Califone
Encyclopedia
Califone is an experimental rock
band from Chicago
. The band is named after Califone International, an audio equipment manufacturer. Their work has been critically acclaimed.
Califone has recently released an album and feature film, both of which are titled All My Friends Are Funeral Singers
. The album was released October 6, 2009 on Dead Oceans
. The feature film was made available this year, and the band's current tour features a live soundtrack to the film.
All My Friends Are Funeral Singers is the follow-up album to 2006's Roots & Crowns
, which The New York Times called "enthralling."
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."
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
.
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.
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. That 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.
Members of Califone made significant contributions to The Fruit Bats' 2009 album, The Ruminant Band
: Tim Rutili contributed vocals to the title song on the album, and Jim Becker provided vocals on the songs "Feather Bed" and "Flamingo", and guitar and fiddle on the songs "Tegucigalpa" and "Feather Bed". Members of Califone have also contributed to past Fruit Bats albums.
Members of Califone helped record Iron and Wine's 2011 album, Kiss Each Other Clean
.
Experimental rock
Experimental rock or avant-garde rock is a type of music based on rock which experiments with the basic elements of the genre, or which pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique....
band from Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. The band is named after Califone International, an audio equipment manufacturer. Their work has been critically acclaimed.
Califone has recently released an album and feature film, both of which are titled All My Friends Are Funeral Singers
All My Friends Are Funeral Singers
All My Friends Are Funeral Singers is a 2009 album by Califone. The album was the first release by Califone on Dead Oceans. The 2LP version of the album contains a bonus track, called "Lunar H", on side 4...
. The album was released October 6, 2009 on Dead Oceans
Dead Oceans
Dead Oceans is an independent record label based jointly in Bloomington, Indiana and Austin, Texas. The label has a small, but powerful roster of well-known acts including Akron/Family, John Vanderslice, Califone, Phosphorescent, Bishop Allen, Casey Dienel's band White Hinterland, Bowerbirds, and...
. The feature film was made available this year, and the band's current tour features a live soundtrack to the film.
All My Friends Are Funeral Singers is the follow-up album to 2006's Roots & Crowns
Roots & Crowns
Roots & Crowns is a 2006 album by Califone. The LP version contains different artwork and was limited to 1000 copies. The song "The Orchids" is a cover of the Psychic TV song of the same name.-Reception:...
, which The New York Times called "enthralling."
History
Red Red Meat
Red Red Meat was a '90s Chicago-area blues-influenced alternative rock band. After their break-up, frontman Tim Rutili went on to form Califone, for which many of Red Red Meat's former members, including producer Brian Deck, often record and perform...
, frontman Tim Rutili
Tim Rutili
Tim Rutili is a singer, guitarist, and keyboardist, and frontman/lyricist for the American rock band Califone. Originally from Chicago, Rutili now lives in Los Angeles. He was raised in Addison, IL. After moving into Chicago in 1988, he found success with the band Red Red Meat...
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
Red Red Meat
Red Red Meat was a '90s Chicago-area blues-influenced alternative rock band. After their break-up, frontman Tim Rutili went on to form Califone, for which many of Red Red Meat's former members, including producer Brian Deck, often record and perform...
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."
Califone's sound is a combination of Red Red Meat's blues-rock
Blues-rock
Blues rock is a hybrid musical genre combining bluesy improvisations over the 12-bar blues and extended boogie jams with rock and roll styles. The core of the blues rock sound is created by the electric guitar, piano, bass guitar and drum kit, with the electric guitar usually amplified through a...
and experimental music, with inspiration drawn from early American folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, as well as electronic and groups like Psychic TV
Psychic TV
Psychic TV or PTV, is a video art and music group that primarily performs psychedelic, punk, electronic and experimental music...
. Listeners familiar with Red Red Meat
Red Red Meat
Red Red Meat was a '90s Chicago-area blues-influenced alternative rock band. After their break-up, frontman Tim Rutili went on to form Califone, for which many of Red Red Meat's former members, including producer Brian Deck, often record and perform...
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
Ben Massarella
Ben Massarella is a percussionist and drummer best known for his work with the American rock bands Califone and Red Red Meat. Massarella currently resides in Indiana....
