Calexico had its origins in 1990 when Burns, who was studying music at the University of California, Irvine, met up with Convertino, who was playing drums with Howe Gelb in Giant Sand. Burns joined them, after first playing upright bass on a European tour.
Giant Sand moved to Tucson, Arizona in 1994. John and Joey formed the Friends of Dean Martin (later the Friends of Dean Martinez) which scored a record deal with Sub Pop. However, the pair split up with Bill Elm, the co-founder of The Friends of Dean Martinez in 1996. The band subsequently became a kind of indie rhythm section for hire, working with the likes of Victoria Williams, Barbara Manning and Richard Buckner before forming Calexico.
Calexico first recorded Spoke in 1995 for German independent label Hausmusik with a limited edition of 2,000 copies. At that point the band was still called Spoke and the album was technically self-titled. After the band signed with Quarterstick Records (a subsidiary of Touch and Go Records) and changed their name to Calexico, Spoke was reissued by that label in 1997. Burns and Convertino also collaborated with Gelb and Lisa Germano on the album Slush released under the name OP8 that same year.
Their second album The Black Light was released in 1998. This was a concept album about the desert of Arizona and northern Mexico and received excellent reviews, with the critic from the Wall Street Journal rating it as one of the best records of the year.
The band built their profile by touring as support acts for bands such as Pavement, the Dirty Three and Lambchop. Calexico has regularly played festivals such as the Bonnaroo Music Festival, the Hurricane Festival and All Tomorrow's Parties. The Road Map album was a limited recording released in 1999 for sale only at Calexico's live shows.
Calexico released its third album Hot Rail in May 2000 featuring the addition of horns and violin to their sound. The duo was busy in 2000 as they also appeared on a Giant Sand record called Chore of Enchantment as well as a tour only record Travelall.
At the end of 2000, Burns and Convertino joined with two French friends Naïm Amor and Thomas Belhôm to record "Tête A Tête" (Wabana Records, 2001) released under moniker ABBC (Amor/Belhom/Burns/Convertino). Calexico released two collections of rarities during 2001. Even My Sure Things Fall Through collected outtakes from previous albums, B-sides, remixes and material previously unreleased in the US. The album also featured Mariachi Luz de Luna who frequently played live with the duo. The Aerocalexico album was sold exclusively at their gigs in 2001.
The Scraping live album was released in 2002. Their next studio recording Feast of Wire was released in 2003 and made the charts for the first time appearing on Billboard's Heatseekers and Independent album chart. They made their first video for "Quattro (World Drifts In)" which was a single from Feast of Wire. They released a live DVD in 2004 called World Drifts In: Live at the Barbican. The song "Güero Canelo", from Feast of Wire, was featured in Michael Mann's Film, Collateral, starring Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx, in which the band appears.
Calexico contributed the song "Burnin' Down the Spark" to Nancy Sinatra's self-titled album in late 2004. The album featured artists who cited Sinatra as a musical influence. The song was released in the UK as the second single from the album in early 2005.
In 2005, Calexico joined up with Miami-based band Iron & Wine. Howard Greynolds of Overcoat Records was responsible for bringing the two bands together having previously been responsible for Tortoise and Will Oldham recording together. The In the Reins EP was released in September 2005 and received a positive reception with an MSNBC review giving it honorable mention. It also made an appearance in the Billboard 200 album charts, becoming their first recording to make the album charts, and No. 12 on the independent charts. In October 2005, they commenced a US tour with Iron & Wine to promote the record.
Released in 2006, Garden Ruin is Calexico's fifth studio album and was produced by JD Foster. The sound strays slightly from earlier works, focusing less on the horn section, and placing more emphasis on guitar and vocal tracks, giving the whole album a more mainstream sound.
In 2007, Calexico was invited by Arcade Fire to record a cover of their "Ocean of Noise." This recording was used as the B-side for Arcade Fire's "Intervention" single, originally released on vinyl on May 21, 2007. Also in 2007, Calexico recorded a revamped version of the Bob Dylan song "Goin' to Acapulco" for the Dylan biopic "I'm Not There". The song featured Jim James of My Morning Jacket on vocals and was featured on the soundtrack of the film.
Several of Calexico's songs, usually their shorter instrumental pieces, have been used as interstitial and background music on Public Radio International's This American Life. Their songs "Ballad Of Cable Hogue" and "Service And Repair" were featured in the 2001 German comedy movie Lammbock.
Their sixth studio LP is called 'Carried to Dust', featuring Sam Beam of Iron & Wine, Douglas McCombs of Tortoise and Pieta Brown. It was released in the USA via Touch & Go Records on September 9, 2008. The album enjoyed solid reviews, with hometown paper the Arizona Daily Star praising the band's "ability to sweep you into its world, taking listeners to the American Southwest. This is one of the reasons Europeans love Calexico and others in this country are beginning to come around."
On October 16, 2008, a three-song live acoustic video performance premiered on LiveDaily Sessions, featuring Joey Burns performing the songs "Two Silver Trees," "Writer's Minor Holiday" and "Man Made Lake".
In 2009, the song Banderilla was featured in an episode of AMC's Breaking Bad.
In 2010, a new album of Calexico was released: the soundtrack of the documentary "Circo". The band also spent part of 2010 touring with Arcade Fire along the west US coast.
In May 2011, their song "Slowness" was dedicated by Gabrielle Giffords to her husband astronaut Mark Kelly as the wake up song aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour on its final flight.
Algiers was released 11 September 2012 on ANTI Records and CITY SLANG (Europe).
