Pitchfork

While waiting to play a solo set at a blues festival in Ottawa three years ago, multi-instrumentalist Howe Gelb was caught by the arbitrary power of happenstance. Having unexpectedly found himself sandwiched between gospel groups at a Baptist church venue, Gelb watched as one choir after another performed, and the resonance of their rich, captivating voices wove through audience and into his blood. His inspiration to work with a choir came that day, and he returned to the church just in time to catch the final performance by Voices of Praise, the ensemble that eventually featured on 'Sno Angel Like You.

The drive behind these recordings was to experiment with the juxtaposition between Gelb's experimental alt-country rambling and the warm, compositional synchronicity of a gospel choir. The result of this unlikely alliance is a delicately sparse collection of eight new songs that were sketched out specifically for the choir (who added their own vocal arrangements over the top), three re-workings of Gelb tracks written with his long-running group, Giant Sand, and three pieces written by the late Tucson guitarist Rainer Ptacek, a friend of Gelb's who died in 1997. Gelb's prowling, confident horse-trot rhythms entwine with Arcade Fire drummer Jeremy Gara's subtle beats, providing a new twist to Gelb's songwriting since the recent departure of Giant Sand's long-term rhythm section, Joey Burns and John Convertino (both of Calexico). Matched with the engaging beauty of the choral voices-- which sound like a completely natural part of the music, never gimmicky or superfluous-- this more skeletal rhythmic style allows Gelb to be freer with his compositions, and consequently these are some of the most memorable songs he has written.

"If you don't get the fuel, pray get the passion to keep the spirit rolling," Gelb sings on the opening track, "Get to Leave", which originally appeared on Giant Sand's 1989 Long Stem Rant. This kind of optimism permeates the feel of this record, backed up by the opulent, celebratory heave of the vocal lines. "That's How Things Get Done" is similarly a kick in the ass for positive thinking, though not, one feels, without Gelb's devilish smattering of irony. Despite his affection for sonic "muck", he holds back from wielding the sharp side of the blade too dangerously. The closest he gets is the snaky guitar solo freak out of "The Voice Within". Unlike Cat Power's The Greatest, also a melding of improbable genres and solo artists, Gelb sounds entirely comfortable in this musical environment, and with its subtly joyous tones and lustrous songwriting, 'Sno Angel Like You turns out to be a labor of love with endless rewards.