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Apocalypse
 
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Apocalypse

Bill CallahanMP3 Music
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)

Price: $8.99
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  • Original Release Date: April 5, 2011
  • Format - Music: MP3
  • Compatible with MP3 Players (including with iPod®), iTunes, Windows Media Player
 
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  Song Title Time Price  
Play   1. Drover 5:24 $0.99  Buy MP3 
Play   2. Baby's Breath 5:30 $0.99  Buy MP3 
Play   3. America! 5:33 $0.99  Buy MP3 
Play   4. Universal Applicant 5:53 $0.99  Buy MP3 
Play   5. Riding For The Feeling 6:05 $0.99  Buy MP3 
Play   6. Free's 3:13 $0.99  Buy MP3 
Play   7. One Fine Morning 8:46 Album Only
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Customer Reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
(11)
4.5 out of 5 stars
Simple, haunting, powerful, subtly brilliant. Charlie Quaker  |  2 reviewers made a similar statement
This record is absolutely marvelous! SLS  |  2 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Strange beauty April 5, 2011
Format:Audio CD
In some ways "Apocalypse" is less accessible than a few of his other
albums. For most parts it's a stripped down affair, it's occasionally
distorted, and the arrangements are not as gorgeous as those on his
last release "Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle" or "A River Ain't
Much To Love", but after a few listens it grows on you, and I think
this holds togheter really well as an album.

A couple of the songs are jazzier than anything he has done before,
for instance "Universal Applicant" and "Bee's", with the flute parts.
Others have those surprising and unusual transitions that Callahan
handles so well; a small change of tempo, an unexpected twist,
a sigh, a whisper,"a couple of hoots, a hello and a f##k all y'all"!
He is one of very few artists that can make something quiet hit
hard, and make sparse arrangements sound like a full orchestra.

"Drover" is one of the standouts, it's the sound of the west
with an acoustic strum and climbing strings. This is a terrain
Calexico has visited a few times, but the prairie has never felt
this close. Nature, as on many of his greatest albums and songs,
is a felt presence on "Apocalypse"; rivers, deserts, horses,
cattle, valleys and mountains.
And as usual he delivers some incredibly clever and funny one
liners, among the grievous parts and the poetry.

The album closer, "One Fine Morning", is a STUNNING song.
One of the most hypnotic and beautiful things he has done.
Togheter with "Baby's Breath", "Riding For The Feeling", "America!
... Read more ›
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
For the last decade, like clockwork, singer/songwriter Bill "Smog" Callahan has released a new studio record every two years. Over the decade prior to that he released, on average, about one studio record per year. Now quite deep into his run, the still-young 44 year old musician has issued one of his most complete works yet, the seven-song, 40-minute Apocalypse, his first batch of new songs since 2009's excellent Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle. It's mature, fully realized and unique records like this that make artists like Callahan shine above others as a true man of his time.

As you'd expect by now, the dark humor, startling wit and jaw-dropping poetic grace is all once again present, adding to the argument that Callahan (along with, in this writer's opinion, Will Oldham and the late Elliott Smith) is one of the three or four best songwriters of his time. And when I say songwriters, I'm mostly talking about lyrics here, as many of Callahan's songs, when simply put on paper and studied, read through as well as anyone ever - Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Townes Van Zandt, John Lennon, etc. Like Oldham, Callahan is fairly weird dude hidden inside the guise of a dusty Southern throwback. His fatherly voice holding his eccentric songs together like duct tape, falling out of your speakers like the voice of some humble, riddle-teasing God. The voice of a seemingly introverted man, living deep in his own head, spilling bits and pieces of American life that take weeks - sometimes years - to decode. Sojourner cuts, I call 'em.

As always, the voice is deep and sprinkled with a kind of nuanced emotion that can at times really pack a punch.
... Read more ›
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars It's all Callahan. April 22, 2011
Format:Audio CD
A new Bill Callahan record is always an event as far as I'm concerned, even though I've yet to pick up his vinyl only live release from last year. After one listen, I felt 'Apocalypse' didn't really feel as personal as 2009's 'Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle' (for Bill or myself). But by about the forth spin, I think I may now like it even more. The line has always been blurred between what Bill releases as "solo" compared to what he released with his "band", but without question his solo stuff in general after packing up Smog has always been more cheery. It's still all Callahan after all. Of course if you're a fan, it's a must pick up, offering another seven tracks of sublime vocals/lyrics ("I'm a helpless man. So help me") and melancholy. Non-fans would be better to pick up 'Eagle' (or any Smog record) as a starting point over this one though probably.

At first it feels slightly short despite clocking in at a healthy 40 minutes, but songs like `Drover', `Baby's Breath' and `Riding for the Feeling' are worth the price of admission alone however. 'America!' is a fun quirky effort that reminds me of earlier Smog in some ways. But while there is nothing on there like `All Thoughts are Prey to Some Beast' or much of what made his last effort so special, 'Apocalpyse' remains an excellent release for the man.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Masterpiece October 24, 2012
Format:Audio CD
Why isn't Bill Callaghan more famous? This is an amazing record by an artist at the height of his powers. The vinyl recording is pretty amazing too. Recommended
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars Title says it all. October 18, 2011
Format:Audio CD
I only recently discovered Bill Callahan, and bought his 2009 album "I Wish We Were an Eagle", which I thought was excellent and original, with memorable melodies, great arrangements, thoughtful lyrics. I've just listened to the new album, Apocalypse, and am severely disappointed. What happened? This album is a complete discordant downer that never seems to take off or go anywhere. To me it is a failure. I see that most of the other reviewers like it, and I respect their views, but this album does not work for me at all. I felt energy and spirit draining out of me as I listened to it. My experience was just the opposite with the previous album. I know we live in dark times but this album lacks balance and has a tossed off quality to it that makes me think the people involved didn't work very hard on it. I don't like to post negative reviews as a rule, because I know many musical artists are struggling to make it, but I really can't hold back on this one. It seems like such a step down from the previous work.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars The 'Smog' is lifted. (LP)
I admit, I'm a recent convert to Smog/Bill Callahan. If you're like me and audition music on this site before buying, you'll like the promise of this lp. Read more
Published 2 months ago by SLS
4.0 out of 5 stars Great voice
I first heard Bill Callahan on a very large SXSW artist compilation, a song called In Hindsight, and after hearing that song several times I felt compelled to find more and was not... Read more
Published 16 months ago by nozama
5.0 out of 5 stars edgy, strange & disturbing folk/Americana
4th album under his own name from former leader of Smog--softly sparse but edgy, quietly
strange & oddly disturbing folk/Americana, where Callahan's uniquely compelling... Read more
Published 20 months ago by Charlie Quaker
5.0 out of 5 stars A look behind the veil......
Where have I been?
Too much Bach? Too much Dylan?
I just learned of Bill Callahan thru a recent NPR interview with him about Apocalypse; I order it from Amazon. Read more
Published 22 months ago by videoman
4.0 out of 5 stars Harder than previous albums
I'm listening in loop the latest album of Bill Callahan, and was a big fan of Smog before. One reviewer mentioned it was a harder album than the previous ones, and it's true... Read more
Published 24 months ago by Luc Renambot
5.0 out of 5 stars The American Gothic?
This album is my first exposure to Bill Callahan and his music, and I was totally mesmerised. You can literally hear the wind coming across the plains as he sings, and I'm... Read more
Published on May 28, 2011 by Julius Oosthuizen
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