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June 12, 2006
Smog Love, Ranging from Big to Wild, plus Videos
Been a bit dismayed about the quality of new music coming out lately (lately, in blog time, equals the past couple weeks). Outside of scattered tracks and hit or miss playlist fodder albums, it's been kind of a wash. So, when I saw a new EP from OG lo-fi balladeer Bill Callahan's Smog on the rack of my local record store, I thought maybe ol' Bill could sad away my blues. As it turns out, this wasn't really new material at all, but a single from last year's A River Ain't Too Much to Love. I sat that album out upon its release, suffering from troubadour fatigue, and figuring that one more album of sparse melancholia wasn't going to set my heart aflame. I was at least a partial sucker, because "Rock Bottom Riser" is absolutely gorgeous. A Leonard Cohen waltz, fleshed out with strings, and piano by Joanna Newsom.
Being clearly old news despite a June 13th single release date (on Drag City) , I'll sheepishly forgo the in-depth analysis. MP3 though, for the similarly clueless;
Smog - "Rock Bottom Riser"
Also included on the disc are videos for "...Riser" and the album's first single "I Feel Like the Mother of the World" (the audio version sits neatly on the 4 track EP as well). The marketing draw of the included videos is made questionable by the fact that I was able to find, watch, link, and post immediately. Evidence below;
Smog - "Rock Bottom Riser"
Whether or not this sells any singles, it's a very nice peice of work. Sloppy brushstrokes of red, black, and white, slowly form shapes and pictures, evaporating after impact. The style is too reminiscent of pop art badass Raymond Pettibon to be a coincidence, but his style is aped very successfully, and the deadpan sensibility suits Callahan's weary voice well.
Smog - "I Feel Like the Mother of the World"
The second video features current pretend polygamist Chloe Sevigny working in a hotel, facing the horrors of eye trauma, and looking sad. I like to give it a little more depth of backstory by pretending that she's still portraying Big Love's Nicki. In my scenario, a full blown power struggle with first wife Barb ends when the stormin' Mormon is eye-plucked Kill Bill style. Suffering exile in hospitality service, she reflects wistfully on what might have been.
Alternate sight loss scenarios featuring the continuing story of the Brown Bunny are not suggested. You can't blind your mind's eye, friends.
Since being current is clearly not a concern here, it gives me a good excuse to post one of my all-time favorite songs, the similarly nautical "Bathysphere" from 1995's Wild Love. One of the very few songs that wasn't improved by a Cat Power cover version, its submerged ache sounds perfect over ten years later.
Smog - "Bathysphere"
Tags: Smog, Joanna Newsom, Chloe Sevigny, Big Love, Raymond Pettibon
Posted by Jeff Klingman at June 12, 2006 04:39 AM
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