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Feast of Wire

~ Calexico
4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Audio CD (10 Feb 2003)
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • Label: City Slang
  • ASIN: B000088EG6
  • Other Editions: Audio CD  |  Vinyl
  • Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 20,819 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Track Listings

1. Sunken Waltz
2. Quattro (World Drifts In)
3. Stucco
4. Black Heart
5. Pepito
6. Not Even Stevie Nicks
7. Close Behind
8. Woven Birds
9. The Book And The Canal
10. Attack El Robot! Attack!
11. Across The Wire (Widescreen)
12. Dub Latina
13. Guero Canelo
14. Whipping The Horses Eye
15. Crumble
16. No Doze

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review
It takes time to digest this Feast of Wire. The melodic appeal of Calexico's fourth album is not instantaneous, these evocative sounds taking time with their bodily infusion. The studio manifestation of Calexico is centred around impressively multi-instrumental busybody Joey Burns and the more single-minded (but equally sensitive) percussion specialist John Convertino. The current road-band members are also on hand to contribute their own shadings, along with a strong contingent of string players and backing singers.

Recorded at home in Tucson, Arizona, all of the tunes are quite short, lending an episodic, soundtrack quality. The canvas is extremely broad, with horns and strings colouring the edges, while Burns tinkers about on accordion, organ, mandolin, melodica and synths. "Sunken Waltz" makes a modest opener, a traipsing ballad that's quickly overtaken by the rubberised bounce of "Quattro". "Black Heart" provides an early peak, its unearthly string arrangement backing a beautifully resigned Burns vocal. It's like an old 78 record, remixed last week, ending with a decelerated glide that crackles with electronic interference. "Attack El Robot! Attack!" is also rife with electro-roughage, blanketing its toytown guitar figures and brass fanfares. These instrumental vignettes have a habit of linking up the more reclined narrative-based songs. The more overtly Mexican material is saved until close to the finish, with the quavering trumpets and weeping violins of "Dub Latina" and "Guero Canelo" contributing to a more typically Calexico-ed sound, if such a thing is still possible. --Martin Longley

CD Description
'Feast Of Wire' is the fourth studio album from Tuscon, Arizona's Calexico. Produced by long time collaborator, Craig Schumacher, the album scales back the Mariachi sound that appears on previous work and sees the band add an extra dimension to their Spaghetti Western styled alt. country sound, by bringing synthesizers and drum machines into the mix.

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Customer Reviews

10 Reviews
5 star:
 (9)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
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Average Customer Review
4.9 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Feast Indeed, 9 Feb 2003
By M. FAVER "mickfaver" (Leicestoh) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Feast of Wire (Audio CD)
I have always had a funny relationship with Calexico. I always find myself not liking them quite as much as I think that I should. I had the same problem with Echo & The Bunnymen and The Wedding Present.

I can listen to them and I do quite enjoy them but their songs seem to just, ever so slightly, miss the mark for me. Until this.

The feel is the same as previous albums - a kind of bleak desert scenario on the US/ Mexican border, a land inhabited by vultures and cactii with the occasional weathered cowboy wandering down a deserted street.

The songs, though, as individual works contain a new depth and richness of melody that has always been missing on previous albums. 'Sunken Waltz' is a traditional country song of the highest order. 'Not Even Stevie Nicks' reminds me slightly of Mercury Rev - and that is no bad thing either. With 16 tracks in all, some are links and the album is definitely meant to be listened too in its entirety. Enjoy the latin feel of 'Dub Latina' and the Jonathon Richmanesque 'Attack El Robot, Attack'. Shads of The Handsome Family add to the modern country ambience and the brooding darkness of 'No Doze' wraps up the best Calexico album to date.

Set up the Tequila, turn up the hi fi and enjoy. Modern Country just gets stronger and stronger.

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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars In the Heart of the Badlands, 3 Mar 2003
This review is from: Feast of Wire (Audio CD)
I found Calexico's previous album "Hot Rail" full of potential but failing to arrive at the destination it promised. Consequently, I dithered over buying "Feast Of wire" but I'm very pleased I did. For me, this latest offering from the band, who's heart and soul reside in the cacti inhabited badlands of the desert states. Calexico have finally realised their earlier promise.

The album is an eclectic mix of lo-fi alt. country, spicey Mexican rythms together with a hint of conventional country music, but always with an added edge!

The sixteen tracks (excluding the three excellent bonus tracks on the limited edition version of the album) move on apace and are without a blemish. Although sounding quite different, I imagine this record as an alternative soundtrack to the Wim Wenders film Paris Texas.

All this after one listen!

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A feast indeed, 10 Aug 2003
This album should come with a sticker advising "Warning! This album is highly addictive."

This is the first Calexico album I have bought, but having heard a couple of tracks on radio, I decided to go ahead and buy it. It takes in a wide range of styles, from Mexican-infused waltzes to jazz, stopping off at lo-fi country and the sort of unclassifiable stuff you would expect to find on a Beck album. One aspect struck me straight away - the percussion. Just listen to the track "Whipping the Horse's Eyes", which involves a pedal steel and a cello playing a slow melody, but the percussion almost makes it danceable!

Almost half of the tracks are instrumentals, some of a minute or less in duration, which gives a soundtrack-like feel to the album, but it holds together better than most soundtrack albums.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars 9/10. Feast of Wire
Calexico's sound inhabits the frontier badlands of the American Southwest, a cinematic multi-instumental brew that takes in jazz, alt-country, Mariachi, folk and electronics. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Demob Happy

5.0 out of 5 stars It's a cracker
I'd not heard their music before, and bought it in the hope of finding something original. That's what it is - brilliant, moody music from people who use a full range of sounds... Read more
Published on 11 Nov 2006 by SS

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Calexico Album yet
I didn't really know calexico before I bought this album, but I love it. I love all the arrangements, the originality and the atmosphere it brings. Read more
Published on 7 Jun 2004 by Floris Schuiling

4.0 out of 5 stars Not bad, but there's no Crystal Frontier here
Don't get the wrong idea if I say that of the three Calexico albums I own, this is my least favourite. Read more
Published on 30 Aug 2003 by Andy Millward

5.0 out of 5 stars 'Americana' at its best
Listening to 'Feast of Wire' is the closest thing you will ever get to taking a road trip through America as Calexico offer up a moody, sultry and sun-drenched cruise along the... Read more
Published on 29 April 2003 by Mr. Gideon D. Brody

5.0 out of 5 stars Album of the decade
Only got this album today and listened three times cause didn't quite believe what I'd just heard, truly a gem all the way through a mix of everything alternative country, latin... Read more
Published on 26 Feb 2003 by P. M. Dalton

5.0 out of 5 stars Eccentric -- Eclectic -- Excellent!
Best new album I've heard in a while. Never heard of them before, but loved this album instantly.
Styles and influences all over the shop. Read more
Published on 1 Feb 2003 by E. L. Woodcock

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