The Black Light

Calexico

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 19, 1998)
• Original Release Date: May 19, 1998
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Quarter Stick
• ASIN: B0000064B7
• In-Print Editions: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #48,049 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The perfect soundtrack for a summer roadtrip in an old car across Death Valley. Calexico's musical textures are woven out of a dazzling array of instruments and styles, including mariachi trumpets, countrified pedal steel, Latin jazz percussion, and carnival organ, just to name a few. The songs move at siesta speed, casually looping and loping along, never getting overheated. Bandmates Joey Burns and John Convertino have their hands in so many musical pies--including projects with OP8, Giant Sand, Victoria Williams, Giant Sand, and Richard Buckner--one wonders how they find the time to create the sun-soaked music of Calexico. But thank God they have. --Tod Nelson

NME

It's a fraught, yet compelling trip: part spaghetti Western part inner soundscape.... "Gypsy's Curse" sets the tone with portentous twanging, while short links like "Where Water Flows" and "Stray" alternate moments of calm with hip-swinging malice.... All told, Calexico may look like a one-horse town we've been to before, but it's still worth a visit.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ethereal, dreamlike and a MUST HAVE, August 4, 1999

By	"britin" (Los Angeles, California) - See all my reviews

Ahh, the world that is Calexico...once you've heard "The Black Light" and their early effort, "Spoke", you'll never want to leave Calexico's vision of what our world should be: smooth, mischievous, cultural, sorrowful, slightly representative of a jam session, sadly sweet (the kind that leaves a Mona Lisa smile on one's face), and wholly remarkable. Throw in a couple of fiestas and this album is a solid listen. If you hear only one song on this CD, catch "Bloodflow." Its slow, sensuous crescendo will set you on fire.

A friend loaned me her CD and after a couple of weeks, commented that I was going to overdose on it - that's how good "The Black Light" is. Even after all those rotations, I'm still listening and appreciating nuances not caught in the first few go-rounds. If you haven't already guessed, I highly recommend this album.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Emotionally expressive Americana....., October 28, 2003

By	fetish_2000 (U.K.) - See all my reviews

A huge surprise this one...having never heard their songs before, I was excepting something along the lines of an accomplished Alternative Country act, but I was seriously impressed by how much more versatile they are. More of an `Americana' band that mix the more subtle delicate side of indie rock, borne out with acoustic guitar, Piano, accordion, Percussion and a healthy dose of Trumpet & Violin....they consist around mostly harmonious instrumental tracks, with several vocals tracks "The Ride Pt II / Missing / Trigger" after every 3-4 instrumental tracks. But focusing on their instrumental tracks "Gypsy's Curse" is a lap steel pedal driven spaghetti western composition, to rank amongst the finest in the field. And as if they wasn't enough, they firmly encroach on "The Gotan Project" territory will their beautifully elegant "Minas de Cobre (For Better Metal)" elevating them to proprietors of wonderfully emotional music.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars IMO, the best album of the '90s!, January 11, 2000

By	Chris Pearson (Denver, CO United States) - See all my reviews

From the moment I heard the first notes of Calexico's "The Black Light", I was hooked. It replaced Swell's "41" as my favorite album of the 1990s. Desert film-noir soundtrack music at its best (and way better than FODM!). Dark, brooding, and introspective, yet thematic, inspirational, and haunting. A must listen for fans of Cormac McCarthy's epic book "Blood Meridian". Imagine being lost in a dusty town of ill repute, asking an old drifter for directions, and he says "follow her hands, to the dark end of the street..." Also, one question for the Calexico faithful, does anyone know if their new album "Tete a tete" really coming out Jan. 25th? CMJ says April. Quarterstick Records will release "Descamino" on Jan. 18th, which includes remixes of "The Black Light".