In the summer of 2002, Tim Rutili and the rest of Califone had just come out of a busy year that included touring with Yankee Hotel Foxtrot-era Wilco and collaborating with Issac Brock's alter-ego project, Ugly Casanova.

With new creative energy unlocked, the band began work on the follow-up to their breakout full-length debut, Roomsound.

The result, the much celebrated Quicksand / Cradlesnakes, brims with earned confidence.

Here, Califone began to master the mix of blues, country and technical glitchery so oft-referenced today, all the while creating something timeless.

Quicksand / Cradlesnakes is rugged and elegant, dark and optimistic, familiar and entirely new.

In a word it is beautiful.