Will Oldham...

There were so many musical discoveries and rediscoveries in 2005... What to say? Off the top of my head, I would encourage anyone who hasn't spent any time with Will Oldham, aka Bonnie "Prince" Billy, aka Palace Music, aka Palace Songs, aka Palace Bros., to do so. I listened to Palace Bros. back in the day, and they/he didn't stick. But time ages some of us in interesting ways, and this year's Bonnie "Prince" Billy offering, "Superwolf," (a collaboration with the excellent guitarist Matt Sweeney) will make the hairs get up off the back of your neck and drown themselves in the nearest swim hole. Spare, cutting, fatalistic songs that seem authentic and charicatural at the same time - a worn guitar, a poisoned heart, and a peeling porch. That's all you need. That, and a beard like a Civil War general.