Will Giant Sand ever make an album as good as Chore of Enchantment?

And "Chore" doesn't even come close.

Right.

When you guys are talking about Howe Home, you're talking about the Listener right? Not the Down Home compilations? I really like Down Home 2004 but I've not heard 1998 or 2000. Listening to Down Home 2004 and the other non label stuff just confirms the idea in my head that the albums are distillations of what he does, rather than projects laid out and planned. That said, I absolutely love what he does. The Listener and The Listener's Coffee Companion are pretty great but COE is just a perfectly woven set of songs. 'Sno Angel lacks the variety of settings for the songs that other albums have. Really enjoyed it all the same. Ogle Some Piano, Lull (Some Piano), Is All Over the Map are all good in their own ways, Ogle in particular.

But I don't see the need to use Chore of Enchantment to cast everything after as deficient, it's a particularly good album and not all that different. I think the production and playing came together in a way that was a sort of synthesis of the pre-COE stuff and the later solo stuff. So I suppose I approach it as a moment in time in a strange sojourn through music. I'm always fascinated to see what Gelb turns his hand to next (it all seems very whimsical) so I appreciate that he doesn't coble together imitations of COE.

or maybe my typing got tired and leaned sideways.

I'm really liking Center of the Universe so far.

Giant Sand is a bit slept on, innit?

yeah, I saw them do a stupendous show in 1993 to like 4 people.

I have this clamshell tour CD called The Rock Opera Years that I think is pretty good. Need to hear more.

I only have ...Is All Over the Map. I really liked bits and pieces of it, but I'm not sure that I ever managed to make it all the way through in one sitting. This thread has rekindled my interest, though. I'm gonna have to check out Chore of Enchantment, apparently.

i used to like center of the universe a lot. and the op8 album.

Chore of Enchantment = amazing

Gee, I wonder what my Sticky Fingers is?

you forgot to wash after a wank, prob

one of the best live shows i've ever seen. full band, plus some special guest stars (jayhawks people)...howe was "sampling" hank williams with a portable CD player...just fast forwarding and rewinding to the part he wanted...

i think the new one is up there with COE

great interview with howe and one nice dust-dry song from the new album over here at the aquarium drunkard.

Not much discussion on the latest from 08 Provisions. I much prefer it to Is All Over The Map. This one really flew under the radar.

Provisions and All Over the Map both kind of have a lot of buried leads. I've had both for a couple years and only just caught the line "Mamas don't let your babies grow up to be Tolstoys." Well yeah, that's what's going to happen when you bury it on the end of a track that goes from weird piano reggae jam into a gratingly awful cover of Anarchy in the UK.

er, buried 'ledes' that is

does anyone love the new howe gelb album alegrias as much as i do? he has met up with a spanish flamenco band and they have made a great laid-back and mellow record full of fine spanish guitar play. wonderful stuff to relax to in the evening. and i had almost given up on him after the last giant sand release blurry blue mountain which seemed so uninspired, as if he was on auto-pilot.

Has anyone seen the current tour? Thinking of checking it out tonight...

i take it they are playing in chicago? i'd go, gelb is always entertaining.

Ticket purchased. Will report back...

I'd love to see Tucson live! This Giant Giant Sand incarnation is so good.

What I said about it on Rolling Country:
it's not so uncommon to hear albums inviting comparisons to spaghetti western soundtracks, but few really 'ppreciate the possibilties of American and European give-and-take: Latin in the Southwestern and Transatlantic senses, small room jazz a la Weill, Ellington, Arizona highway lounge; steel guitars and twang bars with nothing left to prove, Giant Sand (many of whom have been Danish for some time) expanding into Giant Giant Sand and offering Tucson--billed as a country rock opera--without ever being anythang that can't be hitched to s dustcloud drum kit, usually bouncing through stagecoach ruts. Sometimes swinging a little, though a droll drawl and and a tall tale (of love yall--it's all very romantic, in a worldly, wide open spacey way) "You're so much like the river/Beautiful, twisted and blue/You appear to be here forever/Passin' through."

Pretty glorious show. They came out, set up in like 5 minutes and Howe just started playing the keyboard and a song came together. The band is fantastic. Unbelievably under-attended show. Maybe 75 people? Maybe? Crazy.

oh man. Glad it was good but jealous there are no shows anywhere near me.

yeah, it's been ages since he toured anywhere near me. he really is one of those dudes who can kind of do no wrong onstage imo. a weirdly captivating presence. lots of good live recordings on archive.org.

feel like maybe this guy either doesn't quite know how or is actively against promoting his work properly

yeah. maybe? i assume he's bigger overseas than he is in the states. hope that he is able financially to just do what he wants.

