Calexico
Many folks, often with a sigh of relief, considered Carried To Dust a return to form for Calexico after 2006’s Garden Ruin. Certainly the signals are there: cover art by Victor Gastellum, recording at Wavelab Studios, production by Calexico with a Craig Schumacher assist. Aesthetically, the subtle effect of rustic textures and open spaces on Carried To Dust yield an “aha!” moment: That, you realize, is what you were probably missing in Garden Ruin.
Once you get past that, you can appreciate that Carried To Dust is, in fact, a departure of its own, in the sense that every Calexico record since Spoke has been a departure. Calexico’s music is always a product of the uniquely open and absorptive intellects of leaders Joey Burns and John Convertino, and whatever synthesis of newly discovered music, cultures, geography, literature and world events has transpired since they last documented their world view. Not so uniquely, they incorporate effects of changes in personal circumstances as well.
The one constant is that Calexico always seems actively to be exploring new ideas, any category. On Garden Ruin, they experimented with a band approach, like they’d seen on tour with Wilco, among others. They assembled their live-show cast in one spot to collaborate on songs. For the first time, they worked with a producer, picking the brain of J.D. Foster. And they seemed to reached for a bigger sound, a closer match, perhaps to the outsize punch of their live performances in ever larger venues. Most alarming to longtime fans, Burns let loose some pop chops with the most adorable song in the Calexico catalogue, “Bisbee Blue”.
Like countless other explorers, Calexico returned home changed. Carried To Dust finds them rediscovering the freedom of working on their own, building their music in their own time, and coloring it from an ever expanding palette of musicians and geographies as far flung as Moscow and Chile.