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Artist: Calexico
Album: Spoke
Label: Quarter Stick
Year: 1997
Genre: Indie Rock
RIAA Radar Status: SAFE
Encoder: Max 0.7.1
Sample Rate: 44.1 kHz
Codec: LAME MP3
Avg Bit Rate: 180 kbps
Posted by: entr0py
Description / Review:
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Finally I have been delivered a counterpart for my porch listening. Calexico's Spoke is this album: it's all ice tea in hand, spitting tobacco with unashamed glee into a crudely fashioned spittoon, my arms covered with brine flies. At the heart of Calexico are Joey Burns and John Convertino who have captured the essence of the Western states of America; a brooding but good-natured romp through dust addled soundscapes. Blending influences; Spoke carefully traverses a torrid border of Mariachi music, balladry, surf and indie rock, never settling, never stopping, but never rushing. These influences are all moulded around the key element to Calexico's sound, this being their alt-country roots; all neckerchief and liquor stained shirts.
Calexico is a fitting name for the band, the moniker derived from a Californian city on the Mexican border, their music is reflective of the ruggedness of this terrain and the dual worlds of the city; part Latino influences, part Western foundations. In this sense, Spoke is unlike anything youÕve heard before (but isn't everything) Ð it's as if they've dredged up the California sound and carefully reconstructed it; going to great lengths to preserve the simple spirit in the music of their influences. They do not rape the delicate Mexican music but cradle it and mother it; in doing so they are able to collate and condense, leaving the original music unscarred.
There is a distinct positivity to this album and, for Burns and Convertino, a wealth of sounds generally unheard of in debut releases. The songs, even when melancholic, are a joy to listen to; all but a select few of the instruments have been played by the two multi-instrumentalists who exercise a quiet restraint that bolsters the album. While moving together through several bands (Giant Sand, Friends of Dean Martinez) and session work (Lisa Germano, Vic Chesnutt, Michael Hurley) Burns and Convertino have honed their craft to the beauty that is the largely flawless Spoke. It is near impossible to discern who is writing each song as they move from solo writing, to writing collaboratively seamlessly and with unwavering clarity. It is only through reading the album's liner notes that the compositional secrets, as well as Burns and Convertino's deft skill and clear vision, are revealed.
ÔWashÕ, one of SpokeÕs many highlights, draws easy comparisons to Ennio Morricone and not without warrant. Mariachi style acoustic guitar, splash cymbals, electric (almost surf rock) guitar; "Wash" is the kind of song you never learn the words to, but always attempt a sing-a-long anyway. This is because of the memorising double vocals that could easily be in Spanish. Sadly, however, "Wash" has disappeared into the haze two-and-a-half minutes after it has started. ItÕs captivating in its simplicity and gone before you realise how much it has to tell you.
Spoke reads like a soundtrack; there are 19 tracks, including instrumentals ("Mazurra", "Haul" and "Paper Route" are the standouts), and a thematic Western sound leading one to believe that there is much more behind this album than just a simple debut. If Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro brought their intriguing brand of cinema to the desert then Spoke would be an easy choice to accompany what would be a very green-tinged Western: enchanting simplicity, out of the ordinary choices of instrumentation in relation to style, and a haunting, but not despondent, melody. Guitar, mandolin, cello, accordion, bass, vibraphone, marimba, and drums blend seamlessly together, at times, leaning back to impact more in their absence than their existence could ever achieve.
Fault can be found on three tracks: "Mind The Gap", "Ice Cream Jeep", and "Navy Cut". These songs, however, are all under a minute long and, perhaps, fleshed out they may have reached the peaks of the songs that surround them. They are the equivalent of the skits that appear on hip-hop records; a small respite but of questionable existence.
It is a hope that this music finds, at the very least, the niche market that Calexico deserve. It would be remiss to claim they are destined for success. This claim is, however, delivered with a sadness that a band as skilled as this may be purely destined to be the discerning music loverÕs best-kept secret Ð the kind of secret you tell everyone and they, through their own foibles, ignore you. A band this mesmeric deserves a higher pedestal than the liner notes of a lesser band's album, and it will be your fault if you ignore this cry for their attention. [Wireless Bollinger]
Track Listing
----------------
[01/19] Low Expectations (2:36) 179 kbps 3.34 MB
[02/19] Mind the Gap (0:52) 203 kbps 1.26 MB
[03/19] Mazurra (1:46) 199 kbps 2.53 MB
[04/19] Sanchez (3:18) 193 kbps 4.56 MB
[05/19] Haul (1:21) 190 kbps 1.84 MB
[06/19] Slag (2:28) 184 kbps 3.26 MB
[07/19] Paper Route (2:00) 151 kbps 2.17 MB
[08/19] Glimpse (2:39) 187 kbps 3.56 MB
[09/19] Navy Cut (0:29) 185 kbps 0.65 MB
[10/19] Spokes (3:37) 185 kbps 4.81 MB
[11/19] Scout (2:09) 148 kbps 2.29 MB
[12/19] Point Vicente (3:56) 196 kbps 5.53 MB
[13/19] Wash (2:35) 197 kbps 3.65 MB
[14/19] Ice Cream Jeep (0:30) 163 kbps 0.59 MB
[15/19] Windjammer (2:38) 186 kbps 3.51 MB
[16/19] Mazurka (1:19) 180 kbps 1.71 MB
[17/19] Removed (3:51) 155 kbps 4.31 MB
[18/19] Hitch (2:53) 177 kbps 3.66 MB
[19/19] Stinging Nettle (3:40) 164 kbps 4.33 MB
Total number of files: 19
Total size of files: 57.67 MB
Total playing time: 44:37
Generated: Tuesday, December 18, 2007 7:24:40 PM
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