1. Wingbone
2. Trick bird
3. Sawtooth sung a cheater’s song
4. Apple
5. Lion & bee
6. 2 sisters drunk on each other
7. Heron king blues
8. Outro
9. I Walk on Gilded splinters (untitled track)
Producer - Califone
Download Heron Blves here
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.
this little bathroom jam clip shows one element of the band... yet they are NOT just a bunch a hipsters with cool swamp music gear taking advantage of someones cool LP collection and just getting by. They do have talent.(and yes, bitchen axes and objects.
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.
Sure there has been much more done by Califone before and after this and I have yet to hear it all, but King Heron is still my favorite. (a bit dissapointed in 'Guilded Splinters' though) Highlights..."Heron King Blves" and Sawtooth Sung A Cheater's Song".
Pitchfork review;
Califone return in short sentence with an all new recording Heron King Blues, which comes fresh on the heels of 2003's critically acclaimed Quicksand/Cradles nakes. Heron King Blues picks up where Q/C left off, and was again recorded in Chicago at the band's Clava Studios. This time around the band recorded with Michael Krassner (Boxhead Ensemble, Simon Joyner, Edith Frost), and are led by longtime collaborators Tim Rutili and Ben Massarella, along with Jim Becker and Joe Adamik.
For this recording the band set out to make a record like Captain Beefheart's Mirror Man, entering the studio with a blank canvas and laying things down quickly. The resulting songs combine the bands more pop-oriented qualities alongside their more spaced out ethereal thoughts; these most often found on their Deceleration releases available on the bands own label, Perishable. The resulting sessions led to songs that were improvised or written immediately before recording, and within days a series of raw, live recordings had been completed. From there the initial recordings were chopped up, mixed around, and reassembled into the final product: a beautifully lush and patient masterpiece.
While the approach to recording Heron King Blues may have seen it's inspiration come from Captain Beefheart, the records topical and musical make up was inspired from Tim Rutili's recurring dream featuring a giant half-man/half-bird character. Rutili was startled to learn recently that the very character he imagined did indeed exist and was named Heron King. The perhaps real, perhaps fictional character was used by the Romans to defeat the British in ancient times. If you think we're kidding about this stuff, the jokes on you, just listen to the record.
The Heron King and aviary themes are omnipresent through the record with Rutili making frequent mention and reference to the king's legend. He also manages to cull mood and tone from his own personal experience with the "bird man," going as far to feature on the album's cover "an entirely accurate portrayal" of the Heron King of his dreams. Heron King Blues brings together "numerology, bird references, wartime tension, filthy rock and tender mercy" to form what is Califone's most mysterious record to date. One that Rutili himself concludes as: "pretty dark and very natural; it's us."
(from Quicksand/Cradlesnakes)
Dig and download Quicksand and Cradlesnakes also here...
and Sometimes Good Weather Follows Bad People (early EPs) here.
11/21/09
Heron King Blves and the Califone Megapost loadown
1. Wingbone
2. Trick bird
3. Sawtooth sung a cheater’s song
4. Apple
5. Lion & bee
6. 2 sisters drunk on each other
7. Heron king blues
8. Outro
9. I Walk on Gilded splinters (untitled track)
Producer - Califone
Download Heron Blves here
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.
this little bathroom jam clip shows one element of the band... yet they are NOT just a bunch a hipsters with cool swamp music gear taking advantage of someones cool LP collection and just getting by. They do have talent.(and yes, bitchen axes and objects.
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.
Sure there has been much more done by Califone before and after this and I have yet to hear it all, but King Heron is still my favorite. (a bit dissapointed in 'Guilded Splinters' though) Highlights..."Heron King Blves" and Sawtooth Sung A Cheater's Song".
Pitchfork review;
Califone return in short sentence with an all new recording Heron King Blues, which comes fresh on the heels of 2003's critically acclaimed Quicksand/Cradles nakes. Heron King Blues picks up where Q/C left off, and was again recorded in Chicago at the band's Clava Studios. This time around the band recorded with Michael Krassner (Boxhead Ensemble, Simon Joyner, Edith Frost), and are led by longtime collaborators Tim Rutili and Ben Massarella, along with Jim Becker and Joe Adamik.
For this recording the band set out to make a record like Captain Beefheart's Mirror Man, entering the studio with a blank canvas and laying things down quickly. The resulting songs combine the bands more pop-oriented qualities alongside their more spaced out ethereal thoughts; these most often found on their Deceleration releases available on the bands own label, Perishable. The resulting sessions led to songs that were improvised or written immediately before recording, and within days a series of raw, live recordings had been completed. From there the initial recordings were chopped up, mixed around, and reassembled into the final product: a beautifully lush and patient masterpiece.
While the approach to recording Heron King Blues may have seen it's inspiration come from Captain Beefheart, the records topical and musical make up was inspired from Tim Rutili's recurring dream featuring a giant half-man/half-bird character. Rutili was startled to learn recently that the very character he imagined did indeed exist and was named Heron King. The perhaps real, perhaps fictional character was used by the Romans to defeat the British in ancient times. If you think we're kidding about this stuff, the jokes on you, just listen to the record.
The Heron King and aviary themes are omnipresent through the record with Rutili making frequent mention and reference to the king's legend. He also manages to cull mood and tone from his own personal experience with the "bird man," going as far to feature on the album's cover "an entirely accurate portrayal" of the Heron King of his dreams. Heron King Blues brings together "numerology, bird references, wartime tension, filthy rock and tender mercy" to form what is Califone's most mysterious record to date. One that Rutili himself concludes as: "pretty dark and very natural; it's us."
(from Quicksand/Cradlesnakes)
Dig and download Quicksand and Cradlesnakes also here...
and Sometimes Good Weather Follows Bad People (early EPs) here.
