Califone

Infobox Musical artist
Name = Califone


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Years_active = 1997 – present
Origin = Chicago, Illinois, United States
Genre = Indie rock, post-rock, Experimental rock
Label = Flydaddy Records, Road Cone Records, Perishable Records, Thrill Jockey
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Associated_acts = Red Red Meat
Current_members = Joe Adamik Jim Becker Ben Massarella Tim Rutili
Past_members = Wil Hendricks Brian Deck

Califone is a critically-acclaimed experimental post-rock band from Chicago. The band is named after Califone International, a long-standing manufacturer of audio equipment commonly found in schools, libraries and businesses.

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.

From the music website Cokemachineglow.com: "When we started doing this, it was 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" [http://cokemachineglow.com/feature/interview/timrutili.html] .

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 unclassifiable acts like Psychic TV and Captain Beefheart, respectively. 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.

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. [cite web| url=http://www.kelprecords.com/bands/flecton/index.htm | title=Flecton on Flecton |publisher=Kelp Records | accessdate=2008-08-19] [cite web|url=http://www.discogs.com/release/1186075 |title=Flecton Never Took a Wife |publisher=discogs.com |accessdate=2008-08-19]

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.

They are also featured on the soundtrack for the movie "Stranger than Fiction".

The Heron King

The 2004 release "Heron King Blues" is a concept album involving a recurring dream. According to Rutili, the Heron King's origin is as follows:

Califone's Tim 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. [http://www.splendidezine.com/review.html?reviewid=1078226799439663]

Decelerations 3 and 4

Califone will be releasing soundtracks for films recorded live in 2004 in a continuation of the Deceleration series. [http://www.pastrysharp.com/]

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)

External links

* [http://pastrysharp.com/ Pastry Sharp] - Official website contains lyrics, [http://pastrysharp.com/discography/downloads song downloads] , and [http://boards.pastrysharp.com/ discussion]
* [http://lorseau.hinah.com/gallery.php?c=pzic&s=concert&g=califone Concert photos by Laurent Orseau] (2004)
* [http://lorseau.hinah.com/gallery.php?c=pzic&s=concert&g=califone-hafen Concert photos by Laurent Orseau] (2007)

References