Pitchfork

Sure, you knew he'd been hanging out with the guy. But did you ever think you'd hear Will Oldham's take on R. Kelly's triumphant "The World's Greatest"?

I suppose it's a little hard to say just what Oldham's gonna do next, but-- for now, at least-- we've got a notion: Bonnie "Prince" Billy's Ask Forgiveness, eight covers ably tackled in all their nimble glory by Oldham, Espers' Meg Baird and Greg Weeks, and cellist Maggie Wienk, due in the UK November 19 thanks to Domino Records (no word quite yet on a U.S. release). It will be released November 20 in the U.S. via Drag City.

From Björk to Danzig to Robert Sylvester Kelly, Ask Forgiveness runs just about every gamut imaginable-- and that's just three tunes. Committed to tape in an "off the hoof" fashion in Philly, the disc will arrive on both CD and (for the club DJs out there, of course) vinyl. We've done our sleuth work, but are still looking into just who provided those other tunes' original versions: after all, there are a lot of songs named "My Life", and it would be silly for us to just assume it was the Mary J. Blige track, right? Much as we might wish it to be so? (Gosh, that'd be good.)

Although Drag City would confirm that the tracklist for the UK and U.S. versions would be the same, they declined to let us know exactly who did the originals of each song. "The mystery is sort of the fun part," said a publicist.

UPDATE: Drag City has revealed the rest of the covers. They include Mickey Newbury, Phil Ochs, Frank Sinatra, and the Mekons, as well as a Will Oldham original.

Oldham currently has no tour plans, though he recently popped up in Chicago to sing a few tunes with the Mekons, and in New York City for the Wordless Music Series. Keeping up with Bonnie "Prince" Billy: the weepiest, most bearded Where's Waldo? book ever.

Ask Forgiveness:

01 I Came Here to Hear the Music (Mickey Newbury cover)
02 I've Seen It All (Björk cover)
03 Am I Demon (Danzig cover)
04 My Life (Phil Ochs cover)
05 I'm Loving the Street (Will Oldham original)
06 The Way I Am (Mekons / Merle Haggard / Sonny Throckmorton cover)
07 Cycles (Frank Sinatra cover, written by Gayle Caldwell)
08 The World's Greatest (R. Kelly cover)