Calexico, any fans here?
09-12-08, 11:02 AM
#1
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Calexico, any fans here?
Here is yet another band I discovered by accident.
I saw Garden State with my own, and I heard the Postal Service song done by someone else. I searched around and found it was Iron & Wine. So I decided to check this band (now I know it was one singer with a band, a little different) out. I went to Amazon and with the search, they (Amazon) recommended Calexico. Ok I thought, what the hell I am always up for finding new music. I went to iTunes (way easier to listen before Amazon started selling MP3s) and sampled a few tracks. The stuff sounded cool.
I bought "Feast of Wire" and "Hot Rail" to start. I didn't bother to check the dates on the albums, so I went with "Feast of Wire" first rather than "Hot Rail". Wow, holy shit, this was fantastic. It was indie rock meets western soundtrack meets pop. At the time, my taste in music was evolving (I was and will forever be a metalhead) so this intrigued me. Songs like "Black Heart" (gives me chills listening to it, I love that song!) and "Crumble" (the most badass jazz instrumental I have heard in a long long time) made me want to get right on "Hot Rail".
Although I was apprehensive at first, since I thought maybe the new stuff will sound nothing like the old stuff. Thankfully that is not the case. Song like "The Ballad of Cable Houge" and "Service & Repair" keep this one going. And awesome instrumental tracks like "16 Track Scratch" made this one a total winner.
The new stuff (Garden Ruin & Carried to Dust...I got that one early from a radio station buddy who knew I liked them) took me a while to warm up to. It is very different than the previous efforts, dialing things back a bit. The first eight listens or so to "Garden Ruin", I was convinced it sucked. I let it sit on my shelf for a bit and then I came back to it. My assessment was way off. I find myself singing "Bisbee Blue" when I am relaxing at home, the office, or working in house. Yeah, it is a good album. The new one, in my opinion is a return to form for the band, and I highly recommend it (yes I got to go buy it) and "Garden Ruin". Although if you are new to the band, start off with the two albums listed above before going to "Garden Ruin", since the two are totally different.
Lastly, in a weird occurrence, Iron & Wine did an EP with Calexico which to me is the best of both worlds. From the opera vocals in "He Lays in the Reins", the fiendishly catchy "History of Lovers" and the smooth jazz of "Burn that Broken Bed", this is a dream come true for me. Another highly recommended purchase.
I saw Garden State with my own, and I heard the Postal Service song done by someone else. I searched around and found it was Iron & Wine. So I decided to check this band (now I know it was one singer with a band, a little different) out. I went to Amazon and with the search, they (Amazon) recommended Calexico. Ok I thought, what the hell I am always up for finding new music. I went to iTunes (way easier to listen before Amazon started selling MP3s) and sampled a few tracks. The stuff sounded cool.
I bought "Feast of Wire" and "Hot Rail" to start. I didn't bother to check the dates on the albums, so I went with "Feast of Wire" first rather than "Hot Rail". Wow, holy shit, this was fantastic. It was indie rock meets western soundtrack meets pop. At the time, my taste in music was evolving (I was and will forever be a metalhead) so this intrigued me. Songs like "Black Heart" (gives me chills listening to it, I love that song!) and "Crumble" (the most badass jazz instrumental I have heard in a long long time) made me want to get right on "Hot Rail".
Although I was apprehensive at first, since I thought maybe the new stuff will sound nothing like the old stuff. Thankfully that is not the case. Song like "The Ballad of Cable Houge" and "Service & Repair" keep this one going. And awesome instrumental tracks like "16 Track Scratch" made this one a total winner.
The new stuff (Garden Ruin & Carried to Dust...I got that one early from a radio station buddy who knew I liked them) took me a while to warm up to. It is very different than the previous efforts, dialing things back a bit. The first eight listens or so to "Garden Ruin", I was convinced it sucked. I let it sit on my shelf for a bit and then I came back to it. My assessment was way off. I find myself singing "Bisbee Blue" when I am relaxing at home, the office, or working in house. Yeah, it is a good album. The new one, in my opinion is a return to form for the band, and I highly recommend it (yes I got to go buy it) and "Garden Ruin". Although if you are new to the band, start off with the two albums listed above before going to "Garden Ruin", since the two are totally different.
Lastly, in a weird occurrence, Iron & Wine did an EP with Calexico which to me is the best of both worlds. From the opera vocals in "He Lays in the Reins", the fiendishly catchy "History of Lovers" and the smooth jazz of "Burn that Broken Bed", this is a dream come true for me. Another highly recommended purchase.
09-12-08, 08:34 PM
#3
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I love these guys, "Feast of Wire" is one of my favorites, really evocative mood music, I always imagine myself riding a bronco down the trail or something when I hear them. I haven't heard the brand new one yet but have it on order.
Totally agree about "Black Heart," one of those tunes I could listen to infinitely.
Totally agree about "Black Heart," one of those tunes I could listen to infinitely.
09-12-08, 09:16 PM
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Started out with Feast of Wire (a blind buy because I liked the artwork) and fell instantly in love. I'd say between this album, Cafe Tacuba's Cuatro Caminos and Juana Molina's Segundo, 2003 was the year that got me interested in Spanish/Latin American/south-of-the-border flavored music.
Working backwards through their [Calexico's] releases many wonderful things, and I think the Even My Sure Things Fall Through EP probably has my favorite collected batch of music on it: the versions of "Crystal Frontier," their cover of "Chanel No. 5," "Crooked Road and the Briar"... I absolutely adore "Drenched" off of Hot Rail, too, and the aforementioned "Black Heart" is also killer (as is "Woven Birds" off the same album). There's a great cover of the Clash's "Guns of Brixton" (featuring the return of Salvador Duran, the operatic vocalist from "Reins") on their split with Beirut that's worth seeking out.
I've been pretty let down by the two most recent releases (as seems to be the case with a lot of bands this decade), but I'm not ready to give up on them just yet. Keep putting out solid odds-and-ends compilations and I'll stick around!
Working backwards through their [Calexico's] releases many wonderful things, and I think the Even My Sure Things Fall Through EP probably has my favorite collected batch of music on it: the versions of "Crystal Frontier," their cover of "Chanel No. 5," "Crooked Road and the Briar"... I absolutely adore "Drenched" off of Hot Rail, too, and the aforementioned "Black Heart" is also killer (as is "Woven Birds" off the same album). There's a great cover of the Clash's "Guns of Brixton" (featuring the return of Salvador Duran, the operatic vocalist from "Reins") on their split with Beirut that's worth seeking out.
I've been pretty let down by the two most recent releases (as seems to be the case with a lot of bands this decade), but I'm not ready to give up on them just yet. Keep putting out solid odds-and-ends compilations and I'll stick around!
Last edited by Cosmic Bus; 09-12-08 at 09:35 PM.
09-12-08, 09:37 PM
#5
Banned by request
My sister got me into them a few years ago. I saw them doing an acoustic performance here in Austin Texas where they played a bunch of songs from Feast of Wire. I've liked just about all their albums ever since. They even signed the DVD I bought. Very cool.
