Will Oldham is a purist. The Palace guitarist and singer/songwriter won't give interviews; he doesn't send out free albums to the press; he takes his work as an indie-rock backwoods apostle seriously. You may say that such behavior reeks of self-importance, and it does. But Oldham's sense of gravity comes through so affectingly on his records that it's easy to let it slide. Viva Last Blues,...

The low-fi revolution that has captured the hearts of independent labels has hit a new low. Palace Brothers' second album sounds as if it were recorded on a boombox in the back room of an old country home. More stripped down and focused than its predecessor, There Is No-One What Will Take Care of You (1993), Palace Brothers features solely the choked-throat delivery of singer/songwriter and...