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Howe Gelb |
Mostly
everything |
John
Convertino |
Drums
(1,3,8,9,10) |
Joey Burns |
Bass
(1,8,9,10) |
Sofie Albertsen Gelb |
Backing vocals
(5) |
Luka Gelb |
(4) |
Saholy
Diavolana |
(4) |
John
Parish |
(1,12,13) |
Kevin
Salem |
Keyboards
(5) |
Rich Mercurio |
Drums (5) |
Scott Loder |
Bass (5) |
John Rauhaus |
Pedal Steel
(9) |
Grandaddy |
(11,15) |
Nick Luca |
Guitar (8,9) |
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Thrill
Jockey Description:
Frontman
for Giant Sand and OP8, Howe Gelb has been called "the most resilient
and consistently inventive American artist of the last two decades."
Confluence is his latest solo album and the follow up to 1998’s Hisser
(V2). That album was a low-key and elegiac affair haunted by the memory of
Howe’s longtime friend and collaborator Rainer Ptacek, who had passed
away a year earlier. While Confluence retains some of it’s
predecessor’s heartrendingly intimate atmosphere, the overall result is
something altogether more dynamic and reminiscent of Giant Sand’s own
improvisational exuberance, but with a highly personal spin.
"Recording is best used as a pretty good reason to hang with the
family of friends globally scattered." –Howe Gelb
Taking that credo to heart, Howe recorded these songs in a variety of
locations and with the enlisted help of his many talented friends. A trip
to Bristol, UK yielded yet another fruitful collaboration with John Parish
(PJ Harvey), who also worked behind the scenes of Giant Sand’s Chore of
Enchantment (Thrill Jockey). Back in the States, Howe recorded with Kevin
Salem at his studio in upstate New York. And in Arizona, Howe spent time
at Craig Shumacher’s Wavelab Studios as well as perfecting his craft at
home when his friends from the band Grandaddy stopped by, producing their
spare and beautiful rendition of Elvis’ "Can’t Help Falling in
Love." In addition to this, there are even more recordings captured
as a result of "treasured happenstance," with the girls from the
band Candy Prune and Howe’s Giant Sandmates Joey Burns and John
Convertino among others in vans, bathrooms and college radio stations in
America and Europe. All in all, there are many rivers of thought here,
such is the confluence.
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