River Ain't Too Much to Love [Import]

Product Description
The first SMOG release in two years, 'A River Ain't Too Much To Love' follows 2003's much-loved 'SUPPER'. 'A River Ain't Too Much To Love' was recorded at WILLIE NELSON's Perdernale's studio in Spicewood, Texas. THE DIRTY THREE's JIM WHITE drums up a quiet storm. 'A River Ain't Too Much To Love' is the 12th Smog record. The River must roll on. The Valley must split. The pine must tower. And the River must be damned by Man. There is a feeling these songs give you that you haven't had since the days when music was your impetus. 'A River Ain't Too Much To Love' is as raw and direct as a SUN SESSION and as warm and assured as the early seventies. Magestic, monolithic and agile at the same time, this is an album not of lost wandering but of determined migration. The natural urge that was buried in Humankind once the Pines were felled and the Rivers damned. The shadow of the tall man hangs over this record. 'A River Ain't Too Much To Love' is both part and departure of the Great American Musical experience.

River Ain't Too Much to Love,Smog,Rock/Pop

Average customer rating: A beautiful album, best listened to in the dark, with the a/c broken Buy this album. Hey, this is like Sparklehorse. BUT GOOD! river deep When I Grow Up I Want to Be Like Smog

A River Ain't Too Much to Love Smog Manufacturer: Drag City ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Lo-Fi | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Singer-Songwriters | Pop | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Folk Rock | Rock | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Alternative Folk | Contemporary Folk | Folk | Styles | Music Similar Items: Ys Woke on a Whaleheart Superwolf The Letting Go Master and Everyone ASIN: B0009ESSI8 Release Date: 2005-05-31

Tracks:

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

Amazon.com

Bill Callahan is one of a number of performers who present their work under the banner of a band name. It's generally just him, other times with various cohorts along. This set is given added punch and sparkle by the quietly incessant rhythms of drummer Jim White (his rolling foundation for "The Well" sounds like a cowboy gallop across the prairie). Also, it's great to hear acoustic guitars being utilized for music not tied to just folk traditions. Callahan's songs are slices of Americana at its finest--from the Yankee transcendentalism of New England forefathers to the sweep of westward expansion and the chokehold of loss and longing. The first song's opening words are "winter weather" and the closing number's final phrase is "thinking of the future." In between lies just about anything you need. --David Greenberger

Customer Reviews:

A beautiful album, best listened to in the dark, with the a/c broken.......2007-06-13

Bill Callahan moves to Austin, Texas, sets up in Willie Nelson's studio, and churns out this finger-picked masterpiece. His baritone poems go down smooth like a cool glass of iced tea. This music is the landscape of my memory. Buy it, love it.

Buy this album........2006-09-08

I love Smog. Smog is original to himself and has a sort of unpretentious tenderness that only he can get away with. His voice is different and even when being simple he is complex. makes you feel the isolation and tenderness of life. life. generally speaking. starts off with palimpsest- a song that makes you feel like we do understand eachother. " why is everybody looking at me like there's something fundamentally wrong. like I'm a southern bird, that went north to long. with winter exposes the nests and I'm gone." not to make this review into some piece to listen the emotions of this album. But I feel like Smog expresses something that no one else can. Using simple melodies Smog can still keep a song interesting. unique voice. touches a dark warm spot. sult innocent introspection. rock bottom riser, rock bottom riser, and say valley maker best songs. a humanship that we understand when we search. lively humbleness and realization. raw yet together thoughts, like someone self assured is speaking from the heart. in touch with nature album. truly amazing.

Hey, this is like Sparklehorse. BUT GOOD!.......2006-07-05

Heard one of Smog's tracks on a free magazine disc years ago, and without the tracklisting have been hunting like an obsessive since for the artist. When I found out who it was I bought a couple of albums at random (never a good way to do things, I know). However I was pleasantly surprised. Callahan delivers his stoner lyrics with ease and is perfectly accompanied by simple melodies. 'The Well' is a fantastic example from this album - addictive and in the same vein as Peter Hamell's music (listen to it and then put on 'Uncle Morris').

If you want a good album to relax and unwind on a summer evening, you couldn't do much better than this.

river deep.......2006-05-15

'a river ain't too much' is the kind of album that creeps up on you. At first it seems that there's not much to it. Simple strummed guitar parts, dead pan delivery, the mood is low key, rather than lo fi. After a few plays this changes and you realize this is the closest you'll get to johnny cash now he's no longer with us. The songs feel personal and revealing. And though the overall mood is some what melancholic, there's no little humor there too....

