New Calexico - "Two Silver Trees"
Calexico's Carried To Dust, which follows 2006's Garden Ruin, is out in the fall. On it, Joey Burns and John Convertino are joined by Paul Niehaus (pedal steel), Volker Zander (bass) and multi-instrumentalists Martin Wenk and Jacob Valenzuela, along with guest spots by Sam Beam, Douglas McCombs, Pieta Brown, Spanish artists Amparo Sanchez and Jairo Zavala, and Willie Nelson band member Mickey Raphael, among others. I bring up the laundry list of characters because album track "Two Silver Trees" is a subtle, spare construction that feels as spacious as the landscape they often write about and not the work of a mini-orchestra. Speaking of landscapes, Burns's description of the idea behind the title Carried To Dust makes for intriguing listening while you listen.
Calexico - "Two Silver Trees" (MP3)
Carried To Dust is, at least partially, the story of a writer in Los Angeles around the time of the writers' strike we had a while back in late 2007. Our hopper heads out east on a whim and a dry Santa Ana tail wind. Stopping at the Yucca Valley swap meet he buys an old road map with a route already marked with red pen. It leads him to a cabin and from the cabin to a chain of other small town thrift stores, picking up old copies of National Geographic magazines along the way. Stories about snow drops in Moscow, leaning houses in Valparaiso, abandoned neighborhoods in New Orleans, and a manmade lake full of cell phone trees creep their way into his notes. He finds further inpiración at old roadside diners, bending an ear to each waitress and the local news over badly brewed coffee. The break proves to be enlightening. He falls in love with the newly found space and being carried along spontaneity's spark.
"A manmade lake full of cell phone trees..."
Carried To Dust is out 9/9 on Quarterstick. The band's on the road:
07/25 - Calgary, Canada @ Calgary Folk Music Fest
07/27 - Reno, NV @ Robert Z Hawking Amp
08/03 - Newport, RI @ Newport Folk Festival
09/10 - Dublin, Ireland @ Tripod
09/11 - Edinburgh, United K @ Queens Hall
09/12 - Oxford, United King @ Carling Academy
09/13 - Sheffield, United K @ Leadmill
09/14 - Dorset, United King @ End of the Road Fest
09/24 - New York, NY @ Webster Hall
09/25 - Chicago, IL @ World Music Festival
09/26 - Seattle, WA @ The Moore
09/27 - Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
09/28 - San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
09/29 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Fonda
10/09 - Berlin, Germany @ Colombiahalle
10/10 - Koln, Germany @ E-Werk
10/11 - London, United Kingdom @ The Forum
10/13 - Brussels, Belgium @ AB Club
10/14 - Paris, France @ La Cigale
10/15 - Amsterdam, Netherla @ Paradiso
10/16 - Munich, Germany @ Muffathalle
10/17 - Zurich, Switzerland @ Volkhaus
10/18 - Milan, Italy @ Rolling Stone
10/19 - Frankfurt, Germany @ Mousontrum
10/21 - Vienna, Austria @ Gasometer
10/22 - Dresden, Germany @ Alter Schlachtof
10/24 - Copenhagen, Denmark @ Vega
10/25 - Stockholm, Sweden @ Nalen
10/26 - Oslo, Norway @ Rockerfeller
[Photo by Aubrey Edwards]
Posted at 5:15 PM by brandon in MP3, Tour Dates
Tags: Calexico
Great track, I'm very excited about this album. I think it will restore the faith I had in them prior to their last release.
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When did Calexico get so sexy? Daaaang! I hope they play new stuff on tour...
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