I currently have no albums by Calexico on vinyl which I would like to rectify asap so any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
ATB Graham
I would get Feast of Wire first - for me that is their stand-out album although I think the rest are very good. Are they all available on vinyl at the moment? I haven’t checked very carefully but I haven’t been struck by any great superiority of the vinyl over the CDs I have.
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They’re all pretty essential for me, but to start with I’d echo @CliveB ’s suggestion.
After that try ‘The Black Light’.
Their collaborations with Iron & Wine are also excellent, e.p. ‘In The Reins’ and album ‘Years To Burn’.
I’ve also a soft spot for ‘Spoke’ a very early album on the ‘Hausmusic’ label.
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I would agree with the recommendations you’ve had so far. I would add that I’ve been listening a lot to their Edge Of The Sun album recently and it’s superb.
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As above, also “Hot Rail” and “The Thread that keeps us”.
I also hear the new one is pretty good, on my too buy list! “El Mirador”
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Agree Feast of Wire is a great place to start, Spiritoso is also a slightly different take as it’s live with various German orchestras. Currently loving El Mirador which is a wonderful return to form
Another vote for Feast of Wire. The Convict Pool ep is also very enjoyable. I find the collaborations with Iron and Wine more Iron and Wine than Calexico. Not that that’s a bad thing - just not a great place to start if you like Calexico’s “desert rock”.
The Black Light is my favorite.
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+1 for Feast of Wire
As others have said, and definitely include the Iron and Wine EPs (there is Woman King too) but I think after Feast of Wire things have been patchy with some rather uninspired albums that didn’t really light my fire amidst the good stuff (Edge of Sun) so maybe try to listen to some first?
A new album El Mirador was released in the last week or so and I have heard it on Tidal but without being too inspired so far.
Not sure about vinyl availability for any of these, sorry.
Bruce
My recommendation is to try and catch them live - they’ve played Bristol twice and were awesome both times!
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Absolutely! I have seen them a number of times now and they have always been excellent. I’m pleased to see they have some other fans here. I was interested to see the two different perspectives on El Mirador here - I had a quick listen on Apple Music a while ago but wasn’t enthused by it - I will have to try again.
It might be worth mentioning that they have released a lot of material apart from the official albums - particularly at gigs. There is a box set of vinyl which I see is now very expensive but I have picked up a few of the individual albums at various times and they are worth hearing. The collection is called Road Atlas and you can also find the individual albums on Discogs.
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World Drifts In - DVD is worth buying.
Starts off a bit slow, but after 30 minutes when the Mariachi band join in, it’s different class. One of my favourite music DVD’s.
I’ve got that DVD and I agree it’s excellent. In fact it was that tour when I saw them live and it’s one of my all time favourite live shows.
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