Calexico

The deep, dark heart beating inside "Black Heart," the long, lonesome road stretching out beneath "The Ride, Pt. 2," the breathtaking feast of mariachi trumpets that is "El Picador": Calexico is the sound of the American Southwest, their songs accumulating — incrementally, through the long lost art of understatement — into something utterly magnificent.

Dig a little deeper into Calexico's catalog, and you'll begin to understand why they've earned a reputation as one of the most experimental bands in indie rock. "Crumble" is late-night jazz straight out of a William Claxton photo, while "Corona" is a mariachi-meets-Bakersfield cover of a Minutemen punk song. And that's just for starters…

They're one of the most difficult-to-pigeonhole outfits in indie rock. Pulling elements of West Coast jazz, '60s surf, Ennio Morricone's spaghetti western scores, and even Afro-Peruvian sounds, and channeling them through a cinematic Southwestern vibe, Calexico make fantastic midnight-driving music. Fronted by Joey Burns and John Convertino (both veterans of Giant Sand and Friends of Dean Martinez), the group amazes with each and every album, ceaselessly experimenting with instrumentation and songwriting in search of something greater.