Friday 19 October 2012

Albums for Life: 109: Calexico: Feast of Wire

Feast of Wire is a pretty faultless set; it has the sultry feel of the soundtrack to some modern western drama that the Coen Brothers are yet to make from a Sam Shepard novella.
The creative crux of the band, John Convertina and Joey Burns seem to be a productive couple; there's a lot of Calexico to listen to, alongside their off piste productions for the likes of Iron and Wine and, recently, on Amos Lee's fine 'Mission Bell' album.


Let's start with 'Sunken Waltz', first track on the album...
I posted 'Black Heart' from this set on Monday; a fabulous piece of musical noir. I've featured another version here, recorded live with a full orchestra in Vienna.
The intriguing 'Not Even Stevie Nicks', is followed by the excellent Mariachi of 'Close Behind' , then finally, the otherworldly beauty of 'Woven Birds'. 
They call it 'desert rock' and it's easy to hear why... 
Stick me on the M40 with this and I could believe that I was driving the dusty roads of some Southern State, with a bottle of mescal between my knees, heading towards some dodgy liaison, just south of the border, down Mexico way....











4 comments:

  1. REally like this lp not playe dit in a while so made me dig it out again - shoul dhave had it in the car on my california holiday!

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    1. I'd forgotten how deeply these songs were rooted in my memory. Really impressive writing and it still sounds epic...

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  2. This is the album I had on constant repeat in my car years ago. It's been great to re-discover it... Loved it then... Love it even more now!
    They're playing in the UK next February... I'm hoping to be there.
    x

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