Saturday, February 14, 2009

Bonnie Prince this is a post about Bonnie Prince Billy Billy

The Phoenix New Times was all set to review the Bonnie Prince Billy album. Trouble is, the record label decided to scupper things:

I loaded the disc in to my iTunes to listen to -- as I do for a living -- and was digging the first track "Beware Your Only Friend" when a voice broke in to assure I was "enjoying a promotional copy of Beware by Bonnie 'Prince' Billy." Before the first song was even over, I was reminded again: "You are enjoying a promotional copy of Beware by Bonnie 'Prince' Billy." Again and again. Then, the interruptions started saying it in fake little Scottish and German accents. Ugh. This would be pretty annoying no matter the genre, but seemed especially grating given Billy's knack for crafting slow-burning folk ballads, which were invariably interrupted at key points.

It's surprising anyone still does this sort of thing; it's especially painful that Drag City would do it to a Bonnie Prince Billy record.


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I would absolutely love it if every review of the album was filled with comments about the unusual and quite abstract random voices on the album (as if they were deliberate parts of the music). I did read a review last week (I think it was drowned in sound) that questioned whether the album was actually a joke. I thought they meant quality wise but you never know...

It's certainly going to be an unusual collectible. I wonder if this version has leaked anywhere?

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