, the band's four remaining members struck out on their own, initiating several varied endeavors but never straying too far from their home base, or each other.
project on the resurrected label. Amid the flurry of activity, all four also found the time to contribute to the ill-fated, A&M-commissioned Loftus LP. While enduring the fluctuation between crisis and monotony inherent in the daily operation of a small, independent record label,
.
Named after the pedant audio supply manufacturer,
Califone was initially just
Rutili banging out songs with a computer. Eventually, he began to enlist the help of some familiar cohorts and cycled through several transient contributors; ultimately, the revolving cast spawned 1998's self-titled debut EP. A joint Flydaddy/Perishable release, the record was distinctly more focused and confident than
Red Red Meat's swan song,
There's a Star Above the Manger Tonight. While still incorporating the bizarre sounds and sequenced beats of that record, this time the band didn't allow its in-studio experimentation to overwhelm the songs. Interestingly, at the end of the nascent recording sessions for
Califone, someone in
Rutili's new conglomerate noticed that the band was, in effect, a reincarnation of
Red Red Meat; the principal members of the supposedly defunct quartet were the only remaining people in the studio.
A second self-titled EP followed in 2000 on Portland's Road Cone label, which soon after was paired with the first on the
Sometimes Good Weather Follows Bad People compilation. With
Califone's fundamental studio lineup at least temporarily solidified as
Massarella,
Rutili, and
Deck, the band recorded its debut LP,
Roomsound, with an open-door policy; members of
Eleventh Dream Day,
Tortoise, and
Fruit Bats all performed on the album. Released in the spring of 2001,
Roomsound fused the disparate elements the band had been struggling to unite since
There's a Star Above the Manger Tonight, creating a cohesive, affecting album.
The limited-edition
Deceleration One appeared in February 2002, showcasing some of
Califone's stunning live-recorded instrumentals. It was a combination of film loop mixing by
Jeff Economy and
Carolyn Faber and a puppetry sketch interpreted by
Califone. A month later,
Sometimes Good Weather Follows Bad People was released, capturing the two new tracks as well as material from the band's two previously out of print EPs initially available on Flydaddy and Roadcone.
Rutili and
Massarella were on a roll. They collected additional musicians during the summer of 2002 for the recording of the
Quicksand/Cradlesnakes EP. It's a rough-edged, dark effort, but
Califone's ever-changing musical cinema remained at its best. Released in 2004,
Heron King Blues further refined their blending of melodic acoustic compositions and experimental tendencies before the band went on hiatus for most of 2005 while
Rutili focused on soundtrack work. The band reconvened in late 2005 to begin work on
Roots & Crowns, released in October 2006.
All My Friends Are Funeral Singers followed in 2009.
–
Bryan Carroll, Rovi