ARTIST: Califone
TITLE: Roots & Crowns
LABEL: Thrill Jockey Records
GENRE: Indie
BITRATE: 192kbps avg
PLAYTIME: 0h 48m total
RELEASE DATE: 2006-10-10
RIP DATE: 2006-09-27
Track List
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1. Pink & Sour 4:13
2. Spiders House 3:47
3. Sunday Noises 2:50
4. The Eye You Lost In The 4:42
Crusades
5. A Chinese Actor 4:18
6. Our Kitten Sees Ghosts 2:47
7. Alice Crawley 0:37
8. The Orchids 2:55
9. Burned By The Christians 3:55
10. Black Metal Valentine 6:16
11. Rose Petal Ear 2:09
12. 3 Legged Animals 4:08
13. If You Would 5:43
Release Notes:
http://www.pastrysharp.com/
http://www.myspace.com/califonemusic
http://www.thrilljockey.com/
Califone started recording Roots & Crowns in October 2005 and worked on it in
chunks at 4Deuces Studio in Chicago with Brian Deck, in Long Beach and Phoenix
with Michael Krassner, and at home in Los Angeles and Chicago until May 2006.
ôSome of these songs started as hummed melodies into my cell phone recorder
while I was driving. Others were triggered by overheard conversations, loops
brought in from home, field recordings or sounds we made in the studio before
the tape was rolling,ö says Rutili. For instance ôSpiderÆs Houseö is built on
the sound of a piano with duct tape and paper clips all over its wires. ôWe took
our time to shape and manipulate a more experimental collage of sounds into
solid melodies and more concise song structures.ö
The time away and each memberÆs individual work naturally brought new elements
into the sound of CalifoneÆs music. Both RutiliÆs and BeckerÆs soundtrack work
are more atmospheric, however the challenge of enhancing a scene of film without
cluttering it or overwhelming it informed their approach to the new recording.
Similarly, the burglary of CalifoneÆs equipment during the bandÆs last tour
(including guitars, banjo, a 1917 violin, bells and more) altered the sound as
they had to find new gear on a tight budget. The instruments are new partners,
new sounds that forced them to stretch in new directions.
Limitations, obstructions and darkness, and the new possibilities they
illuminate; roots and crowns. ôIn that wayö, says Rutili, ôthis album is a
conscious and resolved thing. It fully realizes ideas we touched on in the past
and where we come from as a band, and takes us into our next phase of life.ö