Roots and Crowns
Califone
View More by this ArtistOpen iTunes to preview, buy, and download songs from Califone
| Name | Artist | Time | Price | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pink & Sour | Califone | 4:13 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
| 2 | Spiders House | Califone | 3:47 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
| 3 | Sunday Noises | Califone | 2:50 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
| 4 | The Eye You Lost In the Crusades | Califone | 4:42 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
| 5 | A Chinese Actor | Califone | 4:18 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
| 6 | Our Kitten Sees Ghosts | Califone | 2:47 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
| 7 | Alice Crawley | Califone | 0:37 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
| 8 | The Orchids | Califone | 2:55 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
| 9 | Burned By the Christians | Califone | 3:55 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
| 10 | Black Metal Valentine | Califone | 6:16 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
| 11 | Rose Petal Ear | Califone | 2:09 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
| 12 | 3Legged Animals | Califone | 4:08 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
| 13 | If You Would | Califone | 5:43 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
| Total: 13 Songs |
iTunes Review
This smartly-titled album, the eighth and best to date by this Chicago-based group, sounds like nothing so much as the perfect experimental country-rock band that Wilco and Sonic Youth have yet to get together and form. You hear a lot about folk revivals every few years, right? Well, one might say that Roots and Crowns is where folk and blues sounds have gone to start a new life. Califone makes exceptional recombinant roots music which dreamily evokes the Delta mud, Appalachian hills, Big Star country, and the murky ether of computer time/space. The banjos are distorted, the vocals whispered and sleepy. The guitars are deliciously bluesy and the hillbilly banjos drone along, while that junkyard percussion was precisely looped on a Mac. Tim Rutili and co. pull the traditional verse-chorus-verse heart of the rock song apart with childish glee to see what makes it tick, then glue it back together in ways that are just slightly (and excellently) "off." The result is often a sort of thinking man's jam band. It's remarkable a band this good is still playing smaller clubs; perhaps Roots & Crowns will help to change that.
Recent Customer Reviews
Surprising
by Capt. ShinerI just looked at my play count in iTunes and found that this album is the most frequently played. Like most things in life, the best things you have are unexpected.
Califone Gets Better & Better
by Tha KrytikI didn't think it was possible to top Quicksand/Cradlesnakes or Roomsound, which have been some of my favorite albums for years. However, overall I'm pretty sure this is Califone's best release yet. On the one hand it maintains the dark, soulful, country tone of roomsound with the precision songwriting and lyricism of Quicksand/Cradlesnakes. On the other hand, the album maintains the kind of ebb & flow between surrealistic, experimental rock and beautiful harmonies between the members' respective instruments. If you've never heard Califone before, you should start here and work backwards, as this is probably their most listener-friendly release to date.
Are you kidding me?
by redandblackThis sounds like it was recorded in a bathroom, with no sense of melody, tune, harmony, or quality! I am open to a wide variety of music, and have a very eclectic iTunes library of over 15,000 songs ... but this is AWFUL. My first listen through gave me a migraine, but I suffered another go round because the reviews were so positive -- 2nd time made me want to puke. This $9.99 would have been better served if I had donated it to the junkie on the street to buy more crack ... thoroughly terrible.
Biography
Genre: Rock
Years Active: '90s, '00s
Top Albums and Songs by Califone
| Name | Album | Time | Price | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Orchids | Roots and Crowns | 2:55 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
| 2 | Michigan Girls | Quicksand / Cradlesnakes | 4:00 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
| 3 | Bottles & Bones (Shade and Sympathy) | Roomsound | 5:32 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
| 4 | Sunday Noises | Roots and Crowns | 2:50 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
| 5 | Wingbone | Heron King Blues | 3:45 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
- $9.99
- Genres: Rock, Music, Alternative, Indie Rock, Singer/Songwriter, Blues-Rock, Prog-Rock/Art Rock
- Released: Oct 10, 2006
- ℗ 2006 Thrill Jockey Records
