(2022) Howe Gelb - The Coincidentalist / Dust Bowl   


Review:
The Coincidentalist and Dust Bowl are two discs of Howe Gelb filled with randomness and happenstance, a typical treasure trove spanning all genres from alt country to Cohen-esque grandeur. They traverse, unflinchingly, his chameleon-like repertoire. The Coincidentalist, originally released in 2013, features a raft of friends and collaborators including Bonnie Prince Billy, Andrew Bird, M. Ward, Steve Shelley, and Jason Lytle of Grandaddy with John Parrish on mixing duties. Ever the focal point of Giant Sand and Gelb releases, the Arizona Desert serves as a key inspiration for the record, animating the baron landscape with stories of those that have navigated them. Praise for the release was not short, with AllMusic proclaiming that it’s “one of Gelb’s most realized efforts; despite its relaxed, airy presentation, it’s musically and lyrically provocative, as poetic, strange, and mysterious as the desert itself.” The accompanying collection ‘Dust Bowl’ is a personal sketchbook of songs, a more stripped back set than it’s counterpart. Featuring everything from the country blues of ‘Porch Banjo’ and ‘John Deere’, to off-kilter piano ballads like ‘The Old Overrated’ and ‘Reality Or Not’ and the deconstructed desert pop on ‘Forever a and A Day’ and the fragile ‘Man On a String’. ‘Dust Bowl’ is an insider’s view of Howe’s songwriting craft, a unique insight into the man himself. “‘Dust Bowl’ was primarily for fans that have followed me for a while. ‘The Coincidentalist’ is for the friends of the fans.” Howe told Under The Radar. While Nightlife magazine reported that; “Without warning, the Giant Sand frontman and polymorphous countryman dropped this compilation of house recordings via Bandcamp… At a time when so much harmless, soulless folk resonates, Howe Gelb is a mandatory point of reference for any fan of the genre.”  — howegelbmusic.bandcamp.com


   


Track List:
Disc 1 - The Coincidentalist
01 - Vortexas
02 - Left of Center
03 - Running Behind
04 - The 3 Deaths of Lucky
05 - Unforgivable
06 - Instigated Chimes
07 - The Coincidentalist
08 - Triangulate
09 - Picacho Peak
10 - An Extended Plane of Existence

Disc 2 - Dust Bowl
01 - Dust Bowl
02 - Porch Banjo
03 - Lost Love
04 - Man On a String
05 - Reality or Not
06 - John Deere
07 - Windblown Waltz
08 - Redelivery Blues
09 - Forever and a Day
10 - Plane of Existence
11 - A Coffee Song
12 - The Old Overrated
13 - Mystery Spot
14 - Blink of an Eye


Media Report:
Genre: alt-country
Country: USA
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits
Compression mode: Lossless
Writing library: libFLAC 1.2.1 (UTC 2007-09-17)


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