Smog - Crawl Into My Shell (1993-2006)

 

Short bio:
Bill Callahan (born June 3, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist who for several years recorded and performed under the band name Smog. Callahan started out as a highly experimental artist, using substandard instruments and recording equipment. His early songs lacked melodic structure and were clumsily played on poorly tuned guitars, resulting in the dissonant sounds on his self-released cassettes. Once he signed a contract with Drag City, he started to use recording studios and a greater variety of instruments for his records.

From 1993 to 2000, Callahan's recordings grew more and more "professional" sounding, with more instruments, and a higher sound quality. He recorded two albums with the influential producer Jim O'Rourke and Tortoise's John McEntire, and collaborated with Neil Hagerty. After 2000's "Dongs of Sevotion", Callahan began moving back to a slightly simpler instrumentation and recording style, while retaining the more consistent songwriting style he had developed over the years. This shift is apparent in albums such as "Rain on Lens", "Supper", and "A River Ain't Too Much to Love".

Smog's songs are often based on simple, repetitive structures, consisting of a simple chord progression repeated for the duration of the entire song. His singing is characterized by his baritone voice. Melodically and lyrically he tends to eschew the verse-chorus approach favoured by many contemporary songwriters, preferring instead a more free-form approach relying less on melodic and lyrical repetition. Themes in Callahan's lyrics include relationships, animals, relocation, nature, and more recently, politics.

In 2007, Callahan stopped using the name Smog, going under his real name for future releases.


This anthology focuses on Bill Callahan's work released under the name of Smog. I've avoided his earliest recordings, some of which are almost impossible to find, instead concentrating on his releases from 1993's "Julius Caesar" up until his final release using the name Smog, the 2006 EP "Rock Bottom Riser". This collection features at least 1 track from these albums, plus the odd single/EP track. My introduction to Smog was the album he released in 1995, "Wild Love", following his career closely ever since. Perhaps in the future I'll compile some of my favourite tracks released under his own name. My favourite Smog albums? I'd say "Knock Knock" from 1999 and "Rain on Lens" released in 2001. This collection features 2 tracks from both of those albums. As usual origin of each track & year of release is tagged in the music files and in the download file. I hope you enjoy this latest collection. Cheers!

  1. Chosen One (3:10)
  2. Look Now (3:17)
  3. Not Lonely Anymore (1:59)
  4. Ambition (4:23)
  5. Cold Discovery (5:51)
  6. Spread Your Bloody Wings (3:21)
  7. Dirty Pants (4:30)
  8. Bathysphere (4:46)
  9. Bowery (3:19)
10. I Break Horses (6:05)
11. Just Like Napoleon (2:54)
12. The Well (6:55)
13. Let's Move to the Country (2:56)
14. Real Live Dress (5:20)
15. My Shell (Electric Version) (5:43)
16. Inspirational (6:20)
17. Keep Some Steady Friends Around (4:26)
18. Held (3:59)

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Best of 2021 mix - Volume 3

 

My final compilaton featuring more of my favourite albums/singles/EPs from the past year. This one has a few more tracks than originally intended, coming in at almost 2 hours long, but I hope you enjoy my selections. Pandemic or not, 2021 really has been quite special for new music, so I'm looking forward to what 2022 brings us. I've already heard a couple of excellent releases this year, tracks from which will most probably feature on my blog in the near future. I'll post another volume of Spaghetti Tree at the end of this month, and then start looking at making more artist anthologies, I have several on my shortlist. Once again happy new year to you all, keep enjoying new (and old) music, and most importantly stay safe!

