Bill Callahan: Apocalypse
Label: Drag City
With its flute and fiddle,
guest spots by Jonathan Meiburg (Shearwater, ex-Okkervil River) on piano and organ, and epic
droning grooves, Bill Callahan's new and strongly '70s-flavored album has a bit of a Van Morrison feel – Callahan’s Astral Weeks, one could say (the jazzy “Free’s”
is an especially dead-on example). He also rocks out on “America!” with
fuzz-tone electric guitar, very psychedelic. Callahan’s casual vocals and
clever lyrics are the great constants in his otherwise shifting music; every
new Callahan (and previously, Smog) album is like getting together with an old
friend who’s got a new batch of wryly funny, philosophically truthful stories. The settings change, the warm
feelings abide; do not fear, Apocalypse is here.
