Music Review: Howe Gelb, The Coincidentalist

By J Howell

Howe Gelb begins The Coincidentalist with a half-whispered “Welcome to the desert.” It’s as intriguing an invitation as ever, but one that—after 30-plus years and who knows how many records—is as familiar as your front door. If you’re a longtime listener of Gelb and his various permutations and projects, that is. That there are now almost as many “projects” of Gelb’s as there are albums is both a testament to Gelb’s prolific work ethic and possibly a reason why Gelb hasn’t really caught on with the public so well, in the States at least.

His status as an elder statesman of risk-taking, genre-distorting “erosion rock”—though there’s so much more to it than that—is legendary, if mostly in the sort-of ghetto of “musician’s musician.” Howe Gelb almost seems cast as a musical crazy uncle, the sort who’s fun and smart and maybe just a little bit kooky, but who the rest of the family doesn’t mention much. This is a damned shame, as Gelb’s iconoclastic voice is just plain good for the soul, and awfully damned clever to boot.

Back to The Coincidentalist, though. From the invitation that begins “Vortexas,” a wry, mellow duet with Will Oldham, Gelb does pretty much what he always does. Surrounded by a cast of rather bad-assed supporting players (the album’s “Ist List” includes M. Ward, former Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley, and longtime Giant Sand bassist Thoger T. Lund, as well as guest spots from Andrew Bird, KT Tunstall, Jon Rauhouse, and others, mixed beautifully by frequent collaborator John Parish), Gelb covers more sonic ground—sometimes within a single song—than many musicians dare to attempt in a career, and does it with reckless aplomb.

If there’s one hitch to being as musically fearless as Gelb, it’s that the unexpected becomes expected. Listeners who have followed Gelb for some time probably won’t be surprised by the juxtapositions of tender and cranky, lush and abrasive, funny and poignant peppered throughout.

Here’s the thing, though: despite that whole expected/unexpected thing being old hat for Gelb, The Coincidentalist is pretty effing great. Gelb is in a class of his own as it were; he’s put out a LOT of work, the vast majority of which is superb if sadly underrated. Gelb sounds like no one else, and while he’s certainly exerted some influence, nobody really even tries to sound like him. This record would be quite an accomplishment, following such a prodigious and distinct body of work, if it were just okay.

The Coincidentalist is more than just okay, though; it’s as strong a record as anything Gelb’s done, Giant Sand’s gold standard Chore Of Enchantment included. As with much of Gelb’s recent work, it’s most likely to really hit home with listeners who have a certain amount of maturity—or perhaps those with less life experience but some respect for wisdom—yet there’s more than enough sonic hard left turns to excite and surprise. Far from becoming tiresome, Gelb’s voice both as a singer and writer gets better with age. Welcome back to the desert.

The Coincidentalist was released on November 5 from New West Records.

Tour Dates:
11/20/13: Los Angeles, CA: Hotel Cafe
11/21/13: San Francisco, CA: The Chapel
11/22/13: Salem, OR: Boon’s Treasury
11/23/13: Cottage Grove, OR: Axe and Fiddle
11/24/13: Seattle, WA: Tractor Tavern
11/25/13: Portland, OR: Mississippi Studios
11/26/13: Phoenix, AZ: Crescent Ballroom
12/06/13: Chicago, IL: Old Town School Of Folk Music
12/09/13: New York, NY: Rockwood Music Hall
12/10/13: Philadelphia, PA: World Cafe Live
12/11/13: Allston, MA: Great Scott