 

  1. Smoke Bellow - Hannan (4:09)
  2. Françoiz Breut - Vicky (3:04)
  3. 62 Miles From Space - Sentinel (3:41)
  4. Beige Banquet - Cicada (5:52)
  5. Blaise & Nico - Dimanche Soir Chez Fé (3:19)
  6. Glass Beams - Taurus (4:31)
  7. Rose City Band - Feel of Love (4:35)
  8. Hanford Flyover - Golden (4:50)
  9. The Small Breed - To Another Land (3:14)
10. Dr. Pete Larson and his Cytotoxic Nyatiti Band - Korona (4:21)
11. Grave Flowers Bongo Band - Sleepy Eyes (3:11)
12. Meatbodies - Let Go (333) (3:16)
13. Tacsidermi & Sister Wives - A Oes Heddwch (2:39)
14. LUMP - Paradise (4:33)
15. Klapper - Success (1:57)
16. Hassan K. - Haqq Al-Yaqîn (2:54)
17. Gavin Preller - Sometime (3:05)
18. La Era de Acuario - Etéreo (3:52)
19. Polite Society - Pudding Plains (6:50)
20. Snapped Ankles - Undilated Lovers (3:39)
21. Damien Jurado - Tom (3:18)
22. Mega Bog - Flower (2:35)
23. Jaromil Sabor - Lucky Stone (2:01)
24. Teke::Teke - Kaminari (4:00)
25. David Lance Callahan - Always (4:29)
26. Laure Briard - Supertrama (3:14)
27. Nice Biscuit - Sweet Surrender (6:07)
28. Rural Tapes - Pardon My French (4:24)
29. Caoilfhionn Rose - Paths (3:32)
30. King Buffalo - Locusts (6:27)

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Songs from Beneath the Spaghetti Tree Vol. 69

 

  1. Gong - Love Is How You Make It (3:26)
  2. Implosion Quintet - Skeleton Crew (3:57)
  3. Koncz Zsuzsa és az Illés Zenekar - Visz a Vonat (3:17)
  4. The Advisory Circle - Discipline Before Data (3:51)
  5. Cyril Cyril - Al Boustan (3:21)
  6. Shadow Folk - Chaos (3:39)
  7. Repetitor - Kroz Vetar (3:02)
  8. The Art of Lovin' - You Got the Power (2:59)
  9. Bressa Creeting Cake - They Write Words to People Who are Dead (2:44)
10. Hollow Ship - Magic Mountain (3:32)
11. Solid Space - Contemplation (3:16)
12. Wendy Eisenberg - AOB (2:48)
13. Gate Way - Morning Quiet Song (3:12)
14. Laure Briard - Eu Voo (2:17)
15. The Stars - Subway (aka Night Walker) (11:19)
16. Odin - Be the Man You Are (2:40)
17. Grave Flowers Bongo Band - VATMM (3:18)
18. Josh Rouse + Kurt Wagner - 65 (3:28)
19. Supersister - Psychopath (3:58)
20. Ryley Walker - Pond Scum Ocean (7:07)
21. Thievery Corporation - Firelight (feat. Lou Lou Ghelichkhani) (3:30)
22. Modern Art - Landscape From a Dream (3:55)
23. Aloa Input - The Other Rainbow (3:06)
24. Eduardo Bort - Yann (3:39)
25. Miranda Lee Richards - Colours So Fine (5:27)

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American Music Club - Shades of Weariness (1985-2008)

 

Short(ish) bio:
Singer-songwriter Mark Eitzel founded American Music Club in San Francisco in 1983 with guitarist Scott Alexander, drummer Greg Bonnell and bass player Brad Johnson. The band went through many personnel changes before arriving at a stable line up of guitarist Vudi, bassist Danny Pearson, keyboardist Brad Johnson and drummer Matt Norelli. This lineup would change over the next several years, but Eitzel always remained the core of the band in terms of its vocals, lyrics and thematic focus, with Vudi and Pearson accompanying him on guitar and bass.

Their 1985 debut, The Restless Stranger, is widely considered as the first "slowcore" release, establishing the band as major pioneers of the genre and an early influence on post-rock. It was followed by 1987's Engine which saw record producer Tom Mallon as a full-time member. The band earned a solid cult following on the strength of 1988's California and 1989's United Kingdom.

