HOWE GELB - down home 2004

I saw Giant Sand play in Vienna the other week and, as expected, it was great. They played a lot of “old” songs, e.g. from the “center of the universe”-album from 1992, which by the way was my first Giant Sand record, though, as might be expected, the way they played them differed greatly from what they do on record, so I only recognized them by catching parts of the lyrics here and there. But Howe Gelb has always been known to change his songs around a lot, even while playing them live. After the show a friend of mine said: “Looks as if he actually started to tell the band what he is playing next.” That is the sort of changing I am talking about. A show with Howe Gelb in whatever project or situation is always a good idea to go to. Even if it is in a church in northern Germany. Or especially then.

You all know that Howe Gelb is “the man”, so I don’t have to tell you. But that show was also a good opportunity to pick up the latest release in the “Down Home”-series, a lose collection of CDs, released about every year, that has a lot of tunes and alternative versions of songs that for some unknown reason didn’t end up on the regular albums released on bigger labels. Maybe it is just an act of economic integrity towards the record labels, who couldn’t cope with the output of Howe Gelb, so a lot of stuff is released on a smale scale for dedicated fans. The releases on Ow Om are not readily available everywhere[1], which is a pity, even though they talk about their plan of getting as big as amazon.com, but by recording all the records themselves and writing all those books necessary themselves. And if they fail, they’ll greatly enjoy falling. Such is the humor and mindset of what we are coping with here. Admirable.

Just as admirable as Howe Gelb. Sounds like I have a hetero crush on the man, and it could be true. Anyway, the fun of playing that was experiencable at the show also transpires from this record. Mostly acoustic, with drums and bass and some more accompanying instruments, all played by Howe himself as far as I understand at least on the studio recordings. And you’ll get one great song after the other. Once again I wonder, why this wouldn’t be a regular release – it would be eaten up everywhere. There are some songs from the “is all over the place”-album, such as a jangly, honky-tonked version of “a quiet remote” and “a live muss”, which is also on the latest record by The Band Of Blacky Ranchette “Still looking good to me”. The song “a loving cup with a.bird” can be found on various records. Some of these tracks are live recordings, others are done in the studio. Some are full grown songs, some are just short tinkerings with ideas, some are Gelbs typical meanderings on a certain idea or rhyme. So, really no difference to his regular records of late. Maybe a little more “unfinished” songs than usual, but, as remarked upon before, no song is ever finished with Gelb. All of this goes to show that Howe Gelb, like his fans, don’t really differentiate between his various projects, but ideas and songs wander and meander from one to the next, and according to the personnel appearing you’ll either get Giant Sand, Howe Gelb, Band of Blacky Ranchette or OP8.

There is also a cover version of “Tower of Song” by Leonard Cohen. My ever favourite cover of a song by Howe Gelb remains “The Pilgrim chapter 33” originally by Kris Kristofferson, where Gelb recites the whole intro-rap and then redoes the intro-rap in his own version. I always have to smile when I hear it. But “Tower of Song” is the only song by Leonard Cohen I know that mentions Hank Williams.

Genius sparkles up everywhere on this record, as usual, I might add. There are great melodies hidden in almost every chord-change, and Gelb uses chord changes very inquisitive. He might bang on his guitar a little for effect (“the in between”), use only his trusted e-piano (“scratch & dent”), sound like covering an really old song written by Tom Waits and Burt Bacharach together (“dangle”), the old echo on the mic (“unwrapping you”), invites some guests up on stage to sing along (“a live muss”), unwraps the old electric guitar for some feedback-frenzy (“gargoyle rocks in argyle socks”) and ever so on. After all “year of the monkey” is another beautiful puzzle piece of the ever unfolding and unwrapping universe of Howe Gelb. Once you have stepped inside you’ll never ever want to get out again.

The last question I have is: why do I always review Howe Gelb-records but never Giant Sand? I have no idea.

[1] Sure, I could order them via the internet from the US but for some reason I won’t. That has nothing to do with Ow Om or anybody, I just mistrust distance greatly and great distances even more so. I only ever ordered from the USA once (three seven inches by Big Black years ago) and it worked really fast, I’ll admit. But even so, I still have inhibitions.

