cold blooded old times

Could never fully get into Smog. I don't know why. By all rights I should have.

He has some good songs though.

Get Red Apple Falls, Blake.

Smog is my favourite of all the well humoured old man contemporary alt folk makers.

ok, with smog playing here again next year and the fact i enjoyed him and his last album so much. I'm thinking of diving back into some of his older records. how are those records he did with O'Rourke? I think i'll like to more minimalist lo-fi stuff. i'll be taking submissions until the end of the day when i'll probably order some stuff from Drag City - along with the JN 2LP.

red apple falls has my vote.

his early records are all gold.

anything from around the blood red bird time.

the ex con ep, if you can ever find it is awesome.

kicking a couple around is rad too.

I hear he's dropping the Smog name and just going with Bill Callahan.

You're right Blake. I'd read that somewhere but "smog" was listed on the JN show ad in this week's street press.

are him and joanna still gettin' it on?

yeah

She thanks her wonderful 'Billy" in the liner notes of her album

What is the Julius Caesar album like? Rain on Lens?

I think I'll get Red Apple Falls.

red apple falls is better than any of his other stuff i reckon.

the vinyl is divine.

wild love is my clear favourite, but i only own a few and just got around to buying red apple falls a week or two back. top 5 songs, in no order:

• it's rough
• bathroom floor
• cold blooded old times
• held
• i feel like the mother of the world

rain on lens

in cold sweats over the fact that no one has mentioned the masterpiece that is "the doctor came at dawn" yet. you gotta get that. then the "kicking a couple around" EP

rain on lens is total tripe

indie stud

thanks goalattack

man, he was creepy at the atheneaum show... leered right into my eyes... i was determined not to look away... but had to.

he was packing some serious man bulge in the melbourne show in his tight pants.

thanks guys. went with Red Apples.

Coming sometime this year will be an album of ''covers'' of Smog tracks by Stephan Mathieu and Sylvain Chauveau. Should be pretty special.

hang on, alec. that isn't exactly post-smog bill though?

i was talking about all of his releases under his own name, ie
Woke On A Whaleheart
Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle
Rough Travel For A Rare Thing
Apocalypse

yeah i wasn't saying that. saying that i like all those BC albums and also I just bought...etc

I don't really get in to the big divide between ''Smog'' and ''Bill Callahan'' albums - he wanted to release ''a river...'' under his own name, but the label convinced him not to. Early Callahan is not always better than later Callahan for me personally. I rate ''Sometimes...'' and ''Apocalypse'' way above ''Wild Love'' and ''Rain On Lens''. But the main thing is I think he works on each individual album as a whole idea. And so each album is a new idea. I think he's getting more and more interesting each year, and isn't losing interest in exploring new things. His arrangements are so exciting on the last few albums. Cool guy. Really looking forward to what he puts out this year or next

ah okay.

I personally don't like the overall sound of the newer albums. Doctor Came At Dawn will always be my favourite Smog album - he never made another like that. The rest I can't really rate, but I just don't enjoy the Callahan albums. That's just me.

But the main thing is I think he works on each individual album as a whole idea. And so each album is a new idea.

I agree with this completely - EXCEPT with the callahan titled stuff. it's all very samey to me. what i loved about smog is that each album stood alone.

yeah, and the 'big divide' was less aimed at you and more aimed at all the thoughtless music journalism that surrounded the last few albums. Doctor is indeed a great album. Beautiful production and flawless songs. Love the album art too.

yeah, doctor came at dawn goes down as one of my all time favourite albums. really incredible. as for the other smog releases my favourites ebb and flow, depending on my mood.
what a man.

EXCEPT with the callahan titled stuff. it's all very samey to me.

Yeah there are similarities in the last two musically. ''Woke on a Whale heart'' is pretty different. Uhm... I hear ''Sometimes...'' as a kind of Mickey Newbury deal. Really nice and mature folky pop arrangements w/ strings etc. But Apocalypse is more of a small 3/4-piece rock band kind of thing with weird lead guitar. They just sound really different to me I guess. And ''The Drover'' is one of his all time best songs. The chorus, the anxious build ups, the lyrics, his vocal delivery... reached a new on high on that one.

i'm going to go out on a branch here and say that my issue with the callahan stuff is that it's overproduced (for my liking.) i loved the simplicity of most smog songs, the stripped-back nature of them.
while callahan's s/t stuff is arranged brilliantly, like you say - it just doesn't get to me the same way that smog releases do.

Yeah I think there's time and a place... I guess I just really love both worlds. Also his lyrics are just so god damn good it's hard for me not to get in to these later albums ;)

that's just it for me - with all of the EVERYTHING thats going on i don't notice the lyrics as much as i did with his smog stuff. and the lyrics are what kill me.

Life's a joke
A waiting game now.
A juggling of vices
Tiny tiny vices
And they don't anchor me
To the ground
I know who the hangman is
So life's a joke

Ha ha ha
Ha ha ha

The clocks on the wall
Creeps higher.
Save save
Restraint restraint.
It's a joke
And I know who the hangman is

A ship in a vial
A headstone on the wharf
And it will pin me
To the ground

Ha ha ha
Ha ha ha

All the lights look green
So unbend
Your toughest smile
I think we've got
I think we've got
I think we've got

One more mile

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYg6eIH7qR8

killer. anyway. time to do some real work.

Bill Callahan Doco coming soon!

God I would love to see that documentary released. I think ''Drover'' is one of the top 3 songs he's ever written

I agree with pretty much everything Alec has said in this thread. I particularly love the arrangement on Riding For The Feeling from the new album, and Drover really is one of his best.

Any news of the doco? Would love to see that. Bill is a man among men... whatever that means!

anyone spot him in Pola X? was my favourite part of that movie, even if it was a 10 second glimpse.