Chore of Enchantment is a studio album by the alternative rock band Giant Sand. It was released in March 2000 by Thrill Jockey. The British music journalism publication NME praised the album's "raw but tender empathy in songs full of unexpected departures".
The chore of listening to this one tone record was the hardest thing I've had to endure this week. You must bear in mind that this week I've finalised my divorce, crashed my car and lost two of my children in a freak boomerang accident. By George what a bit of shit on a fork.
I'm not at all familiar with Giant Sand but I very much enjoyed this album. Had lots of Lou Reed feelings and just as many Bill Callahan feelings. Glad to be introduced.
Appropriately enough for album 1001, a long action of continuous shocks. The sleepiness of the record punctuated by surprises is somewhat close to death. The record's shiny, overtured, takes a minute to get to the point. The lyrics are calibrated to just my preference for the abstract. That's all very desert-sky, but there's just as much grounding in American musical traditions.
It's on my playlist "Alt niche male type beat.mp3" and yes it is a red flag
Good sound, a little long
Chore of Enchantment is the 16th album by the American alternative rock band Giant Sand. This folksy, alternative rock album was highly rated by critics. It contains emotionally raw and tender songs about empathy for your fellow human. I thought Chore of Enchantment was a beautifully moving album with music and themes that fit together nicely. It was a great easy-listening album that I recommend for anyone looking for background music.
A very interesting listen! Lots of musical twists and turns that were still very enjoyable to the ears. Super creative and unique!
I loved this. Absolutely loved it. It's cinematic and evocative and full of little twists and turns around every corner
Magical. Takes you on a beautiful, melancholic journey. Unique.
Nice. I am definitely going to check out some more of this band. Really liked it.
Jáááá, það tók mig nokkur lög að finna gírinn en svo er þetta bara drullufín plata.
early morning rainy sleepy on the train vibes…really liked this one. unique sound. stand up bass meow meow!!
I had never heard of this album or even the band. I enjoyed this quite a lot, though (though perhaps it's a little long, even if you stop after track 16, which is the end of the original studio version). I quite liked the singer's voice - it suited the music. Will give another listen at some point.
Giant Sand offers up not so much of a chore but a genuinely consistent record that stays well within its lane of roots indebted country rock. While intimidating in song output (sixteen in its standard and another fourteen bonus tracks), there is plenty of gems to uncover while wading through the album. Enchanting? Well, it sure is. Favorites: (Well) Dusted, Punishing Sun, X-Tra Wide, Raw, Wolfy, Shiver, Dirty From the Rain, Astonished (in Memphis), Satellite, Rock Opera, Hard on Things, Punishing Sun (in Tucson), Music Arcade, Catapult, Dilemma.
This album was pretty good, and brand new to me. Who is Giant Sand? The musical style and variety made the album a fun listen. I wasn't always as thrilled with vocal stylings. I don't know exactly how to describe it...maybe excessive breathiness from time to time?? I don't know...something just rubbed me the wrong way on some tracks.
This is one of those albums that begs to be listened to again for all the stuff I missed the first time today. Although it was new to me, it has a great and familiar sound that I appreciated. A good discovery for me.
Good lo-fi alt.country album. Didn't realize it had been re-released with a new cover. Also didn't realise that was a Juliana Hatfield backing vocal. Not heard it for years to it was nice to re-listen.
American Guitar and a couple of piano songs, atmospheric. Really liked this album at the time, but it did not strike me as a stand-out Giant Sand album - they just made a lot of strong albums over the years. Listening to it again, I still like it a lot, Well Dusted for the Millennium and Satellite are the 5-star songs. Score: 8/10 (close to 5*)
I really did like this. I wish I listened to the album at a cottage..not at the gym lol
etwas merkwürdig, fühlt sich etwas wie Nirvana an mit einem höheren Anspruch und gelegentlichen Reisen in Oper und Jazz. Ein bisschen wie black country new road. Beim ersten höheren gab es keine Sichtlichen highlights, aber auch keine lowlights. Ich kann mir vorstellen das häufiger zu höheren.
Giant sand has all the makings of becoming one of my favorite bands, I need to spend more time with them.
