Califone: All My Friends Are Funeral Singers (2009)

New Wax


Chicago's Califone, now signed to Dead Oceans, which is home to the likes of Bowerbirds, Akron/Family, Phosphorescent, and John Vanderslice among others, follows up their wonderful 2006 album Roots & Crowns with a new album entitled All My Friends Are Funeral Singers. While the album stand's on its own musically, it is also a companion piece to Califone lead singer Tim Rutili's first feature film, which shares the same title and is about a psychic woman who lives in the woods alone. Over the years, Califone's ability to meld an experimental aesthetic with the feel of folk music has been unmatched, and All My Friends Are Funeral Singers is yet another impressive addition to their criminally overlooked catalog. The band's soundscape has always been intriguingly varied. There's the more rock-oriented "Giving Away The Bride," with its industrial feel and tribal-like percussion. Then there's the acoustic-based yet feedback-laden "Polish Girls" and "Funeral Singers," which contains eerily sampled voices. Then there's the jangly, violin-laden "Bunuel," a nod to the lauded experimental Spanish filmmaker, with its disembodied "oohs" and unexpected guitar solo. This is what makes Califone so freaking good. They somehow meld disparate sounds in a way that's organic and unforced. Violins, fiddles, and banjos interplay seamlessly with found sounds, noisy textures, feedback, and samples. It's a difficult band to describe. What is it? Postmodern roots-folk? Who knows? Who cares? What matters is Califone consistently puts out material that challenges the status quo, and All My Friends Are Funeral Singers is no exception. -- Capt. Obvious

Listen:
MP3: Califone - Funeral Singers
MP3: Califone - Alice Marble Grey

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