Accumulation: None

Operating under the guise of Smog since first surfacing in the late ’80s, Bill Callahan has specialised in a uniquely atmospheric brand of leftfield Americana. Juxtaposing blues and country rhythms with all manner of sonic witchcraft, he meditates on themes like guilt, redemption, the ambiguities of love, and pretty much everything that comes under the general heading Heavy Shit.

Accumulation: None is a compilation of his single releases to date, although it’s probably safe to say that this is one anthology that wasn’t drawn up with the Christmas market in mind. In truth, it’s an odd way in which to summarise Callahan’s career to this point, as the songs included here in no way constitute a comprehensive over-view of his best work.
However, Callahan is an extremely talented songwriter, and as such any collection of his music is likely to include more than the odd moment of genius. ‘Spanish Moss’ is the first real example of his sorcery, an acoustic lament with Callahan intoning bleakly that “Anyone else would tell you my face is dead.”

‘Cold Blooded Old Times’, perhaps Callahan’s greatest song, is included in acoustic-only demo form, rather than the full-band version. In any case, it’s a truly astonishing creation, a bittersweet recollection of familial strife, “the kind of memories that turn your bones to glass”, as Callahan rather eloquently puts it.

Although the no-fi quality of certain recordings here can grate (‘Floating’, in particular, sounds like it was captured on a domestic tape recorder, never mind a four track), Accumulation: None nonetheless offers a fascinating – if incomplete – picture of one of the US underground’s most gifted songwriters.