Hasn't GS had a hard enough time already without being dropped from this esteemed list? Isn't their particular brand of weirdness – as well as related and adjacent styles of oddity – so underappreciated in the broader culture as to merit ongoing conclusion? It's easy to understand why GS is an acquired taste – lack of tunefulness, refusal to rock, the lyrical obliqueness ("You can get Leonard Nimoy to play ther part of Leonard Cohen"), persistent melancholia, intermittent eerieness, the found-sound feel and overall irresolution. But when it works, the vibe-y results feel just spot on, "Punishing Sun" and "Shiver" and "X-tra Wide" being most prominent examples. Much that floats and drifts is lovely and even compelling (see "Raw" and "Shrine" and many moments within other cuts), with backing-vocal flourishes adding depth and shade. Still, for all the likable off-beatness and evocative off-kilteredness, one's not convinced this is the most worthy record. Rounding up for the original and awesome atmospherics and influence (thinking of early Wilco, Luna, Bill Callahan and peers-in-underratedness Yo La Tengo), but mostly because they – or Howe – are deserving of every last bit they can get.
Nice chill album. I haven't listened to them before. Very good for relaxing, but far from boring.
Intriguing!
Well, what a nice surprise. It’s been months since this list last surprised me. A full 90’s alternative beautiful and creative sound. This was really great even if too long
First listen Alt Rock Standouts: Punishing Sun, Raw, Shiver, Dirty From The Rain, Astonished (In Memphis), No Reply, Bottom Line Man, Way to End The Day 3.5
As I started this, I wasn't too impressed. It seemed okay, but I wasn't digging the singing style. But the more I listened, the more I really got into this. By the end I was leaning toward three stars, then I listened to it again. Then I listened to it a third time. I just love it. Some really beautiful songs. I will listen to this more, and check out their other material as well. 4 stars.
Lead Singer sounds a lot like Lou Reed. But it isn’t Lou Reed.
Easy listening. Good album. Maybe a re-listen some day. No tracks for my best of 1001 playlist
Reluctant 3, the good stuff is really great the bad is fucking shit
Pleasant little (not lengthwise) album. I believe this is also one that didn’t last more than one edition, rightfully. Still, the soft palette is nice to listen to
Enjoyable.
I had not heard of this band or heard any music by them, and I really like this album. Has something of a Velvet Underground vibe to it, albeit quite a bit more country and western-sounding. The sparse arrangements still have a richness to them, and I like the way the singer delivers his vocals. I like those tracks -- the more stripped down and mellower ones -- best. I'll have to check out more of their music.
Decent background music but doesn't stand out...seems in the vein Smashmouth's jazzier tunes.
Chill vibes Favourite tracks: Dusted, Wolfy, Shiver, Bottom Line Man
3.5
It's a good album. Very late 90s. The singer feels halfway between a blues growl and Lou Reed at his most bored. It goes on a bit. It's almost varied enough to get a way with it, but the key word here is almost.
Very, slow folk rock. Drones on for an hour, but pretty good nonetheless.
“What in tarnation” 🤠 Decent album, what sounds like a simple country Americana gradually throws in classical samples, dissonance & distortion. Something vaguely unsatisfying about the project as a whole, but it shines in individual moments. The amount of outtakes in the 25th anniversary version (it has not been 25 years since 2000!) reveals a band full of ideas & piss & vinegar, though it's possible those ideas were better fleshed out in Giant Sand's offshoot, Calexico. HL: “(Well) Dusted”, “Satellite”, "Astonished (in Memphis)" "Way to End the Day" of the bonus tracks I listened to, "Catapult" is pretty cool September 24, 2023
There are a number of fine compositions, such as Satellite. In between it ripples too often.
I think I listened to Gian Sand before, but don't remember which album; pretty sure it was not this one. This sounded pretty good, but I did not particularly like the vocals.
Random nonsense with no business being on this list. I quite liked it though- just don't think it is one of the 1001 best. Prog folk with country influences, but also very artsy. Good, but not great
I liked this a lot, though I got distracted ny things coming up while listening and feel like it would take another listen to really peg how I feel about it, particularly lyrically.
first listen its really hard to place this style of this album, i'm not sure what it wants to be
The talk singing works in small doses. This was not a small dose. Best track: Shiver
Decent but very uneventful and plain
Not for me
I was prepared not to like this, I actually enjoyed this quite a bit. It's a mix of dreamy, strange, and surprisingly affecting tracks, a total mood. It worked great a day after listening to Cowboy Junkies yesterday. They are like two sides of the same rootsy coin, with CJ having more of a torchy alt-country vibe and Giant Sand leaning into the hauntingly surreal. There's a lot to like here and I plan to come back to it. Fave Songs: Raw, Punishing Sun, Wolfy, Astonished (In Memphis), Way to End the Day, Shiver, Bottom Line Man, No Reply
Слушах го частично, но не го доизслушах, защото си пуснах The Black Keys 😄
one banger
why so many bonuses tho...
