Don Caballero, "The Irrespective Dick Area"
Don Caballero came back after a six year absence with Damon Che once again leading things from his drum kit. This is the second of the studio records from this configuration, and while good, it doesn't really reach the...
Calexico, "Gypsy's Curse"
The Black Light, the second Calexico album, is really where Calexico became Calexico. The dusty southwestern aesthetic reached full flower, with the rhythms and arrangements being incredibly evocative. I mean, I suppose this track explains it more than I could. They would...
Calexico, "Heart of Downtown"
This comes from Calexico's Christmas album, Seasonal Shift. The major concession here is that the guitar line is a little more filled out, and there's a little bit fuller chorus. It's a Calexico song otherwise, which is a perfectly good thing....
Skalpel, "Quicksilver"
Love me a good jazz/DJ thing.
Destroyer, "The Bad Arts"
Streethawk: A Seduction was the first Destroyer record that I heard, and this was the song that I heard on that record that really got me going. Something about how spare a...
Calexico, "Voices in the Field"
For a split second, at the beginning of this track, there's a burly menace to the sound that the seasoned Five Songs reader/listener would suspect is going to descend into some nightmare basement howling and guitarpocalypse. But no, it's...