Carried to Dust

Calexico: forward into the past

The basis of the astonishing indie-rock-band Calexico was founded accidentally in 1994, when Joey Burns and John Convertino, the organizers and constant leaders of the band, acquainted for about four years by the moment and playing as session musicians in the experimental rock band Giant Sand, suddenly found their sound during a tour. They liked the result of their play so much that the artists moved to Tuscon, Arizona, and began collecting instruments for their new project. They got interested in the musical heritage of the Southwestern part of America. However, the artists came to their firm sound, which is impossible to mix with anyone elseis, only two years later. The eclectic approach, which whimsically featured Mexican, Italian, Portuguese, African music and country along with the surf rock and jazz of the mid XX century, became the basement for such albums as Spoke and The Black Light. However, in 2006, Calexico unexpectedly broadened the boarders of their sound and released a rocky disc Garden Ruin. Although even in such arrangements, the sound of the collective remained recognizable, the listeners were struck with such transformation. Thus, having brought in the soul of contradiction and brave experimentation into their creativity, the musicians came back to the former sound, mysterious and romantic, for which they were adored by the audience. In 2008, Calexico released the new album Carried To Dust, fulfilled in the old good traditions of the collective.

The return to the old sound on Carried To Dust

The thoughtful and elegant Victor Jarais Hands opens the album Carried To Dust and is filled with Mexican passions at the end. The following Two Silver Trees with the memorable Eastern tune between the phrases, is sung by Burns almost in whispers, delicately and tenderly. The ballad The News About William has a pleasant melody and could be used as the soundtrack to come western picture. The fast and energetic song Writer's Minor Holiday with the cute female backing vocals is followed by the tense, dramatic in the final Man Made Lake. The danceable track Inspiracion with the Spanish tune is decorated with the tubes and the colorful, hoarse low female voice. The romantic and memorable ballad Slowness is sure to make listeners sing along with the vocalists - so catchy and tender the tune is. The fast guitar indie-composition Bend In The Road is dedicated to the theme of the road. The song El Gatillo (Trigger Revisited) begins with the winding introduction - it is the entirely instrumental track, on which all the musicians, featured in the record of Carried To Dust, demonstrated their high professionalism. Fractured Air (Tornado Watch) starts with the rhythmical drum beating, which is followed by a rather dark sketch about tornado - the natural phenomenon, well-known to the USA inhabitants. Red Blooms, the mystical composition with the rich melody, carrying the folk tint, became the perfect decoration for the second part of the album. Contention City, the otherworldly track with the meditative tune, ideally fits its place at the end of Carried To Dust.

The best creation in the chosen style

The disc Carried To Dust was recorded by Burns and Convertino in Tuscon, Arizona, with the support of the musicians that took part in their critically acknowledged attempt Feast Of Wire. The work was fulfilled with the help of guitarist Paul Niehaus, bassist Volker Zander and multi-instrumentalists Jacob Valenzuela and Martin Wank. Well, the full-length is a perfect thing due to the checked by the time lineup. Besides, the atmosphere was contributed by the presence of guest artists - Sam Bean from Iron & Wine, bassist Douglas McCombs from Tortoise and wonderful folk-performer Pieta Brown. All the associations that were brought to mind during two decades by the music of Calexico, often described as the indie-mariachi-band, became up to date once more on Carried To Dust - the music of the roads, the dust of the prairies, the scorching sun and so on. After the rocky Garden Ruin, the Calexicois return to its roots was the step that the fans were anticipating and it refreshed the interest to their creativity. Thus, in several days after the release of the single Two Silver Trees, this indie-hit became the biggest one in the Internet, according to the web-source elbo.ws. The support tour for Carried To Dust, which was started in Canada, showed at once that the public is crazy about the musicians, which is no surprise as the intact, extremely mature new disc by Calexico, fulfilled in the original stylistics of the band, demonstrated the excellent creative shape of the artists.