Calexico
is a Tucson, Arizona-based rock band. The band's two main members, Joey Burns and John Convertino, first played together in Los Angeles as part of the group Giant Sand. They have recorded a number of albums on Quarterstick Records, while their 2005 EP In the Reins
recorded with Iron & Wine has reached the Billboard 200 album charts. Their musical style is influenced by traditional sounds of mariachi Tejano music and the Southwestern United States country music, and they have been described by some as indie rock. The band is named for the border town of Calexico, California.
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History
Formation
Calexico had its origins in 1990 when Burns, who was studying music at the
University of California, Irvine, met up with Convertino, who was playing drums with Howe Gelb in
Giant Sand. Burns joined them, after first playing upright bass on a European tour.
Giant Sand moved to
Tucson, Arizona in 1994. John and Joey formed the Friends of Dean Martin (later the
Friends of Dean Martinez) which scored a record deal with
Sub Pop. However, the pair split up with
Bill Elm, the co-founder of The Friends of Dean Martinez in 1996. The band subsequently became a kind of indie
rhythm section for hire, working with the likes of
Victoria Williams,
Barbara Manning and
Richard Buckner before forming Calexico.
Recording history: 1996–present
Calexico first recorded
Spoke
in 1996 for German independent label
Hausmusik
with a limited edition of 2,000 copies. At that point the band was still called Spoke and the album was technically self-titled. After the band signed with Quarterstick Records (a subsidiary of
Touch and Go Records) and changed their name to Calexico,
Spoke
was reissued by that label in 1997. Burns and Convertino also collaborated with Gelb and
Lisa Germano on the album
Slush
released under the name
OP8 that same year.
Their second album
The Black Light
was released in 1998. This was a concept album about the desert of Arizona and northern Mexico and received excellent reviews, with the critic from the
Wall Street Journal
rating it as one of the best records of the year.
The band built their profile by touring as support acts for bands such as
Pavement, the
Dirty Three and
Lambchop. Calexico has regularly played festivals such as the
Bonnaroo Music Festival, the
Hurricane Festival and
All Tomorrow's Parties. The
Road Map
album was a limited recording released in 1999 for sale only at Calexico's live shows.
Calexico released its third album
Hot Rail
in May 2000 featuring the addition of horns and violin to their sound. The duo was busy in 2000 as they also appeared on a Giant Sand record called
Chore of Enchantment
as well as a tour only record
Travelall
.
At the end of 2000, Calexico joined with two French friends Naïm Amor and Thomas Belhôm to record
Tete a Tete
for release at the beginning of 2001. The band released two collections of rarities during 2001.
Even My Sure Things Fall Through
collected outtakes from previous albums, B-sides, remixes and material previously unreleased in the US. The album also featured
Mariachi Luz de Luna who frequently played live with the duo. The
Aerocalexico
album was sold exclusively at their gigs in 2001.
The
Scraping
live album was released in 2001. Their next studio recording
Feast of Wire
was released in 2003 and made the charts for the first time appearing on Billboard's Heatseekers and Independent album chart. They made their first video for "Quattro (World Drifts In)" which was a single from
Feast of Wire
. They released a live DVD in 2004 called
World Drifts In: Live at the Barbican
. The song "Güero Canelo", from
Feast of Wire
, was featured in
Michael Mann's Film,
Collateral
, starring
Tom Cruise and
Jamie Foxx.
Calexico contributed the song "Burnin' Down the Spark" to
Nancy Sinatra's self-titled album in late 2004. The album featured artists who cited Sinatra as a musical influence. The song was released in the UK as the second single from the album in early 2005.
In 2005, Calexico joined up with South Carolina folk band
Iron & Wine.
Howard Greynolds of
Overcoat Records was responsible for bringing the two bands together having previously been responsible for
Tortoise and
Will Oldham recording together. The
In the Reins
EP was released in September 2005 and received a positive reception with an MSNBC review giving it honorable mention.
[1] It also made an appearance in the Billboard 200 album charts, becoming their first recording to make the album charts, and #12 on the independent charts. In October 2005, they commenced a US tour with Iron & Wine to promote the record.
Released in 2006,
Garden Ruin
is Calexico's fifth studio album. The sound strays slightly from earlier works, focusing less on the horn section, and placing more emphasis on guitar and vocal tracks, giving the whole album a more mainstream sound.
Several of Calexico's songs, usually their shorter instrumental pieces, have been used as interstitial and background music on
Public Radio International's
This American Life.
[2] Their songs "Ballad Of Cable Hogue" and "Service And Repair" were featured in the 2001 German comedy movie
Lammbock.
It was announced in June 2008 that their sixth studio LP would be called '
Carried to Dust', featuring Sam Beam of
Iron & Wine, Douglas McCombs of
Tortoise and Pieta Brown. It was released in the USA via Touch & Go Records on September 9th.
[3]. The album has enjoyed strong reviews, with its hometown paper the Arizona Daily Star praising the band's "ability to sweep you into its world, taking listeners to the American Southwest. This is one of the reasons Europeans love Calexico and others in this country are beginning to come around."
[4]
On October 16th, 2008, a three-song live acoustic video performance premiered on LiveDaily Sessions, featuring Joey Burns performing the songs "Two Silver Trees," "Writer's Minor Holiday" and "Man Made Lake"
[5].
