Wendy Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 From Greg Kot's blog Aug 16, 2009: 2 sides of Tim Rutili: Red Red Meat revisits past, Califone paints future Red Red Meat --- it’s a nice place to visit, but Tim Rutili wouldn’t necessarily want to live there. When Red Red Meat, one of the finest bands ever to come out of Chicago and emblematic of a ‘90s rock scene rich with creativity, plays Aug. 24 at the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park as part of the city’s excellent, free “Downtown Sound” series, it will likely be the quartet’s last show for quite some time. The band briefly reunited last year to play a handful of shows when Sub Pop re-released the quartet’s 1995 album “Bunny Gets Paid.” But now that brief reunion is nearly at an end, and Rutili says the band won’t continue unless it writes new material and records another album --- something he doesn’t see happening for at least year. He’s got bigger endeavors on his plate at the moment, not the least of which is “All My Friends are Funeral Singers,” a movie scripted and directed by Rutili with a soundtrack by Califone, his current band. Rutili and company will headline a series of concerts at museums and art galleries in the fall, including the Museum of Contemporary Art on Oct. 10-11. Califone will play the soundtrack live while the 90-minute movie is screened. Rutili describes the movie as a “surrealistic black comedy thriller,” starring Angela Bettis (“May,” “Girl, Interrupted”), and is aiming for a theatrical release next year. Rutili, who studied film at Columbia College in the early ‘80s and now lives in Los Angeles, has been making videos and smaller-scale movies for years. But “All My Friends are Funeral Singers” was a major step up in terms of scope. “It’s the most ambitious thing I’ve done besides raise a child,” says Rutili, who has a teenage son about to begin his first year in high school. The film was shot at a friend’s dilapidated beach house in Indiana on a $30,000 budget, which Rutili says was primarily because he was able to “scrimp, save and ask friends for favors.” Rutili says the project means Red Red Meat will go on the back burner for a while – not that it wasn’t fun while it lasted. The band’s evolution in the ‘90s is still crucial to Rutili’s creative DNA, in large measure because of the strides he and the band (drummer Brian Deck, percussionist Ben Massarella and bassist Tim Hurley) made in making “Bunny Gets Paid.” Red Red Meat stood poised on the brink of wide recognition after it made “Jimmywine Majestic” in 1994. With distribution by the label of the moment, Sub Pop, and a sound that put a few well-turned twists on all sorts of cool classic rock references, “Jimmywine” is among the best albums of its era. But Rutili found the material a chore to play on a subsequent tour. “I don’t mind the record so much, but touring took the wind out of playing that way for me,” he says. “It made me more determined to try different things on the next record. The ‘Jimmywine’ approach had quiet parts and loud parts over a certain kind of rhythm. It was basically rock music. With ‘Bunny’ we let things breathe a little more, created some space where you could hear the room. We became more ourselves.” Massarella went nuts with different percussion effects. “He was breaking glass, banging on toilet seats, just experimenting with sound and texture,” Rutili says. Yet the band never felt it was doing something particularly strange. “We felt we were making a rock record, like Big Star’s third album or [Van Morrison’s] ‘Astral Weeks,’ a record with real presence and atmosphere. It ended up way different sounding than those records, but we got something that we were proud of.” The shift from the “Jimmywine” sound was jarring for some fans. “We were playing a show and one guy left a note at my feet that said, ‘Get off the heroin and play some real rock.’ I thought it was funny, but it was like, ‘Bye-bye.’ We were going to start really sucking if we did that.” Red Red Meat made one more album before drifting apart, but the influence of “Bunny Gets Paid” continued to inform Rutili’s music-making in Califone, a more esoteric and yet more popular band than Red Red Meat ever was. “Red Red Meat is still basically a rock band even when it was playing strange stuff, whereas Califone isn’t a rock band at all,” he says. “But Califone is a continuation and refinement of what I was doing back then. And once in a while it’s fun to go back to Red Red Meat and just play really loud again.” greg@gregkot.com Red Red Meat: 6:30 p.m. Aug. 24 with Rural Alberta Advantage at Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Park, free; millenniumpark.org. Califone performs “All My Friends are Funeral Singers”: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 10-11 at Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago Av., $20; mcachicago.org. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
KevinG Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 Funernal Singers Debuts at Stereogum Quote Link to post Share on other sites
todd Posted September 2, 2009 Share Posted September 2, 2009 pre-order Pre-order Califone's All My Friends Are Funeral Singers and receive loads of extras. Customers who pre-order Califone's All My Friends Are Funeral Singers will receive two 11 x 17 posters along with their order. Additionally, they will receive a download code which can be used starting on September 8th to download the album a month before its official release, and before it hits your mailbox. Included in this download will be the epic track "Lunar H," which is the 15 minute song that is exclusive to the double LP gatefold edition, and not available on the CD or digital release. nice Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mpolak21 Posted September 2, 2009 Share Posted September 2, 2009 Pre-ordered, and I am arranging to come down for the Chicago performances that weekend. Looking forward to it. --Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
owl Posted September 3, 2009 Author Share Posted September 3, 2009 I can say with certainty that this album is amazing. Imagine the best elements of both Califone and Red Red Meat, and you have Funeral Singers. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
