Algiers
Named for the New Orleans neighborhood where it was recorded, with a bonus orchestral disc on some editions.
Calexico, 2012
- Released
- September 2012
- Studio
- Algiers, New Orleans
- Label
- City Slang (Europe), Anti- (US)
- Producer
- John Convertino, Craig Schumacher and Joey Burns
Algiers takes its name from the New Orleans neighborhood where it was recorded. Burns and Convertino wrote most of it. Pieta Brown co-wrote Fortune Teller with Burns, and Jacob Valenzuela wrote No Te Vayas. The record was mastered by JJ Golden and came in a package with a 20-page booklet of art, lyrics and credits. Guests included Jairo Zavala, Sergio Mendoza on piano, Tom Hagerman on violin and viola, and four string players on Hush and The Vanishing Mind. Craig Klein plays trombone on Sinner in the Sea, Jason Mingledorff plays saxophones on Splitter and Chris Lopez plays baritone trombone on Puerto.
Some releases included a bonus disc, Spiritoso, with the band playing its songs with the Radio Symphonie Orchester Wien and the Deutsches Filmorchester Babelsberg. The A.V. Club gave the album an A-. In 2012 it received a double silver certification from the Independent Music Companies Association, which indicates sales of at least 40,000 copies across Europe.
Track listing
- Epic4:16
- Splitter3:30
- Sinner in the Sea4:14
- Fortune Teller3:57
- Para3:53
- Algiers3:42
- Maybe on Monday3:37
- Puerto4:23
- Better and Better2:33
- No Te Vayas4:15
- Hush4:22
- The Vanishing Mind3:54
Personnel
- Joey Burns vocals, guitars, upright bass, piano, vibes, keys, accordion; producer
- John Convertino drums, percussion, vibraphone; producer
- Craig Schumacher producer, mixing; Mellotron, percussion, Wurlitzer
- Jacob Valenzuela trumpet, vocals
- Martin Wenk trumpet, Wurlitzer, sampled strings, accordion, theremin
- Paul Niehaus pedal steel
- Volker Zander upright and electric bass
- Jairo Zavala vocals, slide guitar, bouzouki, acoustic guitar, percussion
- Sergio Mendoza piano
- Pieta Brown backing vocals on Fortune Teller
- Tom Hagerman violin, viola on Para
More from Calexico
Spoke (1996), The Black Light (1998), Hot Rail (2000), Feast of Wire (2003), Convict Pool (2004), In the Reins (2005), Garden Ruin (2006), Carried to Dust (2008), Edge of the Sun (2015), The Thread That Keeps Us (2018), Years to Burn (2019), Seasonal Shift (2020), El Mirador (2022)
Sources
- Algiers (Calexico album), Wikipedia
- Calexico: Algiers, Discogs
- Calexico: Algiers (master), Discogs
- Calexico (band), Wikipedia