In 1991 American Music Club emerged with the record that is widely considered their masterpiece, Everclear. Critical acclaim attracted the attention of several major labels. Eventually, AMC - then consisting of Eitzel, Vudi, Pearson, multi-instrumentalist Bruce Kaphan and drummer Tim Mooney - signed with Reprise Records in the US and Virgin Records throughout the rest of the world. Mercury followed in 1993 and, despite positive reviews, the album fared poorly on the charts and earned virtually no recognition from radio or MTV. In 1994, AMC issued San Francisco.

The band disbanded soon after San Francisco was released, reuniting in 2003 to record a new album, Love Songs For Patriots, released in 2004. On June 20, 2007, AMC announced a new lineup. Eitzel and Vudi remained, joined by bassist Sean Hoffman and drummer Steve Didelot. AMC's next record, The Golden Age, was released in 2008. Shortly after an extensive tour, the group disbanded and then reformed with a new line-up including Eitzel, Vudi and Steve as well as Dana Schechter on bass and Jonathan Heine on second guitar. This short-lived lineup disbanded for good in 2009.


Here's a band who had more or less slipped my mind, regarding compiling an anthology, despite featuring one of their songs on one of my recent Spaghetti Tree mixes. Once again I have to thank Manerg for introducing me to this band, when he played me their 3rd album "California" which he'd bought soon after it's release. I was pretty much hooked from the first listen, the track Laughingstock standing out for me the most. Manerg and I are both agreed California is our favourite album, maybe because it was the first we heard by them. Or maybe because to us it is a perfect album, not one bad track.

Since my introduction to the band I've bought all their albums before and after California, up to their final (?) album The Golden Age. While the 2 albums after they reunited are both high in quality, they never reached the heights of what were for me their peak period from 1987 to 1993. After California my next favourites are Everclear and Mercury. Also worth checking out are Mark Eitzel's solo albums. I highly recommend his first solo release, Songs of Love, an acoustic performance recorded live at The Borderline in London, England on January 17, 1991, with the exception of the last two tracks which are acoustic studio recordings. Some of his renditions of AMC songs I think are superior to the band versions.

Info containing track origin & year of release is tagged in the music files and in the download file. I hope you enjoy this latest collection, and as always stay safe!

  1. At My Mercy (4:06)
  2. Ex-Girlfriend (2:46)
  3. Firefly (2:50)
  4. In the Shadow of the Valley (6:26)
  5. Tell Yourself (4:02)
  6. Art of Love (3:08)
  7. Dream Is Gone (3:55)
  8. Hollywood 4-5-92 (4:11)
  9. Western Sky (3:26)
10. Home (4:27)
11. Decibels and Little Pills (5:36)
12. Miracle on 8th Street (4:05)
13. I'll Be Gone (3:55)
14. I'm in Heaven Now (3:49)
15. Laughingstock (4:16)
16. The Thorn in My Side Is Gone (alternate version) (4:47)
17. Will You Find Me? (4:06)
18. Heaven of Your Hands (3:00)
19. The Dead Part of You (2:42)
20. Job to Do (5:01)

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Willard Grant Conspiracy - Trail's End

Bio:
Willard Grant Conspiracy was an alt-country band based near Palmdale, California, USA.

Originally formed by Robert Fisher and Paul Austin in 1995 in Boston, Massachusetts, the band operated as a collective, with vocalist Fisher the only permanent member throughout its existence. Up to 30 other musicians occasionally contributed to the band, both in the studio and during live performances. Fisher's voice and Americana style have been compared to both John Cale and Johnny Cash, with most songs being acoustic. He was a self-taught musician who followed his instincts—the main reason his music has such a unique sound.

The band toured extensively in 2005 and 2006 visiting 23 countries, including a showcase at the South by Southwest music festival. They continued to tour in the US and occasionally in Europe and the UK until 2016. The band's 2003 release Regard The End, featuring Kristin Hersh as well as Chris Eckman of The Walkabouts, received critical acclaim with Uncut magazine naming it Album of the Month.

