Howe Gelb - Future Standards '2016

Tracks list

Tracklist

01. Terribly So
02. Irresponsible Lovers
03. A Book Youve Read Before
04. Relevant
05. Ownin It
06. Clear
07. Impossible Thing
08. The Shiver Revisted
09. Mad Man at Large
10. May You Never Fall In Love
11. Sweet Confusion
12. Mad Man at Home


Howe Gelb had been busy making music under the radar for the better part of two
decades before something more than a cult following began appreciating his work.
Gelbs band Giant Sand dropped their first album, Valley of Rain, in 1985, but
while a tiny core of determined supporters appreciated his unique creative
vision and surreal songwriting, it wasnt until Giant Sand released Chore of
Enchantment in 2000 that his work started receiving something like the attention
his talent deserved. Gelbs work with Giant Sand usually embraces a dry, dusty
sound that hovers between roots rock and Southwestern psychedelia, but as a solo
artist, his music covers a broader spectrum. His restless muse has found him
taking on the lo-fi indie rock of 1998s Hisser, eccentric singer/songwriter
efforts like 2001s Confluence, jazzy introspection on 2003s The Listener, the
mutated gospel of 2006s Sno Angel Like You, and the dusty supper club crooning
of 2016s Future Standards. Gelb has also collaborated with a number of other
noted artists (including several releases as OP8, featuring violinist and
songwriter Lisa Germano), and his creative partners have helped spawn the
celebrated indie groups Calexico and Friends of Dean Martinez.
Gelb formed the first incarnation of Giant Sand (then called the Giant
Sandworms) in 1980 with longtime friend Rainer Ptacek. Like most of the early
lineups, however, the group didnt last long, undergoing numerous personnel
changes. In 1985, Gelb took a new quartet (which included future Friends of Dean
Martinez drummer Tom Larkin) into the studio to record Valley of Rain (their
official debut as Giant Sand) for $400. More members came and went until 1988,
when Gelb had settled briefly on a trio of bassist Paula Brown (his first wife,
who had joined in 1987) and drummer John Convertino. While Gelb and Brown would
part ways in 1989, Convertino would eventually make up one-third of Giant Sands
most consistent lineup. The final ingredient came in 1991 with the addition of
Joey Burns. This core group recorded Ramp (1991), Center of the Universe (1992),
Purge & Slouch (1993), and Glum (1994), albums that alternated pulsating rock
with dusty acoustic etchings.
In the years that followed, the story of Giant Sands extended family grew
increasingly complex. Convertino and Burns launched their duo project, Calexico
and co-founded the Friends of Dean Martinez. Gelb laid relatively low, releasing
live and outtake material on Goods and Services, Backyard Barbecue Broadcast,
and Official Bootleg Series, Vol. 1 (all 1995). He lent piano and organ to the
Friends debut (The Shadow of Your Smile, 1995) and joined an exceptional cast
for contributions to Richard Buckners stunning Devotion + Doubt album (1997). In
1998, V2 released Gelbs formal solo debut, the ethereal, lo-fi home studio
project Hisser.
In 1997, Gelb lost his close friend Ptacek to cancer, months before he was
preparing to record the next Giant Sand album. The event threw him into an
emotional tailspin. Initial Tucson sessions (at the same studio where he had
worked with Ptacek just weeks previously) were largely unsuccessful. Three
producers (John Parish, Jim Dickinson, and Kevin Salem) later, Gelb emerged with
Chore of Enchantment, only to have the album rejected by V2. Chicagos Thrill
Jockey ended up releasing what, against all odds, was one of Gelbs most cohesive
collections. Chore drew from the broadest palette yet. Gelb stretched from the
laid-back grooves of X-tra Wide to the escalating rock of Satellite with ease.
He seemed less reliant on Giant Sand as an outlet than ever. Near the end of the
90s, he launched his own Ow Om label. The Internet/mail-order imprint released
discs from Gelbs Official Bootleg Series.
Gelb spent a great deal of 2000 touring, orchestrating an increasingly
spontaneous live show. A set list-free performance, a walkman playing snippets
of previous shows, and a looping device (with 82-percent accuracy) were all used
to supplement his extensive catalog of songs. More and more, both his live and
studio performances began incorporating chance elements like these. At the start
of the new millennium, the singer seemed busier than ever, working on a series
of releases including a collection of solo piano instrumentals and a new album
for Thrill Jockey. The latter project, designed as the follow-up to the intimate
Hisser, was issued in early 2001 under the title Confluence, and displayed a
sound closer to Giant Sand than any of Gelbs previous solo outings. Lull, a
collection of piano pieces, appeared that same year.
Gelb returned in 2003 with the similarly muted Listener album, and released
Arizona Amp and Alternator in 2005. The latter included collaborations with M.
Ward and Scout Niblett. Sno Angel Like You, an album deeply influenced by gospel
music, arrived in March 2006. (It was reissued by Fire Records in 2016.) Gelb
spent the next five years touring both solo and with Giant Sand. The band
released 2008s Provisions and 2010s Blurry Blue Mountain. In the spring of 2011,
Gelb finally issued another solo album, entitled Alegrias. This set showcased
the songwriter fronting a group of Andalusian Gypsy flamenco musicians --
including guitarist extraordinaire Raimundo Amador -- who went under the moniker
A Band of Gypsies. The album was recorded on a rooftop in Cordoba, Spain and
released by Fire Records during an extensive Giant Sand reissue campaign by the
label. Gelb produced KT Tunstalls Invisible Empire/Crescent Moon, which was
released in the spring of 2013. In the late fall of that year, his own album,
The Coincidentalist, appeared on New West.
Gelbs next effort found him in a completely collaborative and supporting role
when he teamed with the Viennese experimental trio Radian, comprising guitarist
Martin Siewert, drummer Martin Brandlmayr, and bassist John Norman. Over four
loose sessions in Europe, the Tucson musician added piano, acoustic guitars, and
vocals to the groups compositions. Radian Verses Howe Gelb was released on the
bands label in November of 2014. In February 2016, Gelb released a statement in
which he announced he was retiring Giant Sand, and he said of his future
endeavors, Piano for now. Songs forever. Gelb was true to his word with his next
solo release; Future Standards, which arrived in November 2016, was an engaging
set of low-key tunes dominated by Gelbs smoky vocals and piano work. A companion
volume, Further Standards, followed in November 2017, with Gelb joined by
vocalist Lonna Kelley. Gelb returned to the Giant Sand format in 2018 with
Returns to Valley of Rain, in which he re-recorded the songs from Giant Sands
1985 debut album. But Gelb hadnt turned his back on the more intimate charm of
his solo albums, and 2019s Gathered found him crooning his way through a set of
covers and originals with guest appearances from M. Ward, Anna Karina, Pieta
Brown, and Kira Skov.

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