When Bill Callahan, the sole constant member of Smog, sings “It’s not going to be a hit, so why even bother with it,” he could be questioning his decade-long recording career. Certainly none of the songs on “Accumulation: None” stand a chance of topping the charts. Even though Callahan’s recording techniques have progressed from tin-cans-for-microphones murk to richly textured keyboards and jauntily strummed acoustic guitars, the words he delivers in his deadpan-bordering-on-dead voice remained tied to the rails that travel from schizoid self-obsession to gloomy gallows humor. But these twelve tracks, which were culled from English radio broadcasts and out-of-print singles, have been crafted with a skill that makes their blackhearted sentiments compelling.
