Track Listing

1. Wingbone
2. Trick Bird
3. Sawtooth Sung a Cheater's Song
4. Apple
5. Lion and Bee
6. 2 Sisters Drunk on Each Other
7. Heron King Blues
8. Outro
9. I Walk on Gilded Splinters

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #206835 in Music
• Released on: 2004-01-20
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

Customer Reviews

Glad I discovered them today
I can't be so critical of this band's work comparing it with their previous albums (as most of the other reviewers), because this is my first approach to Califone, and I sure am happy I ran into them. From the get-go, "Wingbone" caught my attention and I worked along with the album in the background in a loop most of the afternoon, with a permanent smile of [glad] surprise in my face. Looking for more info about them, I ran into this description captures their essence perfectly: "nobody cross-pollinates the blues, folk music and broken electronic instruments like califone..." Think Wilco and you'll probably fall short, but you will have a good idea about how Califone sounds like.

There's plenty of great independent acts out there, and Chicago-based Califone (a home for the songs of Tim Rutili, playing alongside fellow bandmembers of Tim's other band, Red Red Meat) sure qualifies as one. Learning that they've been around since 1998 just confirms the theory once more: don't believe everything you see or hear to be the best thing. Out there, somewhere, there's something better. Glad that I discovered them today!

A good indie album
Califone are a US indie band who make music somewhere between the indie jam session ethos, sweet alt-country and luscious post-rock. Tracks like opener 'Wingbone' are more conventional, folky, acoustic ballads, while those like 'Trick Bird' juggle more disparate sounds, with weird beats, flickering guitars and thick atmospherics underpinning a sinister yet restrained sound, incredibly well-produced. Sometimes the album drifts into background-music status, but it usually has an attention-holding collage of sounds floating around, if somewhat unfocusedly at times. The standout, though, is the excellent '2 Sisters Drunk On Each Other', which features a funky wah-wah guitar over its template, adding real colour and interest to its psychadelic textures, which build, ebb and flow through the song. The title track is an epic quasi-instrumental. These are really original sounds here, especially when it gets noisy, but it just ocassionally lacks the focus and clarity between songs to be essential. An underground record well-worth investigation, though.

Deceptively tepid. Warm and fuzzy.
Califone's sound has always struck a balance between the monotone jam and the patient, economical delivery of a prepared tune. Heron King Blues makes a sharper distinction than 2003's QSCS or 2001's Roomsound. Frontman Tim Rutili's deathbed vocals mark a return to a more phonetic rather than lyrical contribution to the music. This record demands more patience than Califone's two previous offerings, but remains worth the effort. A more group-oriented offering finds the band returning to the experimental form of their live shows, but with less of an emphasis on climax and catharsis.