(percussion), and Tim Rutili
Tim Rutili
Tim Rutili is a singer, guitarist, and keyboardist, and frontman/lyricist for the American rock band Califone. Originally from Chicago, Rutili now lives in Los Angeles. He was raised in Addison, IL. After moving into Chicago in 1988, he found success with the band Red Red Meat...
(vocals, guitar, keyboards). Each member is a multi-instrumentalist
Multi-instrumentalist
A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays a number of different instruments.The Bachelor of Music degree usually requires a second instrument to be learned , but people who double on another instrument are not usually seen as multi-instrumentalists.-Classical music:Music written for Symphony...
.
Concepts
Many of Califone's albums are individually thematic, sometimes inspired by stories (All My Friends Are Funeral Singers), dreams (Heron King Blues), and silent era films (Deceleration albums).All My Friends Are Funeral Singers
The album's companion film is about a psychic woman who lives alone in the woods. According to Rutili, who wrote the screenplay and directed the film,She lives in a house full of ghosts, and one day, the ghosts realize they’re trapped, and she has to find a way–even though she doesn’t want them to go–to get them out of the house. Then they start destroying her life.
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.
Deceleration series
Califone has released instrumental albums that were recorded while the band played live soundtracks for films recorded in the 2000s. Deceleration 1 and Deceleration 2 were released in 2002 and 2003, respectively. Decelerations 3 and 4 are rumored to be released sometime in the future.Collaborations
In 1997, members of Red Red Meat collaborated with members of oRSoÖrsö
Örsö is an island located in the Stockholm archipelago in Sweden.The island is located south of Ljusterö and north of Värmdö. It neighbours popular island Grinda....
and Rex
Rex (band)
Rex was an American Indie rock band formed in 1994 . Rex was considered one of the most important and influential slowcore bands and released three albums and one EP on Southern Records, as well as a collaboration with Red Red Meat on Perishable Records...
to record Loftus for Perishable Records
Perishable Records
Perishable Records is an independent record label founded by Chicago musicians Ben Massarella and Tim Rutili. Some artists include Califone, HiM, Joan of Arc, oRSo, Red Red Meat, and Fruit Bats....
.
In 2002, Tim Rutili
Tim Rutili
Tim Rutili is a singer, guitarist, and keyboardist, and frontman/lyricist for the American rock band Califone. Originally from Chicago, Rutili now lives in Los Angeles. He was raised in Addison, IL. After moving into Chicago in 1988, he found success with the band Red Red Meat...
and Ben Massarella
Ben Massarella
Ben Massarella is a percussionist and drummer best known for his work with the American rock bands Califone and Red Red Meat. Massarella currently resides in Indiana....
collaborated with Modest Mouse
Modest Mouse
Modest Mouse is an American indie rock band formed in 1993 in Issaquah, Washington, by singer/lyricist/guitarist Isaac Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green, and bassist Eric Judy. They are based in Portland, Oregon. Since their 1996 debut album, This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think...
frontman Isaac Brock
Isaac Brock (musician)
Isaac Brock is the lead singer, guitarist, banjoist, and songwriter for the American indie rock band Modest Mouse, as well as his side project band, Ugly Casanova...
and others to release the album Sharpen Your Teeth
Sharpen Your Teeth
Sharpen Your Teeth is an album by the indie rock band Ugly Casanova. Brainchild of Modest Mouse lead singer Isaac Brock, Ugly Casanova was his attempt to try new methods and genres outside the realms of Modest Mouse. The album sees Brock performing on more instruments and using a more stripped down...
under the band name Ugly Casanova
Ugly Casanova
Ugly Casanova is an American indie rock band carried on Sub Pop Records. The band has only released one album: Sharpen Your Teeth.According to the Ugly Casanova website, in 1998 a man named Edgar E.Graham, a.k.a. "Ugly Casanova", impressed himself upon the band Modest Mouse while backstage at a...
.
In 2003, Tim Rutili, Ben Massarella and Jim Becker collaborated with Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
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
Kelp Records
Kelp Records is a Canadian record label based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was formed in March 1994 by Jon Bartlett in Fredericton, New Brunswick....
. The latter half Flecton's Never Took a Wife was recorded with Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
indie rockers, the Grifters.
In 2005, Califone collaborated with Freakwater
Freakwater
-Career:In 1989, Janet Beveridge Bean and Catherine Irwin founded the band, and they have been supported by several musicians since then, including members of Califone . Bassist David Wayne Gay, formerly of Stump The Host, is another long-time member of the band...
