Knock Knock
About this Album
Knock Knock is the seventh studio album by Bill Callahan under the name Smog, released by Drag City on January 12, 1999 (with Domino handling Europe). Callahan wrote most of it in 1998 while driving from South Carolina to Chicago after the end of his relationship with the musician Chan Marshall.
Produced and recorded with Jim O'Rourke over about ten days, it moved away from Callahan's four-track and drum-machine minimalism toward a full-band sound, adding strings and a small children's choir. Critics praised its maturity and emotional restraint: AllMusic gave it 4.5 out of 5, NME ranked it tenth among the best albums of 1999, and The Independent named it the best pop album of the year. Held was the first single and Cold Blooded Old Times the second.