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The Heartache of Bill Callahan

Started by kalowski, February 17, 2020, 05:34:47 PM

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kalowski

I love Smog and solo Bill.
At this precise moment I'm listening to Too Many Birds from Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle and it's just perfect. His plaintive voice, the soaring violin that supports the song. It all adds up perfectly.
His greatest track is probably Ex-Con, but he put very few steps wrong.

I may have started a Smog thread once before, I can't remember.

spaghetamine

Yeah, he's great isn't he? Probably my favorite discovery of 2018, he's been a staple of my listening habits since then. The dub reworking of Dream River named Have Fun With God is probably my favorite thing he's done, shouldn't work at all but it's absolutely gorgeous. Proper outer space music.


kalowski

Thank you for that. Good to read. I will reply here...

Quote from: holyzombiejesus on June 21, 2019, 12:08:28 PM
Up until '94, his output was quite scratchy and lo-fi. The 'A Hit' 7" (which is on the brilliant Accumulation: None compilation) marks the end of this period (for me, at least) and is pretty great. There are some good songs from this era (especially on Julius Caesar) but a lot of pretty unforgettable stuff.
Yes, I agree with this completely.

Quote from: holyzombiejesus
Next came Wild Love which is fun, it's a lot lusher with plenty of strings (and contains Prince Alone In The Studio).
And Bathysphere, which is just brilliant.

Quote from: holyzombiejesus
The next two albums and the Kicking a Couple Around EP are, for me, are more consistently 'proper' Smog. The KACA EP is pretty indespensible, with Your New Friend being particularly fucking heartbreaking.

The Doctor Came At Dawn is the sparser of the two albums with Red Apple Falls containing the pop bangers.
Kicking A Couple Around includes I Break Horses, one of the greatest things he ever did.
I find Doctor Came at Dawn hard to recall but Red Apple Falls is indispensible, and has my favourite, Ex-Con, which you link to.
Quote from: holyzombiejesus
The poppier more immediate songs continued on Knock Knock with it's (Bill's ex) Cat Power referencing sleeve.
Knock Knock is incredible. Where to begin? For me, it's this, this and this.
Quote from: holyzombiejesus
I never really got in to the follow up, Dongs of Sevotion, and I still feel it's a bit stodgy (although Dress Sexy At My Funeral livens it up a bit).
First one I got, so it's special to me for that. And for Bloodflow
Quote from: holyzombiejesus
Happily, he followed this up with 2 really great consistent LPs, Supper and Rain On Lens, the former containing Vessel In Vain (gorgeous live version here) which is still one of my favourite examples of songs in films that work well together and the latter containing the aforementioned Song.
Great choice from a pair of lovely albums.
Quote from: holyzombiejesus
Then came the near perfect A River Aint Too Much To Love which I always think of as being more of a Bill Callahan album rather than Smog, although I have no idea why as it's not. Rock Bottom Riser alone is such a perfect song.
I feel nothing but envy for anyone following that link and hearing Rock Bottom Riser for the first time. His version of In the Pines is magnificent too.

alan nagsworth

Quote from: kalowski on February 18, 2020, 09:40:03 PMI feel nothing but envy for anyone following that link and hearing Rock Bottom Riser for the first time. His version of In the Pines is magnificent too.

I had a go on "Knock Knock" recently and wasn't really feeling it, probably just my mood on the day, but sitting here before bed cracking into these two tunes, it's hit the mark perfectly. "Rock Bottom Riser" in particular has that wondrous simplicity, exactly the same as Tom Waits and traditional Irish music and all that 'verse 1/chorus/verse 2/chorus/verse 3/chorus/verse 4/chorus' sorta stuff that is dry as the dickens but it cuts the fuck right into you and as soon as it's done you play it again.

Thanks gang. Looking forward to listening to more of this.

kalowski

I've got Rain on Lens on right now. It's even better than I recall. Minimalist but dramatic. Song.

Egyptian Feast

I still haven't heard Rain On Lens, despite it containing the first Callahan song I ever heard,'Natural Decline'. It was on an old magazine compilation and I fell in love with his voice immediately. Still one of my favourite tracks of his.

"I see the night sky as a jewelry store window
And my mind is half a brick".

holyzombiejesus

Quote from: kalowski on February 18, 2020, 09:40:03 PM

Kicking A Couple Around includes I Break Horses, one of the greatest things he ever did.


First Bill Callahan song I ever heard was this being covered by The Flaming Lips.


PaulTMA

Quote from: holyzombiejesus on February 19, 2020, 10:01:15 AM
First Bill Callahan song I ever heard was this being covered by The Flaming Lips.

Didn't they do Chosen One and not I Break Horses?

holyzombiejesus

Yes, they did! Not sure how I got those two confused, maybe it's the lyrics about horses.