Jon stewart apocalypse cow code#

Jon stewart apocalypse cow code#

It sounds like some mysterious metaphysical code until you realise itвЂ™s simply the albumвЂ™s title and catalogue number. The last words sung on this record are вЂњ apocalypse DC450вЂќ. Both songs recall Van Morrison at his most enraptured. The drover returns here, without his cattle and facing his own Armageddon, a вЂњballet of the heartвЂќ. вЂњOne Fine MorningвЂќ runs it a close second, a two chord meditation graced by Jonathan MelburgвЂ™s crystalline piano fills. Riddled with loss, it offers as recompense a stately descending melody and aching guitars. The gentlest, most beautiful song on Apocalypse is вЂњRiding For The FeelingвЂќ. вЂњ Universal ApplicantвЂќ, similarly in thrall to early вЂ™70s jazz-fusion, is a less successful high-wire act, stranded as it is on the very thinnest of melody lines. Scott-HeronвЂ™s influence is also evident on вЂњFreeвЂ™sвЂќ, a gorgeous, jazzy declaration of independence with fluttering flute and perky whistling. ItвЂ™s a cartoon nightmare a song in high fever. Later, over strafing fuzz-guitar lines, the mood darkens as Afghanistan, Vietnam and Iran hove into view. It begins with the singer in Australia pining for home, before he enlists a battalion of country singers: вЂњ Captain Kristofferson Buck Sergeant Newbury, Leatherneck JonesвЂ¦ Sergeant CashвЂќ. A funky stomp which takes the meaty pulse of WhaleheartвЂ™s вЂњDiamond DancerвЂќ and adds nitro-glycerine, вЂњAmerica!вЂќ is the one song on Apocalypse where CallahanвЂ™s trademark mordant humour spills out. On вЂњAmerica!вЂќ he channels Gil Scott-Heron.

That blank baritone remains the anchor point for his drifting vision, at times echoing the eccentric, half-spoken intonation of Willie Nelson, at others falling into rapturous repetition like an old bluesman. As he sings of sacrifices вЂњatop the altarвЂќ and вЂњreaping what you sowвЂќ, his voice maps the hypnotic guitar line in a manner that recalls John Lee Hooker. Employed in the unlikely task of gardening, Callahan discovers a world of darkness amid the weeds and flowers. While its chorus is lifted by Gordon ButlerвЂ™s sublime fiddle, вЂњBabyвЂ™s BreathвЂќ offers no such levity. Its lowering acoustic minor chords recall REMвЂ™s вЂњDriveвЂќ and Stan JonesвЂ™ 1948 country classic вЂњ (Ghost) Riders In The SkyвЂќ, feedback and distortion lurking in its shadows. вЂњDroverвЂќ fizzes with portent, the drums like whip cracks. What exactly this entails isnвЂ™t clear, but вЂњDroverвЂќвЂ™s chorus line вЂ“ вЂњOne thing about this wild, wild country, it breaks a strong, strong mindвЂќ вЂ“ introduces a theme of sorts: a man alone among the elements, casting his mind back to moments of personal epiphany. The cattle-driver of the opening вЂњDroverвЂќ returns in the epic closing track, вЂњ One Fine MorningвЂќ, having been through вЂњmy apocalypseвЂќ. This is a seven track quasi-concept album. Listening to parts of Apocalypse, you occasionally find yourself holding your breath lest the whole thing falls apart.

Callahan has always possessed a gift for sounding as though the thought he is singing has only just entered his head. Several songs are defined by tangents and sidesteps almost nothing happens twice. At others itвЂ™s almost throwaway.Д¬allahan describes Apocalypse as an Expressionist record. At times itвЂ™s as emotionally intense as anything he has done.

The beauty here is rougher, meaner, darker. The arrangements on вЂ¦Eagle in particular were graceful things, underpinned with strings and horns, while the songs were focused and structured.ДЄpocalypse, CallahanвЂ™s 14th studio album, is an altogether looser proposition on which the conventional dynamics of вЂ¦Eagle highlights like вЂњToo Many BirdsвЂќ are mostly absent. After almost two decades working as Smog, moving from scratchy lo-fi to Will Oldham-style country gothic, the first records released under his own name, Woke On A Whaleheart (2007) and Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle (2009) seemed to ascend into the light. Last year Bill Callahan described his two most recent albums to Uncut as вЂњsturdyвЂќ and вЂњdirectвЂќ.