Sold Date: December 30, 2016
Start Date: June 18, 2016
Final Price: $24.49 (USD)
Seller Feedback: 75031
Buyer Feedback: 0

Hello & welcome to our eBay store. An under-recognized pioneer of the lo-fi revolution, Smog was essentially the alias of one Bill Callahan, an enigmatic singer/songwriter whose odd, fractured music neatly epitomized the tenets and excesses of the home-recording boom. Melancholy, poignant, and self-obsessed, Callahan's four-track output offered a peepshow view into an insular world of alienation and inner turmoil, his painfully intimate songs ping-ponging wildly through a scrapbook of childhood recollections, failed relationships, bizarre fetishes, and dashed hopes. Smog debuted in 1988 with the spare, primitive Macrame Gunplay, a cassette-only release issued on Callahan's own Disaster label. Cow followed in 1989, while three more tapes -- A Table Setting, Tired Tape Machine, and Sewn to the Sky -- were issued a year later. With 1991's Floating EP, Smog signed to the Chicago-based indie label Drag City, and with the move began an advancement toward more traditional songcraft. The subsequent full-length, Forgotten Foundation, was his most well-rounded effort yet, employing a stronger sense of melody while remaining true to the trademark bare-bones atmosphere. Released in 1993, the superb Julius Caesar raised the stakes considerably. Recorded with collaborators Cynthia Dall and Jim O'Rourke, the album expanded the Smog palette to include touches of cello, violin, and even banjo. At the same time, Callahan's songs were his best yet; highlighted by the touching "Chosen One" and the menacing "Your Wedding," Julius Caesar also featured "I Am Star Wars!," a hilarious rant built around a tape loop of the intro to the Stones' "Honky Tonk Women." The six-track Burning Kingdom EP appeared the following year. Issued in 1995, Wild Love continued Smog's approach toward relative sonic grandeur. Led off by the remarkable "Bathysphere" (its title a fitting metaphor for Callahan's self-absorption) and climaxed by the epic "Prince Alone in the Studio" (a virtual theme song for a solitary creative existence), the LP reflected his bitter obsessions with stunning clarity, emerging as a triumph of abject failure. After 1996's Kicking a Couple Around EP, Smog resurfaced later in the year with The Doctor Came at Dawn; Red Apple Falls followed in 1997. The peripatetic Callahan relocated to Chicago prior to the release of 1999's Knock Knock, resurfacing in the spring of 2000 with Dongs of Sevotion and the Strayed EP. 'Neath the Puke Tree followed that fall, an EP that reinvented several tracks and included a few new ones. By the next year, Callahan changed his project's name to the more intimate (Smog), drawing attention away from the "idea" of Smog and putting more emphasis on the music. The next album, Rain on Lens, followed on this path by unveiling several more reflective and sensitive tracks. A year later, the Accumulation: None singles collection arrived with five new songs and the continued use of parentheses. Classically voluble, Callahan returned with Supper in 2003. The literary, laid-back A River Ain't Too Much to Love -- which reflected Callahan's move to Austin, Texas arrived in 2005. Track Listings: 1. Palimpsest 2. Say Valley Maker 3. The Well 4. Rock Bottom Riser 5. I Feel Like the Mother of the World 6. In the Pines 7. Drinking at the Dam 8. Running the Loping 9. I'm New Here 10. Let Me See the Colts We have been providing great bargins and quality merchandise on eBay since 1999. We always strive to provide our customers with the best online shopping experience possible. We use thick cardboard mailers specially designed for shipping records. As well we provide additional padding to make sure that your record will arive to you as minty fresh as possible. On the rare ocassion that there is something wrong with your order when you receive it please do not hesitate to contact us and we will fix it right away and make sure you are fully satisfied with your purchase. This record is brand new and unplayed. Check out my other auctions for tons of great albums and save on shipping! Only $2 shipping to add any other LP to your order within the USA.

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