CALIFONE - All My Friends Are Funeral Singers

Tim Rutili may just be one of the most unsung forces in American indie. Diminutive and bespectacled in person, his music has always taken on a similar quality. It sounds shy, intelligent, questioning, and worthy of a good conversation—if you can figure out how to begin one. And that's always been the dividing wall between him and a potentially larger audience. Whether leading Califone, or his old '90s band—the far more rock n' roll Red Red Meat—Rutili makes very few attempts to reach out to his audience. And thank God for that. Placing the onus on listeners to come to him may not have made Rutili a rich man, but the wealth visited upon those people who do make the effort is immeasurable. Having listened to his music for nearly twenty years, the man's output has never wavered in quality or curiosity. Funeral Singers is the latest in a long line of stellar albums which explore the links between archival folk, blues, rock n' roll, avant-garde, gospel, and makeshift electronics. This record is supposedly the soundtrack to a film Rutili directed that will arrive in 2010. What shape that film will take is anyone's guess, but given the cinematic, patient and inquisitive nature of his mind, you can bet it will be worth your attention. Until then, please get this gorgeous record—this band is a real treasure.