In April 2014, the band began referring to a new album on Twitter in posts from Mexico City, Coyoacan, Mexico, and Athens, Greece. Edge of the Sun was announced on 27 January 2015, and released on April 14, 2015. The album features guest appearances by various artists such as Sam Beam (Iron & Wine), Ben Bridwell (Band of Horses), Gaby Moreno, Carla Morrison and members of the Greek instrumental group Takim.
The current members of Calexico are:
Joey Burns – vocals, guitars, bass, cello, piano, keyboards, accordion, percussion, vibraphone
John Convertino – drums, percussion, piano, keyboards, vibraphone, marimba, accordion
Paul Niehaus – steel guitar, guitars
Jacob Valenzuela – trumpet, keyboards, vibraphone, vocals
Martin Wenk – trumpet, guitar, keyboards, accordion, glockenspiel, vibraphone, theremin (occasionally harmonica & French horn)
Volker Zander – standup bass, electric bass
Live tour 2013:
Joey Burns - vocals, guitars
John Convertino - drums, percussion
Sergio Mendoza - Keyboards
Jairo Zavala - bazouki, baritone guitar, vocals
Jacob Valenzuela – trumpet, keyboards, vibraphone, vocals
Martin Wenk – trumpet, guitar, keyboards, accordion, glockenspiel, vibraphone (occasionally harmonica & French horn)
Ryan Alfred - bass, vocals
Fallin' Rain
Calexico Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It's going through my brain
I hear talk of people
I feel the fallin' rain
I see a man crying
Cause the whole world has left him
Kids are laughing at the funny faces
My mind is like a spring in a clock
It won't unwind
I can't see, can't think, can't feel
I'm out of time
I'm up, then I'm down now
Tell me where is it going to end
You say start at the beginning
Of the end, my friend
I hear thunder
And I can feel the wind
I can see angry faces
In the eyes of men
And don't forget kid's stake
Where kids lay bleeding on the ground
And there's no place on this planet
Where peace can be found
So there'll be stabbings and shootings
And young men dying all around
And it keeps going through my brain
And I can still hear the sound
I hear talking of people
The whole world has gone insane
And all there is left is the fallin' rain
And all there is left is the fallin' rain
Calexico's song Fallin' Rain captures the feelings of hopelessness and despair that arise from witnessing violence and injustices in the world. The opening lines of the song are particularly evocative, as the singer describes how a sound is going through their brain while they hear people talking and feel the falling rain. The lyrics suggest a sense of overwhelm and confusion, as if the singer is trying to process everything that is happening around them but can't quite make sense of it.
As the song progresses, we hear about a man crying, kids laughing at a clown, and angry faces in the eyes of men. The singer's mind is compared to a spring in a clock that won't unwind, and they feel out of time and unable to see or think clearly. The second half of the song takes a darker turn, as we hear about stabbings, shootings, and young men dying all around. Despite these horrors, there is a sense of resignation and acceptance that permeates the song, as the singer acknowledges that the world has gone insane and all that is left is the falling rain.
Line by Line Meaning
I hear a sound
There is a persistent noise that I am hearing
It's going through my brain
It is affecting me mentally and emotionally
I hear talk of people
I am hearing conversations and discussions among people
I feel the fallin' rain
I am experiencing the heavy rain that is falling
I see a man crying
I am witnessing a man shedding tears
Cause the whole world has left him
He feels abandoned and isolated by the entire world
Kids are laughing at the funny faces
The children are finding amusement in the clown's silly expressions
Of a clown
There is a person in clown makeup present
My mind is like a spring in a clock
My thoughts are racing and cannot slow down
It won't unwind
The racing thoughts do not cease or slow down
I can't see, can't think, can't feel
My mental state is hindering my abilities to observe, reason, and experience emotion
I'm out of time
I am no longer in balance with the daily flow of time
I'm up, then I'm down now
My emotions are fluctuating unpredictably
Tell me where is it going to end
I am asking where my current turbulent state will come to a stop
You say start at the beginning
Someone is advising to focus on the start of the upsetting situation
Of the end, my friend
To understand the current predicament, we must look back to the start of its troubles
I hear thunder
There is a loud and ominous sound of thunder present
And I can feel the wind
The blowing wind is quite noticeable
I can see angry faces
There are visions of hatred and rage present
In the eyes of men
The angry faces belong to males
And don't forget kid's stake
Remember the innocent children's involvement
Where kids lay bleeding on the ground
Imagery of wounded child victims lying on the floor
And there's no place on this planet
There is nowhere in the world that is untouched by these horrific events
Where peace can be found
There is no current location where tranquility and calmness reign
So there'll be stabbings and shootings
There will be a continuation of violent acts with knives and firearms
And young men dying all around
The young adult male population is dying in great numbers
And it keeps going through my brain
The thoughts of these traumatic events are constantly on my mind
And I can still hear the sound
I can still vividly remember and hear the noises from the past events
The whole world has gone insane
The global state of mind has turned delusional and unstable
And all there is left is the fallin' rain
The only constant that can be counted on is the consistent rainfall
And all there is left is the fallin' rain
The repetition of the message emphasizes that only the falling rain remains as a constant
Lyrics © VOILA MUSIC LLC
Written by: Link Wray
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
rulnacco
What an achingly beautiful song. And what a lovely, haunting rendition of it.
roddy2body
Sublime
Moebius Dune
<3
naarmij
Hi Paul,
Which album is this from?
naarmij
Hi Paul,
Thank you very much!
I have the album but not the limited edition with the three bonus tracks.
This is the one: Barcode: 724358169324
Paul Adamietz
+naarmij Bonus Track from the album "Feast Of Wire"of the year 2003.