Strangely, the first Calexico song that really made an impression on me was their cover of Love’s “Alone Again Or” from the 2004 covers EP, Convict Pool.

Calexico – Alone Again Or

I was fortunate enough to see Love before Arthur Lee passed away.  What a show that was!  In keeping with the bizarre world of NYC concert-going, David Fricke, Kurt Loder and Steven Van Zandt were standing next to me the entire time but that’s another story.  I’m fairly certain that I’ve also been to a Calexico concert but I can’t say for sure (damn CMJ and those free drinks).  Hmm.  I was going to compare the two live versions of this song but not remembering anything about one of the shows doesn’t help.  Let’s move on.

The point of all this is that I had no idea for the longest time that Nicolai Dunger was the one singing on Calexico’s version of “Alone Again Or”.  Every time I heard something by Calexico I always thought that the vocals seemed off.  Knowing now that I’ve been mistakenly judging the band by a one-off collaboration, I’ve decided to revisit the band.

As it turns out, they have a new album coming out on September 9th.

[youtube:http://youtube.com/watch?v=3mDyflNxHMA]

Calexico – Two Silver Trees

I must admit that it took a little while for song to grow on me, but I imagine that silver trees do indeed take some time to fully mature so all is forgiven.  It’s nice to see that Calexico is still with Touch and Go/Quarterstick.  I haven’t heard a lot out of them lately, but they used to be the kings of indie rock in the late 90’s/early 00’s.

TOUR DATES A PLENTY.  TOUR DATES FOR ALL.

SUN JULY 27 – Robert Z Hawkins Amphitheatre – Reno, Nevada
SUN AUG 3 – Newport Folk Festival – Newport, Rhode Island
WED SEPT 10 – Tripod – Dublin, Ireland – w/ Wood Pigeon
THU SEPT 11 – Queens Hall – Edinburgh, UK – w/Wood Pigeon
FRI SEPT 12 – Academy – Oxford, UK – w/Wood Pigeon
SAT SEPT 13 – Leadmill – Sheffield, UK – w/Wood Pigeon
SUN SEPT 14 – End of the Road Festival – Dorset, UK
WED SEPT 24 – Webster Hall – New York, NY – w/Oakley Hall
THU SEPT 25 – World Music Festival 2008 – Chicago, IL – Free Show
FRI SEPT 26 – The Moore Theatre – Seattle, WA – w/The Cave Singers
SAT SEPT 27 – Crystal Ballroom – Portland, OR – w/The Cave Singers
SUN SEPT 28 – The Fillmore – San Francisco, CA – w/The Cave Singers
MON SEPT 29 – The Fonda – Los Angeles, CA – w/The Cave Singers
THU OCT 9 – Columbiahalle – Berlin, Germany – w/Boban i Markovic Orkestar
FRI OCT 10 – E-Werk – Koln, UK
SAT OCT 11 – Forum – London, UK
MON OCT 13 – AB – Brussels, Belgium
TUE OCT 14 – La Cigale – Paris, France
WED OCT 15 – Paradiso – Amsterdam, Netherlands
THU OCT 16 – Muffathalle – Munchen, Germany
FRI OCT 17 – Volkshaus – Zurich, Switzerland
SAT OCT 18 – Rolling Stone – Milan, Italy
SUN OCT 19 – Mousonturm – Frankfurt, Germany
TUE OCT 21 – Gasometer – Wien, Austria – w/Lambchop
WED OCT 22 – Alter Schlachthof – Dresden, Germany
THU OCT 23 – Fabrik – Hamburg, Germany
FRI OCT 24 – Vega – Copenhagen, Denmark
SAT OCT 25 – Nalen – Stockholm, Sweden
SUN OCT 26 – Rockefeller – Oslo, Norway

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