Wikipedia

Ytilaer

Ytilaer (stylized as YTI⅃AƎЯ) is a studio album by American musician Bill Callahan, released on October 14, 2022, by Drag City.[4] It is the eighth solo studio album released under Callahan's own name, and his nineteenth overall when including LPs released as Smog.

Ytilaer
Studio album by
Bill Callahan
ReleasedOctober 14, 2022
RecordedDecember 2021–January 2022[1]
StudioArlyn Studios (Austin, Texas)[1]
Estuary Recording (Austin, Texas)[1]
Length62:07
LabelDrag City
Bill Callahan chronology
Blind Date Party
(2021) 		Ytilaer
(2022)
Singles from Ytilaer
  1. "Coyotes"
    Released: September 12, 2022[2]
  2. "Natural Information"
    Released: September 26, 2022[3]

Recording

edit

The album was recorded by Mark Nevers at Arlyn Studios in Austin, Texas in January 2022. "Drainface", however, was recorded by Cooper Crain at Estuary Recording in Austin in December 2021. The album was mixed by Mark Nevers at Wire Recording in Austin in April 2022.[1]

Album title

edit

Regarding the album's backwards title, Callahan noted, "a few years ago I was doing some drawing and very casually wrote reality backwards – just like you see on the album – and I thought that could be something someday. It was when I made this record I realised it was the perfect time to use it."[5]

Critical reception

edit
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?8.1/10[6]
Metacritic87/100[7]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [8]
Financial Times     [9]
The Guardian     [10]
Mojo     [11]
musicOMH     [12]
The Observer     [13]
Pitchfork7.8/10[14]
The Skinny     [15]
Sputnikmusic4.2/5[16]
Uncut8/10[17]

Ytilaer has received acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 87, based on 15 reviews.[7] Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 8.1 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.[6]

Andrew Perry of Mojo gave the album a perfect 5-star rating, deeming it an "outright classic".[11] Concluding the review for AllMusic, Heather Phares claimed that, "Along with delivering the abundance of colors, moods, and first-rate songwriting expected from a Bill Callahan album, Ytilaer is more exciting and engaging than his music has been in some time. This is how an expert singer/songwriter captures the tenor of the moment: with songs of timeless quality."[8] Joshua Pickard of Beats Per Minute wrote, "Ytilaer finds Callahan at his most personally enigmatic, taking inspiration from his own life and filtering those experiences through a prism of modern folktales. He offers us all the most enticing details but manages to keep it wonderfully vague at the same time, a treasure trove of musical obscurantism."[18]

Track listing

edit

All tracks are written by Bill Callahan, except where noted

Ytilaer track listing
No.TitleLength
1."First Bird"5:01
2."Everyway"5:32
3."Bowevil" (Traditional)3:59
4."Partition"6:03
5."Lily"5:14
6."Naked Souls"6:26
7."Coyotes"6:27
8."Drainface"4:07
9."Natural Information"5:33
10."The Horse"3:32
11."Planets"6:11
12."Last One at the Party"4:02
Total length:62:07

Personnel

edit

Charts

edit
Chart performance for Ytilaer
Chart (2022–2023) Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[19] 99
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[20] 64
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[21] 80

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d YTI⅃AƎЯ (liner notes). Bill Callahan. Drag City. 2022. DC859.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  2. ^ Minsker, Evan (September 12, 2022). "Bill Callahan Shares New Song "Coyotes": Listen". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 19, 2022.
  3. ^ Minsker, Evan (September 26, 2022). "Bill Callahan Shares New Song "Natural Information": Listen". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 19, 2022.
  4. ^ DeVille, Chris (October 14, 2022). "Stream Bill Callahan's New Album YTI⅃AƎЯ". Stereogum. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
  5. ^ Roeback, Ian (October 19, 2022). "Stay Vigilant: The Mars Volta Interviewed". The Quietus. Retrieved October 19, 2022.
  6. ^ a b "YTILAER by Bill Callahan reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  7. ^ a b "YTILAER by Bill Callahan Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  8. ^ a b Phares, Heather (October 14, 2022). "Bill Callahan – Ytilaer Album Reviews, Songs & More". AllMusic. Retrieved November 18, 2022.
  9. ^ Hunter-Tilney, Ludovic (October 14, 2022). "Bill Callahan fights against the algorithm with new album YTILAER — review". Financial Times. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
  10. ^ Petridis, Alexis (October 13, 2022). "Bill Callahan: Reality review – rousing love and kindness from an unexpected source". The Guardian. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
  11. ^ a b Perry, Andrew (November 2022). "Bill Callahan – γtilɒɘЯ". Mojo. No. 348. p. 87. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
  12. ^ Johnson, Steven (October 14, 2022). "Bill Callahan – YTI⅃AƎЯ". musicOMH. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
  13. ^ Empire, Kitty (October 16, 2022). "Bill Callahan: YTI⅃AƎЯ review – sunny, painterly poetics". The Observer. Retrieved October 18, 2022.
  14. ^ Snapes, Laura (October 17, 2022). "Bill Callahan: YTI⅃AƎЯ Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 18, 2022.
  15. ^ Cutforth, Katie (October 10, 2022). "Bill Callahan – YTI⅃AƎЯ". The Skinny. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  16. ^ Sunnyvale (October 20, 2022). "Review: Bill Callahan - YTI⅃AƎЯ". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  17. ^ Wirth, Jim (November 2022). "Bill Callahan – YTI⅃AƎЯ". Uncut. No. 306. p. 34. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
  18. ^ Pickard, Joshua (October 14, 2022). "Album Review: Bill Callahan – YTI⅃AƎЯ". Beats Per Minute. Retrieved October 18, 2022.
  19. ^ "Ultratop.be – Bill Callahan – Ytilaer" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 30, 2022.
  20. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Bill Callahan – YTI⅃AƎЯ" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved March 17, 2023.
  21. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Bill Callahan – Ytilaer". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ytilaer&oldid=1221269776"