Howe Gelb brings together a miscellany of guest-filled and globe-trotting recordings into one curiously consistent new collection

Almost akin to his now-lapsed Fire Records labelmate Robert Pollard, pondering too much on the merits of Howe Gelb’s quantity/quality dichotomies in his variety of guises – Giant Sand, The Band Of Blacky Ranchette, solo and otherwise – is pretty pointless at this late-career stage. That said, as with Pollard and his multiple branch releases from the Guided By Voices family tree, he still needs to put out a standard-bearing set every now and again to sustain the faithful’s unbending loyalty for keeping their shelves so stocked up with Gelbian wares. Enter then one such pitch into his own pantheon portfolio, in the shape of the scattered yet cohesive Gathered.

Following on from the somewhat kitsch-itch-scratching twosome of the still-quite-fresh Future Standards and Further Standards (mainly double-billed alongside Lonna Kelley) and the unrepentantly indulgent re-recording venture of Returns to Valley of Rain (with yet another line-up of Giant Sand), this ostensibly solo but accomplice-adorned affair is a more considered and distinctive statement. Although cut in a variety of global locations with a slew of friends, family and fellow travellers, Gathered is a strangely cohesive album.

Mixing up covers and originals as well as pared-back intimacies and ensemble arrangements, Gathered has a warm, dusty and often reflective feel. Hence, there are a number of sparse bone-dry but balmy acoustic meditations (“On the Fence”, “Give It Up”, “The Park at Dark” and “Steadfast”), a shimmering slinky group-delivered instrumental à la Serge Gainsbourg circa Histoire de Melody Nelson (“Anna”), a wordless twangy rockabilly-surf interlude (“The Open Road”), smoky romantic jazz-scented detours (“My Little World” and “All You Need to Know”) and woozy sun-baked country-tinged balladry (“Flyin’ Off the Rails” and “Storyteller”). 

Aside from solo-voiced numbers there are five guest vocal-starring pieces which bring out some of the LP’s highs and lows. On the stronger side, there is an utterly sublime duet with long-time-Gelb-sponsored protégé M Ward on a Spanish guitar-flecked makeover of Leonard Cohen’s “A Thousand Kisses Deep”, some soothing harmonising with Pieta Brown for the title-track and a charming take on “Moon River” sung by Gelb’s teenage daughter Talula. Less successful is a somewhat ill-fitting pairing with croaky veteran film star Anna Karina on “Not the End of the World” and some schmaltzy husky interplay with Kira Skov on “Presumptuous”.

While it doesn’t come close to his other patchwork-constructed masterstroke, Giant Sand’s Chore of Enchantment from 1999, the largely likeable and well-rounded Gathered feels like a close-cousin to 2003’s also solo but guest-heavy long-player The Listener. Though not a classic Howe Gelb record it is certainly a solid high-ranker among his must-buy-after-the-essentials range of wares… or a Mag Earwhig! instead of an Alien Lanes if sticking with the GBV analogy.

firerecords.com

Adrian
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