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Tortoise & Bonnie 'Prince' Billy

The Brave and the Bold

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by WillGilbert on 02/18/2006

As far as covers records go, this one's pretty good. A whole album of covers is never as meaty as an original work of art by an artist. But so what. They can be fun to listen to, and, I have to imagine, fun for the performers to make. This one draws from the far corners of Will Oldham's, John McEntire's and Tortoise's record collection. There are some interesting choices of songs to cover here, and some truly odd, yet cool, takes on a couple famous old songs, that actually make the songs barely recognizable. The album is produced by McEntire, who's battling Jim O'Rourke for the position of heir to the forward-thinking producer throne once occupied by Eno. The first song is an absolute winner. Years ago, when I got into Os Mutantes, I found myself walking around singing sounds and syllables of a language I don't know. Cravo E Canela seems to be having that same effect on me. I've listened to it the first thing in the morning for the past 4 or 5 days, and it's lodging in my brain. I can't even say what the instrumentation is. Much of it is truly indistinguishable, which I mean as a big compliment to Mr. McEntire. I'd never heard this song before. Banda Black Rio is the original artist. I gotta check them out... Next is their take on Thunder Road. It's a drastic reworking, as they take the song you've heard a zillion times, put it in a minor key, add a whalloping riff, and a bunch of sythesizers, and entirely re-interpret it. It's odd and interesting, and this new version manages to keep the epic feel of the original. After several listens I've decided I really like it. Next up are a couple of nice Minutemen and Lungfish tunes. They're fine, but not highlights, for me. Oh, and in between the above two songs comes their take on Elton John and Bernie Taupin's Daniel, which is pretty amazing. They leave the melody more intact than they did with Thunder Road. But still, treated guitars and drums abound, and it's got a weird, sort of experimental and modern rock drum beat which, though it took some getting used to for me (not typically my thing, admittedly), sends this version into another musical universe altogether from the original. One of my favorites on the album is their take on Pancho, a buddy-song penned by David Hanner, and which appeared originally on a late 90s album by Don Williams. I'm personally a huge sucker for ol' Don, and I'd be surprised to see this song's inclusion here, if the song choices weren't so eclectic already. This song features a great vocal by Oldham. My only complaint is that whoever played the beautifully recorded wurlitzer really doesn't do the song justice. It's so sparse that a piano player with a little more, I hate to say it, chops, was called for here. But that's a small complaint. Incidentally, this song could have, and probably should have, gone over the closing credits to Tommy Lee Jones' excellent new film, The Three Burials of Mequilades Estrada. (My two cents.) Devo's That's Pep! is next. No complaint there. Another highlight, their take on Melanie's Some Say (I Got Devil), follows. This is a song Will Oldham was born to sing. I love it. He doesn't bother to change the gender, which is kind of cool. And then Richard Thompson's Calvary Cross is next. It's misspelled as "Cavalry Cross" on the back of the album (quite a different meaning, there), and I have to wonder whether it's intended as a vague pun or just a mistake. My guess is the latter. Anyway, it's cool too. The beautiful intro to the final track is the best thing Yo La Tengo never did. It's a Quix*o*tic song, On My Own. It features dramatic percussion, cymbals and something that makes me imagine a kettle drum, though I realy don't think there's one on there. But I really don't know... Again, kudos to Mr. McEntire. I don't know the original, but this is a great song in Tortoise's hands, with its sparse banjo, tremelo guitar, the already-mentioned percussion, and Oldham's emotionally heavy vocal delivery. So, yeah. This is a cool album. From a record production stanpoint, it's head and shoulders above the majority of what's out there. I'm glad I got it.

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Album Details

Year: 2006
Label: Overcoat Recordings
Producer: John McEntire
Musicians: Dan Bitney, John Herndon, Douglas McCombs, John McEntire, Will Oldham, Jeff Parker, Jeb Bishop, Aram Shelton, Sally Timms, Corey Wilkes