What with the current appreciation for the dusty doom of sixties anti-hippies Love, this cover of ‘Alone Again Or’ is a deservedly attention-attracting if not slightly zeigtgeist-y_ release by Calexico.
Fortunately its a wonderful take on a classic song; crossing the American border, it’s a taco-flavoured mariachi effort with a beautiful trumpet weaving its patterns with free abandon over the top, underpinned by tequila-soaked guitars and percussion. It combines tasy tex-mex drama with a hazy, widescreen outlook, and is really rather great.
Continuing the band-and-friends theme, the stand-out track of this release is actually the Cinematic Orchestra remix of ‘Woven Birds’, which tempts and allures slowly but stylishly.
Perhaps not quite as good as the album (‘Feast Of Wires’) that this EP promotes, it’s still a effortlessly cool curio that deserves your attention, and is a hell of a lot more worthy than the usual grab-bag efforts that make-up singles these days.
Drowned in Sound has five copies of Calexico's 'Alone Again Or' on sexier than thou 12" vinyl. To win one email here. That's all. Cool, huh?
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8Gareth Dobson's Score