User ratings in Music are temporarily disabled. More info

Dream River
by
Dream River Image
Metascore
84

Universal acclaim - based on 33 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
8.2

Universal acclaim- based on 23 Ratings

  • Summary: The singer-songwriter's fourth studio release under his real name [he previously recorded under the name Smog] was recorded in Austin Texas.
Buy Now
Buy on

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 29 out of 33
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 33
  3. Negative: 0 out of 33
  1. Mojo
    Sep 19, 2013
    100
    Dream River may be Callahan's most beguiling album yet. [Oct 2013, p.89]
    All this publication's reviews
  2. Exclaim
    Sep 18, 2013
    90
    Dream River is required reading, without a doubt.
  3. Filter
    Sep 16, 2013
    86
    In a world that increasingly rewards short attention spans and encourages distractions, Callahan’s music is well worth taking the time to patiently absorb.
  4. New Musical Express (NME)
    Sep 16, 2013
    80
    Of late he’s adopted a sweeter, eddying Americana, and Dream River takes a turn to lush country-soul.
  5. Clash Music
    Sep 19, 2013
    80
    Here, we hear hints of funk, jazz, Americana and folk--and before you know it, the album’s ingrained itself.
  6. Austin Chronicle
    Sep 26, 2013
    78
    Callahan's search for meaning becomes fully realized when he's finally connected to another.
  7. Under The Radar
    Sep 11, 2013
    50
    While the songs on Dream River aren't what anyone would consider pedestrian, they don't feel particularly daring or weighty. [Aug-Sep 2013, p.87]
    All this publication's reviews

