The overwhelmingly prolific Will Oldham—aka Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy—has a new record out on Drag City/Palace next week, and the country-tinged indie-folk never gets old when Oldham’s crooning. His wavering, fragile voice, sometimes destroying in its beauty, sometimes so smoky and weak it threatens to collapse, is as comforting as it gets. “Beware” doesn’t break new ground for Oldham, but he does enlist a massive amount of Chicago talent for the recording, including Josh Abrams, Michael Zerang, Leroy Bach, Jim Becker, Jon Langford and Rob Mazurek, and the collection of talent is felt from the first note. A lovely assemblage of Oldham’s various songwriting skills, not quite as haunting or powerful as 2006’s “The Letting Go,” but a fine addition to the catalogue. Of course, I’ve only heard the promotional copy, on which each song is interrupted twice by a voice reminding me of such, disrupting the songs in a rather startling manner and making it extra difficult to enjoy. I realize the purpose of such a protective step, but, c’mon guys, seriously? Did you try listening to it with the interruptions? (Tom Lynch)
March 14 at Vic Theatre, 3145 N. Sheffield, (773)472-0366
For “Want” of a Change: A Preview of Rufus Wainwright at Ravinia Park Rufus Wainwright isn’t the first singer-songwriter to reinterpret earlier work through an orchestral lens. And much of Wainwright’s third and fourth albums, “Want One” and “Want Two”—whose twentieth anniversaries are the prompt for this new tour—is fully scored. But when Wainwright hits the Pavilion stage at Ravinia tonight, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra will be behind him.
Cooling It: A Preview of Colleen Green at Cole’s Bar When Green strums power chords or chiming notes on top of her backing track, you might think you’re at Ramones karaoke night and Madonna is taking her turn.
Brutal Finesse: A Preview of King Crimson at Ravinia There have been few new compositions from King Crimson these past two decades, but the live arrangements of songs from its catalog are often strikingly different than the recorded versions.
