Years ago, after professional golfer Payne Stewart died in a plane crash, they had his funeral service at a golf course. Bagpipers walked down a dewy fairway, leaving dark green shoe prints in the short grass as they walked. It was a foggy mess of a morning there and for some reason, this was one of those “Hollywood” funerals that, because it happened under tragic circumstances (a private plane crash when Stewart was still a young, knicker-wearing man), was televised for all to see on ESPN. Though the death was unfortunate, it didn’t register as anything significant to most. Same here, but that morning (given a definition and a place in the memory bank due to this pro golfer’s untimely death and service) and most mornings like it, with the air so meaty with whiteness, offer such a setting. This October afternoon, when Elvis Perkins came by for a visit was not a day like that. The air was seasonally chilly, but bright as a new 100-watt bulb. All the same, from the first song Perkins played for us, he seemed to roll in the mist and fog from some unseen bog or lake just for decoration. He can put that atmosphere on wheels it seems because this four-song set ambles in measurable ways, but does most of its motion laconically, without assistance. It’s just something that comes over the songs that leaves you feeling like it’s alright to slouch a little bit in your seat, for this is not a formal occasion and it never will be. Perkins was a natural for the Daytrotter set-up, entering the studio with his band Dearland, though that’s never a certainly until it actually happens. He was a late addition to our schedule as Okkervil River had to cancel its session at the last minute because of an unforeseen scheduling conflict in the next city down the chain. Perkins, on tour with the River, had the time to stop in and was keen on the idea. He called us. We told him yes – especially after seeing him play one of the best sets at Lollapalooza in August – and that’s how this, all that you hear below came to be. Listen closely and you can hear all of the little intricacies that make Perkins unlike all other manners of fare and ilk. There are fireflies in these songs and there are warm touches. You feel yourself getting pulled closer and closer by the thousands of invisible fingers and what do you do? You let them keep doing it, pulling you in until you can feel that thick, foggy morning breathing its drowsy exhales right out and onto your face. – Sean Moeller

First song
Good Friday (Elvis Perkins) [4.93MB] [4381 downloads]


– original version appears on Ash Wednesday

Second song
Emile's Vietnam In The Sky (Elvis Perkins) [3.37MB] [4112 downloads]


– original version appears on Ash Wednesday

Third song
All The Night Without Love (Elvis Perkins) [3.58MB] [4052 downloads]


– original version appears on Ash Wednesday

Fourth song
While You Were Sleeping (Elvis Perkins) [5.94MB] [4403 downloads]


– original version appears on Ash Wednesday