the American-gothic traditions he invokes." - Rating: B+

spite the overall excellence of albums like There Is No-One What Will Take Care of You and Viva Last Blues, Will Oldham tended to save his best Palace offerings for the group's singles; Lost Blues & Other Songs is a career-capping collection of those 7" releases which serves as a superb overview of the Palace project's mercurial history. Although a few stray tracks (like the German-only "Gezundheit," a cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Every Mother's Son," and the live Lounge Ax single) are MIA, the set includes all of the truly crucial Palace singles from the first (1993's "Ohio River Boat Song") to the last (1997's "Little Blue Eyes"), along with unreleased material like "Valentine's Day," "Lost Blues," and a more ragged rendition of the debut album's classic, "Riding." The highlights are many, but the true standouts are the anthemic cover of the Mekons' "Horses" and both sides of the "West Palm Beach"/"Gulf Shores" single, a luminously pastoral effort reminiscent of Red House Painters. A stunning recapitulation of a truly unique musical vision, Lost Blues & Other Songs is an essential record from an essential band. ~ Jason Ankeny|