I would maintain that his voice is, at best, a very acquired taste whereas I think Oldham has broad appeal, at least vocally.
i love both these dudes, and obv diff't strokes and all, but man i can't help but think this is totally backwards for most people! oldham's voice is great, now esp, but his early stuff is uh challenging to say the least. callahan's 'problem' is not that his voice is bad, but that he doesn't let it loose more often. if he went as hard as oldham does (there doesn't exist a smog rave-up as far as i know) i'm guessing he would sound great. as it is, his whole ish is that he's pretty restrained, and seems to ride the edge between 'sonorous talking' and 'barely croony'.
― ullr saves (gbx), Friday, 4 February 2011 04:27 (thirteen years ago) link
does callahan use backup singers? oldham has been using them with very excellent results for the last several records. good tact for a marginal singer imo
― buzza, Friday, 4 February 2011 04:30 (thirteen years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lg5VAOG67So
― buzza, Friday, 4 February 2011 04:34 (thirteen years ago) link
callahan leaves me p cold
love oldham tho
i like silver jews best but i guess thats not the thread
― cloudy predecessor (Lamp), Friday, 4 February 2011 04:38 (thirteen years ago) link
love both these guys, might give a slight edge to callahan but who cares they're both good
OPOs are 'river guard' and 'strange form of life'
― ciderpress, Friday, 4 February 2011 04:44 (thirteen years ago) link
Will is a far more interesting artist, his whole career path is pretty amazing. I think he has many more years and surprises left in him.
― i love you but i have chosen snarkness (Steve Shasta), Friday, 4 February 2011 05:38 (thirteen years ago) link
Oldham by leaps and bounds
― O_o-O_0-o_O (jjjusten), Friday, 4 February 2011 06:08 (thirteen years ago) link
wtf @ this... bill callahan's voice these days is beautiful
― just sayin, Friday, 4 February 2011 09:04 (thirteen years ago) link
pretty sure Oldham, Callahan, and Silver Jews accounted for about 50% of my listening in college. Oldham was always the favorite back then but i've since moved over to Callahan. i think that's mostly because Oldham's last few records, while fine, are just kind of... eh. he's fallen into a bit of a groove and it's a bland one. Callahan on the other hand is doing some of the best work of his career. still dig Will. i think he's a wonderful lyricist. but Bill's stuff hits harder these days.
― circa1916, Saturday, 5 February 2011 07:38 (thirteen years ago) link
i think will had a great 00s actually
superwolf might be my fav overall thing he ever did, i thought the tortoise things was a pretty successful experiment, really like the letting go, lie down in the light, jeez was the nashville record this decade? can't remember
― basedketball (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Saturday, 5 February 2011 15:46 (thirteen years ago) link
yeah i agree. those are three of my favorites. the nashville one never grabbed me but it's due for a revisit soon. bill though put out his best album in 2009 and people his vocals and sense of humor (seriously!!) are way offtm.
― Moreno, Saturday, 5 February 2011 17:57 (thirteen years ago) link
there are two threads comparing callahan and oldham, but i feel like david berman might be a better comparison for callahan? or like callahan is the intersection between oldham and berman?
― congratulations (n/a), Tuesday, 12 April 2011 15:53 (twelve years ago) link
ha just looked upthread and saw several silver jews mentions. so much for my "original thought"
― congratulations (n/a), Tuesday, 12 April 2011 15:54 (twelve years ago) link
been listening to a lot of the drag city weirdo troubadour poets (oldham, callahan, berman) lately. really impressive bodies of work from all of 'em...
― tylerw, Tuesday, 12 April 2011 15:57 (twelve years ago) link
a poll of oldham vs callahan vs berman would be impossible to vote on.
― Algerian Goalkeeper, Tuesday, 12 April 2011 16:01 (twelve years ago) link
kind of feel like berman has an unfair advantage because he really hasn't been as prolific as the other guys....
― tylerw, Tuesday, 12 April 2011 16:02 (twelve years ago) link
yeah you are probably right
― Algerian Goalkeeper, Tuesday, 12 April 2011 16:02 (twelve years ago) link
would be an easy choice of callahan for me
― congratulations (n/a), Tuesday, 12 April 2011 16:13 (twelve years ago) link
i need to listen to more silver jews though
pitting all three against each other would be like cohen vs. dylan vs. young. i'll let you decide which is which...
― tylerw, Tuesday, 12 April 2011 16:15 (twelve years ago) link
I think on ILM berman would win but maybe someone should just do the poll and find out.
― Algerian Goalkeeper, Tuesday, 12 April 2011 17:12 (twelve years ago) link
Jason Molina would have to be in the poll too
― Algerian Goalkeeper, Tuesday, 12 April 2011 17:21 (twelve years ago) link
Callahan got to date Chan Marshall, so he gets a few points for that.
― nicky lo-fi, Tuesday, 12 April 2011 18:07 (twelve years ago) link
and Dame Darcy.
