Garden of Ruin features several soothing tracks, including “”Cruel,”” “”Panic Open String”” and the all too familiar “”Bisbee Blue,”” which are all backed by the band’s graceful southwestern ensemble.

Although the album doesn’t seem to match up well against Calexico’s recent recordings with Iron and Wine and 2004’s breakout album Feast of Wire, it is nonetheless a smooth listen.

On certain tracks the band seems to be doing a little bit too much experimenting and in turn conceives an asymmetrical sound, which frankly sounds awkward. Fortunately, this is only the case on a few tracks, leaving the rest of the album radiating with delicacy.

Having written the album in Bisbee and recorded right here in Tucson, the band seems to be no stranger to Southwestern culture and it is extremely prevalent in its unique sound.

But Richard Cheese’s Frank Sinatra-esque version of the same song would not make anybody want to hit the dance floor. Cheese’s version, however, is enormously entertaining.

Amusing and lounge-singer-like is one way to describe the tracks on Cheese’s best of album, The Sunny Side of the Moon: The Best of Richard Cheese. Like all the songs on the album, a big-band version of Radiohead’s “”Creep”” has a completely opposite sound from the original. And one of Cheese’s finest, his rendition of “”Baby Got Back,”” is something that should not be missed.

The Best of Richard Cheese should be appreciated mostly because of its hilarity in taking top songs from various genres and covering them in Cheese’s famous swinging, jazzy style.