
In anticipation of Fire Records' June release of the country rock opera, Tucson , and Howe Gelb's 31 May performance at Village Underground in London, Giant Giant Sand have released a new track, Detained . This new album from an expanded and magnified version of Giant Sand is named after the town Gelb has called home for 40 years and is self-described as a 'country rock opera'. Sounds good to us! Download Giant Giant Sand - Detained mp3 (from Tucson) Follow @madmackerel
Mit aufgestockter Giant Sand-Kombo setzt Howe Gelb seiner Heimat Tucson ein musikalisches Denkmal. Da muss der Viktor vom El Lokal wohl anbauen. Giant Sand , das Americana-Kollektiv um Howe Gelb, hat aufgestockt. Die gerngehörten Stammgäste auf der allerletzten Insel an der Sihl haben ihr Line-up auf zwölf Nasen erweitert und nennen sich nun folgerichtig Giant Giant Sand. Ein Dutzend Musikanten? Mit so viel Personal könnte man glatt ein Musical aufführen. Und genau das soll das auf Juni angekündigte "Tucson" [...]

Howe Gelb , que se ha pasado más de tres décadas liderando a Giant Sand, pasa los veranos en Aarhus, Dinamarca, de donde es su mujer, y en un reciente festival celebrado en Berlin se rodeó de un buen número de músicos daneses con los que ha decidido continuar grabando bajo el nombre de Giant Giant Sand . El próximo mes de Junio editará "Tucson" en el sello Fire Records, trabajo que el propio Gelb define como una opera country-rock, y al que pertenece este "Forever And a Day" [...]
Despite its somewhat Danish member-base, Giant Giant Sand wants you to know that the band is definitively south of the Border with new single "Forever And A Day." Originally a marginally smaller giant band, Giant Giant Sand was brought together by leader Howe Gelb, a Tucson, Ariz., native who takes such joy in his hometown he [...]
For this label spotlight, we tracked down our UK-based friends at Fire Records, home of bands such as Pulp, Guided by Voices, ESG, Giant Sand, The Adverts, Teenage Fanclub, and more. Label Manager James Nicholls helped us shed some light - pun totally intended - on the label and shared some tips ...

It is Easter. I'm using it as an excuse to give you an entirely contrived and slightly spurious soundtrack for that Egg hunt. On the other hand, some cracking tunes to add to your iTunes library. Download The Faith Brothers – The Easter Parade mp3 (from Eventide) Download Easterhouse - Whistling In The Dark mp3 (from Whistling In The Dark 73) Download Brimstone Howl - Easter At The Lewises mp3 (from Big Deal, What's He Done Lately?) Download Loch Lomond - Egg Song (Daytrotter Session) mp3 (from [...]

It finally happened. Winter arrived. Snow fell and we woke up this past Sunday with about three inches of the stuff. I'm glad it didn't arrive earlier, as Friday saw me at KSVR for a four hour stint of music. The first two hours flirted with folk music and the latter half was full-on garage rock, garage pop and psychedelic pop. Much of the 10 to midnight show came courtesy Finest Kiss , who posted some great 2011 lists. Taking [...]

Take a step back a dozen years. The year was 2000 and Giant Sand was releasing their LP for Chore of Enchantment . Member Rainer Ptacek had just passed; Joey Burns and John Convertino broke away to focus on Calexico instead. Main man Howe Gelb, though, stood his ground and continued to release albums under the Giant Sand name, as well as under his own - this continues to today; Gelb released Alegrias earlier this year. Fire Records and Giant Sand have come together (again) and [...]

It was good to see the reissue of Giant Sand's 2000 album Chore of Enchantment come out last week. While the album could be described as having an essence of transmigratory rusticity, or something another, you'll be better served with a listen to "Shiver" . The reissue comes with a bonus disc of recordings previously known as The Rock Opera Years. Tracklist: 01 Overture 02 (Well) Dusted (For The Millenium) 03 Punishing Sun 04 X-Tra [...]

