Review: Black Diamond by Calico

Not many people know this, but I have always been a very big fan of ambient music. So when I was offered the chance to hear the new album from Salt Lake City's own Calico, I didn't waste any time delving into the CD.

At about 50 minutes long, all 8 songs are pretty long and (ranging from 2 to nearly 9 minutes) ultra mellow. Black Diamond is an exercise in alt folk pop with a great view for the cinematic side of song writing. Although there are vocals on 6 of the 8 songs, the album seems much more like an instrumental album as the whisper style vocals could be considered an instrument themselves.

As for the music itself...it's droney. It's very droney. I'm very thankful I've heard a lot of other music of the same type, because I'm sure anyone jumping into this CD without having any knowledge of the music could be a bit, well, confused. But to it's credit, the music on the album is beautiful. Each chord and rhythm fits perfectly with the atmosphere that the band paints and in addition to that the album is mixed just perfectly.

If you are going to listen to this album, make sure you have your headphones on. This is just one of those albums. It's a beautiful trip taken with music and a solid second release (we know how hard that 2nd album can be).

Calico will also be touring quite a bit in the next few months, so be sure to visit them if they come to your town.

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