Giant Sand

小簡介
成員: Rainer Ptacek, Paula Jean Brown, Joey Burns, Chris Cacavas, John Convertino, Howe Gelb, Tom Larkins, Scott Gerber, Neil Harry
Giant Sand was the primary outlet for the stylistic curveballs and sun-damaged songcraft of Howe Gelb, a Pennsylvania-born singer/guitarist who formed the four-piece Giant Sandworms after relocating to Tucson, Arizona in the mid-70s. After releasing the EP Will Wallow and Roam After the Ruin in 1980, Gelb fired everyone but bassist Scott Gerber (although founding guitarist Rainer Ptacek returned to the fold many times in the future) and started over as simply Giant Sand, essentially a one-man band backed by a revolving cast of players.
The first Giant Sand LP, 1985s Valley of Rain, earned Gelb comparisons to Neil Young for his reedy vocals and country-flavored, grungy guitar aesthetic; like Young, Gelb also proved to be a restless creative spirit, a notice served by 1986s Ballad of a Thin Line Man, an acoustic effort which featured the harmony vocals of ex-Go-Go (and Gelbs then-girlfriend) Paula Jean Brown. In 1988, Giant Sand issued a pair of new LPs, the equally diffuse Storm and The Love Songs.
By 1989s raw, improvisational Long Stem Rant, the group consisted only of Gelb and drummer John Convertino, while 1990s Swerve featured guests like Juliana Hatfield and Poi Dog Pondering. 1991s Ramp and 1992s Center of the Universe returned to the ragged desert-rock of their earliest material, but with 1994s Glum (the bands first and only effort for major label Imago), Giant Sands music turned unexpectedly moody and restrained. Backyard Barbecue Broadcast, released in 1995, culled material from a pair of live radio sets.
In addition to Giant Sand, Gelb occasionally recorded under the guise of the Band of Blacky Ranchette, an outlet for his country leanings; in 1991, he also issued a solo album, Dreaded Brown Recluse. In addition, longtime drummer Convertino moonlighted in the lounge revival group Friends of Dean Martinez, and frequent collaborator Ptacek often performed as a solo artist prior to his cancer-related death on November 12, 1997. Chore of Enchantment, the first Giant Sand release on noted indie Thrill Jockey, followed in early 2000.