Just so boring. 5/10
6/10. Yeah, this wasn't bad, I even sort of liked it, but I am curious why it is on the list. It certainly sounds like some other stuff, but is that because it actually pioneered some of this sound? If so, it wasn't worth the mention on Wikipedia.
I’ve never heard of Giant Sand before. It seems like a pretty silly name. Not sure why, but I don’t like that name. Apple Music tells me it’s rock music, so hopefully I’ll enjoy the music more than the name. What a bad band name though. It’s just so silly. Songs I already knew: none Favourites: Temptation Of Egg, Shiver Thankfully, the music was much better than the band name. I can’t say I really understood what they were on about at times (Temptation Of Egg being a prime example), but I did still find myself enjoying it. It felt a little saloony and exotic. Both the male and female vocals sounded fantastic and made for a nice feel throughout. I won’t say that this stands out as a great album, but I definitely did enjoy it.
Super underligt valg, aldrig hørt om det her før. Ikke noget særligt, men vil heller ikke være for hård for jeg brugte det virkelig som baggrundsmusik
Ret chill, noget af det lyder som om det kunne være på soundtracket til Natural Born Killers. Jeg kunne godt lide hans stemme, lidt Lou Reed/Nick Cave-agtig. Alt for lang og monoton dog.
Not bad, got a bit bored.
je n'ai pas compris
Ok, didn't really engage me.
Well, that was quite the mixed bag of stuff. I generally liked it but didn't love it.
I don't know if I'd go back to this but I'm glad I listened to it
3.25
3/5. This really shouldn’t be a 3, but something about this record captivated me. I enjoyed some of the themes but at the same time felt it was very strange.
not exciting
It was not a chore and was quite enchanting. I was expecting to hate this. From the album art to the album name and the fact it was two hours long…but two hours came and went and I was surprised. I had to google to check the lead singer wasn’t Lou Reed, and at other times felt it could be the Eels. I liked!
Quite lo-fi. Not enthralled by the whispering vocals. Some interesting ideas, but mostly boring. Not awful, so it can scrape a 3 stars.
This was a bit too slow a plodding for me. I can hear a lot of really cool influences, and I like the psychedelic elements, drums that are evocative of Jazz, and what sounds like a steel guitar in places.
A couple of isolated points of interest but overall more middle of the road alt countryish rock
I had never heard of this band. I don't know if I'd consider it essential listening, but it was better than I expected. The singer reminded me a lot of Lou Reed at times.
Kind of all over the place in terms of sound, but i liked a lot of the ones nearer to the end of the album
I have another Giant Sand album, Glum, and like this one I enjoyed listening to it, but remember nothing apart from a thrilling volume-leaping blast of noise on the opening track. Last week, I unfairly maligned Wilco's Foxtrot Onion, which has some similarities to this, and now I recognise a genre, likely named, of deep-voiced indie rock with tastefully rough edges, strategic servings of loud distortion, muttering, and song shapes that are comfortable, Neil Young-sy, Alex Chilton-y - I caught the Dusted In Memphis reference - but don't hook deep. “Don’t Love Me For My Big Muff.” Will Oldham and Bill Callahan are on the border of this, though their lyrical extravagance and weakness for tunes does make them vaguewave dilettantes. Not bad, and I might like it more if I got through a second listen, but apathy overcame curiosity. Trois.
Quite liked this- laid back, sort of Beck-like. Strange they never came to much. Not sure they should be on the 1001 though........
Alt-Country with a Southwestern flair - why does a tremelo pedal sound of the high desert? It just does. Hushed vocals and a generally mellow approach: acoustic guitars, laid back drums, unobtrusive bass and then some 'flourish layers' of electric guitars, synths, and vocal harmonies - then the whole thing is drenched in reverb. Some songs take a harder rock approach with a bit more distortion and some squealing guitars along with a more robust drum part, but their hearts don't seem in it and it fizzles out quickly, returning to more relaxed coffee-shop fare. Somehow I'd never heard of this before despite it being up my alley and only slightly before my era, wierd. Favorites: Punishing Sun, Shiver,
Best een mooie stem.
