Smog
Sewn to the Sky
[Drag City]
Rating: 8.0
Over the years, as I've become more and more adept at picking out which CDs
from my collection to inflict on my friends, they've become more and more
adept at finding swift, comical ways to write them off as crap. Most of them
revolve around the central phrase, "You spent money on this?" But a few
specific releases have given birth to fun, pointed catchphrases. Gamelan
music has been christened "Thai pot-banging music," as has anything else with
even the slightest similarity. Any mention of Will Oldham will prompt many of
my friends to deadpan something about bleeding mules.
My friends react similarly to the works of Smog, donning a laid-back expression
and muttering about death and sex in a baritone. But I've only ventured to
expose them to his more recent, cleanly produced records. I do this because I
realize that the early efforts of Smog will earn the harshest indictment my
friends can cast upon an album: a resounding "Fozz!"
"Fozz," a dramatized version of "fuzz," best said in a heavy Eastern European
accent, is serious business. So far, only about three or four recordings have
elicited the angry squeal. The first, and the one responsible for originating
the term, was the lo-fi classic Bee Thousand. Since then, the term has
been applied mainly to such diverse albums as Pavement's Slanted and
Enchanted, the Boredoms' Super Are, and any record with Steve
Albini on guitar.
Whenever I play these guys a "fozzy" record, I'm confronted with the question
of how I can like something so badly recorded. It seems obvious to me: it's
the songs! Of course, different production techniques are highly effective in
subtly altering perceptions. Crystal-clear, wide open production can leave
you feeling larger than your body; lo-fi fozz, when used properly, can make
you shrink into your own mind, and leave you feeling trapped and
claustrophobic.
Such is the case with Sewn to the Sky, Bill Callahan's 1990 debut
full-length, freshly reissued by Drag City. The album presents Callahan as
equal parts singer/songwriter and grating noise generator. Using little more
than a guitar, a "dumpster portastudio," and his own shaky voice, Callahan
constructs what could best be described as a "wall of fozz," a dense
amalgamation of brutally strummed acoustic guitar, various types of analog
hiss, and ambiguous junkyard percussion.
Sewn to the Sky captures Callahan at a pivotal moment in his career,
experimenting with the textural explorations that define his early instrumental
work, and the compelling songwriting that would go on to become the focus of
his recording career. The record's 20 tracks run the gamut from pure guitar
noise experimentation on tracks like "Souped Up II" to fairly structured songs
like "The Weightlifter." But even the most structured tracks here are decidedly
scrappy-- guitars are slightly out of tune, blasts of hiss come from nowhere,
and Callahan's voice wavers in and out of key.
Though none of Sewn to the Sky is as refined as any of Callahan's later
recordings, there are hints at the kind of oddly humorous, well-constructed
songs that have now become the hallmark of Callahan's work. On "I Want to
Tell You About a Man," Callahan sings, "I want to tell you about a man/ You
won't see him on the MTV.../ His name is Jesus Christ/ Don't make me say it
twice."
Sewn to the Sky is by no means an easy listen; there's very little that
warrants the term "melody." At times, the album is just plain jarring. But
while not always pleasant, its strength lies in the fact that it is deeply
mood-altering. Sewn to the Sky doesn't end with your speakers-- the
dirt, the claustrophobia, the awkwardness, and the unsettling terror of the
record seem to seep out into your surroundings, leaving you shaken, disturbed,
and insecure.
The fact that Bill Callahan managed to construct such a deeply affecting record
out of chaos and noise is impressive enough, but the fact that he did so one
year before Slanted and Enchanted, and three years prior to Bee
Thousand, is nothing short of amazing. By reissuing Sewn to the Sky,
an album that can no doubt be considered a lo-fi landmark, Drag City has proven
that Bill Callahan is not only one of America's most talented songwriters; he
is also the godfather of fozz.
-Matt LeMay