Giant Sand - Chore Of Enchantment - FIRE - FIRECD179

The back catalogue of Giant Sand, Howe Gelb's durable desert rock disguise, has been leaking out anew from Fire Records, though usually without much bonus material.
But the band's pivotal 2000 release arrives as a laden double.
A trio of name producers, including Jim Dickinson, coaxed the serrated edges and ragged rambles of Gelb's unruly muse into a smooth whole. Shiver, Dirty From The Rain and Astonished In Memphis remain career highs, Gelb's impressionistic lyrics and loose country licks shining in an un-characteristically considered context. Critics swooned.
For a moment, Gelb might have had it all. But the back roads beckoned.

(16/10/11)