Julius Caesar

Smog: Bill Callahan (vocals, guitar, keyboards, percussion, samples).
Additional personnel: Kim Osterwalder (cello).
On JULIUS CAESAR, Bill Callahan (aka Smog) comes off as the ultimate alienated bedroom songpoet, earning the lo-fi crown by operating as a virtual one-man show. His guitar and keyboard skills are rudimentary, but his sense of songcraft is strong enough make these low-rent letters from the underground work as twisted pop songs. The strange sonic experimentation of "I Am Star Wars" betrays a self-mocking sense of humor, but CAESAR largely consists of dark expressions of disillusion and disaffection. The sparseness of the writing helps Callahan hone in on the most disturbing details of his stark scenarios, like the Taxi Driver-esque isolation of the character in "37 Push Ups" or the alcohol-fueled rage of "Your Wedding."