Track Listing
1. El Paso/Out On The Weekend
2. Johnny Hit And Run Pauline
3. Iron Man
4. Human/Lovely Head
5. Beat Goes On
6. Plants And Rags
7. Wayfaring Stranger/Fly Me To The Moon
8. Red Right Hand
9. King Of The Road
10. I'm Leaving Now (Adios)
11. Blue Marble Girl
12. Inner Flame
13. Beat Goes On
| Details | | Number of CDs: | 1 | | Recording Type: | Studio | | Distributor: | PIAS UK/Sony DADC | | Recording Mode: | Stereo |
Album Notes
Giant Sand includes: Howe Gelb (vocals, guitar, harp, piano, bass); Mike Grimes (acoustic & electric basses); John Convertino (drums, percussion).Additional personnel includes: PJ Harvey (vocals); John Rauhause (pedal steel guitar); Noah Thomas (trumpet); Ari Posner (congas).Producers include: Howe Gelb, Craig Schumacher, Harland Arelund.Engineers include: Craig Schumacher, Terje Hellem, Ostein Halvorsen.Principally recorded at Wavelab, Tucson, Arizona and Brussells Radio Studio, Brussels, Belgium.There's no denying that Giant Sand visionary Howe Gelb is an odd duck. Since the mid-'80s his artfully skewed desert rock has occupied a respected, shadowy place in the alt-rock pantheon. With this collection of cover tunes, Gelb lays claim to a larger legacy, encompassing a wide range of American music as filtered through post-war pop culture's funhouse mirror (not to mention the carefully crafted bending and shaping on Gelb's part). He sings the Marty Robbins cowboy classic "El Paso" in a crazed hobo's whisper, and makes the X tune "Johnny Hit and Run Pauline" sound like an acoustic Suicide number with the considerable aid of Polly Jean Harvey.A twisted take on the Sonny & Cher hit "The Beat Goes On" sounds like the sort of thing you might expect to hear from a lounge band in the depths of Hades. A dust-coated medley of the traditional tune "Wayfaring Stranger" and the Sinatra classic "Fly Me to the Moon" continue the distinctly American theme, effectively mixing outsider and high-living themes for maximum tension. One of the only non-U.S. tunes on offer is Nick Cave's "Red Right Hand," but its author is obsessed enough with Americana for an exception to be made. Take a walk through the dark underbelly of American musical history with COVER MAGAZINE, and you'll probably wind up somewhere unexpected but undeniably interesting.
Editorial Reviews
...A well-chosen set...above reproach...
CMJ (03/18/2002)
...An eccentric, genre-hopping tribute to the mutability of song-craft...
Mojo (03/01/2002)
...Jocular and enjoyable...best of all is their take on Black Sab's idiotically memorable 'Iron Man'...
The Wire (02/01/2002)
3 stars out of 5 - ...Gelb tackles unexpected covers to pleasing effect...
Q (03/01/2002)
3 stars out of 5 - ...Gelb tackles unexpected covers to pleasing effect...The Wire (2/02, p.63) - ...Jocular and enjoyable...best of all is their take on Black Sab's idiotically memorable 'Iron Man'...Mojo (3/02, p.102) - ...An eccentric, genre-hopping tribute to the mutability of song-craft...CMJ (3/18/02, p.11) - ...A well-chosen set...above reproach...
Q (03/01/2002)
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