It's Mumblecore, and it's back!

Actually, mumblecore refers to American indie films whose 'indieness' is mostly a matter of featuring bearded slackers mumbling into their facial fuzz, as opposed to clean-shaven white-toothed Hollywood stars. 


However, I have a huge soft spot for the equivalent in music, and it seems to be the trend of the year: Bon Iver, Deerhoof, Megafauna and co all seem to be taking The Band's hirsute template and stripping out the showmanship. I've long been a devotee of the bands this lot have followed: Will Oldham (Palace, Palace Music, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy), Bill Callahan (aka Smog and (Smog)) and Low (Mormon drug slowcore), so I'm hugely pleased that Callahan and Low have new albums (Apocalypse and C'Mon) out next month, and I can spend spring feeling melancholic. 


I also love this line from Callahan's books, Letters to Emma Bowlcut:

 "I'm not mild-mannered, but you may want to bring a book."

Here's a taster - one of Callahan's most accessible tracks from last year's Eid Ma Clack Shaw, his catchily claustrophobic 'No Dancing' and Low's 'Words'.












And if you like that but think it's all a bit pretty, try some Slint. Mmm… mathrock

Eid Ma Clack Shaw

No, I don't know what it means either though it sounds like Lallans to me, but Bill Callahan comes after Bikini Kill in my iTunes library, and that's one of the songs on his Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle album, of 2009.

I've got loads of Callahan's work - under his own name and as Smog - on vinyl, but only this latest one on CD. He's one of those singer-songwriters who'll never, ever, trouble the charts, be adapted as a ringtone or ice-cream van tune, but is cited in hushed tones by musicians and lovers of the slightly offbeat (I'm trying to avoid the term 'cult'). If you don't know him, you really need to chase down the Smog and Callahan albums. They're often twisted soul-country and always melancholic.

Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle is quite like his Smog stuff - moody, grumpy but somehow transformative (and he namechecks Mogwai too). It's miserable, mumbling and lonesome, but also insanely catchy.

I think that 'All Thoughts Are Prey To Some Beast' is nothing short of genius.



'Too Many Birds' is dedicated to Ben and Dan:



'Eid Ma Clack Shaw'



'The Wind and the Dove'

My poor abused corpse

I went swimming this morning, for the first time in over a week, a week in which I've overindulged in chocolate, alcohol and rare breeds. So as you can imagine, the session was purest torture. My stomach appeared to be trailing several yards behind the rest of me. Plus, it was all in vain, as Neal and I had to eat a cake to take away the taste of the atrocious 'vegetable' 'lasagne' served in the canteen today. Quality is hit-and-miss here; some things are delicious, others inedible. Today erred on the side of the lower order of existence.

Still, at least some fun stuff turned up in the post: The Thick of It Specials, the new Super Furry Animals album, and Bill Callahan's Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle.