Recent review of their full length, Winds take no shape:
“Drifting in like a San Francisco fog, Call and Response’s second album is a magnificent surprise. If their 2001 debut confected a Free Designed, bubblefunk Cal...
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Recent review of their full length, Winds take no shape:
“Drifting in like a San Francisco fog, Call and Response’s second album is a magnificent surprise. If their 2001 debut confected a Free Designed, bubblefunk California of the imagination, ‘Winds take no shape’ cruises into more crepuscular territories. They’re a band of rare harmonies. The players and, most vividly, the cirric voices of Carrie Clough and Simone Rubi, attain a lunar twilight grace across complex structures. Songs conjure weird confluences: you might tease out strands of tropicalian Bossa Nova, Laurel Canyon folk, Vini Reilly riverbed, reverbed languor and even Broadcast’s spooked tenderness. You could praise individual moments (‘Trapped under ice’ is a bittersweet frostflower that blooms into radiance) but it’s the overall weave, the daydreamy drift, that impresses. This is a forty-minute swoon of a record: dive into it.”
4 Stars – Uncut
"On Winds Take No Shape (Badman), the intricate playing tethers Carrie Clough's and Simon Rubi's flyaway vocals, while strongly articulated song-forms and discernable melodies give the arrangements something to arrange." - LA Weekly
NPR said of their debut:
"The album gently draws folk and funk into the same ring, locking into effortless addictive groves that prop up delicate male/female harmonies."
Call and Response Tiger Teeth CD EP
In 2001 Call and Response self-titled debut album was released on Emperor Norton Records. It gained international recognition and received positive reviews from National Public Radio and the Washington Post. Reviewers drew comparisons to the Sea and Cake, Heart, the Jackson 5, and Stereolab. The music they compose is filled with rhythm, harmony, and warmth. Elements of classic pop, spacey jazz, film soundtracks, folk and soul music are only some of the musical inspirations drawn upon by the group.
Call and Response released their new full-length album Winds take no shape in spring of 2004. The album has been met with high praise. Uncut called it “a magnificent surprise” and Jane magazine said “the uncorny indie-rock answer to Sade, moody wake-and-bake vibes.” With this record, the band innovated a sound that was impressionistic, mystical, and beautiful. It shows a great deal of growth from the “twee pop” sound found on their previous album.
In November of 2004, we get to take a step back to experience a time when Call and Response were in between the twee sound of their debut and the matured radiance of their recent full length. Tiger Teeth was recorded over a period of 6 months in 2002. Most of the tracks were recorded on Emperor Norton's dime - as demos for another record with them. This was a confusing time for Emperor Norton (now acquired by Ryko)- and these tracks were left floating around for a while with a big question mark on both sides- wondering where they belong. After time passed, without an answer either way from Emperor Norton, the contract was up and the band owned the tracks. "Messages" and "Curves in a Straight Line" were recorded with friend Nino Moschella during the same time to add to the demos. When going into a new contract with Badman., these tracks didn't really fit with a new sound the band had already started to shape, so they didn't make it onto the new full-length. So much time passed between the first album and the 2nd, that these songs are sure to leave all listener's questions answered. This is a perfect blend of the first Call and Response record (Emperor Norton Records/Kindercore) and the most recent album Winds Take No Shape (Badman Recording Co.).
The EP is filled with strong catchy, groovy, California pop tunes such as “Nervous Wreck “ and
“ Tiger Teeth.” The songs “Connection“ and “Messages” features keyboardist Simone Rubi on lead vocals, which is reminiscent of their debut album.
Recent review of their full length, Winds take no shape:
“Drifting in like a San Francisco fog, Call and Response’s second album is a magnificent surprise. If their 2001 debut confected a Free Designed, bubblefunk California of the imagination, ‘Winds take no shape’ cruises into more crepuscular territories. They’re a band of rare harmonies. The players and, most vividly, the cirric voices of Carrie Clough and Simone Rubi, attain a lunar twilight grace across complex structures. Songs conjure weird confluences: you might tease out strands of tropicalian Bossa Nova, Laurel Canyon folk, Vini Reilly riverbed, reverbed languor and even Broadcast’s spooked tenderness. You could praise individual moments (‘Trapped under ice’ is a bittersweet frostflower that blooms into radiance) but it’s the overall weave, the daydreamy drift, that impresses. This is a forty-minute swoon of a record: dive into it.”
4 Stars – Uncut
"On Winds Take No Shape (Badman), the intricate playing tethers Carrie Clough's and Simon Rubi's flyaway vocals, while strongly articulated song-forms and discernable melodies give the arrangements something to arrange." - LA Weekly
NPR said of their debut:
"The album gently draws folk and funk into the same ring, locking into effortless addictive groves that prop up delicate male/female harmonies."
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© 2004 Badman Recording Co.
