Random Harvest

A Southwestern alternative rock super group of sorts, Arizona's Friends of Dean Martinez features past and present members of Giant Sand and Naked Prey. With plenty of lounge music and desert country guitar twang thrown in, it's certainly retro in feel, but not revivalist; with Bill Elm's keening steel guitar at the forefront and occasional insertions of found sound and experimental bits, they evoke open dusty landscapes with wit and, one suspects, a bit of tongue-in-cheek irony. "Random Harvest," their latest album, is the instrumental masterpiece that finally realizes the genius and vision of Bill Elm. "Random Harvest" is akin to 2000's "A Place In The Sun," but there's a new rock 'n' roll pace in the band's dark, emotive soundscapes. This is the album that will please old and new fans alike, especially with the staggering success of like-minded bands Calexico, Mogwai, and Godspeed! You Black Emperor.