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...and just getting better and better all the time, even.

I saw Smog at the Old Town School of Folk Music. They have a round analog clock sitting on the front of the stage so the musicians can check their set times.

Bill Callahan comes out and picks up the clock and holds it up to the audience and says into the mic,

"Public Enemy played here last night."

That was the first of a long list of not crap things he did that night.

By the way, the Old Town School auditorium sounds great, and emphasizes the not-crappiness of not-crap musicians.

...

run joe, run wrote:

stackmatic wrote:About as Non-Crap as you can get.

What he said.

what they said

Not Crap, purely on "Red Apple Falls" alone. I think pretty much everything he has done (minus "Rain on Lens") has been anywhere from really good to great.

-Jeremy

(not crap)

I've been enjoying Supper lately, although it really disappointed me on first listen. Now I like it quite a bit.

I wish he would work with O'Rourke again. That was a good team I thought.

Well, the new Smog had to sit with me for a bit. Just like any of his records, I suppose. As per usual, we get brilliant lyrics like:

Met a woman in a bar/told her I was a hard man to get to know/but near impossible to forget/she said I had an ego on me/the size of Texas

mattw wrote:the new Smog

Isn't it beautiful? I've been wandering around all day with Rock Bottom Riser endlessly cycling round on my internal jukebox, just can't get it out of my head.

I chuckled out loud when his voice does that little skip when he sings 'I will geyser' on Say Valley Maker.

And yes, so, so many wonderful lines.

cjh wrote:
I chuckled out loud when his voice does that little skip when he sings 'I will geyser' on Say Valley Maker.

Ha ha! I did as well...'geysssuuur!' I'd encourage even the casual Smog fan to buy it just for this.

My only letdown with the album was 'I'm New Here'. When Bill played it live, about halfway through the song Jim White and the bassist kicked in with a cool little groove, which is not on the album, unfortunately.

Bill did a reading of some of his writings last year in Chicago. He was very very straight-faced delivering dry wit gag after dry wit gag. It was hilarious...almost a standup comedy act. And just when you think it is all laughs, he hits you right in the chest with very reveling emotion and insight that cuts right through you. Truly a man who is very thoughtful, purposeful, and able with his words.