[.ca] Confluence

There's something in the water:
Great piece of work from a great songwriter and a Southwestern visionary. This CD grew on me right away, and repeated listenings have revealed more and more. "Cold" and "Pontiac" alone make this one a keeper, but there's more gems. So with the likes of Howe Gelb, Giant Sand, and Calexico turning out musical masterpieces at such a steady rate, and writers like Ai, Mitch Cullin, and Barbara Kingslover doing the same with literature...I think there really must be something in the water down there in Tucson, Arizona.

Smooth Traffic:
This solo album from Howe Gelb makes a perfect bookend to Chore of Enchantment, the latest Giant Sand album. As far as solo albums go, I'd rank this higher than his last (Hisser). The ghost of Rainer still looms long over this album, though. Not a bad thing. If you've never owned a Howe gelb solo album, this should be the one. THere are some moments of transcendent beauty (Place where a river was, I think is the track title) and fun--note the cover of I can't help falling in love. The gentlemen from Grandaddy are a positive aspect, but it seems that they're still learning how to run with Howe's sprawling song tendencies. Listen to "Chore", then "Confluence" and dump some sand in your living room. Create your own desert. Yes.

• 3 Sisters
• Saint Conformity
• Pontiac Slipstream
• Sputter
• Blue Marble Girl
• Source
• 2 Rivers
• Available Space
• Pedal Steel and She'll
• Cold
• Can't Help Falling in Love
• Hatc
• Shadow of Where a River Was
• Vex
• Vex (Tucson)
• Hard on Things
• Slide Away