I hope so too although it's hard for me to understand how that would be the case

i don't know, isn't he sort of on a lambchop scale in europe? like he plays to 75 people in the states, but can tour all over europe in beautiful theaters?

oh, IDK, I hope so

I'm not a huge fan (though I always like Giant Sand and his solo stuff when I come across it) and I saw him open solo for PJ Harvey in 1999, just him on a chair with a guitar and it is easily one of the greatest shows I've ever seen. He was funny and engaging and just bummed the living hell out of a gaggle of teenage goth girls upfront who were not enjoying Gelb's set anywhere near as much as I was.

He did an incredible cover of "Red Right Hand" with the lyrics balanced on one knee and he made a big production out of turn the pages in the middle of the chorus

"With his red right...(stops song, turns the page) hand"

I blame the venue for the lack of attendance. He made some jokes about it. "Are we too far north in town? Or too old in sound?" "Good thing a millionaire bought this place...he can afford to keep it intimate."

Anyway, He's got a such a wonderful sense of timing -- lyrically, musically. And on stage, he's ridiculously charismatic...seems like he was born there. The live versions of the new songs came off way better than the recording (which I'd not heard until this morning). That's the thing about Chore of Enchantment, I think -- it really captured what he/they does live.

Also, maybe this was discussed elsewhere, but I didn't know about it:
Rainer Ptacek - The Inner Flame
It's on Spotify.

on stage, he's ridiculously charismatic
yeah, like if he had started up in the 70s, he'd be on par w/ tom waits in terms of a major, devoted audience, i think.

listening to Tuscon for the first time now - really good!

yeah no prob w the album, though of course can well imagine the songs coming across even better live. Thanks for the mention of archive.org, tyler, I should've thought to check for 'em there. re "how can he afford" I do have the impression from WorldWideWeb reading that he/they have a dedicated club audience in several countries, several continents. Also, some thread that may or may not have survived occasional ILX crashes incl references and maybe a link to an alleged interview with one of the Green On Red guys (not Chuck Prophet) who referred to Gelb as a trust fund dillettante--well, "rich Jew" was part of the phrase, stuck in my mind. ("rich Jew from Pennsylvania"? Think that was it)

Doubt that... just sounds like some anti-semitic bullshit. And he's Slavic in origin but not Jewish I think, so that's even more misplaced... I think they struggled along from album to album, but since the 90s have had a decent European following which has managed to sustain him and has grown since Chore. I'm guessing it's the steady record contract with Fire and the proper reissue programme which has helped fund the big GGS shows. Not that it matters anyway. His music is great, far more so than anything by GOR et al.
He's such a charismatic and charming fellow is Howe. Love his wayward way with language and music.

One of the jobs which helped fund GS activity at the turn of the 90s was coaching Keanu and Alex Winter on the set of Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey. Keanu was supposed to be on Swerve but appeared at the studio a day late... Howe said he was a great bass player, a bit like Jack Bruce. Not sure how much Howe was pulling my leg - he does spin a good yarn - and I know the Bill & Ted thing is absolutely true at least.

It was def some anti-Semitic bullshit, and sour grapes too. Whether he does or doesn't have a trust fund, he's invested his (time and) money well.

he has got some hardcore fans in germany but he doesn't play big venues. at the concert i attended there were usually between 100 and 200 people. i have seen him in very small places maybe four times as big as our living-room which were packed of course. i think he can live of the music but i doubt it makes him rich. he also lives on releasing at least one abum per year.

I have that Rainer Ptacek tribute album, some good stuff on there, I esp like the Vic Chesnutt track.

Listened to his 2013 release last night, eh, its ok but not Giant Sand. He's touring the US now

I like new one!

Since i already hold 'Tucson' in fairly high regard, i'll need to check out 'Chore of Enchantment' at my earliest opportunity.

Gee, I wonder what my Sticky Fingers is?

― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Monday, August 20, 2007 1:41 AM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

you forgot to wash after a wank, prob

― Hurting 2, Monday, August 20, 2007 12:52 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I made myself laugh when I read this just now

anyway if you like Tuscon, Chore is like >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>