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. That 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
Merle Haggard
Merle Ronald Haggard is an American country music singer, guitarist, fiddler, instrumentalist, and songwriter. Along with Buck Owens, Haggard and his band The Strangers helped create the Bakersfield sound, which is characterized by the unique twang of Fender Telecaster guitars, vocal harmonies,...
's "Workin' Man Blues") was released on Ottawa's Kelp Records.
Members of Califone made significant contributions to The Fruit Bats' 2009 album, The Ruminant Band
The Ruminant Band
The Ruminant Band is the fourth album by American folk-rock band Fruit Bats, released on August 4, 2009.The song Primitive Man was chosen as the Starbucks iTunes Pick of the Week for December 22, 2009.-Track listing:#"Primitive Man"...
: Tim Rutili contributed vocals to the title song on the album, and Jim Becker provided vocals on the songs "Feather Bed" and "Flamingo", and guitar and fiddle on the songs "Tegucigalpa" and "Feather Bed". Members of Califone have also contributed to past Fruit Bats albums.
Members of Califone helped record Iron and Wine's 2011 album, Kiss Each Other Clean
Kiss Each Other Clean
Kiss Each Other Clean is the fourth studio album by Iron & Wine, released January 25, 2011 via 4AD and Warner Bros. in the US. The album's title is taken from the lyrics of track 10, "Your Fake Name Is Good Enough for Me"...
.
Discography
- Califone (Flydaddy Records, 1998)
- Califone (Road Cone Records, 2000)
- Roomsound (Perishable RecordsPerishable RecordsPerishable Records is an independent record label founded by Chicago musicians Ben Massarella and Tim Rutili. Some artists include Califone, HiM, Joan of Arc, oRSo, Red Red Meat, and Fruit Bats....
, 2001) - Sometimes Good Weather Follows Bad People (Perishable RecordsPerishable RecordsPerishable Records is an independent record label founded by Chicago musicians Ben Massarella and Tim Rutili. Some artists include Califone, HiM, Joan of Arc, oRSo, Red Red Meat, and Fruit Bats....
/ Road Cone Records, 2002) - Deceleration One (Perishable RecordsPerishable RecordsPerishable Records is an independent record label founded by Chicago musicians Ben Massarella and Tim Rutili. Some artists include Califone, HiM, Joan of Arc, oRSo, Red Red Meat, and Fruit Bats....
, 2002) - Quicksand / Cradlesnakes (Thrill JockeyThrill JockeyThrill Jockey Records is an American independent record label established in 1992 in New York City by former Atlantic Records A&R representative Bettina Richards.-History:...
, 2003) - Deceleration Two (Perishable RecordsPerishable RecordsPerishable Records is an independent record label founded by Chicago musicians Ben Massarella and Tim Rutili. Some artists include Califone, HiM, Joan of Arc, oRSo, Red Red Meat, and Fruit Bats....
, 2003) - Heron King Blues (Thrill JockeyThrill JockeyThrill Jockey Records is an American independent record label established in 1992 in New York City by former Atlantic Records A&R representative Bettina Richards.-History:...
, 2004) - Everybody's Mother Vol. 1 (Roots Crown Arts, 2005)
- Roots & CrownsRoots & CrownsRoots & Crowns is a 2006 album by Califone. The LP version contains different artwork and was limited to 1000 copies. The song "The Orchids" is a cover of the Psychic TV song of the same name.-Reception:...
(Thrill JockeyThrill JockeyThrill Jockey Records is an American independent record label established in 1992 in New York City by former Atlantic Records A&R representative Bettina Richards.-History:...
, October 10, 2006) - All My Friends Are Funeral SingersAll My Friends Are Funeral SingersAll My Friends Are Funeral Singers is a 2009 album by Califone. The album was the first release by Califone on Dead Oceans. The 2LP version of the album contains a bonus track, called "Lunar H", on side 4...
(Dead OceansDead OceansDead Oceans is an independent record label based jointly in Bloomington, Indiana and Austin, Texas. The label has a small, but powerful roster of well-known acts including Akron/Family, John Vanderslice, Califone, Phosphorescent, Bishop Allen, Casey Dienel's band White Hinterland, Bowerbirds, and...
, October 6, 2009)