I confess that I've never previously rated Howe Gelb that highly. I appreciate that he has many plaudits and the fact that his desert rock'n'blues band Giant Sand gave birth to the mighty Calexico should, in theory, make me a devoted fan.
Instead I have, till now, mistakenly lumped Gelb's laid back vocal style into the same category as the smugly tasteful Dire Straits, a band I continue to disdain.
After hearing Sno Angel Like You, however, I'm inclined to make more favourable comparisons to Neil Young and, in his quieter, more poetic moments, to Leonard Cohen.
This is a 10th Anniversary edition of an album I'd not paid any attention to before. Perhaps to help those in a similar position, it comes with a feature length documentary DVD.
True, there are a few cheesy lounge moments but mostly it’s a triumph.
What makes the album noteworthy is the involvement of a Canadian Gospel Choir, Voice Of Praises. This gives the tracks a distinctly spiritual, though not overtly religious, dimension.
On the studio album Gelb recorded seven new songs with the choir arranging their backing vocals, together with three Giant Sand songs and three Rainer Ptacek tracks.
A second CD called 'Sno' Angel Winging It' comprises 14 tracks recorded live at Reading Town Hall in 2006 and captures what sounds like the joyful party spirit of this show.
|
The inspired collaboration of Gelb plus gospel chorus enhances the songs enormously because it gives a majesty to his half mumbled vocals, turning what might otherwise be dark, self absorbed musings into something celebratory.
So he is assuredly not "dangling towards demise" (But I Did Not) but finding a way out. In Howlin' A Gale there is a sense that the massed singers are positively relishing the challenge of a coming storm while the live recording of Vortexas makes this "singing telegram" from the unforgiving desert more like a 'wish you were here' postcard.
The main point of reissues is to prompt re-evaluation rather than fuel nostalgia and that's just what this one does.
Hearing the impressive 2CD, 30 track collection shows just how I have underestimated Gelb's talents and now I have the mountain of his huge back catalogue to reconsider. That'll teach me!
Howe Gelb (and Giant Sand's) website
|
