Pitchfork

He's a little bit country. He's a little bit rock and roll. He's admired by the likes of Björk and PJ Harvey. He sings songs about love, mountains, and incest. He's released a gazillion albums, EPs, and singles under almost as many pseudonyms and for almost as many labels. He's toured the world with cool people like David Pajo in his backing band. He's made guest appearances on records by the likes of semi-fossilized country icon Johnny Cash.

Yes, indeed, Will Oldham is a busy man. So busy, in fact, that it's hard to imagine him having a lot of time to just kick back, relax, and spin a few of his favorite CDs. But it makes sense that someone with such a keen grasp of just how powerful music can be would spend a good deal of his time picking up on the music of others. And with this appropriately-titled EP, Will finally gives what we can only assume are those who inspired him the credit they deserve.

More Revery, originally released as a super-limited-edition tour-only EP in Temporary Residence's Travels in Constants series, consists of six cover songs, including new Oldham-riffic versions of tunes by Bill Withers and Tim McGraw. Yes, that Tim McGraw. But the beauty of the Oldham machine is that, no matter what goes in, the song that comes out winds up sounding not just like one of Will's own songs, but like one of Will's better songs.

A pleasant cover of Mamas and Papas founder John Phillips' brief, folky "Someone's Sleeping" opens More Revery with beautiful near-perfection. Oldham puts his mark on the song within seconds, his unmistakable, quavering voice intoning above sloppily-played piano, guitar, and sparse drums. Even though it's foreign material, it's one of the most gorgeous songs Oldham has recorded recently, and seems to fit his style as well, if not better than most of the songs on his current full-length, Ease Down the Road.

While "Someone's Sleeping" seems like perfect fodder for an Oldham cover, PJ Harvey's dark, droning "Sweeter than Anything" presents a greater challenge. The fact that the version on More Revery seems to work so seamlessly as a Will Oldham song speaks to Oldham's willingness to recast the songs he's interpreting in his own image. "Sweeter than Anything" is almost completely transformed, as it seems that Oldham is more interested in being true to himself than being true to the song, replacing Harvey's quiet, barely-contained intensity with his own wailing, foot-tapping brand of haunting Appalachian passion. Similarly passionate is a blazing cover of "Lean on Me" singer Bill Withers' "Same Love That Made Me Laugh." When Oldham sings, "If you don't want me, I don't want to live," his delivery is utterly convincing-- borrowed words have rarely sounded this sincere.

As for the cover of Tim McGraw's mass-produced crap country hit, "Just to See You Smile," Oldham seems to accomplish the impossible, turning a McNugget into a home-cooked chicken meal with all the trimmings. Minus the glossy production and sterile vocals, "Just to See You Smile" isn't all that bad, though the lyrics remain admittedly cheesy. I doubt that Will Oldham is Tim McGraw's biggest fan, but he's done the song a great deal of credit by giving it what is certainly the best cover it will ever receive. Too bad Tim will probably never hear it.

Sadly, More Revery does have one weak link: an awkward, reverb-drenched cover of Jamaican singer John Holt's "Strange Things." Only here does Oldham seem to lose a firm grasp over the source material, applying layers of unnecessary vocal effects, and in doing so making his creaky voice sound annoyingly inhuman.

Although it culls material from a diverse group of artists, More Revery owes its ultimate success to the fact that it sounds like Will Oldham. Very few musicians are as capable of handling their own work as well as Oldham does, let alone six very different songs by six very different songwriters. He's covered Tim McGraw. He's covered AC/DC. Where will the future take him? Let's hope he follows the only logical next step: a strummed acoustic guitar and organ version of "Big Pimpin'."