Bill Callahan

Kitty Empire's best music of 2020

Our critic’s picks, from righteous old-school hip-hop via euphoric retro pop to classic American songwriting

Kitty Empire

27, Dec, 2020 @8:00 AM

The 50 best albums of 2020: the full list

Our countdown is complete, topped by a mercurial work of sprawling invention by a woman who has dug deep to survive. Taken as a whole, these choices contain drama, solace, poetry and fire, a fitting selection for a turbulent year

Ben Beaumont-Thomas and Laura Snapes

18, Dec, 2020 @8:07 AM

Bill Callahan: Gold Record review – time to join the pantheon of great American singer-songwriters

The one-time misanthrope releases an album abundant in warmth bordering on empathy

Kitty Empire

29, Aug, 2020 @1:00 PM

The 50 best albums of 2019: the full list

Our pick of the year’s finest albums brings American dreaming, teenage dynamism, heartbreak, barbed rap, impetuous indie and beautiful soundscapes

20, Dec, 2019 @9:41 AM

Bill Callahan: Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest review – a sweet and sly return

(Drag City)

Kitty Empire

16, Jun, 2019 @7:00 AM

Bill Callahan: Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest review – brilliantly sly celebration of family and the infinite

Humour and subtly shattering insights into a new life as a parent add profundity to Callahan’s expansive album

Laura Snapes

14, Jun, 2019 @9:00 AM

Bill Callahan: 'I can't die – life is too good, it can't end'

With help from his wife and Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, the artist formerly known as Smog has opened up. He’s even talking to his neighbours, he says

Laura Snapes

13, Jun, 2019 @11:49 AM

50 great tracks for June from Jarvis Cocker, Lady Lykez, Employed to Serve and more

From Sleater-Kinney’s return to TisaKorean’s goofy rap, here are 50 new tracks to check out this month

Ben Beaumont-Thomas and Laura Snapes

03, Jun, 2019 @10:40 AM

End of the Road review – irony versus revolution in majestic musical battle

Father John Misty’s show-stealing stagecraft crowned a brilliantly curated weekend of rock-adjacent acts – from Parquet Courts’ prickly postpunk to Slowdive’s shoegaze – under Dorset’s starry skies

Jazz Monroe

04, Sep, 2017 @1:28 PM

Bill Callahan review – intense, spellbinding singer at his deadpan best

Singer-songwriter’s pared-back blues makes a ferocious impact in show that celebrates his classics and dry sense of humour

Pádraig Collins

03, Jun, 2017 @2:13 AM

Bill Callahan review – from cult figure to force of nature

The hypnotic singer-songwriter formerly known as Smog strips his mainly old songs back to their bare bones

Kitty Empire

07, May, 2017 @7:00 AM

‘There’s a hunger for the next frontier’: the new cosmic Americana

Five decades since Gram Parsons pioneered an alternative strand of experimental Americana, the genre is thriving with a new generation of artists such as Steve Gunn and William Tyler inspired by its loose spirit

Laura Snapes

28, Jul, 2016 @2:50 PM