― it's time for the fish in the perculator (Steve Shasta), Tuesday, 12 April 2011 18:12 (twelve years ago) link
and lisa carver
― kate78, Tuesday, 12 April 2011 18:19 (twelve years ago) link
he was also liz taylor's last husband
― tylerw, Tuesday, 12 April 2011 18:20 (twelve years ago) link
and father of ned raggett
― Algerian Goalkeeper, Tuesday, 12 April 2011 18:21 (twelve years ago) link
(not really)
― Algerian Goalkeeper, Wednesday, 13 April 2011 00:06 (twelve years ago) link
Like the dude a lot but he seems...second string?
Anyway that poll would be good
― FUN FUN FUN FUN (gbx), Wednesday, 13 April 2011 00:11 (twelve years ago) link
seems like we are afraid to start the poll for some reason
― Mark, Wednesday, 13 April 2011 00:13 (twelve years ago) link
Wire readers might see it?
― Algerian Goalkeeper, Wednesday, 13 April 2011 00:21 (twelve years ago) link
haven't had the time to read this yet, but:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/style/2014/07/01/songwriters/
― circa1916, Thursday, 3 July 2014 15:45 (nine years ago) link
I just tried to, yeesh, don't bother.
― 'arry Goldman (Hurting 2), Thursday, 3 July 2014 15:47 (nine years ago) link
I thought this was really good - https://pitchfork.com/news/bill-callahan-bonnie-prince-billy-and-matt-sweeney-cover-hank-williams-jr-listen/
― JoeStork, Tuesday, 13 October 2020 03:50 (three years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIPYAnjnh4M
<3
― A Scampo Darkly (Le Bateau Ivre), Tuesday, 17 November 2020 08:34 (three years ago) link
Had a horrible feeling that they were going to do an ‘ironic‘ version of it...but it’s absolutely wonderful
― X-Prince Protégé (sonnyboy), Tuesday, 17 November 2020 11:12 (three years ago) link
Bill MacKay is awesome
― Evan, Tuesday, 17 November 2020 14:51 (three years ago) link
the guitar sounds incredible on this
― la table sur la table (voodoo chili), Tuesday, 17 November 2020 15:18 (three years ago) link
Yeah, that's MacKay!
― Evan, Tuesday, 17 November 2020 15:19 (three years ago) link
I like his albums with Ryley Walker
so great
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 17 November 2020 15:19 (three years ago) link
it's not really possible to do an "ironic" version of Dan, they are miles ahead of anyone else in irony
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Tuesday, 17 November 2020 15:30 (three years ago) link
I guess I don't know why you'd assume they would do an ironic version to begin with
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 17 November 2020 15:31 (three years ago) link
the song arrived on the same day that tom scharpling promised to dedicate his whole show to telling people why the dan is bad
― la table sur la table (voodoo chili), Tuesday, 17 November 2020 15:32 (three years ago) link
ugh ffs scharpling
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Tuesday, 17 November 2020 15:52 (three years ago) link
this cover is really excellent btw
I kinda want Callahan and McKay to join Superwolf for the next album.
― soaring skrrrtpeggios (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 17 November 2020 16:06 (three years ago) link
I think I'd prefer it if Will sang the lead vox? Bill has all the range of a parents-basement Astrud Gilberto fanatic.
MacKay really saves this cover.
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Tuesday, 17 November 2020 16:35 (three years ago) link
(that's not to say that Donald had incredible range, yet he understood the limitations of his gift which he then built songs around, as ambitious as he was at the time)
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Tuesday, 17 November 2020 16:36 (three years ago) link
Weirdly I guess I'm the only one who really doesn't like the guitar on this - it sounds like a mess to me.
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Saturday, 21 November 2020 04:55 (three years ago) link
Oldham's stomping take on "Our Anniversary" is great
― stylish but illegal (Simon H.), Wednesday, 6 January 2021 17:41 (three years ago) link
Thanks Simon!
― A Scampo Darkly (Le Bateau Ivre), Wednesday, 6 January 2021 19:02 (three years ago) link
A Bill Callahan playlist in here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0012h6l
I must admit I'm putting it here so I can find it again.
― djh, Friday, 24 December 2021 23:29 (two years ago) link
oh this is interesting. his mixtape starts at 1:06, by the way
― Punster McPunisher, Saturday, 25 December 2021 00:43 (two years ago) link
Oldham and Callahan's collaboration is a big disappointment, nothing of what I love about either artist is on display. Everything just sounded very basic rock music. And I was excited to hear it.
― JacobSanders, Saturday, 25 December 2021 00:52 (two years ago) link
I’ve had the opposite reaction! I’m a much bigger fan of Callahan, and this album takes him a bit off of the slow and steady path he had been sticking to. I’ve already listened to it mire than his last couple albums combined. “That Night in Santiago” is a stunner.
― Cow_Art, Saturday, 25 December 2021 02:14 (two years ago) link
"The Wild Kindness" felt like a full-on Drag City tribute to Berman and was especially moving for that reason. I liked "Deacon Blues" as well.
― ... (Eazy), Saturday, 25 December 2021 02:32 (two years ago) link
*puts on Roberts Evans voice* Was every tribute paid their due by lifelong indie artists? No. Did I put "Our Anniversary" on my year end list? You bet your ass I did.
― Western® with Bacon Flavor, Saturday, 25 December 2021 06:24 (two years ago) link
Wow, I don't hear very much "basic rock music" on this album at all.
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Wednesday, 16 February 2022 21:22 (two years ago) link