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"Dreams that do come true can be as unsettling as
those that don’t”
-Brett Butler, Knee Deep in Paradise.
Imagine your entire life of having a haunting and
recurring dream, a bizarre dream featuring a giant
half-man half-bird character. Then one day to your
shock and dismay, you stumble upon a historical
anecdote featuring the very image that had followed
you everywhere. This very thing happened to
Califone’s Tim Rutili, which he used as a template for
this album.
Track listing:
01 Wingbone
02 Trick Bird
03 Sawtooth Sung a cheater's Song
04 Apple
05 Lion & Bee
06 2 Sisters Drunk on Eachother
07 Heron King Blues
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During the deteriorating stages of Rome’s siege
against England, a battalion of Romans learned of a
Druid God in whom the British lived in fear: the heron
king. On the verge of defeat, the Romans put a
soldier on stilts and outfitted him with a heron mask
and sent him out to the British camp, causing such
fear that the British soldiers fled in a panic.
Rutili was copiously haunted to find how closely
related his dreams were to reality that he used this
for the core of Heron King Blues.
Entangled in all the intrigue and mystery of this
album entails some truly fine songs. This Thrill
Jockey Records release opens with “wingbone,” a tune
filled with acoustic plucking and slide guitar, all
accompanied by melancholy vocals. An apparent use of
electronics has reshaped and formed their sounds more
than in previous recordings. Songs like “Trick Bird”
and “Apple” has a revitalizing musical approach that
leaves you wondering how they made those sounds.
Califone spews a raw mixture of synthesized sounds,
swinging guitars, and bizarre, twittering percussion,
an almost obscure mix of real and imagined sounds.
One thing is for sure Califone penetrates into
uncharted territory here. This highly progressive
album is a musical contribution filled with references
to numerology, unknown creatures, wartime tension,
panic, prayer, dreams and illusions. This album may
not be suited to new listeners but to those tried and
true fans taking a walk through the haunting past
leads to an enriching musical experience that will
linger even in your dreams.
-Christine Beals 02/21/04
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