Search - Bill Callahan :: Woke on a Whaleheart

More Fireworks

Zach M. Douglas | Austin, TX USA | 04/25/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a great album (I wish I could stop there but I'm sure it would be more helpful to explain why I think that right?). Like all the Smog albums before it, Callahan's voice will haunt you. You'll hear his voice in your head saying random things while you are trying to wash the dishes or take out the trash. Things like "Monkeys Do" or "But it is day though" or those moments where he repeats certain lyrics.



I also like the songwriting on this album. Nothing is spelled out for you but with a little thought you should be able to figure out what the songs are about. Actually, you'll probably figure out about 70% quickly and then be trying to figure out the other 30% for a good while. It's a fine balance that not a long of song writers seem to have found between not being obvious but not being completely obtuse either. There are also certain themes and threads that run throughout the album (and similar ideas and themes from previous albums are repeated as well). Many of the typical smog elements are present.. life, death, love, sex... & wood and rivers! Musically Callahan has morphed his sound again although the production by Neil Michael Haggarty is not that different than some of the more recent albums. It's a fairly lo-fi affair although with more instrumentation than some of the previous efforts. Many songs do not have electric guitar but instead more strings and subtle organ riffs. Oh, and a gospel singer as well. I guess I should mention Bill does several gospel and country tunes: they finely straddle a line between subverting the genres and staying reverential to them. At least that is how I see it, your perception may vary as all of his work is very open to interpretation by the listener. At first I think I thought the soul/gospel bits were a bit off putting but now I like to sing along with them. Funny how that happens sometimes.

All the songs are strong but I think Sycamore is the stand out that can (and will!) stand alongside the best of his work. All the elements come together perfectly on this song. Diamond Dancer is an amazingly simple tune that won't leave your head. Honeymoon Child and Night are beautiful songs. I don't skip any songs and the way they are ordered on the album makes sense.



So there is my first Amazon review in a really long time. I hope it is helpful. This album was good enough that I thought I'd write a review it since no one had yet. It's my favorite album so far this year along with Panda Bear's "Person Pitch".





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Beautiful, understated and essential

P. Jabour | Sydney, Australia | 06/09/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is the first record that Bill has eschewed the moniker smog and used his name. This is in itself significant. Everyone of Bill Callahan's previous records have much to recommend them. Incredible songcraft and vocals,unique production and musicianship, fullness, darkness and light. Not only seek this album out but seek them all out - undeniable talent of genius proportion."

Overlooked, possibly a classic

Gregory W. Locke | Seattle, WA | 03/09/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Drag City Records' trifecta of post-Highway 61 Revisited songwriters - David Berman, Will Oldham, Bill Callahan - have arguably written some of the most poignant and poetic lyrics since Bob Dylan stopped counting syllables. Like Dylan, Berman (Silver Jews), Oldham (Palace, Bonnie `Prince' Billy) and Callahan (Smog) have always focused their art on the infinite ways words can be utilized to get across a thought, feeling, mood, belief or story. Also similar to Dylan, none of said trifecta would've made it into a show choir or Beach Boys cover band; needless to say, they sing from their hearts and heads rather than their guts.



While the other two songstuds are also entirely worthy of lengthy dissection, the songsmith in question so far in 2007 is Callahan, who just released Woke On a Whaleheart, his first album not adorning his 20-year-old Smog moniker. Why the change of artistic handle? No one not named Bill Callahan knows for certain, but the subtle style changes dripping throughout Whaleheart's 10 songs are a good place to start.



Lying somewhere between Berman's puzzle piece lyrics and Oldham's skewed stories and heartache is Callahan's open-to-interpretation brand of writing. Though there are far too many brilliant lines and word strings on Whaleheart to quote, "We were swimming in the rivers of the rains of our days before we knew / And it's hard to explain what I was doing or thinking before you," from the song "From The Rivers to the Ocean" (one of Whaleheart's many qualifiers for best-penned song of 2007) starts the album out nicely. The song features Callahan's trademark deep voice (sweet, rich and stern, just like any quintessential father figure), strong piano, violins and a slew of other pitch-perfect flourishes.



Next up is "Footprints," a song unlike any other in Smog's catalog. Callahan sounds completely energized and full of renewed spirit. It's another great, great song, but I have limited space and four more "song of the year" candidates to rave over, the first of which being Whaleheart's lead single, "Diamond Dancer." Also unlike any other song in Callahan's epic catalog, "Diamond Dancer" features a prominent rhythm section, strong soul-styled female backing vocals and the mood-stealing violin work of Elizabeth Warren. The real star here, as it should be, is Callahan's vocals and lyrics. He offers singers just enough to sing along and dissect, but also not nearly enough to sum up. Like the majority of Callahan's work, "Diamond Dancer" introduces you to a character, tells you just enough to want to know more and brilliantly leaves the rest for you to ponder. After six or seven spins "Diamond Dancer" should be a strong contender for "song of the year" for any fan of lean, poetic songwriting.



Whaleheart's third masterpiece, "Sycamore," is a tender, clue-heavy song as accessible as any in Callahan's catalog, complete with brilliant lines like "All you want to do is be the fire part of fire." Once again, Callahan presents listeners with what feels like a small piece of a grand novel, acting as a starter gift for anyone with an active imagination.



And finally we have the instant classic, "The Wheel." Callahan delivers every sung line (beginning with the bewildering "The wheel has turned one full circle / Time for my meal of wood") with a sing-along friendly spoken rendition. The song is a perfect indie-era update of classic country music, complete with sweet female backing vocals, distant electric picking and bouncy bass lines. The lyrics are cryptic yet quotable (I'd die in your jails Lord / But you'd die by my laws Lord / I think you've got it worse / No rebel I lord / I follow the river / When I'm lost), and, as always, full of both questions and insight.



Other standouts include every other unmentioned song on Whaleheart, especially the most modern song of modern times, "A Man Needs a Woman or a Man to Be a Man." But, alas, we're long out of room and need to wrap up the beautifully bewildering Whaleheart. In summary, there is a world of characters living within Woke on a Whaleheart, entirely open to interpretation and always warmer than Santa's lap. I love Bob Dylan, but Bill Callahan's writing and musicianship on Whaleheart make the old man's recent work sound uninspired and flat. That, friends, is very hard to do. Pick up Woke on a Whaleheart, listen to it six or seven times and tell me it's not the best written album since the Silver Jews' Bright Flight. I dare ya. (Greg Locke)"