GIANT SAND

Glum (reissue, 1994) FIRE

7/10

Anniversary edition of Howe Gelb’s ‘lost’ Americana classic

In 1994, Gelb checked into Daniel Lanois’ New Orleans studio with producer Malcolm Burn and the Giant Sand rhythm pairing of John Convertino and Joey Burns, soon to branch out as Calexico. With a substantial budget for the first time in his career, he called up collaborators such as Victoria Williams, Lisa Germano and Rainer Ptacek, and together they recorded an album that was – despite its title – a celebration of Giant Sand’s weird and wonderful extended family. Sadly, just as the LP was released, the label shut down and Glum got rather lost. Meandering quixotically through the backwaters of folk and country, it’s something of a leftfield classic, with Gelb crooning in his own uniquely parched fashion and detouring into occasional dissonance and ramshackle, Crazy Horse guitar jams, particularly on “Faithful”. The latter was written for Marianne, who when she heard it responded by asking, “But Howe, where’s the melody?” Naturally, Gelb took it as a compliment…

Extras: 7/10. Half a dozen tracks from an unreleased 1994 radio session, of which only Hank Williams’ “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” appeared on the original album.