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
Sonic Wind
Calexico Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Perfect pitch, simple glitch, promises it would never
Appear
In the skies (disguised)
Change in direction where birds never fly nor roam
Lie 'neath green valleys and wait for the call to come
To set ablaze the rafters and the roofs
Until the plan leaves the hand
Burns the site down to the ground
Through the ground
Craters are carving and wounds are left to weep
Sink to the table filtering through the years
Closing behind the nightmarish fears that run deep
Down in green valleys wait for the call to come
When it's all over and the empty quarter
Returns to the emptiness again
5000 miles over airplane graveyards
Landmass oceans wide. over continents
A sonic wind honing in on a tune no one can hear
Perfect pitch, simple glitch, promises
Over the skies, in disguise
Change in direction
A sonic wind is blowing
And the fire it is burning
Down in green valleys where birds never fly nor roam
Over airplane graveyards, wait for the call to come
And the sonic wind is whistling
The lyrics of Calexico's "Sonic Wind" seems to refer to a hidden, dangerous force that is unstoppable and unpredictable. The title suggests a powerful, unseen wind that is honing in on something, yet that no one can hear. The song starts off with a sense of mystery and an eerie mood-altering tone. The song goes on to describe the destructive effects of this force, how it changes direction and transforms the landscape. The lyrics sound poetic and enigmatic but also suggest a sense of foreboding.
The song seems to be a commentary on something that is beyond human control, maybe a natural disaster, or something man-made that we have created and are powerless to stop. The line "Change in direction where birds never fly nor roam" is significant, indicating an out-of-the-ordinary occurrence. There is also a sense of hopelessness conveyed through the lyrics, with references to "nightmarish fears" and "emptiness." The line "Green valleys wait for the call to come" perhaps refers to the inevitability of fate, how everything is predetermined, and we wait for our turn.
Line by Line Meaning
Sonic Wind, honing in, on a tune that no one can hear
The inaudible presence of a powerful force, that's perfectly calibrated and incapable of being picked up by human perception
Perfect pitch, simple glitch, promises it would never Appear In the skies (disguised)
A paradox of a perfect capability combined with a small flaw, supposedly disappears when present
Change in direction where birds never fly nor roam Lie 'neath green valleys and wait for the call to come
The course of the wind taking an unprecedented turn, where it flows through lush, leafy terrains unnoticed and latent
Firetail bats, poised to attack To set ablaze the rafters and the roofs Until the plan leaves the hand Burns the site down to the ground Through the ground
The embodiment of natural agents, that come equipped with an ability to ignite conflagration and decimate anything in its wake
Craters are carving and wounds are left to weep Sink to the table filtering through the years Closing behind the nightmarish fears that run deep Down in green valleys wait for the call to come When it's all over and the empty quarter Returns to the emptiness again
The aftermath of havoc that leaves a long-lasting impact and decimates anything and everything present in its vicinity. It's a vicious cycle where these creatures wait for the call, and eventually, as time passes, everything fades to emptiness once again
5000 miles over airplane graveyards Landmass oceans wide. over continents A sonic wind honing in on a tune no one can hear Perfect pitch, simple glitch, promises Over the skies, in disguise
The song's protagonist is covering an extensive distance that comprises numerous airplane graveyards and vast bodies of water. The sonic wind is always lurking and can flatline anything that comes in its way
Change in direction A sonic wind is blowing And the fire it is burning Down in green valleys where birds never fly nor roam Over airplane graveyards, wait for the call to come And the sonic wind is whistling
Change in course implies the start of an event that's beyond anyone's control. There's always some fire that's burning down below in hidden valleys, waiting to consume everything in its way. And the airy music of the wind keeps whistling through it all
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: JOHN CONVERTINO, JOSEPH BURNS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind