Bill Callahan, also known as Smog, is an American singer-songwriter. Callahan began working in the lo-fi genre of underground rock, with home-made tape-albums recorded on four track tape recorders. Later he began releasing albums with the label Drag City, to which he remains signed today.
Those who know Bill Callahan love the timbre of the man’s voice, the way he lightly strums his guitar and the time that he and Joanna Newsom spent as a couple (and collaboration on A River Ain’t Too Much To Love). Callahan’s music embraces discomfort, like creeping into an open window you’re invited to witness his most personal and alienating thoughts. Smog is difficult to dive headfirst into, as there are different layers to understand the aerial view that Callahan has displayed. If you peek into his earlier cassettes and Sewn to the Sky what you’ll hear is instrumental Jandek-influenced dissonance with melodic structure teetering on the experimental. After signing to Drag City Records and releasing Forgotten Foundation in ‘92, Callahan’s tunes began to shift from their lo-fi nature and contain a greater variety of sounds and instruments. It’s been a long road between ‘92 and ‘09 that the rest of the internet is filled with stories of, but if you’ve ever seen High Fidelity then maybe you remember “Cold Blooded Old Times” from the soundtrack (and the subtle shot of an of Montreal poster). Going into this post I didn’t even realize this, but Callahan is slated to release Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle on April 14, aka tomorrow, via Drag City! This release will be his second credited to Bill Callahan and not Smog. Pre-order the LP here. And for starters, here are a couple of my favorite Smog tunes that I hope you dig as well.