When I Grow Up I Want to Be Like Smog.......2006-04-18

The world is not large enough for this record. Genius.

Average customer rating: Can't love "River"

River Ain't Too Much to Love ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Rock | Imports | Stores | Music ASIN: B000A2H4RU Release Date: 2005-06-28

Album Description

The first SMOG release in two years, 'A River Ain't Too Much To Love' follows 2003's much-loved 'SUPPER'. 'A River Ain't Too Much To Love' was recorded at WILLIE NELSON's Perdernale's studio in Spicewood, Texas. THE DIRTY THREE's JIM WHITE drums up a quiet storm. 'A River Ain't Too Much To Love' is the 12th Smog record. The River must roll on. The Valley must split. The pine must tower. And the River must be damned by Man. There is a feeling these songs give you that you haven't had since the days when music was your impetus. 'A River Ain't Too Much To Love' is as raw and direct as a SUN SESSION and as warm and assured as the early seventies. Magestic, monolithic and agile at the same time, this is an album not of lost wandering but of determined migration. The natural urge that was buried in Humankind once the Pines were felled and the Rivers damned. The shadow of the tall man hangs over this record. 'A River Ain't Too Much To Love' is both part and departure of the Great American Musical experience.

Customer Reviews:

Can't love "River".......2005-09-16

It only takes a minute for "A River Ain't Much To Love" to start rubbing me the wrong way. That's about the point when Bill Callahan starts singing.

I'm all for lo-fi music, and I can stomach what is loosely called "Americana." But Callahan's band Smog is one that doesn't click with me; he sounds too much like a heavily tranquilized Daniel Johnston, minus the rough edges, quirky vocals and endearing folkpop melodies.

"Palimpsest" starts things off on a bad note. A sparse guitar melody, almost ambient in its quiet simplicity, is jarringly interrupted by Callahan letting rip with a bunch of cliches about "winter weather" not being his soul. Follow up with cryptic season metaphors, and laments about folky loneliness: "Like I'm a southern bird that stayed north too long/winter exposes the nests/and I'm gone."

Callahan sticks to that sound for the remaining songs, though he breaks from the minimalist guitarpop in "The Well" and "I Feel Like the Mother of the World." There, we get some driving alt-rock that you can imagine in the soundtrack of an old western, after the bad guys have been duly shot down. But even those songs can't disguise the vocal flaws here.

And really, that is probably what bugs me the most about the latest Smog album: Callahan's voice. It's rough, dusty, gruff and unpolished. In fact, it's so rough and dusty that it's unpleasant to listen to in many places. Lines like "Diving! Diving! Diving! Into the murk..." jerks unceremoniously from the music itself. Heck, he doesn't even sing most of the time -- and when the frontman's speaking voice is not good, it's time to find a new vocalist.

Fortunately, he isn't as bad at creating the music itself. The guitar melodies are spare and strangely pretty, and even a bit eerie at times. Callahan even breaks away from alt-rock long enough to turn out the lush "Drinking At The Dam," a slow, sweet song layered with angelic vocals and some distant strings.

Some pretty minimal melodies make up Smog's "A River Ain't Too Much To Love," and it's easy to love the li'l ditties. But Callahan's gritty voice rips up the slow, sweet feel.

Average customer rating:

A River Ain't Too Much to Love Smog Manufacturer: Pony Canyon ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Lo-Fi | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Singer-Songwriters | Pop | Styles | Music Folk Rock | Rock | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Alternative Folk | Contemporary Folk | Folk | Styles | Music Alternative Rock | Imports | Stores | Music ASIN: B00092QT22 Release Date: 2005-06-13

Tracks:

1. Palimpsest
2. Say Valley Maker
3. 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

Amazon.com

Bill Callahan is one of a number of performers who present their work under the banner of a band name. Generally, the "band" is just him, other times it includes various cohorts. This set is given added punch and sparkle by the quietly incessant rhythms of drummer Jim White (his rolling foundation for "The Well" sounds like a cowboy gallop across the prairie). Also, it's great to hear acoustic guitars being utilized for music not tied to just folk traditions. Callahan's songs are slices of Americana at its finest -- from the Yankee transcendentalism of New England forefathers to the sweep of westward expansion and the chokehold of loss and longing. The first song's opening words are "winter weather" and the closing number's final phrase is "thinking of the future." In between lies just about anything you need. --David Greenberger

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