Fact: I enjoy Calexico’s Garden Ruin quite a bit. Fact: Calexico is coming to Arizona for three shows in three cities in December. Fact: I have tickets to give away for said shows and autographed CDs. Fact: I couldn’t come up with anything clever to write to get this post started so I resorted to this lame tactic.
I’ve always felt that Calexico so perfectly captured what it’s like to live in Arizona, what with its beige landscape and lonely desert existence. And then Garden Ruin comes along and makes you rethink everything you thought Calexico sounded like. The hushed beauty of Yours and Mine is a high point in the group’s catalog if you ask me (which you didn’t).
The group (sans drummer John Convertino) stopped by Minnesota Public Radio’s great show the Current for a set. They didn’t play Yours and Mine, but frontman Joey Burns does explain in the interview that the name Bisbee Blue derives from a specific strain of turquoise from copper mines in Bisbee, located in the southeast corner of Arizona. A little Arizona history for ya.
Calexico, live on Minnesota Public Radio, 9/28/06:
1. Cruel
2. Bisbee Blue
3. Roka
ABOUT THAT CONTEST: Calexico is playing three shows in Arizona in December – Dec. 2 in Tucson; Dec. 4 in Flagstaff and Dec. 5 in Tempe. All tour dates are here. (The Tucson show benefits a public radio station there and Humane Borders. Read more here. Via Largehearted Boy.)
I have a pair of tickets for each show to give away. I’ll randomly select winners by e-mail. So, e-mail me at somuchsilence@gmail.com with “Calexico-(city)” in the subject (obviously, replace “(city)” with the actual city for which you are entering). You can enter for more than one city but can only win one. Three runners-up will receiver autographed copies of Garden Ruin.
If you don’t win, Garden Ruin is available at eMusic.
Related:
Calexico: Lucky Dime (alternate version).
Calexico on KEXP: “The high lonesome sound”.
Also, yesterday I said I’m cleaning out files but that I’d point you to some of the more popular posts on which I’ll be keeping the mp3s active. Here’s a couple of them, related to Calexico:
Calexico’s set on NPR (12/1/05).
Iron and Wine on NPR (12/2/05).
Iron and Wine/Calexico on NPR (12/2/05).
Calexico is so underrated. I just don’t get it. They are so original and amazing. Saw them in Portland, OR, recently and was blown away. They’re the Pink Floyd of spaghetti westerns.