BONNIE 'PRINCE' BILLY "I See A Darkness" 1999 PALACE

	£		23
	$		30

  BONNIE 'PRINCE' BILLY "I See A Darkness" 1999 PALACE ORIGINAL 1st PRESSING w/LYRIC INSERT - TOP COPY
BONNIE 'PRINCE' BILLY
I See A Darkness

ORIGINAL PALACE RECORDS PRESSING (PR 22) (January 1999) OF WILLIAM OLDHAM'S GREATEST PIECE OF WORK, THE SUBLIME MASTERPIECE, "I See A Darkness" IN SUPERB CONDITION (looks and sounds like it has hardly ever been on a turntable) AND WHEN PLAYED AT A LOUD VOLUME (which is the way I always listen to my LPs prior to listing) THE AUDIO DELIVERY IS SENSATIONAL - THE FINEST YOU ARE LIKELY TO FIND FOR THIS GENERALLY POORLY PRESSED LP - AND IT'S HOUSED IN THE ORIGINAL GLOSSY SLEEVE (which still has it's shrink-wrap) AND COMES COMPLETE WITH THE ORIGINAL LYRIC INSERT - FANTASTIC COPY IN EXCEPTIONAL CONDITION

I See a Darkness is Will Oldham's sixth album, and the first on which he used his Bonnie 'Prince' Billy moniker.
It has been called Oldham's "masterpiece" and is his most acclaimed.
The album also features Bob Arellano, Colin Gagon, Paul Oldham, and Peter Townsend.
Johnny Cash would later record the title track on his album American III: Solitary Man (2000) and Oldham provided background vocals for this version.

PRESSED ON QUALITY HEAVYWEIGHT VINYL WITH THE PALACE CUSTOM PICTURE LABELS
MATRIX: PR 22 A, 2698.1 (3) / PR 22 B, 2698.2 (3) (all etched and with what look like 'SAE MASTERING' stamped - very faint and hard to read)
THE LP IS HOUSED IN THE ORIGINAL SINGLE GLOSSY SLEEVE
AND COMES COMPLETE WITH THE ORIGINAL LYRIC/INFO INSERT PRINTED ON BOTH SIDES OF GLOSSY PAPER

PITCHFORK REVIEW by Samir Khan (RATING: 10/10)
Music is a wounded, corrupted, vile, half- breed mutt that begs for attention as it scratches at your door. You let it in and give in a warm place to reside. It licks its paws and whimpers for store- bought snacks. You tolerate the fact that it shits all over your lovely Persian rugs because it seems so cute and vulnerable. It becomes your centre for a while. Time passes, and it learns no new tricks. You begin to grow apart. It shuffles about in the background while you microwave your popcorn, and while you're vaguely aware of it, it seems less important to you.
I'm firmly convinced that Bonnie "Prince" Billy's new record, I See a Darkness is not music. It doesn't register in the familiar ways of a pop record (although conceptually speaking, it is one). You can't dance to it, and... it makes you feel small. A friend of mine said this: "I was listening to it the other day and someone called. I had to turn my stereo off. I couldn't just have it on in the background. It felt wrong."
Bonnie "Prince" Billy is the current moniker of Will Oldham, also known as Will Oldham, Palace, Palace Songs, Palace Music, and Palace Brothers. Throughout his musical life, Oldham has been churning out tomes of dark, literary dirges with help from a veritable who's- who of Important Rock and Rollers (members of Slint, the High Llammas, and Gastr Del Sol). If, previous to I See a Darkness, Oldham had simply quit, he would have carved out his share of the American Gothic with his tales of death, religious reckoning, incest, and wayward horses in the cold stone of history. Even his substandard records have always had their glory moments.
But here he is again, with a new name, and perhaps his consummate offering. The familiar touches are all here-- dense, ominous words and subtle flourishes of guitar, drums, bass, organs, and piano. And best of all, Oldham is perhaps the greatest of human singers, in that he sounds like a real person. There's no studio gimmickry to hide the quiver in his mostly bang-on tone.
I See a Darkness is warmer than the title would have you think, and darker than the warmth of the stellar musical backdrop-- the songs feel both familiar and eerily strange. Virtually every note feels like a universe. It's the type of record that demands solitary reverence. No, this isn't music. It can't be. It's something else...

Track Listing:
Side 1: Minor Place / Nomadic Revelry (All Around) / I See A Darkness / Another Day Full Of Dread / Death To Everyone
Side 2: Knockturne / Madeline Mary / Song For The New Breed / Today I Was The Evil One / Black / Raining In Darling

LABELS: The labels are clean, bright and unmarked with just possibly one light spindle trace - this copy has clearly seen very little play
VINYL Visual: The vinyl still retains its original deep, glossy sheen but in common with small number 'indie' pressings, especially North American ones, the surfaces have pressing blemishes, but these have absolutely no audio consequence - the records sounds superb
VINYL Audio: Outstanding audio - crystal clear, deep, rich and beautifully warm sound on this LP. This was never the greatest of pressings and most copies (including my own) play with excessive surface noise. This one however, is the finest I have heard (hence its the first time I have offered one for sale) and on playback at a loud volume (which is how I always listen to my records prior to listings and it's always an immense pleasure to return to this one) there are no scratches, no skips or jumps, no loud clicks or pops and with the only surface noise being a light 'whooshing' sound heard for about the first 10 seconds at the beginning of each side otherwise, the playback is practically flawless (certainly much better than my own copy which plays with loads of crackle and has done since new but I bought it in New York, so I couldn't return it) and the whole LP plays to just about the highest standard you are likely to find for this press. Critically graded NEAR MINT for audio this is a fabulous copy of this stunning LP and very, very highly recommended indeed
SLEEVE: The sleeve is still in its original shrink-wrap (opened) and is in MINT condition
INSERT: The original lyric insert printed on both sides of thin glossy paper is in practically untouched, NEAR MINT condition (very nice to find a copy with its insert as there aren't many of them around (my own copy never came with one)

PLEASE HAVE A LOOK AT MY PICTURES - I USUALLY TAKE QUITE A FEW SO YOU CAN GET A CLEAR INDICATION OF EVERY DETAIL OF THE ITEM
I HAVE UPLOADED AS MANY AS I CAN BUT I WOULD BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO SUPPLY ANY ADDITIONAL PHOTOS ON REQUEST
BEAUTIFUL COPY OF WILLIAM OLDHAM'S UNQUALIFIED MASTERPIECE - AN ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL ALBUM AND IN EXCEPTIONAL CONDITION - VERY, VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED INDEED
AS WITH ALL MY RECORDS THIS HAS A LOW START PRICE AND NO RESERVE
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THANKS FOR LOOKING, CHEERS

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