Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle

Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle
Studio album by Bill Callahan
Released April 14, 2009
Recorded August and October 2008
The Track Studio, Plano, Texas
Genre Alternative country
Length 48:17
Label Drag City
Producer "Raven"
Bill Callahan chronology

Woke on a Whaleheart
(2007)		 Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle
(2009)		 Apocalypse
(2011)

Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle is the second solo album by Bill Callahan under his own name, released on April 14, 2009 via Drag City.[1] It was recorded by John Congleton and arranged by Brian Beattie.[2] In an interview with Uncut, Callahan described the recording of the album:

“ I recorded the basic tracks with a band, in August I think. Then gave the tracks to the arranger Brian Beattie to write some string and horn parts while I was on tour in South America and North America. When I got back we put the overdubs on, in an old fashioned way - four or five string players gathered around one microphone. The basic band is a couple fellers who I'd been touring with a bit lately, Jaime Zuverza on fine and pretty guitar - Brian described his playing style as "unmacho" which I thought was great. And Luis Martinez on special drums. The bassist was Bobby Weaver who was a friend of the engineer John Congleton. I could go on but this is supposed to be a short blurby interview, right?[3] ”

Track listing

All songs were written by Bill Callahan.

  1. "Jim Cain" – 4:39
  2. "Eid Ma Clack Shaw" – 4:19
  3. "The Wind and the Dove" – 4:34
  4. "Rococo Zephyr" – 5:42
  5. "Too Many Birds" – 5:27
  6. "My Friend" – 5:12
  7. "All Thoughts Are Prey to Some Beast" – 5:52
  8. "Invocation of Ratiocination" – 2:41
  9. "Faith/Void" – 9:44

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [4]
Crawdaddy! (favorable)[5]
Drowned in Sound (7/10)[6]
NME (8/10)[7]
The Observer (favorable)[8]
Pitchfork Media (8.1/10) [9]
Spin [10]
The Times [11]

The album received very positive reviews and made many best of year lists, notably 2nd best album of 2009 in Mojo Magazine.

In 2013, NME listed the album at 443 in their list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. [12]

Charts

Chart Peak
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders) 90

Personnel

Musicians

Additional musicians

Recording personnel

Artwork

External links

Notes