See all 33 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 4
  3. Negative: 0 out of 4
  1. mrpumpy
    Sep 20, 2013
    10
    Bill Callahan has taken the resolve and directness displayed so deftly on My Apocalypse and honed it by an unimaginable degree. Having been aBill Callahan has taken the resolve and directness displayed so deftly on My Apocalypse and honed it by an unimaginable degree. Having been a fan from the SMOG days, I have to say this may be the most substantial statement I have heard from this speaker of stark truths. In addition, the music is sublime.… Expand
  2. Kas
    Sep 20, 2013
    9
    "Dream River" feels like a fulfillment of 2011's "Apocalypse," in both sound and sentiment. The introversion and existentialism of"Dream River" feels like a fulfillment of 2011's "Apocalypse," in both sound and sentiment. The introversion and existentialism of "Apocalypse" has resolved into contentment and personal outreach, and its backing musicians return sounding fuller and more vibrant. "Javelin Unlanding" quivers with energy, setting the flutes of "Apocalypse" amidst echoing vocals and galloping hand percussion. Guitarist Matt Kinsey brings melodic life Callahan's words, rising to a distorted climax during the sexual pleas of "Spring" and evoking an approaching storm midway through "Summer Painter." Bill's own emergence may start tentatively he's come out from reckoning with his demo tapes on the hotel bed from "Riding for the Feeling" to seek company in the lobby bar on "The Sing," only to find (in true Callahan fashion) all of its patrons asleep. Yet by "Small Plane" he is sharing the controls with a partner and lifting off the ground with ease, as fingerpicked electric guitars update the contemplative drift of "Riding." Yet it's slide-guitar lead that hearkens back furthest, to 1997's "To Be of Use", a context that lends his closing observation "I really am a lucky man" a feeling of hard-won reward. Though its range-y sound and dream-logic structure may put it behind 2009's "Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle" in terms of memorable songs, it's the way "Dream River" progresses so gracefully from the quietly brilliant "Apocalypse" that earns its stature among his best work.… Expand
  4. adhamhany
    Sep 20, 2013
    9
    This is a really terrific album. I put on my headphones and started listening to it while taking care of some stuff on my PC. Then i heard theThis is a really terrific album. I put on my headphones and started listening to it while taking care of some stuff on my PC. Then i heard the second track (Javelin Unlanding), and it really caught my attention. After that, i completely dropped what i was doing and enjoyed this great work from this great man. This is an album best heard while sitting back and unwinding. Beautiful and subtle lyrics, mesmerizing music that provides the right complement to Bill Callahan's vocals. His voice is great as well. This is the first time i listen to his work, but i will definitely check out his discography as soon as i can.… Collapse
  5. catcarlo
    Mar 7, 2014
    9
    Dopo una certa frequentazione ai tempi degli Smog, avevo perso i contatti con Bill Callahan e, al termine di numerosi ascolti di questoDopo una certa frequentazione ai tempi degli Smog, avevo perso i contatti con Bill Callahan e, al termine di numerosi ascolti di questo brumoso dischetto, direi che non è stata una mossa saggia. Ho ritrovato una voce ancor più bassa e affascinante nonchè, soprattutto, un autore che ha affinato l’arte del togliere, costruendo le sue canzoni su pochi suoni essenziali (in ‘Dream river’ la batteria è assente, solo percussioni discrete e spazzole a cura di Thor Harris) e su testi che procedono per immagini che scaturiscono fulminee da frasi semplici nella forma, ma evocative nella sostanza. Da simili premesse, è facile intuire che queste otto canzoni non possono essere particolarmente allegre, del resto in linea con il resto dell’opera del loro autore: su tutto il disco si spande una crepuscolare luce d‘autunno, però, più che alle angosce esistenziali, l’atteggiamento complessivo fa pensare a un pacato racconto accanto al camino. Questa rilassatezza, contrappuntata qua e là da una certa ironia – già a partire dal tizio della prima canzone, quello che guarda da una finestra che non c’è e che in una giornata ha detto solo ‘birra’ e ‘grazie’, ma l’ha ripetuto un bel po’ di volte – fa sì che l’ascoltatore si faccia avvolgere volentieri dall’atmosfera, anche perché Callahan, sul canovaccio del cantautorato introspettivo, sa introdurre con abilità spunti diversi. Può succedere all’interno dello stesso brano – basti pensare al treno che ‘appare’ per un attimo ancora nell’iniziale ‘The sing’ interrompendone la dolcezza folk guidata dal violino (Chojo Jacques) – e di certo tra una canzone e l’altra: se ‘Small plane’ è una bella ballata acustica, l’elettrica guida sia ‘Javelin unlanding’, sia ‘Spring’ che, entrambe forti anche del prezioso flauto di Beth Galiger, procedono su un ritmo più serrato e con la seconda che prima evoca scenari desertici e poi si alza di tono tra piano e chitarra che si distorce. Un po’ quello che accade alla complessa ‘Summer painter’, dove, per oltre sei minuti, le contorsioni della sei corde e il flauto dialogano alternandosi a un cantato più ansiogeno, in una struttura analoga ma maggiormente ispida di quella presente in ‘Ride my arrow’. Quasi che si fosse accorto che, a questo punto, i toni si sono scuriti un po’ troppo, Callahan inserisce i tocchi tra jazz e tango di ‘Seagull’, che finisce così per richiamare le sonorità di un altro grande baritono come Leonard Cohen, per poi chiudere il cerchio con la fascinosa ‘Winter song’ in cui ritroviamo fiddle e accompagnamento alla chitarra acustica. Trattandosi di canzoni abbastanza rarefatte, anche i compagni di viaggio di Bill sono pochi e, oltre a quelli già citati, si segnalano il basso di Jaime Zuverza e, in special modo, la chitarra di Matt Kinsey che contribuisce a dare la definitiva coloritura a molte canzoni: canzoni che hanno colori pastosi e non definiti come il paesaggio montano del dipinto di Paul Ryan in copertina, ma che, allo stesso modo di quello, catturano subito l’attenzione e sanno davvero farsi ricordare.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

48
#48 Best Album of 2013

Current Music Releases

Full List »
99 Band on the Run [50th Anniversary Edition] - Paul McCartney & Wings
95 The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow - Charles Lloyd
92 This Could Be Texas - English Teacher
92 COWBOY CARTER - Beyoncé
91 The Carnegie Hall Concert - Alice Coltrane
90 THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT - Taylor Swift
90 1989 (Taylor's Version) - Taylor Swift
90 Iechyd Da - Bill Ryder-Jones
89 I Got Heaven - Mannequin Pussy
89 Black Bayou - Robert Finley
89 Tigers Blood - Waxahatchee
89 Only God Was Above Us - Vampire Weekend
88 Ozarker - Israel Nash
88 What Now - Brittany Howard
88 Hey Panda - The High Llamas
88 Orquídeas - Kali Uchis
88 The Past Is Still Alive - Hurray for the Riff Raff
87 Filthy Underneath - Nadine Shah
87 i/o - Peter Gabriel
87 Lahai - Sampha
All Current Music »