HOWE GELB Down home 2004 – year of the monkey CD, OW OM

“Everybody wants to be a genius in song / I tell you what I long for in this world / everybody wants to be a genius displayed in song / but I tell you what I long for in this world / a scratch and dent girl (repeat line) / scratch and dent ” Those Down Home records are always a good opportunity to get a glimpse of what Howe Gelb is up to at the moment. Sounds like he enjoys his life and relaxes a lot.
I saw Giant Sand play in Vienna the other week and, as expected, it was great. They played a lot of “old” songs, e.g. from the “center of the universe”-album from 1992, which by the way was my first Giant Sand record, though, as might be expected, the way they played them differed greatly from what they do on record, so I only recognized them by catching parts of the lyrics here and there. But Howe Gelb has always been known to change his songs around a lot, even while playing them live. After the show a friend of mine said: “Looks as if he actually started to tell the band what he is playing next.” That is the sort of changing I am talking about. A show with Howe Gelb in whatever project or situation is always a good idea to go to. Even if it is in a church in northern Germany. Or especially then. You all know that Howe Gelb is “the man”, so I don’t have to tell you. But that show was also a good opportunity to pick up the latest release in the “Down Home”-series, a lose collection of CDs, released about every year, that has a lot of tunes and alternative versions of songs that for some unknown reason didn’t end up on the regular albums released on bigger labels. Maybe it is just an act of economic integrity towards the record labels, who couldn’t cope with the output of Howe Gelb, so a lot of stuff is released on a smale scale for dedicated fans. The releases on Ow Om are not readily available everywhere[1], which is a pity, even though they talk about their plan of getting as big as amazon.com, but by recording all the records themselves and writing all those books necessary themselves. And if they fail, they’ll greatly enjoy falling. Such is the humor and mindset of what we are coping with here. Admirable. Just as admirable as Howe Gelb. Sounds like I have a hetero crush on the man, and it could be true. Anyway, the fun of playing that was experiencable at the show also transpires from this record. Mostly acoustic, with drums and bass and some more accompanying instruments, all played by Howe himself as far as I understand at least on the studio recordings. And you’ll get one great song after the other. Once again I wonder, why this wouldn’t be a regular release – it would be eaten up everywhere. There are some songs from the “is all over the place”-album, such as a jangly, honky-tonked version of “a quiet remote” and “a live muss”, which is also on the latest record by The Band Of Blacky Ranchette “Still looking good to me”. The song “a loving cup with a.bird” can be found on various records. Some of these tracks are live recordings, others are done in the studio. Some are full grown songs, some are just short tinkerings with ideas, some are Gelbs typical meanderings on a certain idea or rhyme. So, really no difference to his regular records of late. Maybe a little more “unfinished” songs than usual, but, as remarked upon before, no song is ever finished with Gelb. All of this goes to show that Howe Gelb, like his fans, don’t really differentiate between his various projects, but ideas and songs wander and meander from one to the next, and according to the personnel appearing you’ll either get Giant Sand, Howe Gelb, Band of Blacky Ranchette or OP8. There is also a cover version of “Tower of Song” by Leonard Cohen. My ever favourite cover of a song by Howe Gelb remains “The Pilgrim chapter 33” originally by Kris Kristofferson, where Gelb recites the whole intro-rap and then redoes the intro-rap in his own version. I always have to smile when I hear it. But “Tower of Song” is the only song by Leonard Cohen I know that mentions Hank Williams. Genius sparkles up everywhere on this record, as usual, I might add. There are great melodies hidden in almost every chord-change, and Gelb uses chord changes very inquisitive. He might bang on his guitar a little for effect (“the in between”), use only his trusted e-piano (“scratch & dent”), sound like covering an really old song written by Tom Waits and Burt Bacharach together (“dangle”), the old echo on the mic (“unwrapping you”), invites some guests up on stage to sing along (“a live muss”), unwraps the old electric guitar for some feedback-frenzy (“gargoyle rocks in argyle socks”) and ever so on. After all “year of the monkey” is another beautiful puzzle piece of the ever unfolding and unwrapping universe of Howe Gelb. Once you have stepped inside you’ll never ever want to get out again. The last question I have is: why do I always review Howe Gelb-records but never Giant Sand? I have no idea. [1] Sure, I could order them via the internet from the US but for some reason I won’t. That has nothing to do with Ow Om or anybody, I just mistrust distance greatly and great distances even more so. I only ever ordered from the USA once (three seven inches by Big Black years ago) and it worked really fast, I’ll admit. But even so, I still have inhibitions.

CD, OW OM