Various Artists - I Am a Cold Rock. I Am Dull Grass. A Tribute to the Music of Will Oldham
(Tract)
Joy Division, The Minutemen, The Shaggs, Wesley Willis, Captain Beefheart... Just a few of the many great musicians who have been subjected to that nightmare of a compilation idea: the tribute album. By itself a cover can be a humble and fitting tribute to one of your favorite musicians but when multiple artists are collected onto one disc (or in this case, 2-discs) for the same purpose it almost always becomes a study in tedium having to endure track after track of second-rate likenesses of the originals we all know and love. One could argue that the tribute album is an appropriate way to remember a great musician who has passed away like Ian Curtis or D. Boon, or even a defunct band that you want to remember fondly because they've broken up and were hugely influential. But Will Oldham? Why? He's more active now than ever before, continually releasing records and touring at an alarming rate making him one of the most prolific musicians around. I can go out and see Will Oldham live and I can rest assured that another album is almost definitely no more than a year away. Why on earth do I need a compilation with a whopping 31 tracks of various musicians covering him? Perhaps I could forgive something like this if the compilation attempted to bring something new or show his music in a different context but an overwhelming majority of the tracks on this compilation are completely unimaginative. Having listened to this thing I can only ask myself one question: Whose idea was this and why did nobody stop them? While it's a great way to get your burgeoning indie label some attention (of which I realize I am providing at this moment) I'd sooner live my life in obscurity than subject an innocent musician to the worst kind of flattery.
The sheer volume of music here makes it almost impossible to notice standout tracks since so few artists decided to stray from the original style of the songs. That said, Iron & Wine's version of "We All, Us Three, Will Ride" and Scout Niblett's "Trudy Dies" are two of only a very few special moments on this compilation where I forget that I'm witnessing cheap imitations of Oldham songs but instead hearing musicians who are able to bring their own unique style to almost anything they do. Sadly, for every Scout Niblett there are five Pale Horse and Riders or The Strugglers to remind me that, above all, this compilation serves as a reminder not of Will Oldham's greatness but rather of how many forgettable songwriters he has influenced. Ultimately, I am a Cold Rock. I am Dull Grass is made even more expendable by the release of Greatest Palace Music just a few short weeks ago. Not only is Will Oldham still actively writing songs but also has done exactly what this compilation does. Needless to say, Oldham's new versions are far more vital than anything on this two-disc collection. Whether you like Greatest Palace Music or not, I am a Cold Rock is utterly useless.
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