Members
The current members of Calexico as of May 2006 are:
- Joey Burns – guitars and vocals
- John Convertino – drums and percussion
- Paul Niehaus – steel guitar
- Jacob Valenzuela – keyboards, trumpet and vibraphone
- Martin Wenk – accordion, guitar, synthesizers, trumpet and vibraphone (sometimes harmonica)
- Volker Zander – standup bass
Discography
Albums
- 1997 Spoke
- 1998 The Black Light
- 2000 Hot Rail
- 2003 Feast of Wire
- 2006 Garden Ruin
- 2008 Carried to Dust
Tour only / miscellaneous albums
- 1999 98-99 Road Map
(Tour CD)
1. El Morro
2. Minas De Cobre (Acoustic)
3. Man Goes Where Water Flows
4. Glowing Heart of The World
5. Too Much Sprawl
6. Rollbar
Produced by Joey Burns and John Convertino
Recorded and Mixed at The Homes of Burns/Convertino and at Wavelab Studios by Craig Schumacher and Nick Luca
Mastered by Brad Blackwood
1. The Waves Crashing Silently
Through The Dominators Hull
2. Fine Patina
3. The Night Is Upon Us
4. Cachaca
5. Driving To Get Away
6. Comes With A Smile
7. Lunada Lando
8. Piker Sam
9. Flat Handed And On The Wing
Produced by Joey Burns and John Convertino
Recorded and Mixed at The Homes of Burns/Convertino and at Wavelab Studios by Craig Schumacher and Nick Luca
- 2001 Tête à Tête
, as ABBC with Amor Belhom Duo (Side Project)
- 2001 Aerocalexico
(Tour CD)
- 2002 Scraping
(Live)
- 2005 The Book and The Canal
(Tour CD)
1. Half a Smidge
2. What’s a Little Wait
3. Griptape
4. Muddy Meadow
5. Near the Woodpile
6. Unter Unserem Himmel
7. Painted Over
8. Electric Relay
9. Ghostwriter
10. Dredging
11. Heavy With the Bass
12. Arco Chato
13. Break to Barranca
14. Kiss and Tell
15. In the Cut
16. Drag Storm Around
17. One Last Panoramic
Recorded at various locations (studio + live) between 1999-2005
by Craig Schumacher, Chris Schultz, Jim Blackwood and Jim Waters
Mastered by Jim Blackwood at KUAT
1: Above The Branch
2: When Bellows Crack
3: Lo-Fi Moon
4: Barcelona Mosaico
5: Hair Like Spanish Moss
6: Vinyassa
7: The News About William
8: The Road Back
9: In The Quiet
10: Maria Chuchena
11: Waitomo
12. Detroit Steam
13. Departure In F Minor
14. When Only The Ashes Are Left
Featuring all instrumental music performed by Joey Burns and John Convertino
Recorded at Big Block, Tucson AZ by Mike Prado
Mixed at Wavelab Studio, Tucson AZ by Craig Schumacher
Mastered by Jim Blackwood at KUAT
- 2009 Ancienne Belgique - Live in Brussels 2008
(Tour CD)
1. Bisbee Blue
2. Roka
3. Bend To The Road
4. El Gatillo
5. Two Silver Trees
6. Inspiracion
7. Minas De Cobre
8. Man Made Lake
9. Alone Again Or
10. Fractured Air
11. Red Blooms
12. Victor Jara’s Hands
13. Crystal Frontier
14. Crumble (Bonus Track)
Compilation contributions
- 2000 Committed Soundtrack
- 2000 It's a Cool, Cool Christmas
, a charity compilation by Xfm, included 'Gift Xchange'
- 2005 Sweetheart 2005: Love Songs
(Hear Music) - "Love Will Tear Us Apart"
- 2007 Acoustic 07
(V2 Records) - "Cruel"
- 2007 I'm Not There: Original Soundtrack
- "Goin' to Acapulco"
- Lammbock: Original Soundtrack
EPs
- 2001 Even My Sure Things Fall Through
- 2004 Convict Pool
- 2004 Black Heart
- 2005 In the Reins
with Iron & Wine
DVD
- 2004 World Drifts In: Live at the Barbican
- 2009 Live From Austin TX (Austin City Limits)
Remixes
- 2001 "Human Calexico Vocal Version"
Collaborations
- 2005 Esa Banda En Dub (with Nortec Collective's Panoptica included in Tijuana Sessions Vol. 3
- 2006 You Can't Always Listen to Hausmusik...But
- "Careless" (w/The Notwist) and "Freunde" (w/A Million Mercies)
Chart positions
- Hot Rail
2000 UK #57 [6]
- Feast of Wire
2003 #23 Independent Albums, #45 Heatseekers, UK #71
- In the Reins
2005 #135 Billboard 200, #12 Independent Albums, UK #161
- Garden Ruin
2006 #156 Billboard 200, #14 Independent Albums, #3 Heatseekers, UK #76
- Carried To Dust
2008 #98 Billboard 200, #9 Independent Albums, #28 European Albums,UK #55 [7]
Notes
- ‘Apologies to the Queen Mary’ rocks 2005 - Year in Review - MSNBC.com
- This American Life - FAQ
- 'Calexico Dust Off Sixth LP'
- Calexico, with excellent new CD, to play Rialto benefit Saturday
- Video performance of "Two Silver Trees," "Writer's Minor Holiday" and "Man Made Lake" by Joey Burns of Calexico at LiveDaily Sessions
- Chart Log UK
- Official Album Chart for the week ending 20 September 2008
References
- ‘Apologies to the Queen Mary’ rocks 2005 - Year in Review - MSNBC.com
- This American Life - FAQ
- 'Calexico Dust Off Sixth LP'
- Calexico, with excellent new CD, to play Rialto benefit Saturday
- Video performance of "Two Silver Trees," "Writer's Minor Holiday" and "Man Made Lake" by Joey Burns of Calexico at LiveDaily Sessions
- Chart Log UK
- Official Album Chart for the week ending 20 September 2008