Calexico Release New Studio, Live LPs, Plan Tour
Catherine Lewis reports:
The world's best-connected musicians, Calexico (really, is there anyone they haven't recorded with?),
are set to release their fourth album, Feast of Wire. Recorded at Wavelab Studios in Tucson, AZ, and produced by Calexico
and Craig Schumacher, who has twiddled the knobs on their previous releases, the new studio effort will see
release February 18th via Quarterstick/Touch & Go Records, while City Slang will give the album a European
release on February 10th. What the fuck? The UK gets American bands a week early, too, now? That's it,
I'm movin'. Tracklist:
01 Sunken Waltz
02 Quattro (World Drifts In)
03 Stucco
04 Black Heart
05 Pepita
06 Not Even Stevie Nicks...
07 Close Behind
08 Woven Birds
09 The Book and the Canal
10 Attack El Robot! Attack!
11 Across the Wire
12 Deb Latina
13 Guero Canelo
14 Whipping the Horse's Eyes
15 Crumble
16 No Doze
Feast of Wire's first single will be "Quattro", for which the band filmed a video while playing a
couple dates in New York City last December. It was shot with Mariachi Luz de Luna, which is Tucson's
"super amazing" mariachi band, and Calexico's accompaniment of choice for their live shows. The band
may also join Calexico for their upcoming SXSW performance, though exactly details have not yet been
revealed to the press at large.
The Calexicans have also released their first tour-only live CD, Scraping-- which is not even
technically a "tour-only CD," as it's also available via the band's official website. Scraping was
recorded at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco during January 2002, with a few songs recorded
in Arizona in 2001 and in Denmark in 2000. Tracklist for Scraping:
01 Wash
02 The Ride (pt. 2)
03 Sonic Wind
04 Frontera/Trigger
05 El Picador
06 Sanchez
07 Fade
08 Wind Up Bird
09 Minas De Cobre
10 Lost In Space
11 Stray (w/ Mariachi Luz De Luna)
12 Crystal Frontier
13 Paper Re-Route
If you're not content to simply listen to a live Calexico performance, of course, you can check them
out on one of their many, many, many, many upcoming tour dates, which will take them all over the world--
even to Thessaloniki! At some point you just have to ask yourself, is there a such thing as too
exotic?
02-08 Dublin, Ireland - Wheelans
02-09 Dublin, Ireland - Wheelans
02-11 London, UK - Shepherd's Bush Empire
02-26 San Diego, CA - Casbah
02-27 San Diego, CA - Casbah
02-28 Los Angeles, CA - Knitting Factory
03-01 San Francsico, CA - Bimbo's (Noise Pop)
03-03 Portland, OR - Aladdin Theatre
03-05 Vancouver, BC - Richard's On Richards
03-11 Nashville, TN - 12th and Porter
03-15 Austin, TX - Antone's (Touch and Go Showcase/SXSW)
03-19 Toronto, ONT - Lee's Palace
03-22 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
04-02 Utrecht, Netherlands - Tivoli
04-03 Paris, France - Olympia
04-04 Lille, France - Le Splendid
04-05 Bielefeld, Germany - Forum
04-06 Strasbourg, France - La Laiterie
04-07 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso
04-08 Berlin, Germany - Columbiahalle
04-10 Athens, Greece - ARK No. 6 Warehouse
04-11 Larissa, Greece - Mylos 1927
04-12 Thessaloniki, Greece - Mylos
04-13 Munich, Germany - Muffathalle
04-14 Wein, Austria - Szene
04-15 Wein, Austria - Szene
04-17 Milan, Italy - Alcatraz
04-18 Zurich, Switzerland - Rote Fabrik
04-19 Offenbach, Germany - Capitol
04-20 Dusseldorf, Germany - Philipshalle
04-22 Hamburg, Germany - Fabrik Hamburg
04-23 Copenhagen, Denmark - Amager Bio
04-24 Oslo, Norway - John Dee
04-25 Stockholm, Sweden - China Theatre
04-26 Malmo, Sweden - KB Club
04-27 Tilburg, Netherlands - 013
04-28 Brussels, Belgium - Halles De Schaerbeek
04-29 Bristok, UK - Bristol Academy
04-20 Nottingham, UK - The Rescue Rooms
05-01 Manchester, UK - Manchester University
05-02 Glasgow, UK - University of Glasgow
Shut up, dude, there's more: John Convertino's first solo seven-inch EP, Sack
of Cement, was recently released on the German label Sommerweg, the same label
which released a seven-inch by Calexico bassist Volker Zander and friends featuring
covers of The Minutemen's "Little Man with a Gun in His Hand" and "Corona". Calexico
also covered Michael Hurley's "Rue of Ruby Whores" for an upcoming tribute album, and
their cover of the Nick Drake song "Clothes of Sand"-- which appears on the
Aerocalexico Tour CD-- is slated to appear again on an upcoming split
seven-inch with the Irish band The Frames. Aaaaand, just in case you were worried
that they're not busy enough, the members of Calexico will probably appear as
guest musicians on about a dozen or two albums this year. Keep your eyes peeled or
we'll peel 'em for you.
.: Pitchfork Review: Calexico: Even My Sure Things Fall Through
.: Pitchfork Review: Calexico: The Black Light
.: Calexico: http://www.casadecalexico.com/
.: Originally published: 17 January 2003
.: Items mentioned above on Amazon.com:
The Black Light (Calexico, 1998);
Even My Sure Things Fall Through (Calexico, 2001);
Feast of Wire (Calexico, 2003).
