Calexico "The Black Light" 1998

It's a fraught, yet compelling trip: part spaghetti Western part inner soundscape... "Gypsy's Curse" sets the tone with portentous twanging, while short links like "Where Water Flows" and "Stray" alternate moments of calm with hip-swinging malice... All told, Calexico may look like a one-horse town we've been to before, but it's still worth a visit. -- NME

Deeper and richer than their debut, Spoke, Calexico's second album expands upon the sun-baked, cinematic sound of before with the addition of Latin jazz rhythms, mariachi trumpets, and pedal steel; in and of themselves, the group's songs are not exactly compelling, but they're produced with such a fine sense of texture and atmosphere that The Black Light still makes for intriguing listening. - AllMusic Review by Jason Ankeny
trax:
01 Gypsy's Curse 02 Fake Fur 03 The Ride (Pt II) 04 Where Water Flows 05 The Black Light 06 Sideshow 07 Chach 08 Missing 09 Minas De Cobre (For Better Metal) 10 Over Your Shoulder 11 Vinegaroon 12 Trigger 13 Sprawl 14 Stray 15 Old Man Waltz 16 Bloodflow 17 Frontera