Will Oldham Tribute: Calexico, Iron and Wine, Jolie Holland and more

NEW YORK (Tract Records) - Curmudgeon, pervert, genius, and difficult are all words that have been used to describe Will Oldham in the past, but when it comes to his songwriting, only one word does it justice: brilliant. Having gained fans and friends in the upper echelon of rock, his songs have been covered by Johnny Cash, Marianne Faithfull, and scores of big-league indie bands like Sebadoh, Zwan, and The Frames. It is more or less universally agreed upon that Will Oldham is one of our finest living songwriters.

The seeds that grew into this collection were originally sown in the less formal tributes started by Leo Meijer, owner and operator of the Netherlands' Royal Stable Oldham fansite. CDR, not-for-sale tributes have been popping up randomly for a few years through the website, but Leo challenged Tract to try and put together a more formal compilation that included some of the bigger groups that are known to be fans of Mr. Oldham's songs.

This homage, originally released in August 2004 as a 30 track, double CD set of just 500 copies, sold out almost immediately. Finally, with a few surprise additions, the revamped, remastered, and resequenced version will soon be available.

With all of the well-known names on this collection (Iron and Wine, Calexico, etc.), it's interesting to note those that wanted to be a part of this project but could not make it happen in time. Black Heart Procession, Sparklehorse, Lampchop, Sufjan Stevens, and Clem Snide all had reserved spots on this disc at one point in the various stages of its development. But given the final product, why dwell on what could have been? Track listing follows:

01. Mark Kozelek 'New Partner' 02. Moyra Mc Bride and Maxon Blewitt "Disorder' 03. The Strugglers 'Riding' 04. Boy Omega 'A Sucker's Evening' 05. Jolie Holland 'I Was Drunk At the Pulpit' 06. The Impossible Shapes "Rider" 07. Calexico 'I Send My Love to You' 08. Pinetop Seven 'A Minor Place' 09. Elephant Micah 'Ohio River Boat Song' 10. Sodastream 'Southside of The World' 11. Pink Nasty "May It Always Be' 12. The Court And Spark 'The Sun Highlights the Lack In Each' 13. Iron And Wine "We All, Us Three, Will Ride" 14. Racingpaperplanes 'Careless Love' 15. Viking Moses 'When Thy Song Flows Through Me' 16. Rivulets "You Will Miss Me When I Burn' 17. Unbunny 'For The Mekons, Et Al' 18. Scout Niblett 'Trudy Dies'