Calexico Carried To Dust

06/09/08 5:30pm

by Kate Harper (CHARTattack)

Calexico will release Carried To Dust, another album mixing various southwestern American musical styles, on Sept. 9 through Touch & Go Records.

Carried To Dust was recorded in the group's hometown of Tucson, Ariz. at Wavelab Studios with producer Nick Luca (Neko Case, Iron & Wine). Singer/guitarist Joey Burns and fellow band founder and drummer John Convertino recorded the album with steel guitarist Paul Niehaus, bassist Volker Zander and multi-instrumentalists Jacob Valenzuela and Martin Wenk, who've been band members since 2003's Feast Of Wire. Carried To Dust features guest appearances from Iron & Wine's Sam Beam, who collaborated with Calexico on their In The Reins EP, Iowa singer/songwriter Pieta Brown and Tortoise bassist Doug McCombs, among others.

Burns says he and Convertino intentionally tried to make an album with a jammy feel, since they'd spent so much time collaborating with other musicians throughout their careers.

Burns and Convertino began collaborating when they met in California in 1990. Convertino had been playing in Arizona musician Howe Gelb's band, Giant Sand. Convertino and Burns called themselves Spoke before adopting Calexico in the late '90s. Calexico have released five albums, the latest of which is 2006's Garden Ruin. Their music mixes alt.country, jazz, Latin American folk music and other styles.

Calexico will play these Canadian shows:

July 6 Toronto, ON @ Mod Club w/Wood Pigeon
July 7 Montreal, QC @ Le National w/Wood Pigeon
July 8 Quebec City, QC @ Festival D'Ete
July 9 Ottawa, ON @ Lebreton Flats (Ottawa Bluesfest)
July 11 Winnipeg, MB @ Birds Hill Park (Winnipeg Folk Festival)
July 25 Calgary, AB @ Prince's Island Park (Calgary Folk Music Festival)

Here are the songs on Carried To Dust:

"Victor Jara's Hands"
"Two Silver Trees"
"The News About William"
"Sarabande In Pencil Form"
"Writer's Minor Holiday"
"Man Made Lake"
"Inspiracion"
"House Of Valparaiso"
"Slowness"
"Bend To The Road"
"El Gatillo (Trigger Revisited)"
"Fractured Air (Tornado Watch)"
"Falling From Sleeves"
"Red Blooms"
"Contention City"