Califone at the Empty Bottle, 10/21/06
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Track:3 Legged Animals
Califone's profoundly rewarding set started with Jim Becker's dad crooning Sinatra's "Summer Wind" like a karaoke champ. The band then proceeded to play for well over two hours. They traveled from phenomenal new songs like "3 Legged Animals" to old favorites like "Pastry Sharp" and "Fisherman's Wife", from moments of delicate beauty to the hypnotic, jangling, rusty grooves that are their specialty. During one of my first visits to Chicago (almost exactly 9 years ago) I saw Tim Rutili perform for the first time. He was opening for The Geraldine Fibbers at the now long-defunct Lounge Ax. I'd never heard Red Red Meat or any of Rutili's music before. I distinctly remember one song from his set: there was a deeply resonating drum machine, some noise loops, shimmering guitars, a gorgeous melody and chorus. The song was a Red Red Meat tune called "Quarter Horses (B-Slow)", and looking back it was a sort of prototype for what Califone would become. I was in college at the time and in a fertile period of 4-track recording. Hearing that song was intensely inspiring: its combination of simple melodic beauty and sonic experimentation set a sort of musical benchmark for me, and the show in general made me want to live and play music in Chicago someday.I recently decided to record a cover of "Quarter Horses" for the next Roommate EP. It's about time I paid musical tribute to that moment at Lounge Ax and the dude who made it happen. As long as they keep making albums like Roots & Crowns and playing shows like Saturday night's, I will have lots of thanks to give.I stole this picture from Pitchfork. 
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