The Obligatory

"Garden Ruin" is one of, if not THE most anticipated releases of the year for me ... for the first half of 2006, probably. It's Calexico's first full-length album since 2003's "Feast of Wire," and they had a few interesting musical developments in the meantime.

2004 saw the "Convinct Pool" EP, with Calexico nearly perfecting their southwestern orchestral sound on a tight group of covers and originals. It was nothing revolutionary, but it had everything great about Calexico - giant, dry percussion, twangy guitars, nearly-whispered vocals, and joyous bursts of mariachi horns.

2005's split EP with Iron & Wine - "In the Reins" - saw some real growth with the band, and it was a great opportunity to watch two artists truly influence each other. Iron & Wine loosened up and started rockin' out a bit more, while Calexico sharpened their songwriting and performance. Which is where we pick up "Garden Ruin."


It's a tough first listen for Calexico fans. Gone are the lazy, cinematic instrumental desert landscape songs. Gone is the wild experimentation that found the band jumping from mariachi to folk to dub within three songs. Gone is the sparse, echo-y production. Hell, even the mariachi horns are toned down. Where's our Calexico?

The first song, "Cruel," opens with a plucked acoustic guitar that sounds like classic Calexico, but when Joey Burns starts singing, you notice his vocals are up in the mix. Way, way more than any Calexico song has before. "Cruel" is a great song, but it sounds more like a straight ahead alt-country rock song with some slight Calexico touches. When the horns enter, they sound more like Beulah than the Tuscon desert-rock band we fell in love with in the first place.

Then comes "Yours and Mine," an overly hushed country-ish ballad. It is completely unremarkable.

I never, ever thought I would think a Calexico song unremarkable, but it is. Instead of highlighting an interesting lyric or arrangement, here the stripped down production highlights the band trying too hard to sound focused or mature. For some reason, the same thing happened when I didn't like the second song on "At War With the Mystics" - I started LOOKING for faults.

Thankfully, it is very difficult to find any with the rest of the album. Once you accept that Calexico is refining their sound, you can enjoy the light brushstrokes they use to paint what - at first - sound like standard folk-rock songs. You'll pick up a slide guitar buried in the mix ... or a touch of flamenco in the background. It makes listening a rewarding experience.

And if you're not down with that, you can at least appreciate that this is the most the band has ever rocked on record before. "Cruel" hints at it, with a billowing string section, but songs like "Letter to Bowie Knife" and "Deep Down" absolutely explode with sound and driving rhythm guitar. The final song, "All Systems Red," starts with a simple acoustic guitar and burns, slowly, to an amazing crescendo to close out the album.

In between, you get to hear the band's unique take on low-key downers; bouncy, slick singer-songwriter; spiced rock; and weird minor-key French ramblings. "Roxa," one of the best songs on here, sounds the most like old Calexico - a dark, sinister duet with verses in Spanish and English and great vocal harmonies.

While at first listen, I was put off by the band's adjusted, focused sound, by the final notes, I had accepted the new direction and really found myself enjoying it. When it was done, all I could ask myself was, "I wonder what they'll do next."

Then I immediately went back to track one and listened the whole way through again.

In One Sentence: Polished, sharp, progressive alt-country-southwestern-folk. Wow. Lots of hyphens. Must be Calexico.

Final Word: A few minor missteps, but a worthy addition to your CD rack.

Do you listen to music whilst hiking? You've been doing an awful lot of it lately, so perhaps you could share your recommendations for good naturey type music to enjoy on the trail.

I know my Grandaddy collection won't last me a week in the desert...

Unfortunately, I don't listen to music while I'm hiking, so I can't really make any suggestions.

But if you like the same type of stuff I do, then you'd probably enjoy stuff like Calexico, Fairport Convention, Califone, Andrew Bird, some early Grateful Dead ... Devotchka seems like it'd be good hiking music, too ...