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THE THIS AND THAT ABOUT THE STUFF, ALBUMS

By K.M. Anderson

Bill Callahan – “Have Fun With God” (Drag City)

Let’s take an amazing thing like dub, then, mixed with an equally amazing thing, Bill Callahan’s last album “Dream River.” Now let’s shit on ourselves. Dub is a music that is informed by the ethereal, breaking into new dimensions. Done right, the subtle becomes epic: The psychedelia isn’t achieved by layered guitars, but rather by a finely-timed echo. It is the space between. Callahan’s music is also of a similar formula, seemingly unimportant details magnified — the opera of blank stares and chin rubs, look aways and lost stares. Last year Callahan released two dub versions (“Expanding Dub” and “Highs In the Mid 40s”), both were beautiful. I expect this album to be an extension of that beauty, and the beauty of “Dream River”.

Charles Speer and The Helix – “Doubled Exposure” (Thrill Jockey)

There is the idea of rock as the outsider’s music. A soundtrack to the wild and unknown, the place beyond the pines, exotic locales and strangle clashes of culture. Or at least that is the rock of this album, on tracks like the old style opener “Wallwalker,” reminiscent of the doo wop boogie; the same could be said of “Bootlegging Blues” — songs that wouldn’t sound out of place on the soundtrack of a Robert Rodriguez film. But there is also a song like “Cretan Lords,” a song with Spanish guitar flourishes, evoking images of dust and bandanas. “Red Clay Road” is old-time country — another chapter, another setting to get lost in, another nod to tradition. The excellence of the album is in the playing. The guitar lines are marvelous. Sometimes familiarity breeds comfort, for all that is traditional about these songs, there is the appreciation of the great rock n’ roll tradition on full display here.

SCHOOLBOY Q – “Oxymoron” (TDE)

Schoolboy Q has held the release of this album for a while, which was rumored to come out last year. However, Q held it for one main reason: Kendrick Lamar. Lamar’s imprint on hip hop was something not seen in a while. I mean Drake was big, but Lamar was important. Schoolboy Q knew that all eyes would be on this album as the next  big TDE release. Still, Schoolboy Q is a different kind of rapper. ”Collard Greens,” the first single, established that Q is more hood and druggy. But in a way, he may have more mainstream appeal, direct more than simple. I expect “Oxymoron” to be more debaucherous, but not less amazing. Schoolboy Q’s last album (“Habits and Contradictions”) was just that, but for every pussy and weed song, there were more cerebral moments, and much more rawness. Q may be the wildcard of the crew, but wild is always entertaining.

by KMAnderson