(2021) Bill Callahan & Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Blind Date Party  


Review:
During lockdown, these two titans of left-field US songcraft collaborated remotely with a vast roll call of other musicians, recording cover versions by fellow masters (Leonard Cohen, Yusuf Islam) as well as their labelmates. A smattering of reworked originals includes electrifying takes on Callahan’s ‘Our Anniversary’ and Oldham’s ‘Arise, Therefore’; the talents involved range from Cretan lute player George Xylouris to Australian guitarist Mick Turner (Dirty Three). The majority of these 19 tracks are loose online; Blind Date Party corrals them for the artefact buyer. The voices of Callahan and Oldham provide a through line in what can occasionally be unexpected stylistic forays. Least best is a version of Billie Eilish’s ‘Wish You Were Gay’: High Llama Sean O’Hagan’s flippant, tinny beats point to a grave generational misunderstanding of digital pop. But almost everything else succeeds in having revelatory fun with old favourites or hitting the listener hard– or both. There are country songs about cocaine, and a loose take on Steely Dan, the tightest of bands. A chorus of dozens contributes to a moving cover of a Silver Jews song guided by the late David Berman’s partner and bandmate Cassie Berman.





Track Listing:
1.Blackness Of the Night 03:45
2.OD'd in Denver 03:30
3.I've Made Up My Mind 04:27
4.Red-Tailed Hawk 02:40
5.Wish You Were Gay 03:54
6.Our Anniversary 05:19
7.Rooftop Garden 06:20
8.Deacon Blues 07:17
9.I Love You 06:41
10.Sea Song 07:21
11.I've Been The One 03:55
12.Miracles 04:17
13.I Want To Go To The Beach 05:34
14.Night Rider's Lament 04:59
15.Arise, Therefore 03:24
16.Night of Santiago 04:16
17.The Wild Kindness 03:32
18.Lost in Love 04:05
19.She is My Everything 04:46


Media Report:
Genre: indie-folk
Country: USA
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec, 16-bit PCM
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits