Chore of Enchantment

What is this vocalist doing

Kind of slacker Americana for the most part with frequent bouts of pretentiousness. It often attempts to pull off post rock -esque grandeur but ultimately there's very rarely any kind of meaningful pay off. Bored me to tears.

Favorite track(s): Shiver, Satellite

I'll blame the White Stripes album I listened to right before this for frying my attention span. I mostly recall a vocalist who sounded like Lou Reed in the style of Billie Eilish.

I quite liked this, while also thinking it sounded like half a dozen other indie-Americana bands from this era. (Make your own 'we've got Lambchop/Bill Callahan/Bonnie Prince Billy at home' jokes.)

𝘊𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 sounds as though it has spent years gathering dust somewhere in the Arizona desert. The guitars are loose, the rhythms are unhurried, and the whole album has that wonderfully weathered Americana atmosphere. I like the sound, even if I occasionally wish the music would get moving.

Unfortunately, the album overstays its welcome. What initially feels charmingly laid-back gradually becomes rather meandering, and Howe Gelb’s voice doesn’t exactly help. His half-sung, half-muttered delivery certainly has personality, but it’s an acquired taste I’m not sure I’ve fully acquired.

There’s a good album hiding somewhere in all that dust, but it could have benefited from a little trimming. 𝘊𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 has its moments of enchantment. Unfortunately, by the end, the chore part starts to take over.

3/5. Rare case where I’ve never heard of the album or artist at all before going into my record of the day on here which is always exciting. And this one was a solid time! It very much wears its influences on its sleeves, the slacker-rock/alt-country stylings of artists like Silver Jews is all over this thing (though the frontman of this band lacks the lyricism and wit of David Berman.) but there’s some good songs on here that feel appropriate for a lazy morning like “Astonished (In Memphis)” with its laid back guitar outro or the more rocking “Satellite.” Not among the best albums in this style but I was still glad to discover this one.

This is what dissociation sounds like

Rather boring, lots of noise for the sake of noise.

Not necessarily a 5 star album but grow up review bros, Howe Gelb rules and is an interesting addition to the list.

Like if Leonard Cohen/Tom Waits were in a Silver Jews-like indie folk band.

Pretty solid. Nothing particularly jumping out at me, but it's pleasant enough. Some weird diversions here and there (The Tom Waits style singing in one song was a surprise).

I’m always surprised and apprehensive when my daily album is by a band that I have never heard of in a genre with which I am fairly familiar; I feel like the list has burned me too many times on obscure and irrelevant bands that really don’t deserve to be on the list. Well, I’ve never heard of Giant Sand, Giant Giant Sand, Giant Sandworms, or Howe Gelb, so I was prepared to be back in that position again, but I love when my preconceived notions turn out to be completely wrong. This album is right up my alley. It reminds me a bit of Bill Callahan’s dark and raw alt-country and Jeff Tweedy’s work, both the acoustic alt-country of Uncle Tupelo and his more experimental indie rock work with Wilco.

Really really boring indeed, very very average, pretty pretty bad. Listening to this somehow killed my ability to express myself, boring indie dude, at most 2, deserves 1 star

Cool. Everything I've heard from this album has caught my interest. I'd love to listen to it again. Maybe this album will even become one of my favorites. 5/5

Un poco sin más, me ha dado un poco igual. Supongo que está bien pa tenerlo de fondo pero sin más

Intriguing project! I will say that the album is quite out of my wheelhouse for the most part, but the genre explorations at play consistently kept me interested. I definitely hear a big Cohen influence, which is cool.

While I don't think I'm going to revisit the entire album anytime soon, the standouts did leave a very good impression on me - PARTICULARLY Temptation of Egg, a wonderfully fun song in an otherwise dreamy/melancholic record! The background vocals genuinely add so much to it!

Standouts: Punishing Sun • Temptation of Egg • Satellite

Chore of Enchantment by Giant Sand was completely new to me. I’d never heard of the band or the album before today, so I went into this with absolutely no idea what to expect.

The album gets off to a really strong start with two excellent opening tracks, “(Well)-Dusted” and “Punishing Sun”. Both are quite subtle and understated, but there’s something about them that immediately draws you in. The mood, the sound and the songwriting all clicked straight away.

There are some other really strong tracks on here too. “Satellite” stood out, and “Shiver” was a lovely song. At its best, the album has a warm, melancholic and thoughtful feel to it, with some really well-crafted songs.

My only issue is that as the album goes on, a lot of the tracks start to blur into one another. The same moody, introspective sound runs through much of the record, which creates a nice atmosphere but can also make parts of it feel a little interchangeable. It’s clearly well made, but at times I found it drifting into the background a bit too much.

Overall, I enjoyed this more than I expected. It’s a solid album with some genuinely great moments, even if it doesn’t quite maintain that early momentum all the way through.

Favourite tracks: “(Well)-Dusted”, “Punishing Sun”, “Satellite” and “Shiver”
Least favourite tracks: Nothing was bad, but some of the middle tracks felt a little samey
Album artwork: Cool album cover

I’d never heard of Giant Sand before today. Jumping into their mammoth discography midway through feels like I’m catching up, but I love what I hear. Howe Gelb has an awkward sense of humour. His performance is pitched as if he is performing to no-one, strumming in the corner of an empty bar trying to make himself laugh, occasionally getting into a tight, gnarly groove.

This is a record which rewards active listening and does everything possible to dissuade you from engaging in it. The luscious fingerpicking and whispery vocals could so easily wash over you - don’t let it! Whether it works for you will likely depend on how bothered you are that individual songs are fairly indistinct from each other. At points it almost feels like Gelb is performing one long song off the top of his head, taking brief pauses to sip his beer. I personally find the overall effect enchanting.

This was a chore to listen to. Dudes with vocals like this always make the longest albums.

Od ovih i objektivno i subjektivno dosadnih albuma jedan od onih koji su me manje smorili, ide među najzaboravljivije jedva trice.

loved it suprisingly much, im going to be listening to this