WGC released 10 studio albums and 5 live albums between 1996 and 2018, their final release "Untethered" being released posthumously after Robert Fisher died of cancer at the age of 59 on February 12, 2017. He was the beating heart of Willard Grant Conspiracy, was loved by many, and has left behind a legacy that will never die.

This is another band I didn't consider at all for a compilation, until hearing a track by them on BBC Radio 6 the other day. I hadn't really listened to much of their work for several years, despite enjoying the posthumous album "Untethered" which was a surprise release in 2018. So I dug out all the albums, enjoying once more the fine body of work they had released over the years. This collection includes tracks from all studio albums, but for once I've included a live track to end on. The track in question, "The Visitor", is probably my favourite WGC song, I have several versions of it, but my favourite rendition is on the live album "The Green, Green Grass Of Slovenia" which came out in the year 2000.

As ever, info containing track origin & year of release is tagged in the music files and in the download file. Stay safe (or alert!), and I hope you enjoy this latest collection.

  1. Bring It Down (6:36)
  2. Soft Hand (5:39)
  3. Massachusetts (4:00)
  4. Let It Roll (9:19)
  5. Painter Blue (5:23)
  6. Preparing for the Fall (7:43)
  7. Hideous Beast (1:55)
  8. No Such Thing as Clean (8:47)
  9. How to Get to Heaven (4:48)
10. Water & Roses (3:13)
11. Crush (5:42)
12. Incident at Mono Lake (4:13)
13. Untethered (4:21)
14. The Visitor (7:58)

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Vic Chesnutt - Stay Inside

 

James Victor Chesnutt (November 12, 1964 – December 25, 2009) was an American singer-songwriter from Athens, Georgia. His first album, "Little", was released in 1990, but his breakthrough to commercial success did not come until 1996 with the release of "Sweet Relief II: Gravity of the Situation", a charity record of alternative artists covering his songs. Chesnutt released 16 albums during his career, including two produced by Michael Stipe. His musical style has been described by Bryan Carroll of allmusic.com as a "skewed, refracted version of Americana that is haunting, funny, poignant, and occasionally mystical, usually all at once". Injuries from a 1983 car accident left him partially paralyzed; he used a wheelchair and had limited use of his hands.

The above quoted from Wikipedia. More info here.

I was a bit of a latecomer to Chesnutt, I'd heard the odd tune by him over the years, but only really started getting into him when I was recommended his 2005 album "Ghetto Bells". It was a good recommendation, as exposure to this album had me delving into his previous work. Some were a bit patchy, but most I found a very rewarding listen. For me his outstanding album was "North Star Deserter", released in 2007, an album I often come back to. It also contains my favourite track by him, "Everything I Say", which I end this anthology with.
For this collection I've taken tracks from 14 of his studio albums covering the years 1990 to 2009, omitting the 2 releases he recorded under the name Brute, a side project of his with members of Widespread Panic. Sadly I don't have those albums...

In these unsettling times with many of us anxious about this worldwide pandemic (plus many of us having to endure a lockdown), choosing the title of this anthology I went with the appropriately named "Stay Inside", which is also the first track on here. As ever, info containing track origin & year of release is tagged in the music files and in the download file. Take care everyone, hope you enjoy, and stay safe!

  1. Stay Inside (4:43)
  2. Ladle (4:03)
  3. And How (3:04) [with Elf Power and the Amorphous Strums]
  4. Square Room (4:28)
  5. Look at Me (2:22)
  6. Wrong Piano (2:54)
  7. What Do You Mean? (4:54)

  8. Philip Guston (3:25)
  9. Bad Boy Town (2:52)
10. Degenerate (4:21)
11. Marathon (5:32)
12. Preponderance (2:47) [with Mr. and Mrs. Keneipp]
13. My New Life (4:11)
14. Panic Pure (3:04)
15. Fa-La-La (5:14)
16. Little Fucker (4:26) [with Elf Power and the Amorphous Strums]
17. Bakersfield (2:24)
18. Maiden (2:56)
19. Sleeping Man (Syd Version) (4:42)
20. Everything I Say (6:52)

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