(As published in the Times of Acadiana ... )
Giant Sand
Chore of Enchantment
(Thrill Jockey)
Like the two rock stars he sings like--Neil Young and Lou Reed--Howe Gelb is not above making the catchy seem weird or the weird seem catchy. The problem is that, as with so many others who traffic in catchy weirdness, the weirdness occasionally takes over. Gelb’s most off-putting characteristic this time concerns volume--to understand the whisper-sung words, one often has to get really close to the same speakers from which the really loud parts eventually screech with no warning. True, one could read the lyric booklet, but one’s not supposed to have to, and, frankly, even then matters remain murky. Also true: An hour of Gelb’s murk beats Lou Reed’s last sixteen years of clarity. Rating: Three-and-a-half prickly pears out of five.
Giant SandChore of Enchantment
(Thrill Jockey)
Like the two rock stars he sings like--Neil Young and Lou Reed--Howe Gelb is not above making the catchy seem weird or the weird seem catchy. The problem is that, as with so many others who traffic in catchy weirdness, the weirdness occasionally takes over. Gelb’s most off-putting characteristic this time concerns volume--to understand the whisper-sung words, one often has to get really close to the same speakers from which the really loud parts eventually screech with no warning. True, one could read the lyric booklet, but one’s not supposed to have to, and, frankly, even then matters remain murky. Also true: An hour of Gelb’s murk beats Lou Reed’s last sixteen years of clarity. Rating: Three-and-a-half prickly pears out of five.
No comments:
Post a Comment