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Smog
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Austin, United States
Bill Callahan, born in Silver Spring, Maryland. Callahan pioneered the lo-fi genre of underground rock, with homemade tape-albums recorded on four track tape recorders. Later he signed a record contract with the label drag city.
Callahan started out as a highly experimental artist, utilizing sub-standard instruments and recording equipment. His reason for using the lo-fi approach was not so much an aesthetic choice, rather it came from his lack of knowledge of recording studios, and fear of giving up control to professional engineers.
His later work saw him overcoming his fear of studios and producers, and in this period he recorded two albums with the influential producer Jim O’Rourke and musicians from the circles around drag city, as well as collaborating with the similar-minded Neil Hagerty.
His songs are based on simple, repetitive structures, strikingly characterized by his baritone vocal. His lyrics are often centered around themes of spiritual searching and the complexity of emotions, with the use of subtlety and dark irony in the classic sense. There is also a broad swathe of joy throughout Callahan’s work (and a singular obsession with horses that he shares with Will Oldham). He is a keen storyteller using simple words to project large and deeply echoing tales.
Callahan’s love life has been documented with vigor in numerous hipster publications, including his romantic relationship with Chan Marshall (Cat Power), who allegedly penned “To Be a Good Woman” in tribute to Callahan while referencing his song “To Be Of Use.
Callahan started out as a highly experimental artist, utilizing sub-standard instruments and recording equipment. His reason for using the lo-fi approach was not so much an aesthetic choice, rather it came from his lack of knowledge of recording studios, and fear of giving up control to professional engineers.
His later work saw him overcoming his fear of studios and producers, and in this period he recorded two albums with the influential producer Jim O’Rourke and musicians from the circles around drag city, as well as collaborating with the similar-minded Neil Hagerty.
His songs are based on simple, repetitive structures, strikingly characterized by his baritone vocal. His lyrics are often centered around themes of spiritual searching and the complexity of emotions, with the use of subtlety and dark irony in the classic sense. There is also a broad swathe of joy throughout Callahan’s work (and a singular obsession with horses that he shares with Will Oldham). He is a keen storyteller using simple words to project large and deeply echoing tales.
Callahan’s love life has been documented with vigor in numerous hipster publications, including his romantic relationship with Chan Marshall (Cat Power), who allegedly penned “To Be a Good Woman” in tribute to Callahan while referencing his song “To Be Of Use.
Top Albums
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A River Ain't Too Much to Love
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Red Apple Falls
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Wild Love
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Shoutbox
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th1s1sm1n3 wrote:
Vote it up: http://www.last.fm/music/Smog/+images/2973185
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woopdeewoop wrote:
what a sexy voiced man!!
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KOKOMOwebradio wrote:
'Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle' is #1 on KOKOMO WebRadio's best of 2009 ! more @ http://kokomo.fr
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calicatri wrote:
http://www.lastfm.com.br/group/SENTIMENTAL+HUMAN+BEINGS+WITH+AWESOME+GENITALIA
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calicatri wrote:
http://www.lastfm.com.br/group/SENTIMENTAL+HUMAN+BEINGS+WITH+AWESOME+GENITALIA
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vedder110 wrote:
It's number 32! Unbelievable. Also, I find it hilarious that 5 of the 7 similar artists are basically Will Oldham.
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vedder110 wrote:
How is 'Dress Sexy at My Funeral' not even in the top 15?
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Nobodylikesyou wrote:
Diving diving diving into the murk
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sobrevieviendo wrote:
♥
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ostrich54321 wrote:
ithinkx...I'm feeling Smog on this particular morning...it's cold, autumn/winter, but the sky is blue and the sun is high. it's golden, but it's not particularly warm...
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danilo_vca wrote:
"I cant be held responsible for the things I say"
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bedoyaandres wrote:
Que buen artista... entra a mi lista de favoritos
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ithinkx wrote:
i'm really feeling Smog today. must be the cold, grey, Autumn weather.
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Julian_pa wrote:
,',',',',',',',',',',',','55 6 6 6 66 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 666 mr 6 6 6 6 6 6 2 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6megahitler megahitler satan
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sirianmorgan wrote:
I recently saw the tiny desk concert thing too. It's seriously worth a look - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHVNUrcyJy8 'Too many birds' is just amazing.
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insurGENTLEMAN wrote:
i just saw a great live performance of Bill on npr.org. Its called "Tiny desk concerts."
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DominiqueTheFox wrote:
His music makes me feel complete inside. The world is safe as long as Bill plays.
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instazome wrote:
oh no, they meant that he pioneered highly experimental musicologies
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ewgumz wrote:
Looks interesting, but this guy did not "pioneer" low-fi.
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PascaGabi wrote:
there is another band called SMOG
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Recent Activity
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indimindi and texas83 added Smog to their libraries. 1 hour ago
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groslezard tagged Smog with alt-country, folk, indie and 2 other tags. 7 hours ago
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groslezard added Smog to groslezard’s library. 7 hours ago
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mari0rdinary tagged Smog with folk, lo-fi and singer-songwriter. 7 hours ago
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ieegetc, NoiseDreamer, ParanoidPickles and 5 other people added Smog to their libraries. 14 hours ago
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Feloo tagged Smog with folk and lo-fi. Thursday afternoon
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homsar_rb wrote about Smog in Top 10 gigs of 2009. Thursday morning
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Groups (87)
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Bill Callahan
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(smog)
163 members
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Drag City
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Singer-Songwriters
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