Califone
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Califone | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Genre(s) | Indie rock, post-rock, Experimental rock |
| Years active | 1997 – present |
| Label(s) | Flydaddy Records, Road Cone Records, Perishable Records, Thrill Jockey |
| Associated acts | Red Red Meat Ugly Casanova |
| Members | |
| Joe Adamik Jim Becker Ben Massarella Tim Rutili |
|
| Former members | |
| Wil Hendricks Brian Deck |
|
Califone is a critically-acclaimed experimental post-rock band from Chicago. The band is named after Califone International, an audio equipment manufacturer.
Califone will release an album and feature film in 2009, both of which are titled All My Friends Are Funeral Singers. The album will be released October 6, 2009 on Dead Oceans. The feature film will be submitted to festivals in 2010, and the band will play a live soundtrack to the film during their tour. The release of Funeral Singers marks three years since the release of their previous album, Roots & Crowns.[1]
Contents |
[edit] History
After the breakup of his former band Red Red Meat, frontman Tim Rutili formed Califone as a solo project. Rutili's solo effort soon became a full-fledged musical project with a regular and rotating list of contributors, including many former members of Red Red Meat and some members of other Chicago bands.
According to Rutili, Califone started as a home project: "The statement of intent would have been 'easy listening' compared to what we were doing with Red Red Meat. This was supposed to be making little pop songs out of found pieces. It was supposed to be just a little home project, and it slowly grew from there. Now it seems like just about anything goes."[2]
Califone's sound is a combination of Red Red Meat's blues-rock and experimental music, with inspiration drawn from early American folk music, pop, as well as electronic and groups like Psychic TV. Listeners familiar with Red Red Meat can quickly tell that Califone is not an attempt to revive the old band; elements from a number of musical styles contribute to their distinctive sound.
Califone's current lineup includes Joe Adamik (drums), Jim Becker (banjo, violin), Ben Massarella (percussion), and Tim Rutili (vocals, guitar, keyboards). Each member is a multi-instrumentalist.
[edit] Heron King Blues
Califone's 2004 release Heron King Blues is a concept album involving a recurring dream:
Rutili has had a recurring dream since his youth, involving a giant man-bird creature, and then he discovered that the creature was actually a representation of an ancient Druid god called the heron king, which the British feared so deeply that they fled the battlefield when an effigy of the heron king was hoisted above the heads of the opposing army, and that Rutili realized that he had somehow been manifesting an image of this long-dead god figure in his head since he was a child.[3]
[edit] Decelerations 3 and 4
Califone will be releasing soundtracks for films recorded live in 2004 in a continuation of the Deceleration series.[4]
[edit] Collaborations
In 1997, members of Red Red Meat collaborated with members of oRSo and Rex to record Loftus for Perishable Records.
In 2002, Tim Rutili and Ben Massarella collaborated with Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock and others to release the album Sharpen Your Teeth under the band name Ugly Casanova.
In 2003, Tim Rutili, Ben Massarella and Jim Becker collaborated with Ottawa musician Miche Jetté, to record five of his songs for an independent mini-disc. This recording would later be released properly in 2005 as the first side of Jette's debut solo album (under his stage name Flecton), for the Canadian label, Kelp Records. The latter half Flecton's Never Took a Wife was recorded with Memphis indie rockers, The Grifters.[5][6]
In 2005, Califone collaborated with Freakwater as a backing band to record the album Thinking of You.
In 2006, Tim Rutili teamed up with Wil Hendricks and Michael Krassner under the name The Unseen Hand to record the soundtrack for Rank, a documentary about bullriding.
In 2006, Califone teamed up with animator/musician Brent Green on a series of performance art pieces featuring animation, live music, and spoken word. The same year they were featured on the soundtrack for the movie Stranger than Fiction.
In December 2008, the Canadian band Flecton released The Bright Side of Dying, with Califone as the backing band. The album was recorded in Chicago and features Ben Massarella, Tim Rutili, Joe Adamik, and Jim Becker). The eight song vinyl LP (including a cover of Merle Haggard's "Workin' Man Blues") was released on Ottawa's Kelp Records.[5][7]
[edit] Discography
- Califone (Flydaddy Records, 1998)
- Califone (Road Cone Records, 2000)
- Roomsound (Perishable Records, 2001)
- Sometimes Good Weather Follows Bad People (Perishable Records / Road Cone Records, 2002)
- Deceleration One (Perishable Records, 2002)
- Quicksand / Cradlesnakes (Thrill Jockey, 2003)
- Deceleration Two (Perishable Records, 2003)
- Heron King Blues (Thrill Jockey, 2004)
- Roots & Crowns (Thrill Jockey, October 10, 2006)
- All My Friends Are Funeral Singers (Dead Oceans, October 6, 2009)
[edit] External links
- Official Website - Califone
- Official Facebook Page - Califone
- Official Twitter Page - Califone
- Official MySpace Page - Califone
- Pastry Sharp - Official fansite contains lyrics, song downloads, and discussion boards
- Concert photos by Laurent Orseau (2004)
- Concert photos by Laurent Orseau (2007)
[edit] References
- ^ Califone Sign to Dead Oceans
- ^ Interview: Califone Cokemachineglow.com, 6 October, 2006
- ^ Review - Heron King Blues Splendidezine.com, 15 March, 2004
- ^ Decelerations 3 & 4 News
- ^ a b "Flecton on Flecton". Kelp Records. http://www.kelprecords.com/bands/flecton/index.htm. Retrieved on 2008-08-19.
- ^ "Flecton Never Took a Wife". discogs.com. http://www.discogs.com/release/1186075. Retrieved on 2008-08-19.
- ^ "Streaming Audio of The Bright Side of Dying". Kelp Records. http://www.kelprecords.com/flash-radios/flecton/flecton.htm. Retrieved on 2008-12-23.
