bill callahan (post-smog)

Always happy for new Callahan. I liked Shepherd okay, but I was a little baffled about that particular one being the one to gain wider traction, since I found it to be second-tier among his "Bill Callahan" records.

dear lord that cover art

lol thought that was a pt cruiser for a second

i need to go back to SIASV but i think it was just too long and too pastoral for me

so i'm encouraged by this being a 10-track album

agreed on both counts

Great news! I love Shepherd personally, can’t wait to hear what he comes up with next.

That cover though. It’s so bad it has to be intentional :)

i need to go back to SIASV but i think it was just too long and too pastoral for me

idk, it's an impression based on a memory of something i haven't listened to in about a year so probably not the right description. i remember it being pleasant but not connecting with it. some overwritten songs, some arranagements i didn't care for? who knows. like i said i need to go back to it.

he really has a lot of ugly album covers.

Too ‘happy’, perhaps?

yes, I'm glad he's happy but that record was terrible. i've no interest in happy BC.

I'll listen to this to hear the new version of let's move to the country.

I allowed him one happy record, and genuinely think it’s good, but yeah happy isn’t his raison d’etre

has a new version of let's move to the country on it

maybe he ought to get into the deal of self-covering sad songs to flip them, like will oldham

i listened to some of shepherd this afternoon. it doesn't bother me that it's happy. i think it's mostly the song structures - instead of verses and choruses, a lot of the songs are strings of parts that don't repeat. this isn't inherently bad, but combined with the arrangements, it's further down what i'll call a "jazz-folk" road (probably not the best descriptor) that i don't really care for. and since there are so many songs, not having many real choruses makes for a long album with few parts that stick in my head. it feels part of a trend from apocalypse to dream river to shepherd, with my enjoyment declining with each album. but i still love BC and hold out hope for GOLD RECORD.

shepherd was also hurt by not having matt kinsey shredding over it

and again i only listened to maybe 1/4 of the album so it's likely i'm misremembering it as a whole

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQp3nZe6kI4&

Like that a lot, but I fear that if the whole album is at that tempo, it will struggle to hold my attention much like the last one did.

props for shoehorning "plenipotentiary" in there

I laughed at both the bracketing quotes

I could be cool w/ a whole album at this tempo, I think I've drifted away for the last couple records for the reasons NA states above...the structures and melodic lacking /geir

i liked this song more than anything i can remember from shepherd. i think i never listened to the whole thing which is kinda crazy given how much i like so many of his records.
should i know/ expect some context for the johnny cash thing at the beginning?

he really has a lot of ugly album covers.

Yeah what was he thinking with that Apocalypse cover

https://i.imgur.com/WQ5xFN8.jpg

Psyched about the new album, love the song Pigeons! Not loving Shepherd as much as I should, feel kinda weird and guilty about it. Hmm

I love the "Sometimes ..." artwork and the cat/power "Knock Knock" image makes me chuckle. But, yeah.

Welcome back Rizzx!

I like Pigeons a lot, it's very much in the same vein as Shepherd tbf. I'm surprised so many of you didn't get into Shepherd. It's long but bobs by so nicely.

Dream River + the dub versions (especially the dub verions) have been my lockdown jam.

Hey thanks Bateau!

Sadly, the new song is more of the same, and not in a good way. It's like he is writing the same song, with the same arrangements over and over again..

More attention to interesting melodies at least will be welcome

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZ3rR3JOVfQ

why can't the album cover art be one of these cool drawings in the videos ?

nice

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2_T4CMCmXs

wow this is one i really like !

love the drawing, too.

i don't want to wait until september

here's another song. not to be confused with 'Another Song'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOhdwYC678Q

i'm really just in the mood for these new songs sort of all the time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bc5mU2-sKcU

Love this one.

I hear you Budo, it's a balm.

I'm holding off on repeat listens to these cuz I want the album to work on me as a whole....but man every one of these on first listen is so good

b callahan's voice is like a strong, perfume-y (flavored) sort of maple syrup.. if it's agreeable, then great. if not, then it's a bit much. his expressive range always feels measured, even when the rest of the instrumentation is (going for) loose and ramschacke. it's not entirely unlike d sylvian's vocals on manafon, or blemish

The Mackenzies is beautiful.

Just like 5 loaded storylines falling into each other. No direct, sensible route through. And it’s perfectly OK.

"Hello, I'm Johnny Cash"

It's a gift to have you back with a new album, Bill <3

Uhhh, Mr. Cooder

on first listen i like it more than shepherd in a sheepskin vest but less than most of his other albums. maybe it'll grow on me.

"Pigeons" and "The Mackenzies" feel like top tier BC to me

Listening to this walking the dog tonight and could not stop laughing at Protest Song. That is a funny song. I am not sure how to articulate this but I love how Bill is not afraid to commit to song concept. He has so many subtle songs, many oblique, but most of his albums have one or two peppered in that, while they can be just as profound, also have this air of novelty to them.

step aside son you’re gonna get hoit

I guess as close as he’ll ever get to chooglin’

I can't follow any of these stories, they go in one ear and out the other and I'm left wondering what each song is about. I got The Mackenzies but didn't like it much, some good points though. I think I know what he's trying to do (maybe) but can't appreciate it at all.

Pigeons is a pretty straightforward story

the new one has this awkward feeling of the music being built around the structure of the lyrics, to the extent that the songs don't really flow or even feel like proper songs sometimes