The impetus for Howe Gelb’s latest was an appearance he made a few years ago at the Ottawa Bluesfest. On a bill with numerous gospel choirs, he met the Voices Of Praise, who appear throughout on this disc. Recorded in Canada, these fourteen songs are a mix of new ones and earlier Giant Sand numbers [...]

Anyone even remotely familiar with the Giant Sand story knows what to expect by now. Howie Gelb and his ever-evolving collective of players continue to dance playfully around the periphery of American songcraft, prolifically delivering platters that veer from beatific to self-indulgent to ramshackle, taking in everything from bent Neil Young & Crazy Horse shadings [...]

Howe Gelb’s instrumental Lull (Some Piano) might just make believers of those put off by previous outlets for his mainline to the muse. Somehow, with Gelb turned loose on keys, the sonic meandering that occasionally jars and wrenches from his electric guitar turns serene, and his affinity for incidental noise — a fragment of idle [...]

Howe Gelb’s career may seem intended to prove the adage that a million monkeys tapping on typewriters would, by sheer chance, produce one Shakespeare. Except Howe alone is the million monkeys. But that analogy sells the Giant Sandman short. His successes are careful gestures that only look like shrugs, the product of abundant talent in [...]

Photos in the liner notes of Chore Of Enchantment present Howe Gelb’s home, a spare, organically random assemblage of gear and everyday objects, within graceful, discreetly painted and inviting rooms, dated only by the lintels, which as much as stamp “genuine hardwood” on the door and window frames. The only unifying themes are structural angles, [...]

Will Giant Sand ever be a smidgen more definable? Will they ever sound slightly more commercial? Will they ever behave in an ambitious manner that behooves their potential greatness? It doesn’t seem likely. Flying in the face of corporate assembly-line logic, Giant Sand records music, somehow manages to release the recordings and quietly moves on. [...]

What does one do with a band like Giant Sand? After 18 albums in various incarnations, everything has been said and not much has changed. Oh well, here we go again. Howe Gelb, leader of Giant Sand, is a freakin’ genius. His fluid guitar style and creaky voice frame an improvisational rock music, thinly disguised [...]