Anyone with eyes and ears who’s seen Calexico on stage already knows few bands can match the mix of energy and mystery conjured up live by this international collective of musicians. Based in Tuscon, AZ, but including players from across the US, Mexico and Europe, Calexico’s musical hybrid includes country, psychedelic, punk, cabaret, and classical influences, as well as the wellspring of various border musics next door, the backbone of their vision.
But with their growing popularity abroad and fewer regional shows than just a few years ago when they seemed to come through the Southeast every six months, Calexico’s a tougher ticket these days — that is until the release of Calexico: World Drifts In (Live at the Barbican London) (Quarterstick, $20.99), a DVD chronicling a 90-minute, 20-song, November 2002 set at the 2,100-seat theater that the Royal Shakespeare Company calls home. This show has been raved about by Calexico fans and the British press alike since it occurred, and it’s easy to see why. Bathed in a fitting deep blue light throughout most of the show, the six-piece band led by guitarist/singer Joey Burns and drummer extraordinaire John Convertino takes you on a tour the breadth of their entire catalogue, from classics like “The Ride, Pt. 2,” “Sonic Wind,” and “Wash” to (then) previews from their latest, the critically acclaimed Feast of Wire (2003).
But unless you’re a Tucson native, or have seen one of the band’s European festival appearances, it’s unlikely you’ve seen them with their performance partners and hometown friends, the octet Mariachi Luz de Luna, or had the pleasure of guest spots from the likes of the French chanteuse, Francoiz Breut. But this show has it all, with the mariachi band joining in half-way through for rousing versions of border rave-ups like “Cancion Del Mariachi” and the Minutemen’s “Corona,” a Calexico staple live. Patient, well-directed camera work allows you to enjoy a band at the pinnacle of their game, in front of an audience not likely to forget this show any time soon. Throw in top-notch sound, over an hour of extras including a making-of-Feast of Wire documentary, a 10-minute feature on mariachi music by Burns, a tour film, interviews, a cartoon and three videos, and this home theater experience is as close to the real thing as you’re likely to get, or a great holdover while you await their return to the South.
A Tale of Two Goldfrapps
Half-Broadway show, half live gig, Allison Goldfrapp’s namesake band has released a double-DVD — Wonderful Electric (Caroline, $22.99) — featuring two shows, one from the height of their Felt Mountain success (exquisitely filmed in the courtyard of London’s Somerset House), and the other from Shepherd’s Bush Empire meant to highlight 2003’s Black Cherry tour. Of course the DVD set suffers from the same issues that plague the band’s sophomore debut — bored shitless performing their own Shirley Bassey-meets-Orbital compositions like “Lovely Head” and “Human” 12 million times after Felt Mountain‘s success, the band meant to mix things up a bit with Black Cherry, but the results were…uh, not so good. Relying on tired techno beats and not quite able to re-capture the beauty of their icy ballads, the band’s live show seems stiff and rote by this time. Of course, when you’re performing in what looks like a giant snowglobe, well, your movement is going to be limited — an adjective you could also use for this DVD’s appeal. Each show is followed by making-of documentaries that shed some light on the band and their dilemma without revealing too much about Ms. Goldfrapp, her eight-inch stilettos, or anything else for that matter.
Early EarleThe year was 1986, and for Steve Earle it was a mixed bag. His just-released debut, Guitar Town, was turning heads in both the neo-traditionalist country and rock worlds. He had assembled a strong band, the Dukes, and seemed poised on the threshold of some sort of success. But Earle’s wild side was in full bloom behind the scenes (he’d already married his coke dealer), and it’s not hard to see the effects in Steve Earle: Live from Austin, TX (New West, $19.99), a no-frills, full-length affair taken from the first of Earle’s Austin City Limits appearances. There’s some nostalgic value to seeing Earle and the Dukes roll through classics like “Guitar Town,” “Down the Road” and Bruce Springsteen’s “State Trooper,” but it’s also tough to watch a burgeoning substance abuse problem waiting to happen (or possibly in mid-flight). Still, this is the cream of the crop from New West’s new DVD collection, the first batch of which also includes Susan Tedeschi, Robert Earl Keen and the Flatlanders.
This article appears in Nov 24-30, 2004.
