*** 1/2 Calexico

THE BLACK LIGHT

(Quarterstick)

If the adage "a picture paints a thousand words" has any truth to it, then what does sound paint (or, more aptly, signify), and how? The mostly instrumental duo Calexico seem obsessed with the question on The Black Light, an evocative and diverse sonic roadtrip through spaghetti-Western soundtracks, post-cocktail nation pop, expansive desert rock, and squiggly, multicultural alterna-country.

Based in Tucson, Joey Burns and John Convertino are perhaps better known for their work with other artists (Giant Sand, Victoria Williams, Lisa Germano, Richard Buckner). But The Black Light shows the two multi-instrumentalists have no problem focusing on a cohesive, unified project uniquely their own -- here a roadtrip concept story -- that is haunting (the title track, "Stray"), whimsical ("Sideshow," "Frontera," "Fake Fur"), and consistently engaging. Although the duo's top-notch musicianship melds various styles and genres, it's not this CD's painstaking instrumental detail but the results that make it so eloquent. Like the desert's natural power, The Black Light -- shadowy and dangerous one moment, celebratory and colorful the next -- evinces a vast, cinematic character as revealing as it is mysterious.

-- Mark Woodlief