Search - Calexico :: Carried to Dust

The best album of the year

Stephen M. Vakil | Madison, WI United States | 05/22/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have been digesting this album for some time, and it has yet to diminish its stature in my eyes. It is by far my favorite album of 2008. As a fan of Calexico, I have always followed and enjoyed their work. Nothing prepared me for this. The mood of the southwest is pervasive, but does not overpower a set of songs strong from start to finish. Previous work had struggled with this issue - mood and style vs substance. This album has both. It may seem to have an identity crisis at times as it roams from style to style, but the current is always in the same direction. You never lose sight of the band, which happened at times with Garden Ruin. But you also don't get lost in a conversation you can't understand, as happens in Feast of Wire. It's simply the most mature, enjoyable thing they've produced. It's got everything you loved about In The Reins, Feast of Wire, and Garden Ruin, and it blends it all together to reveal unexpected pleasures. I was hooked the moment I heard Slowness and it was over after that. A mountain of delight. That slowness has indeed never gone away."