Year-End Praise For ‘Roots & Crowns’
Published December 19th, 2006 in news, press |
Berkleyplace.blogspot.com - It’s not like anything you’ve ever heard before. |
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| Blogs Are For Dogs - Califone probably ought to be a big a band as Wilco, maybe bigger; this terrific [video by Brent Green] could contribute towards making that a reality. |
| Can You See The Sunset - Roots And Crowns is full of obtuse lyrics and swampy backwoods roots folk-pop obscured in a digital haze. An imperfect album that is virtually perfect. |
| The Daily Page - The boys have matched (topped?) [their greatest achievements] with this richly textured treat. |
| Floodwatchmusic.com - Comparisons are often inexplicably made to fellow Midwest natives Wilco, but these two purveyors of modern folk could hardly be more dissimilar, as Califone’s interpretation of Americana is a decayed industrial yard in Appalachia rather than a picturesque wheat field in Kansas. |
| Minnesota Public Radio (Mark Wheat) - Califone is the best example of a type of prog-folk that is the style of music that I have appreciated the most this year. |
| More Cowbell - Califone have released one of their best records to date with Roots & Crowns. |
| Musicversity.blogspot.com - With an incredibly inviting atmosphere and warm, unobtrusive tones, Roots & Crowns tantalizes yours ears and soul into a state of enchanting hypnosis. The songs are complexly structured and masterfully played with an apparent perfectionist approach to detail, but generously remain accessible and welcoming. This is Chicago music to the core with its loyalty to artists past and unyielding spirit to push forward. |
| Nerdreport.blogspot.com - My basic sense of this album is that Tim Rutili just keeps on growing. |
| Petecroke.com - Califone continues to amaze me with every new release…The arrangements are also second to none, and its not as much that they are complex, but rather everything seems to fit and make sense within a context of a song. It’s like there is only one possible way to have these songs be absolutely perfect, and Califone nails it 100% of the time on ‘Roots and Crowns.’ |
| Pitchfork Media (Albums) - Roots & Crowns [is] an album that ties the threads of Califone’s existence. Rutili’s songs have rarely said so much so freely, and here, the thoughts and melodies come rendered in perfect detail with conviction, clarity, and reignited devotion. |
| Pitchfork Media (Songs) - Tim Rutili is drawn to rust and decay. His characters are troubled by frayed nerve endings and sour livers, and live constantly on the verge of doing something they’ll regret. So he uses cover songs to give the warmth that exists as an undercurrent in his own music an opportunity to flower. Psychic TV’s “The Orchids” is difficult to parse, with typically ambiguous references to the body, but Califone focuses on the song’s simple beauty, its yearning to be a quiet anthem. The chorus, which mentions falling in love with the light, is an epiphany frozen and preserved, always ready for future access, the kind of thing you can return to the next time the walls start closing in. |
| Pop Tarts Suck Toasted - The entire album has this relaxed vibe about it that I find to be incredibly soothing. The songs on the album are all fragmented pieces of music thrown together to become whole, with the lyrics echoing that type of style. It all results in an excellent sound that shouldn’t be missed by any fan of music. |
| Prefix Magazine (Kevin Dolak) - Roots and Crowns sees Tim Rutili and Califone setting everything back to zero after the loss of all of their equipment and emerging with a reflective and organic cross-section of loops and folk. Here, they’ve reached their highest plateau yet. |
| Refinery29 - We came to this album for the rootsy blues we’ve come to love Califone for, but then we found their cover of the Psychic TV song “The Orchids,” and its a contender for the most hypnotic three minutes we’ve been privy to all year. |
| Tiny Mix Tapes - Roots & Crowns is another sure step for Califone, who have unfailingly and consistently put out album after album of remarkable material. In an industry filled with fly-by-night indie rock transients who put out a good album or two before disappearing into the wild blue yonder, Califone’s steadfast presence is, too, remarkable. |
| Wilmington Star - “This is the kind of album I might put on as background music and then realize it’s snuck into the foreground, completely distracting me from the task at hand.” |
If you guys ever tour Canada, would you consider playing Edmonton?
Pierre
oh no! my comment is gone
anyhow, I got 3 copies and gave roots and crowns to friends this xmas
they’ll be opening them tomorrow
let me know when you all play new york
great album, great you are coming to europe. amsterdam?
As it should be, seeing as it is so fucking amazing. You guys are making some of the best music in recent times. Consistently brilliant and sensible stuff, thanks a ton. Come to Norway once, or at least to a festival in the vicinity?
Last night I went to bed at 10pm; between 2006 and 2007 I dreamt of a Califone release called “backbone.” It was to be played simultaneously with Woodie Guthrie who was, at the same time, all American roots musicians.
Califone’s creativity is quietly powerful enough to haunt even my sleeping life.
Thank you for ‘Roots and Crowns’ and everything else.
Thank for making this valuable information available to the public.