Pitchfork

Obviously, Will Oldham wasn't thinking of the music criticism world when he decided to release the Ode Music EP. He was probably most concerned with fulfilling the New Year's Resolution he seems to have made way back in 1993. You know the one I'm talking about. That year, Will Oldham began competing with such corporate giants as the "Book of the Month Club" and the "Fruit of the Month Club" by unofficially creating the "Will Oldham Release of the Month Club." Since then, Oldham has recorded music under more monikers than most bands have songs: Palace (Brothers/Music/Songs), Bonnie "Prince" Billy, the Sundowners, Will Oldham and Friends, to name just a few. He's been true to his convictions thus far, sometimes sacrificing quality for quantity, but churning out records at a frantic pace nonetheless.

The Ode Music EP is a particularly confounding case to examine. On one hand, you can't fault him too much, because he never intended for the album to stand alone-- it was composed as an instrumental soundtrack to the Kelly Reichardt film of the same name. In that regard, it succeeds admirably. I imagine that this music would be quite a pleasant addition to any movie with "Ode" in the title. On the other hand, I have to be somewhat upset with Oldham. Somehow, he's managed to get his hands on the first five songs I ever wrote for guitar back in High School. Frankly, I'm a bit embarrassed. To make matters worse, I'm not mentioned anywhere in the liner notes.

The five unique songs on Ode Music are so incredibly simple, you may even be inclined to believe me upon actually hearing the album. Allow me to list the chords Oldham demonstrates a thorough mastery of on "Ode #1," for example: C#. Impressive. And it's probably just a C with a capo on the first fret, anyway. What's more, he doesn't stop demonstrating this proficiency for almost eight minutes. And that's not even mentioning the two negligibly different reprises of the song which also appear on the EP. Ode Music is like Will Oldham's acoustic guitar version of house music: each composition is comprised of one basic short riff in either one or two chords, repeated into infinity with almost no variation. After a minute or so, you tend to forget that you're even listening to music at all.

Regardless of the music's redundancy, though, it's still quite beautiful in its simplicity. Ode Music utilizes not only guitar, but also sparse piano and synthesizer. After all, the primary goal of the record was to create a soothing atmosphere, and you'll never be caught off guard while listening to this EP. Once you've heard the first 15 seconds of each song, you've basically heard the entire thing.

Despite the sheer volume of material he's issued in recent years, Oldham has managed to create a few stunning albums. I See a Darkness, recorded as Bonnie "Prince" Billy, is such an extraordinary piece of work that I was initially tempted to conveniently forget to say much about Ode Music in this review and simply praise Darkness instead. After all, there's not much substance behind Ode Music to examine; it's just a whole lot of quantity. But don't despair-- there are still about 50 better Oldham releases out there worth scooping up.