Posted at 12:35pm, 11/28/2011 Every week we bring you the best cutting edge music from around the web. Our newest batch of uploads are ready for your listening pleasure. You can download the following mp3s individually OR play them all in a row. Click on the artists at the right under Related Downloads to learn more about each band and see similar music suggestions. Play All [RICH MEDIA, CLICK TO VIEW ON SITE] [RICH MEDIA, CLICK TO [...]
Not surprisingly, it is a thin week for new releases. Many record companies hold off on releasing albums during the week of Thanksgiving because it's so much more difficult to get the attention of media and music consumers due to the holidays. That said, there are a few albums out this week that we highly [...] Read more, get songs or stream the entire mix on Indie Rock Cafe
Every day, Daily Downloads offers 10 free and legal mp3 downloads, plus free and legal live sets from around the internet. Today's free and legal mp3 downloads: Br'er : "City of Ice" [mp3] from City of Ice search for more Br'er posts at Largehearted Boy Brett Netson : "God Is Wrong" [mp3] from [...]

Summers are hell, the nut jobs are many, but I love my home state of Arizona. And in the almost 19 years I've called it home, nothing that has happened here was more shocking, sad and incomprehensible than the tragedy in Tucson on January 8th, 2011. The shooting outside a Safeway store took the lives of six, and injured 13 more, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Tucson-Based music writer Eric Swedlund, who has been an online pal of mine for years (via his music blog, Catfish Vegas ), was communications director for Gabby Giffords' campaign back in 2008, [...]

Posted at 1:05pm, 10/28/2011 Find everything that went up in the month of October. You can download the following mp3s individually OR listen to the whole batch in one playlist. Click on the artists at the right under Related Downloads to learn more about each band and see similar music suggestions. Play All [RICH MEDIA, CLICK TO VIEW ON SITE] [RICH MEDIA, CLICK TO VIEW ON SITE] [...]

Fort Lowell Records are continuously surprising us with awesome new releases, so it is no surprise when they were tapped by Music Against Violence to prepare the digital and vinyl release of Luz de Vida, a compilation to benefit the victims of the January 8th Tuscon tragedy. Indeed, the record and digital download not only meet the high standards set by the label on their previous releases, but it even exceeds those expectations. The vinyl record is limited to 1,500 copies on brilliant sun-yellow vinyl and is oozing with highlights. In fact, none of the artists phoned [...]

in the wake of the tuscon tragedy which left 19 people shot, one of them being u.s. representative gabrielle giffords, 6 of them fatally, the tuscon community along with musicians with strong ties to the area have released a benefit compilation entitled luz de vida which is spanish for light of life. the 37 track digital release features some pretty amazing artists including calexico, neko case, spoon, john vanderslice, meat puppets, robyn hitchcock, ozomatli, devotchka and so many more. there is also a 12 song limited edition vinyl release which features all tuscon bands. [...]

A record label out of Tucson, Arizona, is releasing a benefit compilation for victims of the January 8th shooting with tons of great indie rock contributors! You can read more about the compilation on the Music Against Violence site , or here, from Fort Lowell Records : The record will be released on Oct. 18, during the international Week Without Violence. It will be available in two formats, a 37-track digital album and a special limited-edition 12-song vinyl release, with exclusively Tucson bands. San Francisco Bay Area musicians John Vanderslice , [...]

Boats - T.V. Scientist [mp3] (from Cannonballs, Cannonballs ) Zun Zun Egui – Fandango Fresh [mp3] (from Katang , out Nov. 8 [on Bella Union/Yep Roc]) Built Like Alaska – John Henry [mp3] (from In Troubled Time , out Nov. 8th) Today the Moon, Tomorrow the Sun [...]

Today's selection of free and legal - because: official - downloads... Black Taxi - Tightrope Sunbears! - Give Love A Try Amanda Mair - Doubt Discovery Sessions 007 with Gene Hoffmann (mixtape) Crystal Fighters - Plage (ALVARO REMIX) Friends - My Boo Chad Valley - Shell Suite (Cashmere Cat Mix) Giant Sand - Music Arcade Danny Brown - Brown Eyes Mocean Worker - Swagger The Twilight Sad – Kill It in the Morning Click Read More below, listen... and if you like them... grab [...]

Giant Sand - Music Arcade (Neil Young cover)