Califone, Stitches (side A)

While still created under the name Califone, 2013's Stitches feels more like a Tim Rutilli solo album.  The cast of performers varies wildly from song to song, with appearances by familiar names like Ben Massarella, Wil Hendricks, and even Tim Hurley, surrounded by many new collaborators.  Rutilli's songwriting and singing remain strong, and his distinctive personality shines through.  The collaboratively layered rhythms, which often led to chaos on 2003's Quicksand / Cradlesnakes, and which percolated subtly but constantly on 2009's All My Friends are Funeral Singers, now show up infrequently.  Even the most propulsive moments, like the long outro of "Frosted Tips" feel much more controlled and methodical.  Stitches isn't void of weirdness — the song structures still intertwine conventional forms with Rutilli's personal, poetic vision, and synthesizer squiggles bring an element of grit amidst the beauty.  Despite having been recorded across multiple studios in different states, the airy sonic quality barely departs from Funeral Singers, as Rutilli has definitely developed a sonic vision for his songs.  The packaging is impressive, with beautifully blurry, washed-out photographs on both the reverse-stock cover and the printed inner sleeve, but its mysterious quality exceeds that of the more disciplined music.