KevinG Posted September 8, 2009 Share Posted September 8, 2009 I can say with certainty that this album is amazing. Imagine the best elements of both Califone and Red Red Meat, and you have Funeral Singers. Just listened to it. quite good. A bit more Red Red Meat then Califone. Though unsure about the first track. Can't wait to hear this on head phones! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wendy Posted September 8, 2009 Share Posted September 8, 2009 Yay! Download day! OK - under headphones that first song is odd, but I'm up to song 3, and it is fantastic so far. Aaaahhhhh! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
owl Posted September 9, 2009 Author Share Posted September 9, 2009 That the 1st song is odd seems to be the consensus. However, I do like that crunchy riff. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wendy Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 I'm okay with odd. I like odd better than lots of other things. ha But I'm not sure about one song on this download though. SNAKES TOOTH = PROTECTION is 37 sec on playback on WMP and the mp3 is 3343 kb. It seems to stop sort of abruptly (but who knows with Califone?). In comparison, the song Bunuel is 4 min 25 sec and the mp3 is 8684 kb. So Tris ... how does this "SNAKES TOOTH" song length compare with your version? Of course, I'm assuming you got a different version since you've had it a while. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
owl Posted September 9, 2009 Author Share Posted September 9, 2009 Mine's 38 seconds and 900k. Are you sure they didn't accidentally give you a lossless file? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wendy Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 Perhaps that's what happened. The tag says bitrate 192 kbps, and it is an mp3, and I don't think flac would play on my crappy little work PC Windows Media Player. But maybe it does. I don't know! I miss my high tech but deceased computer. Oh, and I hate to be negative, but I wish they didn't leave the movie voices in the Funeral Singers song, sort of sounds too "Books" for my taste and distracts me. But the song is great. Oh, I LOVE Ape-like Evidence and Alice Marble Gray ... Oh boy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
owl Posted September 9, 2009 Author Share Posted September 9, 2009 Your negativity is ruining my fantasy about every reviewer in the world giving Funeral Singers a 10/10, making it the most highly rated record of all time, and making Califone the most popular band ever. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
KevinG Posted September 10, 2009 Share Posted September 10, 2009 Your negativity is ruining my fantasy about every reviewer in the world giving Funeral Singers a 10/10, making it the most highly rated record of all time, and making Califone the most popular band ever. I am only gonna give it 9/10, sorry owl, but Giving Away the Bride is just a bit too much for me. Though Ape-Like is prolly their best song and nearly makes up for it. and I don't mind the "voices" in Funeral Singers. I am not sure if they are from the movie or not, or just a weird Califone thing. and the last point my SNAKE'S TOOTH is 38 Secs long and 3.3 MB. Thank is all Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spills Posted September 10, 2009 Share Posted September 10, 2009 Where have you guys found this? What or Waffles or somewhere else? Anyone have a link or an extra invite to one of those sites? Thanks! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
KevinG Posted September 10, 2009 Share Posted September 10, 2009 Where have you guys found this? What or Waffles or somewhere else? Anyone have a link or an extra invite to one of those sites? Thanks! I got mine cause I pre ordered it. The pre order comes with a digital download of the album which is not released until 10/6/09. you can pre order it here. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spills Posted September 10, 2009 Share Posted September 10, 2009 thanks. yeah, i realized that right after i posted. listening now... i love this band. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mpolak21 Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 I am now ready to declare them the best working band in America today. Great album. --Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
owl Posted September 11, 2009 Author Share Posted September 11, 2009 I am only gonna give it 9/10, sorry owl, but Giving Away the Bride is just a bit too much for me. What??! Outrageous!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Maggie Posted September 13, 2009 Share Posted September 13, 2009 I'm giving this album my first listen right now. So far everything sounds good to me. First track is definitely weird, but I liked it the first time around. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
M. (hristine Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 I came up with a new record rating system for this album. First listen: 6 spontaneous goosebump events. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mpolak21 Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 P4K gives it a... 8.1. Should be higher, but it's a pretty spot on review. --Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LouieB Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 8.1 ain't bad. Does anyone know why this one is not on Thrill Jockey?? LouieB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dr. Steve Brule Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 I've been listening to nothing but (nearly) since I got my record Wednesday. Vinyl comes with a 15 minute track (also on the download) that is excellent and ends with a wonderful drone. Seeing the movie/live performance tonite at MCA. I really love this band. swoon. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LouieB Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 I hope to finally get around to cracking the wrapper on my copy and listening to it today while I work at home. Stupidly missed buying tickets to their shows this weekend. I didn't even figure out when they went on sale. When did this group get so big?? Some days I just can't figure out who is big and who isn't. LouieB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MattZ Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 Bought this last night (finally). Listened to it last night, and now listening again. Man, this is great stuff. As always. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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