Calexico - Hot Rail

by Maarten Schiethart

published: 17 / 12 / 2001

Label: City Slang
Format: CD

intro

Desert-trance with a great twang! Calexico manage to innovate styles that until now had largely been given up. Listening to 'Hot Rail' is a mind-wandering experience. The duo alternate storytellin

Desert-trance with a great twang! Calexico manage to innovate styles that until now had largely been given up. Listening to 'Hot Rail' is a mind-wandering experience. The duo alternate storytelling country songs with improvisational sound-collages, and this is a combination that works out rather well on "Hot Rail". Playing with Howie Gelb (The Band of Blacky Ranchette, Giant Sand) for ages, has clearly paid off. Calexico aim for less Mexican effects on "Hot Rail". The twists come in a dried-out sonic style, setting you up for songs, and are mostly stronger than on their previous album "The Black Light". It is definitely less hasta-la-vista and is filled with rather punchy stuff at times. Straightforward country-pop remains the core of Calexico music, but their sense of experimentation has never been as rewarding as on this album. Often enough, the lp works like the Wim Wenders' movie "Paris, Texas" does. It enhances a sense of direction that one feels insecure about, but as the uncertainty becomes more and more attractive, you just keep walking the desert as it were, praying for better things ahead.

Track Listing:-

1 El Picador
2 Ballad Of Cable Hogue
3 Ritual Road Map
4 Fade
5 Untitled III
6 Sonic Wind
7 Muleta
8 Mid-Town
9 Service And Repair
10 Untitled II
11 Drenched
12 16 Track Scratch
13 Tres Avisos
14 Hot Rail

Band Links:-

http://www.casadecalexico.com/
https://www.facebook.com/calexico
https://twitter.com/calexiconyc

Label Links:-

http://www.cityslang.com/splash/
https://www.facebook.com/cityslang
https://plus.google.com/+CitySlang/videos
https://twitter.com/cityslang
https://www.youtube.com/user/CitySlang

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