Giant Sand - Blurry Blue Mountain
by Anthony Middleton
published: 15 / 10 / 2010
Label:
Fire Records
Format: CD
intro
Initriguingly laidback and sparse latest album from Giant Sand, the main focus of Howe Gelb who often credited as being the founder of alt. country is now in the twenty fifth year of his recording career
Such is the stark, spare and generally arid mood on Giant Sand’s 'Blurry Blue Mountain', you half expect a ball of tumbleweed to come barrelling across the room. A few tracks in, you feel transported to a one-horse town in the parched Arizona desert. Howe Gelb, the man credited with giving Country an alternative twist, is in his twenty fifth year of recording and he sounds as if he is pacing himself for the long haul; his laidback, lethargic voice is not going to be giving up through strain any time soon. The album opens with the line “They’ve been killing off all my heroes since I was 17,” in 'Fields of Gree'n. Quite who the first hero was around 1973 is not clear. The song is conversational, a gentle muse on ageing, sung with restraint over a sparsely played guitar. The album meanders; the tracks merge into a dusty washed out whole where some songs get lost and others catch your attention for a moment. There are two duets, most notably the closing piano driven 'Love a Loser'; a melancholic ballad with overture of Poques-like faux Celtic folk. At times 'Blurry Blue Mountain' approaches like spoken word, not unlike Tom Waits’ signature style of narrative songs, delivered with a quiet conspiratorial whisper. Sometimes the backing is so subtle you can miss it. At other times such as 'Brand New Swamp Thing' there is a full multi-facetted blues band at hand. This is probably due to the ever-changing fluidity of the Giant Sand line up, the only real constant being Gelb himself. There appears to be an influence of Frank Black ('Thin Line Man') as well more classic inspirations; 'Time Flies' could be a Forties crooner staple. 'Blurry Blue Mountain' is like all of Gelb and Giant Sand’s output; not all of it stands up alone; rather it is an organic whole has to be accepted on its own terms and seen in the context of what comes after and before. This may not be the best introduction to Gelb, but remains an intriguing, deceptively rich experience.
Track Listing:-
1 Fields Of Green2 Chunk Of Coal
3 The Last One
4 Monk's Mountain
5 Spellbound
6 Ride The Tail
7 Lucky Star Love
8 Thin Line Man
9 No Tellin'
10 Brand New Swamp Thing
11 Erosion
12 Time Flies
13 Better Man Than Me
14 Love A Loser
Band Links:-
http://howegelb.com/https://en-gb.facebook.com/giantgiantsand
https://twitter.com/giantsand
Label Links:-
https://twitter.com/firerecordingshttps://www.facebook.com/Firerecords
http://www.firerecords.com/
https://firerecords.bandcamp.com/
https://instagram.com/fire_records/
https://www.youtube.com/user/FirerecordsUK
Have a Listen:-
interviews |
|
Interview (2004) |
|
| Back with their first album in four years, Giant Sand have returned with an almost entirely new line-up. Frontman Howe Gelb talks about the departure of his regular band mates John Convertino and Joey Burns, and the new album‘, Is All Over...The Map’ |
| Interview (2004) |
favourite album |
|
Ramp (2020) |
|
| Adrian P examines Giant Sand’s much-cherished 1991 studio album once more, which Fire Records have rebooted once more with a renewed double-disc edition. |
| Returns to Valley of Rain (2018) |
reviews |
|
Recounting The Ballads of Thin Line Men (2019) |
|
| For his second re-recording of an early-Giant Sand album, Howe Gelb leads the way through a skewed refashioning of 1986’s ‘Ballad of a Thin Line Man’ |
most viewed articles
current edition
In Dreams Begin Responsibilities - #15- On Being Dignified and Old aka Ten Tips From Jah Wobble On How To Be Happy.The Church - Interview with Steve Kilbey
Simon Heavisides - Destiny Stopped Screaming: The Life and Times of Adrian Borland
Secret Shine - Interview
Vetchinsky Settings - Interview
Repomen - Ten Songs That Made Me Love...
Flaming Stars - Interview
Near Jazz Experience - Interview
Jack Roscoe - Interview
Sami Sumner - Interview
most viewed reviews
current edition
Kula Shaker - Natural MagickIan Hunter - Defiance Part 2: Fiction
Lewis 'Burner' Pugh - Bullets for Bread
Hillbilly Moon Explosion - Back in Time
Inutili - A Love Supreme
My Life Story - Loving You is Killing Me
Beyonce - Cowboy Carter
Smalltown Tigers - Crush On You
David Cross Band - Ice Blue Silver Sky
Ty Segall - Three Bells
related articles |
|
Lonna Kelley: Interview (2019 |
|
| Solo artist and Giant Sand member Lonna Kelley speaks to John Clarkson about her first single in four years, 'Will I See You?', and her new band Ard Eevin which includes Sonic Youth's Steve Shelley on drums. |
| Howe Gelb: Favoutite Album (2016) |
| Calexico: Live Review (2015) |
Pennyblackmusic Regular Contributors
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart