Calexico streamlined its eclectic sound a bit on this 2003 release, adding a pop sensibility to the band’s already-exciting mixture of Latin-tinged Southwestern twang and jazzy, atmospheric sophistication. Most notably, FEAST OF WIRE features more of multi-instrumentalist Joey Burns’s voice (Burns co-founded the band along with drummer John Convertino). On “Quattro (World Drifts In),” which combines Burns’s under-the-radar singing with a guitar-driven song structure, Calexico sounds like it might even sneak onto mainstream FM radio. But the breezy accessibility is deceptive, because, over the course of FEAST, the ensemble is remarkably experimental and adventurous.

The giddy-up rhythms of “Close Behind,” complete with accordion, sweeping strings, and lap steel, prove the band’s mastery at animating dusty, sun-baked motifs that sound like alternate soundtracks to HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER. The stately classicism of the piano-and-strings duet “The Book and the Canal” and the electronica-influenced “Attack El Robot! Attack!” proves the group capable of throwing out curveballs. Even when Calexico traffics in more traditional songcraft (”Not Even Stevie Nicks…”), its quirky approach keeps its indie credibility unassailable. FEAST OF WIRE is accomplished, listener-friendly experimentalism of the first order.

Tracklisting
1. Sunken Waltz
2. Quattro (World Drifts In)
3. Stucco
4. Black Earth
5. Pepita
6. Not Even Stevie Nicks
7. Close Behind
8. Woven Birds
9. The Book And The Canal
10. Attack El Robot! Attack!
11. Across The Wire
12. Dub Latina
13. Guero Canelo
14. Whipping Horse’s Eyes
15. Crumble
16. No Doze

Professional Reviews
Entertainment Weekly (3/14/03, p.66) – “…These country-rock abstractionists make songs full of Sergio Leone set pieces and Mexicali blues, with random bursts of jazz swagger…and pop bliss…” – Rating: B+

Q (01/01/04, p.75) – Ranked #48 in Q’s “The 50 Best Albums of 2003″ – “This is another diverse collection, with Latin shuffles, slow waltzes and would-be spaghetti western soundtracks all queuing up for a turn in the spotlight.”

Uncut (01/04, pp.84-7) – Ranked #49 in Uncut’s “Albums Of The Year 2003″

Uncut (3/03, p.98) – 4 stars out of 5 – “…Calexico transports you to a place where the sun’s hot enough to bake bricks and there are always mangy dogs in the shade….Saddle up, it’s showtime…”

Magnet (4/03, p.85) – “…It’s all drunkenly cinematic, as prickly as cactus and smart as hell, a fly-splattered vista of tumbling tumbleweeds and wide-open spaces…”

The Wire (2/03, p.59) – “…They create a space for the listener to appreciate the music’s constituent parts at the same time as measuring its overall impact….Their instrumentals run from the briefest of acoustic interludes to beautifully arranged soundtracks…”

Mojo (Publisher) (01/01/04, p.56) – Ranked #35 in Mojo’s “The Best of 2003″

Mojo (Publisher) (3/03, p.98) – 5 stars out of 5 – “…The music is often sensuous and sparkly….Seductive, stirring songs about crushed hope and the corruption of beauty and some of their most ambitious arrangements make this their most fully-realised and accomplished album yet…”