Giant Sand

Vinyl Records and Rare LPs:

	Long Stem Rant New - LP - HMS 148 Sealed 1989 Vinyl Rarity. “Long Stem Rant Marks The Beginning Of The Second Phase Of Howe Gelb And His Giant Sand. Gelb And His Drummer John Convertino Had Toured The U.S. And Europe As Giant Sand In Early 1989, And The Pair Headed To A Friend's Barn In Rimrock, AZ, With Producer/Engineer Eric Westfall To Set Down New Tracks. The Result, Long Stem Rant, Sounded Only Marginally Like Its Predecessors. Many Tracks ("Smash Jazz," "Unfinished Love," "Bloodstone," And "Patsy Does Dylan," A Recording Of Gelb's Daughter) Were Sketches Fleshed Out Later With Vocals, But The Complete Songs Gelb Brought Were As Good As Anything He Had Ever Written: "Paved Road To Berlin" Is A Euro-Tour Faith Saga With Memorable Couplets ("Talk About Walls/They Got One Down China Way/Last The Grateful Dead Almost Appeared There/This Year The Dead They Lie Where They Lay"), "Loving Cup" Is Classic Campfire Love Song, "Sucker In A Cage" And "Searchlight" Are The Kind Of Starry-Eyed Desert Folk-Rock Howe Has Made His Trademark. Though The Short Spurts Of Song On The Record Detracts From Its Momentum In A Way That Keeps Long Stem Rant From Being On Par With The Love Songs, It's Not Far Behind, And Despite The Fact That It Set The Tone For Gelb To Include At Least Rambling, Improvised Bits On Subsequent Albums (Not All Of Which Had The Great Songs To Offset Them), This Record Is Certainly Among Giant Sand's Best.” ALl Music Guide - Patrick Foster. more
	Provisions New - LP - YEP 2188 Sealed, Out Of Print 2008 2LP Gatefold Original. more
	Ramp Used - LP - R 2761 Near Mint 1991 UK Original With Insert. more
	Swerve New - LP - FF172 Sealed 2011 Remastered Reissue, Featuring Different Cover Art Than The UK Release. “Featuring A Variety Of Guest Performers Throughout, Including Green On Red's Chris Cacavas, Juliana Hatfield, Steve Wynn, And A Fair Hunk Of Poi Dog Pondering, Swerve Features The Then Duo Of Gelb And Convertino On A Fine Slew Of Songs. Recorded At A Number Of Different Locations, From Boston To Los Angeles, Swerve Found Gelb Reaching The Ten-Year Point With His Band In Fantastic Style. Starting With The Brilliant Stop-Start Electric Guitar Intro On "Can't Find Love" -- Don't Listen Carefully And It Sounds Like The CD Player's On The Blink -- Gelb And Convertino And Company Hit The Ground Running. Gelb's Fractured Vision Of Roots Music Meets Modern Times Sounded Distinct And Enjoyable Enough At The Time Of Swerve's Release, And Still Holds Up Excellently In Later Years. His Ear For Aggressively Weird Soloing In Particular Is Just Great (Check "Dream Stay" For One Of His Best Neil Young Nods Yet), While His Straight Playing Remains Quite Accomplished. Gelb's Friendly Twang, Once Again, Is A Treat, Able To Convey Emotion And Humor In The Same Sly Turn Of Phrase. Quieter Songs Are No Less Off-Kilter, With Convertino's Ear For Odd Percussion Playing And Time Signatures Turning, For Instance, The Lounge Jazz (Years Before The Revival) Mania Of "Swerver" Into Something The Likes Of The Cherry Poppin' Daddies Couldn't Dream Of. The Swerve Theme Carries Through A Number Of Brief Tracks Throughout The Album, All Entertaining Little Jams That Keep Things Agreeably Light. Total Standouts Include The Wry Country'n'swing Of "Some Kind Of," "Trickle Down System," As Good An Anthemic Band Tribute As Any, And A Version Of "Every Grain Of Sand" That's Simply Inspiring, One Of The Best Bob Dylan Covers Recorded. Then There's The Perfectly Screwy "Former Version Of Ourselves," Which Veers From Everything From Solo Synth Moodiness To Finger-Poppin' Vegas To More Familiar Giant Sand Fusions And Back Again, And Makes It All Work To Boot.” All Music Guide - Ned Raggett. more
	Valley Of Rain New - LP - 72050 Sealed 1985 Original. Cut Corner And Custom Enigma Hype Sticker. “The Dry, Dusty, And Rambling Sound That Became Howe Gelb's Trademark Isn't Much In Evidence On Giant Sand's Debut Album, 1985's Valley Of Rain. Instead, This Early Edition Of The Band Recalls The Distaff Branch Of The Paisley Underground Scene That Was Still A Big Part Of The Los Angeles Scene When Gelb Arrived There From Tuscon, As If Giant Sand Were The Oddball High Desert Cousins Of Green On Red. Valley Of Rain Is Tougher And Scrappier Than Much Of What Giant Sand Would Release Later On, And It Rocks Noticeably Harder, Though Gelb's Sense Of Lyrical Wanderlust Is Very Much Evident Here, And Even When The Guitars Wind Up And The Drums Crack, The Melodies Drift On And Off Path With An Expressive Glee. The Band's Slightly Warped Country Influences Are All But Invisible Here (Perhaps Because Gelb And His Pals Were Cutting A Blacky Ranchette Album Around The Same Time), And Valley Of Rain Sounds More Sharply Focused Than The Typical Giant Sand Album. Gelb And His Partners -- Bassist Scott Garber And Drummers Tom Larkins And Winston A. Watson, Jr. -- Sound Admirably Tight And Together, Considering This Lineup Fell Together At The Last Minute Before These Sessions Began, And The Album Was Recorded On The Fly For A Mere Four Hundred Bucks. Valley Of Rain Isn't Classic Giant Sand, But It's A Strong And Confident Starting Point And It Has Weathered The Test Of Time Rather Well: "Tumble And Tear," "Down On Town," And "Death, Dying And Channel 5" Are Forceful And Idiosyncratic Rockers, While "Artists" And "October, Anywhere" Give A Clue To Where Giant Sand Would Go In The Future. In A Long Journey Full Of Fascinating Detours Along The Way, Giant Sand's First Album Was A Rocking Pit Stop That's Lively, Smart, And Full Of Nerve.” All Music Guide - Mark Deming. more