[.ca] Spoke

Chronique amazon.fr:
Émanation de Giant Sand, le groupe d'Howe Gelb qui les a fait se rencontrer et dont ils constituent la section rythmique, Joey Burns et John Convertino, respectivement batteur et bassiste (avec de nombreuses autres cordes à leur arc) se mettent à leur propre compte en fondant Calexico au milieu des années 90. Spoke, premier véritable album enregistré à domicile et fleurant bon l'artisanat délicat, sort en 1996 et jette les bases du son du groupe : dominante instrumentale seulement émaillée sporadiquement du chant de Joey Burns, incorporation de nombreux instruments (mandoline, accordéon...) et surtout recours à des climats très cinématographiques, qui viennent illustrer autant de saynètes d'un film imaginaire aux atmosphères moites et imprégnantes. À cheval sur des ambiances western, le folk domestique et les sons mexicains qui filtrent de l'autre côté de la frontière, Calexico réalise ici avec des bouts de ficelle un magnifique album aux titres courts et variés. La suite de leur œuvre fera appel à des climats et à une production plus amples. Mais tout est déjà là, bien en place. --Fabrice Privé

From Amazon.com:
As one might expect from former members of Giant Sand and Friends of Dean Martinez, this one is another sun-dried tomato. With vocals murmuring just below hearing level and guitars pushing and shoving between a lonesome, distant twang and a sleepy strum as on "Sanchez," the music feels like a soundtrack from a hippie western where the hero survives banishment in the desert by eating peyote buttons. Like the Dean Martinez hombres, Calexico draws upon a choice array of exotic instrumentation (accordion, mandolin, violin, vibes), but the heart of the record is closer to a low-key Meat Puppets hootenanny, the primary combination of guitar and snare drum providing the colors as well as the frame on gentle beauties like "Glimpse" and "Spokes." A well-placed occasional rocker, like the surf-fired "Scout" or the bar mitzvah delight "Mazurka," shake things up nicely, but for the most part, you won't stray too far from the futon. Then again, why should you? --John Chandler

different...but the same.:
This is not the lush cinematic Calexico of the other albums, This is much more folksier and gritty, and for that it stands alone in its sound. The framework is there for what would come later but there is no pedal steel or horns. All in all it is great, and Id also suggest Commited soundtrack or the Road Map cd from the bands website for a similar sound.

desert cool:
I have all of Calexico's full-length CDs and they're all excellent. Hard to nominate a single CD as their best, but if I were forced to, Spoke would be it. How do these guys do it? How do they assemble such magic from such simple parts?

Strangely addictive:
I have to agree with all of these reviewers, save for the one who didn't like this release. This is a beautiful concoction of thoughtful-western-meets-tearful-traditional-Mexican beauties, worth listening to repeatedly. It doesn't jump out at you, but lures you in gently like a curious whisper. Everyone I played this CD for loved it and promptly went out to buy it. I suggest you do the same.

Mediocre compared to 1st:
After loving "Black Light" and finding that almost everyone I played it for felt the same, I was disappointed in "Spoke." It comes across more as a thrown together release of material the guys hadn't finished working on than the evocative, cool step beyond that it is perhaps intended to be. You can easily find other music in this genre that surpasses this cd, but it's still worthwhile if you're a dedicated Calexico fan.

Great for driving through the desert at night:
This IS Calexico's first album, Philip W. Black Light (their 2nd release) is a great album, but I prefer the lo-fi charm of the more soft-spoken tunes that make 'Spoke' Calexico's best album.

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