howdy! on may 28 fire records is reissuing the complete works of rainer ptacek, a tuscon based guitar player who teamed up with howe gelb in the late 70s to form giant sand, but at the time i believe they were actually called giant sandworms. sadly, rainer died from a brain cancer in 1997, but [...]

Jim James & Calexico - Goin’ To Acapulco (Bob Dylan cover) An oldie from the “I’m Not There” soundtrack. I’m shocked to see that, when I first posted this video a few years ago, I wrote that I wasn’t a huge MMJ fan. What!? Must have been a momentary lapse in taste.

Click to listen to Rainer & Calexico's 'Be Prepared' Slide guitarist Rainer Ptacek passed away from brain cancer in 1997 but with a new series of reissues his influential sound will find new ears ready for his progressive approach to guitar playing Inner Flame the first of these reissues was originally...

Det amerikanske ørkenrock-band indtager Store Vega den 26. september

Calexico have announced a rare UK show for September in support of their new album, which is set to be released on September 10th. The show will take place on September 18th at The Forum in London, with tickets going on sale tomorrow at 9am.

Scarlett Johansson’s image is being used on business cards to promote a VIP adult store in Calexico, California. On the cards, as photographed above, Scarlett is wearing only a white t-shirt, black bra and tiny shorts. The business cards are advertising sex toys, lotions and other adult related products, in Spanish. TMZ was first to [...]

All week my earworm was Nick Lowe’s I Love The Sound Of Breaking Glass , with ‘glass’ replaced with ‘eggs’, such was the eggcitement about Easter. However, my chocolate was tainted by the death of Jim Marshall, inventor of rock’s greatest amp and the man who shaped the music we love. So, as Easter is a time of resurrection, I went through my record shelf, choccy in hand, honouring the great guitar heroes I’ve idolised over the years. But reminiscing is a false homage. If Marshall had looked backwards, his invention would still be a small town PA ...

A Victor Jara le cortaron la lengua y le golpearon las manos con un revólver hasta rompérselas. Después, lo mataron. Como sucede en todas las dictaduras, en este caso las fuerzas represivas del régimen de Pinochet hicieron lo propio para callar bocas, cercenando aquello con que las mentes vierten sus ideas de cara al exterior. [...]

by Claire Frisbie Saturday was the day to attend Vive Latino 2012—some of the most buzzed about acts of the past year were performing, Café Tacvba was headlining, tickets were sold out, and the sun was shining. We had our day mapped out to the minute. Columpio Asesino were already on the main stage, and I regret to report they were a bit underwhelming, but to no fault of their own, really. Their set was solid, but their music is too dark for blinding sunlight, methinks. The rather lethargic crowd did rise to the occasion, however, when they played ...

Lungs, Dirt and Dreams is pretty well described by its title actually, and has a kind of thunderously epic quality which constantly kicks back against the kind of defeatism this kind of music tends to evoke. You could easily compare a lot of this to Calexico, I suppose, albeit without the horns and the mariachi [...]

In 2009, Touch and Go Records announced they would temporarily stop releasing new music. Three years and a few Calexico and Jesus Lizard reissues later, they're back in action. The first new release is a single from  CocoRosie , "We Are on Fire" b/w "Tearz for Animals" , produced by T&G; alum Dave Sitek . The B-side features vocals from Antony Hegarty . It's out June 5.

The Brixton Riot Palace Amusements Modern Hymnal Recordings [2012] Fire Note Says: Good old fashioned indie rock from Jersey! Album Review: With all the genre bending bands out there sometimes it is nice to just hear an honest indie rock record like the debut from New Jersey band The Brixton Riot. Right from the opening swirling guitar intro on "Signal To Noise" you get a very comfortable vibe from the quartet as the song shifts into a foot tapping mode and the verse takes off with confidence. This combination sets the tone of the record and offers up pop, punk ...

After more than 15 years together, US band Nada Surf show no signs of slowing down. Amelia Barnes spoke with drummer Ira Elliot about the secret to long term success, touring Europe, and the positives of maintaining a lukewarm status. Hi Ira, where am I speaking to you from? I’m in Brooklyn right now. At home in Brooklyn. You’ve just wrapped a European tour, how was that experience? It was fantastic! It was kind of brutal. It was 20 shows in 22 days; it was pretty hardcore, it was great. But we were comfortable, we were in a ...

Ja Ja Ja Music   presents   Útidúr   Freja Loeb   Manna   Thursday 29. March 2012 @ The Lexington, London N1 9JB   Tickets £5 adv   www.jajajamusic.com   Útidúr (pronounced: ooh! – detour) are a twelve-piece group comprising players on double bass, drums, trumpet, violins, a second guitar and an accordion. They play joyous and ambitious chamber-pop with a dramatic streak – think Angelo Badalamenti, Beirut, Calexico and Ennio Morricone. Útidúr has honed their craft for a while and began playing at various venues in downtown Reykjavík in late summer of 2009. On seeing them live for the first time, The Line of Best Fit declared ...

Great Lake Swimmers - “Easy Come Easy Go”: SXSW 2012 Showcasing Artist New Wild Everywhere is the follow-up to Great Lake Swimmers’ critically acclaimed, Polaris Music Prize shortlisted and Juno nominated 2009 album Lost Channels. Their fifth album in just under a decade, this new collection of 12 tracks reveals a depth and maturity previously only hinted at by lead singer and songwriter Tony Dekker. Featuring the touring band from Lost Channels (with long-time collaborator Erik Arnesen on banjo and guitar, along with new addition Miranda Mulholland contributing backing vocals and violin, Bret Higgins on upright bass, and Lost Channels drummer ...