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califone movie: tim rutili does ‘cinematic’
The Chicagoan bluesy soundsmiths Califone released their latest, All My Friends Are Funeral Singers, back in October on Dead Oceans, a sister label of Jagjaguwar. Following closely along from their wonderful 2006 release, Roots and Crowns, it is yet more proof that there are few out there making stranger and more brilliant music.
Even more enticing about that latest batch of conjurations of blues forebears and more recent experimental artists was the news that a film of the same title would accompany it, as bandleader Tim Rutili - the film’s writer and director - adds another creative notch to his belt. The film will premiere at Sundance on January 26th in Park City, UT, and the band will perform the score live as the movie plays. Rutili’s first feature length centers on a fortune teller named Zel (played by Angela Bettis) who lives in a ghost-infested house, in which entrapment and chaos ensue when a bright light appears in the surrounding forest.
Influenced by a love for the Spanish surrealist giant Luis Buñuel - to whose 1962 classic, “Exterminating Angel”, this film pays homage - and a passion for cinema that often shines through in Califone’s work, “All My Friends Are Funeral Singers” has its share of thoughtful acting, odd imagery, non sequiturs, and of course, music. Rutili has plans for another film, a road movie, and, according to a recent interview with IFC, very much wants to make the soundtrack for a possible cinematic adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s staggering Blood Meridian. Someone call Rutili, Nick Cave, and Warren Ellis up, get them in a room, and make that happen immediately.
Califone will be heading back out on the road in February, touring with Wilco, but sadly will not be alighting on the Eastern half of the country. If you happen to be in Chicago on March 9th or 10th, be sure to try and catch one of their homecoming shows.
Have a gander at the film’s trailer, and have a listen to the fantastically ramshackle “Ape-Like” from the album.
