CALIFONE
Heron King Blves (Thrill Jockey)
Reviewed by John Sekerka

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Not only does Tim Rutili not know how to play the blues, he can't spell it either. But that's alright, since the new record is a dandy. Creeping further away from their Red Red Meat days, Rutili and adventurous percussionist Ben Massarella are sculpting lo-fi escapades along the lines of Sparklehorse. Dreamy passages filled with static energy that crackles through only when volumes dials are cranked to maximum limits. Soft, shifty, thoughtful, conceptual rock based around Rutili's dream of a half-man half-bird beast. The Heron King, as it turns out, was a desperate attempt the depleted Romans used to stave off the British by outfitting a soldier with stilts and a bird mask. The Brits, of course, succumbed to their irrational fears and fled.

© 2004 - John Sekerka