Bill Callahan & Bonnie Prince Billy - Blind Date Party (2021) [Official Digital Download]

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.

TRACKLIST

1. Bill Callahan - Blackness of the Night
2. Bill Callahan - OD'd in Denver
3. Bill Callahan - I've Made Up My Mind
4. Bill Callahan - Red Tailed Hawk
5. Bill Callahan - Wish You Were Gay
6. Bill Callahan - Our Anniversary
7. Bill Callahan - Rooftop Garden
8. Bill Callahan - Deacon Blues
9. Bill Callahan - I Love You
10. Bill Callahan - Sea Song
11. Bill Callahan - I've Been the One
12. Bill Callahan - Miracles
13. Bill Callahan - I Want to Go to the Beach
14. Bill Callahan - Night Rider's Lament
15. Bill Callahan - Arise, Therefore
16. Bill Callahan - The Night of Santiago
17. Bill Callahan - The Wild Kindness
18. Bill Callahan - Lost in Love
19. Bill Callahan - She Is My Everything



Thanks to the Original customer.