Calexico encore this weekend

Our encore episode this weekend features Sufjan Stevens and Calexico. (Check with your local stations for airdates.) The Stevens show was a lot of fun, very visually interesting, and I'm glad we were able to showcase his intricate songs and lush arrangements.

But it's Calexico that truly blew me away. Despite having heard the band's first record Spoke a zillion years ago, I was familiar with them mainly by reputation - they've been critical darlings their entire career, and numerous friends whose musical opinions I trusted constantly recommended them to me. I'm not sure why I didn't pick up on them - I think I thought their entire catalog was the same as that first album, which is neat but more atmosphere than anything else. So I didn't have huge expectations for this show, other than it being cool that we'd hosted such a respected group.

Needless to say, the actual performance was pretty mind-blowing. The levels of musicianship, creativity, songcraft and charisma were far higher than I expected and I was riveted from the first song. It was a great show, and I didn't envy the editors trying to cut it down to a half-hour. (Fortunately for those of us who missed the songs left out, the Calexico half will also be expanded and available on DVD from New West Records sometime in early 2009.) Combined with Stevens' colorful performance, it's a great hour of music television. Check it out if you can.