June 14, 2011

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Bill Callahan - quietly blazing the lo-fi trail since 1988.


I freely admit the universe of music stretches across several galaxies, and the more you think you know, the more there is to find out. That's what makes it never-ending fun, especially when you run across people like Bill Callahan, who has been quietly turning the singer-songwriter genre on its head since 1988.

Bill Callahan, who was recording as Smog until 2005, has 11 albums out as Smog and another 4 since 2005 as Bill Callahan. The latest album, Apocalypse came out this past April.

Tonight it's a track off his 2005 Smog period album A River Ain't Too Much To Love. Rock Bottom Riser is riveting and deceptive in its simplicity. It is one of those songs, like all of Callahan's work, that gets right under your skin and stays there.

And somehow you feel foolish you hadn't heard of him before.

Well, the world of music is huge, if that's any excuse. Thanks to my buddy Mig in Bristol for turning me on to this. Always nice when friends 5,000 miles away turn you on to something more or less around the corner from you.

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