Search - Palace :: Days in the Wake

Darkly fascinating

Rob Damm | 05/16/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This album is an enigma... I don't know why I like it so much, or why I've recomended it to every fan of quality music I know. To reduce this album to its basic parts doesn't leave one with much: Will Oldham can't play guitar very well, his voice fails him in many instances, the writing is not terribly complex... basically lots of repetition musically and lyrically, and for the most part, these sound like first takes recorded on a walkman... but, it's so damn compelling... it's trance-inducing music, it reminds a little bit of the poetry of Taggart or the fiction of Rick Bass: repeat a simple theme over and over again with slight variations until it just becomes lodged in the listener's brain. For instance, the opening "You will miss me when I burn" repeats "When you have no-one/No-one can hurt you"... there's little else to the song... very sparse writing, but it's haunting, in gets in you. Will's cracking voice and amateur guitar just manages to sound so sincere, so desperate. The other highlight is the closer "I am a Cinematographer" again, the repetition of the title phrase takes on greater and greater weight amid the other slight, simple lyrics... in the end, Oldham leaves a lot of the work up to the the listener... that's why it sounds unpolished. This is music that demands the listener finish some of the logic, make meaning of the songs: what does "I am a cinematographer mean"? Who can say? I took it as "I am only an observer" or "I see things the way I want to see them"... but, the great thing is that your own take on it will vary. And may change after many listens. Yes, it's a challenging album, but well worth the trouble."

The Best of His Albums

s. nicholas | Seattle, WA United States | 08/19/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This was the first Will Oldham/Palace Brothers album I picked up and it remains my favorite. His later albums are great but tend to have a few amazing songs mixed in with songs that drag a bit. Every song on this album is strong (and short). The last track, "I am a cinematographer" is especially beautiful and nostalgic. Check this album out if you like a kind of post-modern folk/country style of music. Viva Last Blues is also a great album. By the way, I've seen Will perform twice, both solo shows. Once he had a drum machine with him that pumped out beats and the other time, he just brought his acoustic guitar. See him live if you get a chance, his performances are weird and haunting and beautiful."

Brain-haunting stuff

Andrew M Daley | Wigan, Lancashire United Kingdom | 05/30/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This was a throwaway impulse buy, which turned into a soundtrack for my life. It goes against every rule of modern rock: its, primitively recorded, played on a single, twangy acoustic guitar, sung in a kind of awkward, swooping falsetto and lasts less than thirty minutes. It is also the one of the most intelligent, literate and intensely moving albums of the nineties. If you have any kind of heart, brain or soul, you should buy this and prepare to be haunted for the rest of your life."