Fire Records reissues Chore of Enchantment from Giant Sand, in the US, today!

New MP3 (Cleared to post): Giant Sand - "Shiver" Realised through tragic circumstances, the passing of Rainer Ptacek and the birth of Calexico, it all came together at the end for Giant Sand. Arguably Giant Sand's finest album, the fruits of an astounding story and the mesmerising high point of the 25th anniversary reissue series. Chore of Enchantment is released with a second disc of recordings from the time which was to be become The Rock Opera Years (Chore Bonus CD), with all tracks except "Music Arcade" produced by John Parish. The double vinyl release also features a collection of bonus tracks and includes a download card for all other bonus material. New MP3 (Cleared to post): Giant Sand - "Shiver" Howe Gelb, 2011: "....this is gonna be a tough one to put down on paper. i'd rather just answer questions. you can ask me anything about this album. go ahead. . . . you there hiding behind the head with the wide brim hat, yes .. you. . . "what does the title mean?" .. well it's just the effort that it takes hanging on to the things that tend to enthral. The exhausting act of keeping happy. ... anyone else with a hand up .. yes? .. you there facing the opposite way, what do you want to know? "Why is the record so long?" .. well .. back then it still seemed like a good idea to make them longer than they needed to be .. .. it was actually a lot longer .. 2 albums worth ... but we trimmed it down for the sake of atmosphere. Anyone else? is that it? are we done here ..? yes please .. . a little louder .. the girl with the little frog on the dog .. yes ? "why are there so many producers for just one record?" .. very good question...lemme sit down for that one .. ok .. once upon a time I had a good friend named Rainer .. he was my reinvented older brother ... met him when i was 19 .. decided to wait 'til he was free from his band to start a group with him .. that became this Giant Sand Band .. well .. one day he got brain cancer and life got real rough.. he ended up dying 2 months before this record was made .. we were due to record it in the very same place he did his last recordings before he just could not play anymore .. that was a very tough time. ..so when i went in there to the same place... I had a very hard time hearing things ... my new friend John Parish and his friend 'head', were there to help get it done .. but I was not in great shape to hear well...after we recorded a lot of stuff there .. the record company requested we continue trying ....they just wanted at least one or two songs that were conducive to the day.. something that could maybe be played on a radio station .. songs with a beginning and an end, and hopefully some middle parts .. that didn't seem like an unfair request. .. we ended up in Memphis with Jim Dickinson after enough months passed to heal some.. but we still didn't deliver the goods exactly... finally came out of my writer's block . . . the only new song was 'Shiver', but John and Joe had to leave before we got the best take with John Parish at the controls .. and now finally new songs were coming out of me instantaneously, unfortunately, because of big label restraints and the ilk of label deals and the ills of the big business loop, he was only contracted to finish the song list I had initially given him .. damn .. ok .. but .. ok .. new songs are finally landing, but can't finish 'em .. ok, eventually Kevin Salem called me...eventually 'Chore Of Enchantment' would be complete ...it had the stunning smoulder only Jim Dickinson could conjure up on "Astonished In Memphis"... it had that truly magic assembly of " Temptation Of Egg" that only John Parish can hang his hat on .. and that wonderful optimism of Kevin Salem's creative enthusiasm to connect so many fragments. Contact us for a copy of Chore of Enchantment. Sign up for our digital delivery service to access album downloads. In the end, the record company was happy with the outcome. . .they were going through a serious series of lay off's just at the time the album was delivered...our album made the cut, though many good bands were dropped and folks fired ... and then... their stateside president had abruptly left his position when the new man showed up from Britain to take over .. he decided the album sounded "too indie" for the label .. and dropped it ... later the album resurfaced nicely on an indie label... then a piece of 'Shiver's' intro ended up on a commercial ...after the album had initially been dismissed as "too indie" .. and later, it eventually ended up being listed in a book heralding the 1000 best albums of all time. so .. in the end we are on fire." Artist - Giant Sand Album- Chore of Enchantment US Release Date - November 22, 2011 Label - Fire Records Tracklist: 01 Overture 02 (Well) Dusted (For The Millenium) 03 Punishing Sun 04 X-Tra Wide 05 1972 06 Temptation Of Egg 07 Raw 08 Wolfy 09 Shiver 10 Dirty From The Rain 11 Astonished (In Memphis) 12 No Reply 13 Satellite 14 Bottom Line Man 15 Way To End The Day 16 Shrine 17 Shiver - John Parish Remix Bonus Disc 01 Rock Opera 02 Dusted (In Tucson) 03 Astonished - (In Tucson) 04 Hard On Things 05 Francoise 06 Punishing Sun (In Tucson) 07 Chore Of Enchantment 08 Seldom Matters Again 09 Music Arcade 10 Shiver (In Tucson) 11 Catapult 12 Dilemma 13 Bad