In de categorie interessant
This album answers the question, 'what if Lou Reed recorded an alt-country album?' This album is very interesting musically and incorporates contemporary alternative rock into a dark, sparse, folk/country landscape. The result is an album that sounds ominous and unfortunately a bit samey throughout. If this album had been pared down by about 15-20 minutes, it would have worked so much better.
Eclectic mix. Not sure about the almost spoken vocals. X-Tra Wide has summer vibes, love the bass and flutes (?) Shiver is catchy, Astonished and No Reply are brooding, the latter with 2 beautiful solos. Surprisingly heavy slow riffs on Satellite.
Indie for sure. I'm gonna say NOT UK though. Looks more US. Oh yep indie and pretty boring. Meandered around from slightly interesting to fucking dull. Went too long. Also: reading wikipedia, that's a lot of band members for an album that most of the time is just vocals and guitar or piano lol. 2/5.
Of course the singer is the mainstay of the group. He's only good for that raw whispery voice. And that only takes you so far. A whole album of it, blech. His voice reminded me somewhat of Neil Young's voice on "Unplugged," but there was more to Neil's; there was a weightiness that there isn't here. The lyrics feel like they're trying too hard. I needed someone who could sing at least in one song. I don't think that's too much to ask.
All CHORE No ENCHANTMENT
Varför är denna sunkiga slowcore med då I Could Live in Hope av Low inte är det...
Kind of interesting sound that never really takes off. Chore was a good word for this one
Strange album. Musically I enjoyed most of it. The vocals really brought it down a lot.
weird, and almost in a good way
There were some good ideas here but it somehow didn't jell together and nothing stuck with me. It reminded me of Sparklehorse, but it was way less interesting, and the lead singer has a Lou Reed vibe going as well. I like the records that Thrill Jockey puts out (particularly Tortoise) so I really tried to like this, but liked I said nothing stuck.
I went to the 1001 list website to see what they claim makes this list-worthy, but guess what? It looks like it’s being pulled, which is not surprising. On the plus side, he/they change it up once in a while, throwing in a heavy guitar, a funky back-beat, a female vocalist (sometimes all in one song, as in Temptation of Egg or Shiver). On the minus side, Howe Gelb’s dreary, spoken words are a limiting factor and when he’s unsupported, like on "Punishing Sun” or “Dirty from the Rain” you have to ask yourself, “Why am I listening to this?” Dylan or Cohen could get away with weak vocals but the songwriting caught your attention. Gelb, less so.
This was pretty dull. It kept feeling like it was about to get going. It had kind of Lou Reed or Nick Cave vibes but very weakily done with no pazzazz.
Just one word ... boring. This was so beige and dull it actually riled me up. Is that normal? None of this felt identifiable or interested. Confused why it's on the list
Quick to become back ground noise and lose my interest.
Meh
I mean it’s fine but there are so many other albums with exactly the same sound and more compelling songs
Really difficult to rate because they sound familiar (Lou Reed impression) but some of the lyrics are too cute and rhymey.
The bonus tracks help it be twice as boring... Great job!
Yet another Lou Reed album served to me here
Some of this isn’t bad. Some of this is really bad. Not too much of a spoken lyrics kind of guy.
the album would have been better if the guy actually sang, but most of the album he did the “speak singing” thing, which i am not a fan of. it comes across as gimmicky and makes it seem as if the singer can’t really sing very well. not for me.
The only Chore here is listening to this. Soft spoken vocals, and a tempo a turtle could vibe to. I don’t mind the medley or instruments and quirkiness, however it’s not enough to save the lackluster delivery.
Ça m'a saoulé
While I really enjoyed listening to it I doubt I will return. The moment I realized how much it reminded me of Lou Reed my interest waned a bit.
This album is an interesting mix of genres—jazz, rock, country, folk—but it all has one thing in common (except maybe one track): it's all down-tempo. It seems like a great mix for background music at a coffee shop, or lounge, or bath, something to enjoy a good book and/or a glass of wine to. However, at least for me, listening to it straight was a little... boring. I might bookmark this to try for one of the aforementioned purposes, but otherwise I probably won't revisit this album.