CD-Charts Position 1

Carried to Dust

by: Calexico

Release Date September 09, 2008

CD-Charts Position 2
Average Rating:

The Black Light

by: Calexico

Release Date May 19, 1998
Doolicity Sent the CD case, but, no CD was inside. It was shipped empty. Three emails to them has had zero results. I do not recommend this company.

CD-Charts Position 3
Average Rating:

In the Reins

by: Iron & Wine, Calexico

Release Date September 13, 2005
You won't find any calexico here. Sam Beam is in charge from stop to finish with calexico hardly ever creeping through beside the more standardised use of some of their instruments. If anything, calexico's influence is obvious only in the form of appearing to slightly take away from Sam Beam's expressive powers. Having said that it's hard to understand the motivation behind this project, that is until you listen to calexico's following album "garden ruin", which obviously modeled after Sam Beam's style is lacking his essence, making this album not a collaboration of two bands with a healthy appreciation for each other, but a highschooly attempt to get close to one's idol and become alike, with calexico playing the infatuated geeky girl that has ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 4
Average Rating:

Feast of Wire

by: Calexico

Release Date February 18, 2003
I can talk about this song or that, or how Calexico has a distinctive and beautiful sound, and all that. Here's how I know this album is good. After I got it, I played it for an entire week to the exclusion of pretty much everything else.

It gets under your skin it's so good. It changes pace and style from song to song, so you don't get bored, and songs don't all convolve together into just one indistinguishable pile of music. It'll keep in your mind even after you turn it off, and you'll look forward to getting back home so you can listen to it again.

And then, you should go to el Guero Canelo and get the best Sonoroan hotdog ever.

CD-Charts Position 5
Average Rating:

Collateral

by: Various Artists, Green Car Hotel, Calexico

Release Date August 03, 2004
Every time I listen to this CD I re-live the excitement and emotions that ran through me during the movie. Definitely work checking out!

CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

Garden Ruin

by: Calexico

Release Date April 11, 2006
What a let down. I first saw Calexico at the Aroma Cafe (RIP) in Tucson around 1998. Since that point I have seen and heard their music grow to unbelieveable heights without losing their southwestern unique style. Luckily we have four strong albums and a host of EP's to remember Calexico by, but it sounds like to band is about to break up. I come to this conclusion because most of the songs on this album are geared towards making big cash from Musak adding these generic pop pieces to the playlists you hear in the backround at the supermarket. Thankfully Howe Gelb and others are still making music geared for fans, not royalties from Musak. If this were an artist's first album, the quality of the songs could pass off as a starting point. However these songs are ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 7
Average Rating:

Convict Pool

by: Calexico

Release Date April 06, 2004
Like much of Calexico work, this album has a way of growing on you. The first time you play it, you may think, "Oh, this isn't half-bad. I'll just finish out listening to it this one time..." Then a dozen spins later you realize that you just can't stop listening. Every time around, you'll find a new inflection of the guitar, a new inspiring line. Gracefully, it will crawl into your heart and make a cozy home in there.

This album's production is not as refined as their better known albums, such as Black Light and Feast of Wire, but the rougher studio sound only makes this more charming and endearing. It adds that feeling that perhaps you are not listening to a CD, but are rather fortunate to catch Calexico in a small bar, and Joe Burns is playing his guitar ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 8
Average Rating:

Hot Rail

by: Calexico

Release Date May 09, 2000
The alternative Tex-Mex band usually can be relied upon for providing a nice sunny, margarita-drenched soundtrack to any Sunday afternoon with their warm, Mariachi-inspired compositions. Hot Rail is consistent in it's average presentation of the band's unique aesthetic, but few songs actually rise above the somewhat bland countrified-alternative that makes up the bulk of these tracks. Alternating between traditional Mariachi arrangements, eclectic improvs, and more standard pop rock fare, the album does not seem to be as engaging as a few of their other albums, but is by no means a complete dud. Seems like a fair enough place to become situated with the band's unique musicality, just do not expect that much of a bite.

CD-Charts Position 9
Average Rating:

Even My Sure Things Fall Through

by: Calexico

Release Date May 22, 2001
This is interesting, to be sure. Calexico is experimenting, but this isn't nearly as essential as, say, The Black Light. Also, there is the matter of the guitar riff on Crystal Frontier, completely ripping off Mad Season's November Hotel.

CD-Charts Position 10
Average Rating:

Spoke

by: Calexico

Release Date August 12, 1997
I had the good fortune of seeing Calexico live recently, and they put on quite a good show. I've been a casual fan for a while but bought this CD after the Iron & Wine collaboration, which is really good.

Here, they've put together a lot of found sounds, different ideas, and a hodgepodge of what they're into. The root is a southwest sound, but they really manage to go all over the board.

After listening to it a few times, it gives you the sense of a band in search of something, maybe its own sound, but they don't quite get there on this album.

These guys are experienced and great songwriters, and put on a great live show, but I'm waiting for thier masterpiece, which is going to come one of these days.